I couldn't have expressed it any better myself, nor the incredible commentary this blogger provides.
Well done!
"Tuesday, May 27, 2008
American Complicity
The majority of the people in America today have basically said yes to corporate ownership of the government. The majority of Americans seem to have decided to let the corporate media do their thinking for them. Welcome to the information age in overdrive. You may not get the correct information… but you will get lots of it. The task is to separate the wheat from the chaff.The blame cannot be shifted solely onto the shoulders of our political leaders. The American people cannot claim that they were “misled” by their leaders and don’t know the truth.
While they were indeed misled, the truth wasn’t long behind the lies. Whether it its the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, the food crisis, the loss of our civil liberties or the sinking of our economy, the American people have been informed and apprised of everything. We know who the people behind the curtain are. We know how they did the things that they did. There are no great secrets that the American people don’t have access to. Everything is in plain sight.
The mainstream media has failed in its responsibility to accurately report the truth, still, the American people have known of its duplicity for years now. The propaganda and outright distortion of the truth has been part and parcel of just about every major network in the United States. The majority of Americans realize that they have been lied to and deceived for a long time. I believe however, that most Americans know how to find the truth behind the lies. There are many independent news sources outside the MSM. The truth as I see it, is that most Americans don’t really want to hear or see the truth. The truth puts responsibility into the hands of the people. Responsibility for the actions of their leaders and the conduct of their government is not palatable to most Americans.
There are many writers and pundits that constantly compare the American people to sheep. Anyone that has read political articles on the internet or in magazines has heard of the word “sheeple”. The word implies that the American people are led around like sheep, and that they are blissfully unaware of their surroundings, and like sheep, being led to slaughter, goes along peaceably to their doom. This is a great comparison, but like many other broad comparisons, it’s far too simplistic and doesn’t even come close to actually describing the mindset of the American people. The truth is that Americans do know what time it is, they do know what is being done in their name and they are very much aware of the erosion of individual liberties, they just don’t want to acknowledge it.
I could stop right here and make a simplistic statement such as the American people are in denial, that it is easier to go along to get along, that ignorance is bliss and hundreds of other statements that say basically the same thing, that it’s easier to deal with a problem if you refuse to admit there is a problem to begin with, if you don’t have a problem, than you don’t need a solution. This type of thinking is essentially the crux of the problem here in America. The simple truth is that many Americans simply don’t want to hear the truth. The admission of a problem is the admission that we need to find a solution. The quest of finding a solution to the problem is more daunting than just living with the problem. Of course this is not the only reason why many Americans stay in a state of denial, there are many reasons, one of which could possibly explain why so many Americans refuse to acknowledge the problem in the first place, and this is that the American model of a representative republic… has failed us miserably. In fact, our federal government is out of control. The truth is that at no time in the history of the United States, has a government so completely ignored the will of its people, as this government has. We have had Presidents ignore the will of the people before, but this President ignores not only the people, but Congress as well.
When faced with a problem of this magnitude, is it any wonder that most Americans hide their heads and pretend there is no problem? I will bring up a few to illustrate my point;
1. The Federal Government’s Lies that led up to the War in Iraq.
2. The Erosion of Our Civil Liberties.
3. The Voting Fraud in the Last Two Presidential Elections.
4. The Refusal of the Executive Branch to Comply with Congressional Subpoena’s and the Lack of Desire from Congress to Enforce Them.
All of these examples are direct challenges to our Constitution. Is it any wonder why Americans play deaf and dumb and plead ignorance? These problems seem almost insurmountable to the average citizen. How can we reign in an executive branch without the support of Congress?
This isn’t the only reason that Americans feign ignorance. The situation that we find ourselves in goes against everything that we have been taught to believe. The very idea that a President of the United States could lie to the American people about the reason we started a war, and then to be caught in those lies soon after, is a hard pill to swallow. That Congress does nothing adds insult to injury. The fact that six years later, after a million people are dead and the war rages on, defies understanding.
The Global War on Terror has also left Americans standing in unfamiliar territory when it comes to our rights under the Constitution. We have been given a new set of rules and ordered to abide by them, even though most Americans don’t even understand what they are, or why they were implemented in the first place. When Americans are told that the Magna Charta has been replaced by the Patriot Act and The Military Commissions Act of 2006, most Americans that aren’t criminal defense attorneys have only a vague idea what it all means. The idea that one loses all rights, that the government can search their property and possessions without a warrant, that their phones and computers can be tapped, and that they can be arrested without being charged and held indefinitely without representation and without a trial, most American’s are confused. Is it any wonder why there are so many that pretend that everything is ok?
Voting fraud on a massive scale in the 2000 and 2004 elections leave many wondering where American principles that were taught to them in school have gone. The lack of a verifiable paper trail that records each and every vote and the government’s lack of concern or their desire to fix the problem, lead to many citizens asking why. The refusal of the Executive Branch to allow their people to be questioned by Congress also leads to insecurity. If Congressional subpoena’s can be ignored by the White House, if the President can order the NSA to wiretap anyone without a warrant, what form of government have we replaced our representative republic with?
These are the questions I have. I believe that I am no different than most people and that if I have these questions, than many Americans have the same questions. Is it any wonder that Americans don’t really want to open Pandora’s Box and delve into what’s wrong with our nation? There is only one thing I would like to add. Feigning ignorance, while it may lead you to being able to cope better emotionally, will not actually make you feel better, but it will make you complicit."
Saturday, May 31, 2008
American Complicity Part II
I’ve talked to quite a few people since I wrote an article I called “American Complicity” a few days ago. http://liberalpro.blogspot.com/2008/05/c
I can understand how most Americans feel. I use my writing to vent the frustration that I feel every time I realize that I’m being lied to again. I realize that many of my fellow citizen’s have no such outlet. There are some people that write, as I do, and some people that express themselves through other means. The anger that people have is understandable, particularly if they have no outlet for their frustration. This is the reason that I started writing politically in the first place, before that I was writing fiction. (This is something else I can blame on Bush; I could have written “The Great American Novel” with all the energy I have spent writing about politics). Still, it’s a good thing I directed my energy this way, I could probably have ended up banging my head against the wall.
This evening on my radio show (www.Blogtalkradio.com/liberalpro), I had a conversation with one of my listeners on just this topic. My friend was extremely frustrated by people’s lack of concern about the lies and distortions that are coming from this administration and the corporate media. The vilification of former President Jimmy Carter by the media and some government figures, the woefully inadequate coverage about the situation in Gaza, how the media’s lack of concern about our civil liberties surfaces when one examines the questions asked of the presidential candidates, had driven him to distraction.
The failure to confront the politicians about the loss of our civil liberties is a particular sore spot with me as well. Sometimes I wonder if Americans really care about the loss of habeas corpus if you are branded a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer. Don’t Americans understand that if someone, anyone, is given that designation, that they can be subject to searches without a warrant, wiretapping and even torture? I realize of course that most Americans don’t stay up at night worried that they will be branded a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer, but still, doesn’t anyone care about their constitutional rights? Doesn’t anyone realize that people, once they surrender their rights, the government, and I mean any government, will not restore these rights because of a guilty conscience? No government gives up power willingly, it takes a fight, either a fight in court or a fight on the streets, but it usually takes a fight. People that give up these rights in order to gain some semblance of security, are anathema to most free-thinking Americans, indeed to most free-thinking people everywhere, in fact, didn’t Benjamin Franklin bring up the same issue up a couple of centuries ago?
The recent trip made by former President Jimmy Carter has some people up in arms. He has been vilified by some in the media for talking with Hamas and the Syrians. The Israeli government has also portrayed him as a traitor to Israel. Some people in this country seem to believe that Israel should be supported no matter what they do. Some politicians seem to put Israel’s interests over their own country’s interests. Prime examples of this type of thinking are the positions taken by Senator Joe Lieberman. The support Lieberman has given to the idea of using force against Iran, and his support for Senator John McCain, are all based on the protection of Israel, not because of legitimate American interests. The voters in Connecticut had a chance to rid themselves of this Israel-first politician, but couldn’t seem to rally enough votes. The idea of putting American interests ahead of Israel’s should be a no-brainer, but apparently that is not the case. Why do American’s tolerate the view that Israel should dictate any roadmap for peace? The idea that places another nation’s interests ahead of our own is ludicrous, yet, that’s the case in regards to Israel, for many of our politicians.
The corporate media and their “selective” reporting on world events are troubling. The American people are well aware that we don’t get all the facts. It is quite obvious to everyone that takes an interest in world affairs that in this day and age, you just cannot rely on the mainstream media. If Americans want to get the complete picture they must go to the internet. This is a travesty when you really think about it. In this so-called “information age”, why can’t the American people count on their media? We all know the answer; it’s because “corporate interests”, and not the editors who select the news that will be broadcast or printed. No longer are the people’s interests paramount, the sponsor’s and the owners of those outlets interests are.
I’m sure that someone will comment on this story and tell me that I have written nothing new. In fact, I’m sure of it. This is why I toyed with the idea to stop writing about politics and the world and go back to writing fiction. There are times that I feel everything I write I have written before, if not me, than somebody. Sometimes I get tired of writing the same kind of articles. Take my word for it, if you only cover those stories that expose government deception, you’ll never run out of material. I took a week off and thought about it. During that time, a number of events popped up that made me want to write. I realized that I don’t write about the same things over and over, it’s that I come to the same conclusions over and over. This is means, at the end of the day (I hate that phrase), it all boils down to the same thing; many Americans don’t confront this administration, regardless of how blatant the lie. The Bush Administration basically gets a free pass on everything, and the American people allow it.
Just think about the lies Bush has told and then make believe for a moment that it was Bill Clinton who had done the very same thing. Can you do it? Then ask yourself why Bush is still the President. Ask yourself if the American people are indeed complicit. If you say that it isn’t the people but the media who are complicit, ask yourself why the people can’t change the media? I ask myself this question everyday."
