The philosophy that “the ends justify the means’ is antithetical in a democracy. Conversely, a defining principle of Fascists is their faith in this credo. But, the first casualty of this doctrine is the abandonment of truth, ethics and respect for law and civil rights in favor of expediency. Once begun, this invariably snowballs into the limitless improprieties we now witness in the current Bush Administration.
President Bush says his ‘authorization’ for illegal wiretapping of American citizens is "a vital tool in our war against terrorists and critical to saving American lives". This administration supports human torture, imprisonment without trial or legal representation, shadowy, sneaky and illegal ‘rendition’ and massively egregious other human rights abuses. Bush excuses this as ‘vital to national security’, and demonizes any who disagree. Fear is the vehicle, with the mantra of “9/11, 9/11, 9/11” used over and over again and again and again.
Never mind the breaking of US and international laws, not to mention commonly accepted basic mores of humanity . And how about that “Patriot Act” which attacks the very foundations of our treasured personal freedoms - all in the name of ‘National Security’?
To put the most benevolent face on it, the Bush Administration has notoriously ‘misled’ the public in the face of completely contradictory evidence. Well known (and admitted) examples:
“(intelligence) leaves no doubt that . . . Iraq . . . continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.” GW Bush
"There's a grave threat in Iraq. There just is." GW Bush
President Bush used fear to stampede our country into a ‘pre-emptive’ war costing many thousands of lives - and untold billions, with no end in sight. The overwhelming tragedy is this illegal war has actually helped terrorists and increased their threat. But, we are there now and the challenge is to extricate ourselves in the least damaging way while still maintaining security for our nation.
Cadres of ‘embedded’ journalists parrot the administration line, and journalists are paid millions to write misleading, untrue propaganda articles for publication. A largely co-opted US media in the hands of a few people, gutlessly fails to perform its vital duty to keep the public fairly informed.
This administration and their supporters savagely attacks victims, persons or groups who dare to point out the truth;
This administration blandly makes wholesale ‘black is white’ assertions which are absolutely contrary to truth:
The “Clean Air Act” (which is anything but);
“There is no proof of global warming”;
The “Healthy Forests Initiative” (actually boosts fire danger and receives no funding);
Denies complicity in supporting a coup against a democratically elected government in Venezuela;
"This new law preserves and strengthens the current Medicare program.” (in fact the opposite, by privatizing much of the plan)
“I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” GW Bush (09/01/05)
And the list goes on (and on, and on, and on).
We deserve the government we tolerate.
We deserve the government we tolerate.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. Sadly, I'm beginning to get the impression that most Americans more than just tolerate their government; they are, in fact, not-so-closet devotees of it.
Any grousing they do about a certain politician or a certain policy is really more an expression of irritation at the policy's execution (or its adverse affects on a certain segment of the population) than at the principle of the policy itself. Bush's unpopularity over the Iraq debacle is a case in point. People are not so much upset at Bush over the immorality of the war he started, but rather at his botched execution of it. What they want is a tyrant who can "kick ass and kill 'ragheads'" with limited shedding of American blood. They're not upset at all over the idea of an immoral and murderous war of aggression against a people who have done them no harm. As a matter of fact, even a casual observation of Americans going about their daily lives reveals a population intoxicated by aggression, coercion and violence. We love to fight (or watch others do so, thus satisfying our own bloodlust by proxy), partake greedily of sports saturated in violence (wrestling, hockey, etc.), delight in causing friction in interpersonal relationships, spread hatred, envy, and ill will amongst ourselves and destroy each others' property, not to mention heap ad hominem attacks upon those we disagree with like a child pouring sugar on cereal.
Yes, we (collectively, that is) do indeed deserve the government we tolerate, as well as the one we obviously love. After all, it clearly caters to our basest instincts.
Very sadly I am coming to the same conclusions. I feel that there has been a very gradual shift over a couple of generations, which has accumulated into a sea change in the way Americans see reality - or are blind thereto.
ReplyDeleteThis is largely driven by fear, and secondarily by what amounts to greed, or at the very least a 'me first'piilosophy, which has now become deeply embedded in the American psyche.
Other nations can see this in us, but most Americans keep merrily tripping down this path which can only lead eventually to grief for our nation - there is only so much the rest of the world will tolerate. And, we can't expect the rest of the world to remain static.
Other nations and other regions - like china, and the European Union for example - will eventually grow weary of our whiney cries for 'more, more!" and and some point act to put a stop to it.
We are like bully children at a picnic, grabbing everything in sight while the weaker ones - for now - are obliged to stand by drooling while the bullies grab all the goodies.
But the weaker grow stronger, and bullies eventually age or otherwise lose their strength - and their powers of intimidation - and eventually like Biff in "Return to the Future", they wind up waxing the cars (and licking the boots) of the formerly weak.
Such is our inevitable future - at least for our descendants unless we can somehow wake up.
No person or group will tolerate being put down once they see weakness in their oppressors.