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Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 at 6:56 am

The politics of patriotism

"Judge Learned Hand of the U.S. Supreme Court once said he would like to see these words:" I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, I think I may be wrong, "inscribed" in the portals of every church, every courthouse and at every crossroads in the nation. "This is not just an allegation for those who disagree with us. It is, profoundly, a statement to acknowledge that our righteousness can lead to places that are more deeply wrong. At this time, perhaps more than any other time in the history of our wonderful human race, do you need to get in touch with our hearts. We need to be touch with our humanity. The lesson of Nazi Germany is clear: it is those who dehumanize others lose their own humanity. We are all artists, poets and intuitive. It is our birthright. As humans, we all have the ability to search and connect with our human qualities. These include love and compassion. These are our divinity, our humanity and our survival "(Taken from:. www.sarvananda.com Bulletin March-May 2003)

"If fascism came to America would be a program of 100 percent Americanism." --- Huey P. Long, U.S. Army Talk, March 24, 1945

I was trying to find a quote from Chief Justice Learned Hand and stumbled with the above quote and felt it was appropriate to include the complete citation for the purposes of this essay. In fact, I sent this quote to President Clinton when he was in office when I wrote a letter asking for pardon to Leonard Peltier. I wrote this essay in the hope that it may be of some help if a single person who is considering enlisting in joins the army after reading what I wrote. The risk of being maimed or die physically and psychologically, because the president and the corporate media tell us that is our patriotic duty and without knowing the hidden history of U.S. wars is nonsense. I was in the lottery of the Vietnam War in 1971 and my number was something like 69. It was politically conscious at the time, but when he got close to me that possibly sent to Vietnam, I trusted my instinct and kept without permission is until I left the army with an adverse shock. The reception of this "bad" discharge was morbidly humorous. So it was not worth dying and killing, possibly, for my country? Oh recruiters are masters of deception. They promise you the moon to get to sign the contract. I have been told that if I wanted be a clerk-typist had to sign for another year. Lie! Not even have to go to improve the normal training after almost everyone goes through basic training in the army. I was a clerk, as soon as I got to Fort. Sam Houston in San Antonio. Almost everyone I've met or known I was in the military have almost no use of the skills acquired in military service in the world of work, when he sought employment after leaving the military. In other words, his time in the army is dead time, as if they had been in jail and out of the workforce. Therefore, where he found work, most started in the bottom. "Be all you can be," is a lie left to recruiters, the Pentagon, and the presidents of perpetuating and perhaps one of the key selling points. Most young gullible fall for this tactic and believe that when they leave they are entering a challenging job and a good race payment. Unfortunately, most of us are pumping gas or flipping burgers.

Just to show the despair that the army has been and probably still is for recruits well educated or intelligent or something recruits when he was in basic training and had taken a number written tests during the first 3 or 4 days he had been there, and it took me 4 or 5 other guys in our company to several meetings with senior officers whose rows had trouble finding. Anyway, speaking of high pressure salesmanship, which was amazing and the most inflated ego. Basically, we said could be placed where we wanted to be in the world and could be us in MOS (military occupational specialty) we wanted, if we re-up (extending our contracted tour of the amount of time) to six years I think? I could not see as capable of sending men to certain death, that as an officer at some point may have to do. We wanted to send to OCS (Officer Candidate School) and I did not even want to be a squad leader. As in the military, which is the same that appears in the world corporate business dictating everything we are, how we are supposed to behave, speak, think, dress, etc., less rock-the-boat and the incompetent are more and better is in the ass-kiss, the highest so that the "ladder of success," you are going. I saw the rational use of the army of labor, when I saw that the boys had Master collecting cigarette butts, and not for disciplinary purposes.

Well, when I got orders that half of us will be sent Vietnam and the other half would be sent to Germany, I decided it was time to start going without permission. I had met an older man who was also trying to leave the army and told me that the army did not give a damn about how bad they were or how much they hated him. He advised me that you have to prove you're more trouble than it's worth before that was allowed to escape. And if you go without permission, you are bound to go to court martial hearings can not be sent out while you are going through this process. I left without permission from three or four times, but did not take me seriously because I had just received a fine and you have to do some additional tasks as scrubbing floors at the last while AWOL, I was gone and after two months, the FBI arrested me at my mom. However, when Bush AWOL son for eight months or so, he was never arrested by the FBI and his records disappeared. This is "justice" and "equality" in America.

Next on my list of reasons why you should think long and hard before joining the military is obvious, but perhaps not as obvious as most of us are led to believe, the risk of serious physical harm. And do not get me wrong. I am not a pacifist and I think there are times and circumstances in which you have to put your ass in the physical line and take up arms. I have been told for many years that if any nation launched an attack against us on our own shores, I am the first son of a bitch there down fighting against them, but for us to danger just because we say it's the right thing to do, is dangerously naive on our part. Look at the millions of white children in predominantly poor, Latino and Black young men who went to Vietnam and were exposed to the defoliant, Agent Orange, and when he came down with a large exotic variety of medical problems and diseases, this "honorable" government of ours at first denied that Agent Orange had been even used. And when the lie could no longer be hidden, the government denied their relationship with health problems to our returning soldiers and their families had to deal with. The Pentagon and the federal government to deny responsibility for Agent Orange, the chemical weapons of the Gulf War, and current use of depleted uranium until Hell freeze! Why? Because if you admit that you give your children responsibility for a wave of moral demands and reduce their legs in terms of credibility with the public general. It would also be demoralizing to those now in the military.

Another, "negligible" factor of some military recruiters and TV ads do not mention in your sales pitch is the fact that once you sign the Faustian contract for his soul, which is in effect giving the military the right used as a lab rat or guinea pig in all the experimental programs that dream. For example, the Army thought it would be interesting to see how the soldiers fought under the influence of powerful hallucinogens. Research yourself for what Timothy Leary had to say about this topic. And for a version Hollywood which was pretty horrible, seeing the movie, Jacob's Ladder with Tim Robbins.

In addition, our government and the total lack of military of care or concern for our health and well illustrated with a series of atomic explosions that forced our military personnel exposed to what the Pentagon Dr. Mengele and his imitators could study the effects of atomic radiation on humans. Or how about the fact that the Pentagon sent our soldiers in Vietnam with the new M-16's known as the "Mattel Mighty ', because the action was performed by the toy maker and these" toy guns "jammed several times and cost the lives of many children. I understand that eventually worked out of the "twists".

How about the fact that many of our soldiers currently in Iraq complain that they do not even have body armor or a half and when their parents began to send bulletproof vests, this "Compassionate conservative" administration forbid it? And only one in eight of the vehicles of our soldiers in Iraq's unity around them are shielded. This is Bush's idea of "supporting our troops." How many stories has "60 Minutes" shown on the multitude of different systems weapons, planes, tanks, etc., which were defective and cost our people their lives? Many soldiers returning from Iraq after the Gulf War reported that either have no gas mask issued to them or their flaws! And one of the things that really make me want to go ballistic is when I learned that without permission chicken hawk, child spoiled, rich, Dubya Bush 'George, saying how proud he is of our young soldiers in Iraq and how it supports their efforts and sacrifices, but behind of the scene that has reduced medical benefits and pay! On the other hand, is absolutely amazing how blatantly Bush can stand before the television cameras and lies of her ass. I recently learned that the soldiers are given a bonus for additional tax each visit serving in Iraq, but if they get injured and can not end their tour, Bush wants them to return their bonuses. When this came in the news, Bush and the Pentagon did some running back quickly and are now trying to otherwise surreptitiously to screw the soldiers claim the honor. This only highlights the betrayal of our soldiers and the United States again by elite greedy. And all defective weapons systems and grossly inflated that we, the taxpayers, are forced to pay, but not the rich, is part of what former President Eisenhower warned us he was leaving office when he said beware the military / industrial complex (which would include Congress in this complex was discussed --- a little too revealing would be my guess). In addition to betray everything America supposedly stands for and what our soldiers are supposed to be fighting by, is the fact that this crazy, bottomless pit manufacturing and purchasing with our tax money more and more weapons, bombs, planes, boats, etc, is bankruptcy of America. And you can be sure these cockroaches capitalist enterprise inside and outside the government know very well what they are doing, because why would Cheney are reversed dollar-euro and the U.S. dollar, right? Mark my words to my friend, who will lead America into a total financial collapse and then jump ship and live abroad in their stolen billions.

Equally important, and to further illustrate not only the physical neglect of our soldiers, but also the psychological impact of this government's indifference to our soldiers, I recommend to all those contemplating joining the military guard of the films "Coming Home "and" Born on the Fourth of July ". These films show how well you care that can be if you are unlucky enough to be wounded in combat. Many VA hospitals are backward barbarians of the Dark Ages and the patients are forced to put in their own feces and urine for hours. I'm drawing blank on the name of the hospital of veterans who were recently in the news for its unpleasant conditions and neglect of our soldiers? But as I mentioned films showed, rats and cockroaches often was in hell and the VA nursing staff often treats patients as annoying, sub-humans. Yes, the government really appreciates your sacrifice! We to hope and pray that our VA hospitals conditions are not as embarrassing as they were in these films?

Next on my list of factors that should consider before signing your name on the enlistment contract is the economic or financial younger guys are not aware that joining the army. Financial lies, distortions, manipulations and are especially severe because most of those who join the military do so because they can not find any work, except minimum wage jobs with little future or not. Closely linked to the inability of young people find decent paid work the pathetic state of our system public education. I highly recommend reading The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto, if you want really know how widely the government and corporate robber barons are screwed all the public education system they have designed and mandatory for us attend or face legal consequences. I dissected this book and I'm using it in a book I'm writing because it is a gold mine of totally awesome machines perform by the powerful and influential (Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller, JP Morgan) to deliberate the great majority of Americans a "dumbed" education it would be obedient little workers and consumers. Are you willing to risk and possibly sacrificing his life and physical integrity of an "establishment" that looks like gods and predetermines their future and sentenced him to life in a robot assembly lines in factories? A life that makes many of us turn to alcohol or drugs to temporarily escape this reality so ugly!

Meanwhile, to give another example of Bush and his cronies "values", you Ever notice how he and Rudy Giuliani take advantage of every opportunity to show the flag-draped coffins of police and firefighters who died on September 11, in their political ads for their campaigns? But Bush will not allow the flag-draped coffins of our soldiers dying in Iraq shown on TV? And this is the commander in chief to cut the salaries of New York police and firefighters. Read what they have to say about Georgie and Rudi. This is also the intrepid leader of our nation who told the Environmental Protection Agency to falsify their reports on air quality at Ground Zero for people to return to Wall Area Street and will resume as usual. And as Michael Moore showed us in his film Sicko recently!, Many of the volunteer fire emergency workers, etc. that are coming down with severe lung disease and other diseases, are denied medical coverage. That always comes down to money with the elite power, however, appeal to our patriotism stir us to sacrifice in wars to enrich themselves and their then turn back street in our suffering and deny responsibility.

Maybe I sound a little too hard in my criticism of "our" government and their corporate masters? Reflect about it, if you will, in addition to the immorality of our invasion and occupation of Iraq is the pragmatic question of what our presence and our participation open "war on terror" is doing to our economy. Many conservatives were delighted with the collapse of Russia and Reagan is credited with making it happen. Well, I disagree and believe that the Russian economy due to the implosion of his forty years of competition with us in the unbridled arms race. The economy Russia simply disintegrated before our words, he could not maintain their housing infrastructure, health, education, roads, bridges, etc., so long as trying to keep up with us in military weaponry. A lot of Americans are not aware that used to be the world's largest creditor nation, but we are now the largest debtor nation meaning that owes more money than any other country. In other words, we are in hock up to our eyes. I recently learned that is mostly Asian countries and China have given us is the country that we owe most.

When I heard that, things quickly added that I could not understand before. For example, I could not understand why not do something when the Chinese government killed and imprisoned thousands of Chinese students protesting in the Plaza Tinnamin for democratic reforms and even had a statue of liberty as a meeting point? Another betrayal of our part to the promise of democracy was when we were on again and again did nothing when China invaded Tibet, killed hundreds of Buddhist monks, destroyed ancient cultural artifacts, and forced the Llama Lama into permanent exile. But then I should not have surprised me because we are a "Christian" nation and we give a damn other major world religions such as Buddhism and Islam. However, again and again, our president stands in front of television cameras and proclaimed throughout the world to hear "America stands for freedom, democracy and fundamental human values." The rest of the world has witnessed an example following the example of the hypocrisy of Bush and do not buy his empty rhetoric for a minute. Apparently, the only people who have fallen into the Bush BS, is the American people. I've been to Europe several times and hear their views on the United States has been a revelation for me. As is apparent from all the layers of lies and deceit that our politicians and corporate spokespersons have wrapped themselves in the middle is a concern and the interest only that is, the protection of their wealth and everything necessary to ensure their pursuit of more wealth.

Return to the question of our "defense budget" and this is a misnomer and a cruel joke, because "budget" of the word implies a practical balance of your finances, ie payment of the needs for food, shelter, medicine, insurance, etc. and stay within the limits of how much money to spend. I forget the name of the guy, but I saw a PBS program and worked with him in the accounting department of the Pentagon, I think for like 30 years? Well, he has been saying for decades Congress on deliberate fraud "defense" purpose of the contractors to bid down costs for various weapons programs and once the contract is awarded, then speculation and burden taxpayers of millions and billions of times more than he had originally stated. And do not forget that many of these projects was several million dollars have serious defects or never worked at all and took the lives of U.S. military and women!

This tells the truth also noted important deception used by all the corrupt politicians, which is the fact that for actually carrying out an effective war against terrorism, all these expensive weapons systems are useless. What is needed to fight this war --- which in turn is a misnomer because you can not wage war against an invisible enemy. What we have that wages are more accurately referred to as a criminal investigation and we have agents trained in the languages, customs, geography, religion, etc. of terrorists they are hunting. But of course, this does not require billions of dollars that our military / industrial / Congress wants to continue investing in their pockets to continue spreading fear and lies with the companies millions of dollars in public relations, advertising, spin-doctors' and hired gunmen, ie ex-military officers, journalists, economists, teachers, and etc! (Just watch FOX)

Why should I go to fight Bush in a war that began without provocation by the Iraqis and on the basis of false accusations and blatant lies, which began with "we have to strip Saddam of his weapons of mass destruction, "which later became" no clear connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda, "the current line of shit" we are bringing democracy to Iraq, because we are compassionate and caring advocates and promoters of democracy. "Yes, Jeb Bush and his brother are true believers in democracy and the proof was evident last year in Miami, in the demonstrations against the IMF, the World Bank and the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). Remember that $ 80 billion or what Bush requested for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? So the Bush-son gave $ 7 million to his brother, Florida Governor --- Who helped his team electoral vote fraud to "win" the oval office --- hire police officers from dozens of counties in Florida and illegally and brutally shot, pace, gassed, imprisoned, and tore the cameras and so thousands of Americans who went to Miami to exercise their democratic right to protest against the policy your government! And on top of this travesty of justice, there was a scandal about his not spending the money granted by Congress for the reasons stated in its application? I forget the details, but this just shows me that this coward in the White House to see yourself as back in the Wild West, where the only law was the gun and could do whatever they wanted to say, run with rough tires our Charter of Rights and all laws including international law and the Geneva Convention ie, Rumsfeld said the Geneva Convention rules are outdated and the U.S. not have to watch. Gee, I wonder where the soldiers who tortured and humiliated and killed prisoners Iraqis, for many, had the idea that they could do whatever they wanted with their captives? Or, what "democratic" value or the assumption of innocence until unless proven guilty in a court of law? Our soldiers fight for honor and the principles that America stands for, but our "leaders" betray and undermine the honor and principles. And the hypocrisy of saying that the respect for public order and challenging the international standards like the Geneva Convention, signed at the end of World War II that was established to hopefully prevent a recurrence of crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis and the violation of now, will not let us lose in the moral standpoint, when our soldiers are captured and tortured by their captors.

Also on the topic of reasons Economic why you should think twice before considering the military as the solution to your problems, you may not consider is the fact that part of the reason can not find any jobs pay decent wages and living is that Bush and the other "compassionate conservatives", fantastic leaps corporate taxes to close their businesses here and moving overseas labor costs much cheaper. Again, why risk their lives for "this country" when establishing the economic, social, political, policy, etc. "our country," show us again and again that matters to the suffering and humiliation experienced difficulties because they have no loyalty to us? I saw a presentation on the Bill Moyers program on PBS TV 04.16.04, an unfortunate example and a lack of respect for another way our political and military elite treat our young men and women who risk their lives fighting for this country. The story is the fact that many families whose husbands are over in Iraq and in danger, but because the military are paid very little, their wives and children have to go to the food bank and trust charity of your community! I really honor our men and women who serve their country right? Our political and military elite and brilliant lover rather spend billions of our tax dollars --- which almost none of the super-rich pay one U.S. dollar --- to hire mercenaries (Blackwater, for example) who were trained in the military U.S. and end of their term of service are hired by "sub-contractors and do something like $ 100,000 per year. I also read recently in The Oregonian that the National Guard or were not receiving many full wages or none at all. Yes, join the army and "be all you can be! "

Besides, why risk everything for a government that dozens deregulation of sectors such as savings and loan industry, that during the reign of Reagan declared bankruptcy or defaulted on tens of thousands of elderly and their savings wiped out? Then just make a few years, Ken Lay, Enron, Bush's friend, did the same but this time to pension plans of its employees and actions. Enron was just one of dozens and dozens of companies that we screwed once again to scale. Such business practices can only flourish in an atmosphere of corruption and the politicians and regulators look the other way. There is another great book just out called perfectly legal and the author points out that something like 60% of our companies have paid no taxes for several years claiming their headquarters in places like the Bahamas and still enjoy all of our legal rights, protecting our police and military, etc. Does this seem fair or equitable? Here's the dictionary definition of "egalitarian" decide, "the belief in human equality, especially in regard to social philosophy advocating the elimination of inequalities between men."

Sorry, but I can not believe in leaders who are trying to eliminate the right to overtime pay for 40 million American workers and at the same time make exceptions for CEOs who earn more than $ 10 million per year to shelter as much as they want in their 401K retirement plans, while the rest of we are limited to something like $ 13,000 per year. In fact, believe it or not, I also learned recently that Bush cut funding for the IRS program officer to go after corporate tax evaders and also has increased funding for the IRS program officer to prosecute individuals avoid paying taxes. No, I can not believe the "leaders" and if I can not believe them, I'm sure I'm not going to risk my life, because they say it's my patriotic duty and moral! These sons of bitches, loyalty is a one way street, ie we owe it to them, but have no such obligation for us. They think they are the lords feudal and are at their mercy, and we are here to serve as peasants serve their masters!

Some of the reasons I have brought what should seriously question the morality of "our leaders" who preach to us about the need for noble sacrifice the United States, have already touched on betrayal and now I want to go into this in depth. The power elite, status quo, or whatever they refer to the label those of us who dissent from their ideologies, unfair policies and practices, anti-American, traitors to American principles, or traitors, and some of them even have the audacity to call our imprisonment or even death. But I maintain that they are de facto traitors to the principles and values of America and our founding fathers must be turning in their graves at such arrogance and the betrayal of U.S. citizens.

Deception is another way of lying to the government and the Pentagon --- which is a branch of government, have become very adept at. Take the Vietnam War and how the Pentagon (General Westmoreland) inflated body counts in Vietnam's soldiers North issued false and deliberately killed lowest numbers of our men who had been murdered in order to keep the public in the dark. This clearly was an attempt by the powers to manipulate public opinion and keep us on the side of pro-war hawks. And what I find incredibly cruel and another example the Pentagon and the administration of trying to deceive the American people that will not allow the coffins of the dead returned to their projection in the media, Bush has not only been to a funeral of our fallen soldiers and the military actively discourages families of dead soldiers and women to be there at Dover Air Field when loved ones come --- usually in the middle of the night under cover of darkness. And this ball of mud, a person who says be "our president" has the balls to declare time and again that "support our troops?" No, Bush is the first traitor to America and more and more Americans are beginning to awaken to the truth of this.

You know, sometimes you need the "village idiot" or a child to state the obvious, that seems to escape the rest of us as in the classic fairy tale the emperor has no clothes and in this line of thought it occurred to me that if our leaders are honorable men and women and the war in Iraq a noble cause, why is it necessary to lie, distort and manipulate with us in supporting it? These corrupt politicians and military elites can only leave with all their deceptive practices with the support or acquiescence of the media communication. The powers that he learned an important lesson regarding the power of the media during the disaster of the Vietnam War. Although The Pentagon tried to control what war correspondents have seen and photographed by flying in combat zones after the fighting was done and only allowed access to the battlefield where the army had nothing to hide. However, there were a handful of journalists who had integrity and refused to be spoon-fed PR propaganda distributed by the Pentagon. These brave souls find their own transportation and went to some restricted areas and reported back with us to the truth of what they saw. This was very bad for politicians and senior Pentagon 'images. But perhaps most damaging of all was the dissemination of news every night that showed the constant flow of body bags and flag-draped coffins of our dead.

And that is why we maintain tight control over the images of war from Vietnam because, finally, the sleeping giant of the American public wake up from its long slumber and say, 'if we're doing so well in this war, why do so many of our soldiers home dead or seriously wounded? Unfortunately, because we have become so addicted to television in the last half century, the images are now much more powerful in shaping people's opinions that the printed word. And because our public education system is in such disarray, most Americans lack critical or analytical capacity necessary to defend against the assault of corporate indoctrination. The power brokers know that once most Americans turn against a war, their days of speculation the war are counted. Personally, I think it was so silly for the invasion of Iraq, journalists have to be approved by the Pentagon and "embedded" in certain military units. The gagging and the subject of journalists during wartime and in peacetime and the U.S. has done much more similar to totalitarian countries always said they were so morally superior a. We have allowed these people lying and morally repugnant that we call our 'leaders', that almost completely erode our precious freedoms and liberties base contained in the First Amendment to our Constitution, which contains the "press freedom". It is very important to remember these words of Thomas Jefferson, "Our liberty depends on freedom of the press and that can not be limited without being lost." Indeed, I just learned to see Naomi Wolf on the news program of patriotic and U.S. real democracy is, now!, which war correspondents embedded in their divisions Hitler, for example, had a famous film director going over the invasion of Poland, who later helped to produce some of the documentaries of the Nazi war propaganda more effective.

Now I do not know about you, but I'm a little confused because we are in Iraq and the latest public relations rhetoric is that they are there to establish democracy, but while doing so, here in the U.S. the government is to subvert our 'Democracy', by intimidation, restriction, and deliberately misleading our media? Also under the silence of our media and are cooperating in the subterfuge, or if they have no choice but to go along the theme of censorship of the images and the number of Iraqis killed and wounded, including the percentage of innocent women, children and the elderly! Or what about our soldiers who were enrolled in a specific amount time and are about to return to the U.S. only to learn that the Pentagon has expanded its service period and have no other choice in the matter? Would not it be this the same as misleading advertising by recruiters or be condemned by the standards of the community as deceptive trade practices? After all, is a contract you sign into the army.

Similarly, the Pentagon has deceived us to another fundamental issue, I have no way to excuse the treatment sick and barbarity of the Iraqi prisoners, but say that these young soldiers did not invent these methods themselves! As in Vietnam in the most obvious that we were told about this is the slaughter at My Lai, when the Pentagon sought to shift full responsibility Lieutenant William Calley, the Pentagon is saying again that it was only a few bad apples. I really think we're all stupid and have no memory. By the way, I just learned something amazing the other day ie, Colin Powell, was deputed to investigate the slaughter at My Lai by his superiors at the Pentagon and resumed his "research" with "It was not nothing. "

Another example of how the crocodiles in the corporate boardrooms and in Congress have betrayed us, I noticed a day while I was reflecting on the theme "Everything that can be." I must admit that this is a smart little propaganda. Immediately calls to "Egalitarian" principle that supposedly all believe in. You know, we all have the same opportunity to be what decides if you just knuckle down and persevere? How can we have the same chance or may not be a level playing field if public education is so vastly inferior to most elite academies, private? I I argue that it would not be so severely limited in their options after high school graduation if you had a really good quality or premium quality education his years in the public school system. How many rich kids get into the Ivy League, joining the armed forces or if they do, what many see real action on the battlefront?

And the children of teachers do not have to know the horrors of war. Our current president bushwhacking scored one point above the minimum score required for entry into the Texas Air National Guard, and yet his name was moved to the top of the list of eligible and there were hundreds of other candidates who were far superior "Dubya" and only had one slot left. Only by chance, George father had a friend at the time he made a call and is less in the Air Guard and even more surprising, when it became the young governor of Texas, named this old friend Dad to run the Texas Lottery --- and was found guilty of corruption and dismissed from the lottery soon after.

Meanwhile, the betrayal continues. I have to ask whether we are as citizens of a democracy? I think that with the passage of the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act, we have lost almost all of these rights in the Bill of Rights? The Thought Police may require that librarians and booksellers are given lists of books to do or buy. The secret police break in and arrest you or me where and when they want and we have no right to a lawyer to represent us, to be informed of the charges against us, etc. There is absolutely no such thing as privacy more. They can enter your house without a warrant and go through his things, including equipment and that neither may even know they were there. You can spy on your e-mail, mail and phone calls, whatever you want.

I borrowed the term "thought police" by George Orwell and his 1984 masterpiece. Why do you think the authorities are so interested in what you read? You may recall that in Nazi Germany, the brown shirts were large public demonstrations of the burning of books. In other words, books that represent knowledge, can be very dangerous for those in power. In fact, I have a paperback book entitled Books That Changed the world written by Robert B. Downs and it seemed appropriate to bring it up here because normally think of books or the ideas contained in them as so influential. As I like to say, free liberal arts and humanities humanize. And this is not merely clever wordplay. I sincerely believe, and if he had read deep and wide enough, can also come to believe this. They are terrorists so stupid that they would walk to a library or a dependent of a library and ask, 'could you tell me where is the section of building bombs? "Common sense will tell you that the terrorists not give his real name or leave any paper trail that lead back to them. They copy all the information they found useful or mail order with a fake address or something. I know I'm going to ring, probably as a conspiracy nut or something, but as Michael Parenti, said, "Conspiracy theories theories are not always. "I theorize that the secret police wants to know what we read because they think it will take to those who could pose a threat to the status quo through the dissemination of dangerous ideas, such as social justice, democracy, freedom, no special breaks for the rich, etc, etc, etc

The power elite to hide the facts from us because they know most of what they are doing is immoral and indignant if it were to be revealed. And speaking of "revealing" I was dumb-founded some time ago when I learned that Bush was joking and looked under his desk and said, "No, not weapons of mass destruction there," and then looked behind the curtains in the Oval Office and said, "No, no weapons of mass destruction is not" and then laughed. My God! What kind of heartless bastard he is? How insensitive and disrespectful he can to all our soldiers sent to Iraq under the cloak of lies and manipulation by of our emotions by appealing to our sense of patriotism and our fears that terrorists are lurking. In my time was coming to the Communists, the communists are coming!

Another issue that I think shows that our leaders for committing immoral acts, belly crawling reptile is the claim are Nixon and Kissinger promised that the government murderer Communist Vietnam, after leaving Vietnam, you would pay a ransom for our POWs and missing in action who were arrested and later chose not to comply with the agreement and let our men will not rot. I can not justify the charge, but after so many examples of betrayal of our government, I have no problem believing them as possible. And let me be very clear, both Democrats and Republicans are guilty of allowing these immoral and anti-democratic practices to follow to do in our name. I think deep down that most Americans are good people, but like most men humans when they are involved in immoral activities or military actions, etc. are without strong leadership, ethics and are encouraged to commit ethics, evil acts, depraved, or wild that same weak leadership can do, can fall into a being with a heart of darkness. This is a book written by Joseph Conrad, and was the basis of the film Apocalypse Now. By the way he chose this book because I know many of you have probably seen the movie but not read the book and wanted to give an example of acts of human barbarity in the end to get your attention. Too far or exaggerated? What about the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib to cite one obvious example of that was leaked? Or what about the stories I've heard about American soldiers in Vietnam, collection "gook" ears and use them as necklaces? Also, I remember a photo to a friend of mine showed me years ago from his father and several of his colleagues in World War II with one of the soldiers holding the severed head of a Japanese soldier who proudly displays a trophy?

Once more I want to remember that America has a long and bloody history that we never say about our public schools. There is no doubt that they will be dropped for some of you like any other paranoid conspiracy buff, and I understand that the reflective thinking that causes most people to dismiss critics like me with this cop-de "Conspiracy nut". Well, then how is that textbooks used in our public education system, so full of lies, distortions of the truth, distortions, revisionist versions of our history? No wonder that most children are so excited-off to history because has been so watered down, sanitized, and twisted that bears little resemblance to reality and students' sense of their falsity or lack of life. For example, check out Howard Zinn a History of the United States which informs us that Christopher Columbus had his men kidnap indigenous women and children and told her husband if not with gold back, they would kill their wives and children. What really scares me is the fact that because of our "education system and the media, "as much as one third of the U.S. population does not believe the Holocaust in Nazi Germany until it happened! I have fear because if so People can be in a state as an ultimate denial of this terrible episode in human history, it can actually happen again and in fact what is happening in Darfur in Sudan, as in Rwanda, and we, the United States, the champions of freedom and democracy to feel concerned by the apathy and Britney Spears and Paris Hilton lack of underwear, public drunkenness and other breaking "news." Check out denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault Truth and Memory Deborah Lipstadt to learn more about this phenomenon. You may also care to find the hidden history: Exploring our J. Daniel's secret past Boorstin, a former librarian of Congress. It seems unlikely that would allow a conspiracy nut to hold this prestigious position as librarian of Congress? Finally, you may want to review Lies My teacher told me: All the textbook was wrong American History by James W. Loewen.

Now I want to share with you some examples of our hidden history that anyone thinking of joining the armed forces should consider before making that choice, possibly fatal. George W. (WRONG!) Bush is the villain (who behaves violently, or criminal) is called a "compassionate conservative" and declares a holy mission from God to destroy evil. This is the man whose father as president before him, and during the Gulf War urged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam after the removal --- Iraq --- and when they did, he left them and to be massacred by Saddam. Our government provided Saddam with weapons of mass destruction, he used to murder tens of thousands of Kurds and others, and that did not raise a voice of protest because Saddam was our man (trained and put in power by the CIA). And now these same hypocritical cowards repeated again and again how a heinous crime that was back then, but conveniently do not tell the public by default, is not allowed to be broadcast in the media, but it is common knowledge in the alternative media.

Another thing that came to mind while reflecting on U.S. support freedom and democracy and that is why, if we are so morally righteous and just had to wait long before entering the World War I and World War II? As for me, the last nail in the coffin of those who shout that the U.S. has always been the defender of freedom and democracy is a simple list of most the most brutal dictators, sadistic world of our military, CIA, etc and have given millions of dollars and trained his secret police in the techniques incredibly exotic and inhuman torture. And by the way, our army has been used several times to invade those countries and left the poor who rebel against dictators. These dictators from prison, the torture and killing students, teachers, professors, artists, peasants, journalists, musicians, writers, etc. who dare to speak out against the oppression of their fellow citizens.

I know this is not common knowledge, since this information is not in the textbooks, conventional television, radio, newspapers or magazines. You have to make a major effort to discover the hidden history and current activities of "our" government and its agents of repression. Do not just accept anything I say because you trust me or think I'm an honest person. Discover for yourself and do your own homework, because it is the only knowledge truly worth there! I will point you in the direction of some valuable resources I have discovered in my search, though. I think you will find them very enlightening and will become increasingly angry that their knowledge expands. On the radio or the Internet, please ask your Radio Pacifica KPFK, especially in Los Angeles and his Sunday called Background Briefing with host, Ian Masters. And Robert McChesney makes a weekly radio program of the University of Urbana, which is very worth listening to. On radio, the Internet and some cable channels for public access is Democracy Now! With Amy Goodman, who is a true hero and has had his head sank, because he dared to try to report the truth of the slaughter in Timor Oriental. Finally, Noam Chomsky is a revolution of one man and that rock your world. And Michael Parenti and Gore Vidal, are stunning in their analysis of history and politics and definitely worth your time. I forgot, here are some excellent magazines that speak for the progressive or liberal political point of view: The Nation magazine The Progressive, Z, Harper's magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Utne Reader The, and Mother Jones.

This is only a partial list of dictators "who" have supported, allowing "our" corporations to rape, pillage, plunder and its people and natural resources --- these are what I'm at least somewhat familiar with: Idi Amin of Uganda, Batista in Cuba; Botha of South Africa, Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan, Christiani of El Salvador, Duvalier of Haiti; type Fuad bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, Franco of Spain, Hitler in Germany, Marcos of the Philippines, Mobutu of Zaire, Noriega of Panama; Shah of Iran, Papadopoulos of Greece Park Chung Hee South Korea Pinochet of Chile, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Ethiopia Salassi Halie, Somoza of Nicaragua, Ian Smith of Rhodesia, Stroessner, Paraguay, Suharto in Indonesia, and Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. Note also that sometimes invade Nicaragua and Haiti, several in the 20th century to safe for companies like United Fruit, which the Bush family had important investments inches and Bush says we are bringing democracy to Iraq? Can you see why the Iraqi people can not believe it?

The real agenda of the robber barons but rarely is clearly paying attention to their actions, not his words, assumptions we can make educated enough about what their real agenda, and here are some of my guesses. The powerful are some people more paranoid than ever I want to know. Do not know why overreact to the point? His evisceration of traditional public school curriculum has been almost 100% effective in production in a country of illiterate and functionally illiterate. Have been censored, distorted, and leave out much of the true history of America that really have become a nation of sheep. Orwell wrote prophetically in 1948 when he published in 1984, "Those who control the past control the present and those who control the present control the future." Think about it. When ordering the events in our history books, Do not we control this? Therefore, it is a truism to say that control of our future. Remember how the Pentagon controls the journalists to write about and coverage of our military actions around the planet!

I feel that this administration is a bunch of players and Bush are such cowards as bushwhackers fired by men in the back because they have the courage to fight in the open! Some critics have raised what I think is a plausible theory We have sent weapons inspectors in Iraq to ensure that it is possible that there were no weapons of mass destruction before the invasion to try to keep our dead, at least, and give the public a quick and clean victory? And this is another reason why "military intelligence" the term is an oxymoron. Our "intelligence" agencies and Condoleezza Rice was supposed to be an expert on Russia, I had no idea that Russia was collapsing and Ms. Rice, and our agencies "Intelligence" were caught off guard until after the fact that Russia itself collapsed. Believe it or not, I am nearing the end of this fairly long essay of mine and if you're still with me, I want you to applaud them for their diligence. I tuned into Democracy Now! The last week and was very glad I did because there was a very nice guest by the name of Naomi Wolf and she was discussing her recent book The End of America: a warning letter to a young patriot. During the course of the interview, Ms. Wolf calmly and eloquently established what she calls the model of fascism in 10 steps he has observed in his study of the despots and dictators and that is common in all despotic attempts to destroy democratic movements or closing a democratic society. I ask that you keep these ten steps toward fascism in mind and reflect on what I have written and then decide for yourself how much "truth" not my trial.

1) Call a terrifying internal and external enemy. As Ms. Wolf notes that this can be completely fictitious or real to some extent, but grossly overstated or exaggerated to frighten the public in compliance with the fascist agenda. Please note our internment of thousands of people of Japanese Americans during World War II and the confiscation of their lands. And also note that the "war on terror", has no physical location or time limit for their buddies and can be carried in its war against internal and external "enemies" indefinitely. Also is an interesting parallel with the Reichstag fire in Germany to the attacks of September 11 which prompted the people against an invisible enemy.

2) Create a gulag. Remember Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, which detailed the horrific conditions at all unhappy sent to Siberia by Stalin are forced to endure. Of course, our most infamous gulag of Guantanamo and is next to him is Abu Ghraib. But maybe there are hundreds of other "sites of black "in secret locations around the world. We have over 170 military bases around the world and farm out some of our friends torture and dictatorships Egypt and Syria. Naomi also reminds us of a famous shepherd who lived in Nazi Germany, Pastor Martin Niemoler he realized that he, unlike many other good German pronounced because first they came for the Communists, then the Jews, union leaders, then Catholics, etc, but never said anything because it was people on the margins of German society and who do not identify with them, but when the brown shirts were for him, there was no one to talk. "Most Americans do not understand yet that the destruction of the rule of law at Guantánamo set a dangerous precedent for them, too. "

3) To develop a breed of thugs. Mussolini had his Black Shirts and Hitler had his brownshirts and Bush has Blackwater. Not a title very original for a private company by the paramilitary force powers when you think about it. If you remember, or if they are not aware of it, not only Blackwater Cowboy operate as mercenaries in Iraq and other "hot spots" throughout the world, but have been deployed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to intimidate, beat, and terrorizing black residents of New Orleans for me to be clear and rich cats could 'gentrify' New Orleans. And in the recent fires in Southern California, Blackwater was sent back to 'help' and teamed up with McDonalds. Ah, good old capitalism is constantly in pursuit of profit, while the poor are once again a kick in the teeth. Note that the State Department has been protecting Blackwater from prosecution for their killings of innocent civilians in Iraq. Equally important, "hero" Oliver North another American, who was awarded for his betrayal of America with his own TV show, we talked about the preparations for Reagan in case of internal 'upset' by bringing together all the dissidents, declare martial law and imprison all the troublemakers. It can not happen here?

4) . Establish an internal surveillance system "in closed societies, this surveillance is presented as being of" national security "The true function is to allow citizens docile and inhibit their activism and dissent." The "Patriot Act", which more accurately is called The War on Freedom Act has effectively removed the right to privacy. And teachers have been hiding behind the term "national security" for decades to cover all their crimes against U.S. citizens and their covert activities around the world, such as the assassination of foreign leaders not "friends" to U.S. corporations that exploit the resources of sovereign nations and peoples. To learn more about this topic, we invite you to check out another PBS Frontline program called spy on the domestic front which opened in May 2007. In fact, I just go to the website and tried to access a parallel story to what the NSA may be even received a message saying "Access Forbidden". Home of the Free? Under the guise of "protecting us of possible terrorist attacks, "the evil wizards unbridled greed are really tighten the noose around the neck and especially the necks of all those who dare to dissent. Note that you can not attend a public speech by Bush, without signing a loyalty oath and if you're wearing a shirt with anything remotely critical of her bum get the escort of a hurry and possibly a tune tazer? Mussolini, Hitler, Communist China, Communist East Germany, etc, have used all internal spy networks in order to intimidate citizens into silence. And it works very well because people are increasingly fearful that their neighbors or strangers can tell on them if they say the wrong thing. Keep watching Jerry Springer, "reality shows, and all the nonsense and other crap does not worry about these minor inconveniences or violations and day you wake up and wonder where you are, because America has become a huge gulag. "Do not worry be happy!" (Stupid Song About 15 years ago)

5) Harass citizens groups. Senator Frank Church of Idaho, warned us about 1975, when he conducted the Church Committee hearings to investigate the government's COINTELPRO activities, our secret police infiltrated dozens of peace groups, anti-nuclear groups, the Black Panthers, etc., and sometimes strong charismatic leaders of these groups of the death of others, and used agents provocateurs to encourage violence that gave the fascists in the name of the cave-in people's heads and takes you to jail. I was at a rally in Los Angeles, once out of a hotel luxury was holding a $ 500 dinner plate Ronald Reagan and was scared because a black man began to talk to me and I felt he was trying to aspire to what is suggested to take some kind of violent action that could stop me. They are very subtle and clever in their tactics and you better be careful what you say and who else want to end up in jail. Anyway, our secret police to cool for a while, but not for long because when Reagan took power, the gloves came off again in terms of spying on us. The bastards did not even go after the pastors and preachers who dare to criticize their methods brutal and insensitive. But if you're a fellow hatemonger like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who even called for the assassination of Hugo Chávez, you have nothing to fear. They use the IRS to intimidate the leaders of the church in silence by threatening to revoke their tax exemption. Michael Moore also said that harassment of citizens' groups in his film Fahrenheit 9 / 11

6) Engage in arbitrary detention and release. People like me who have marched in peaceful demonstrations, signed petitions, written letters of dissent to the editors, blogs, etc. have been put on a list terrorists. Do not know yet if I'm on the list or not, but discover that the next time I try to fly. The point is that if you dare to dissent in the United States under the Bush regime, which look like a terrorist. Of course, this becomes entirely in his head that our founding fathers and framers of our Constitution to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, right to privacy, etc.

7) aimed at key people. You remember during the turbulent 1960's, virtually all the leaders of organizations critical of the war in Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the Panthers Black, etc. oo imprisoned leaders were killed. Consider the fate of Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Abbie Hoffman, Timothy Leary, Tom Hayden, Stokely Carmichael, etc. Also reflected in the fact that in almost every coup, one of the first things the new dictator does is close the newspapers, television stations, universities, etc. Why? Because they know that if they can keep the public in the dark and only allow people to listen to their propaganda, it is much easier to control and shape their opinions and thus manipulate people to go along with their hidden agendas. To illustrate this, I remember my surprise when he attended the University of California at 1980's and learned of a right-wing organization "Christian" fundamentalists call "Accuracy in Academia." Yes, 'accuracy! No! It was clearly an attempt to silence "liberal" professors and intimidate them in perpetuating the ideological perspective of the right.

Control the press. Unfortunately, the death sentence for the "free press" in America has long sounded. For an excellent analysis, detailed in this sorry state of affairs, we recommend that you consult with Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman consent 'S classic manufacturing: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. "The Committee Protect Journalists says arrests of U.S. journalists are at an all time high: Josh Wolf (no relation), a blogger San Francisco, has been put in jail for a year for refusing to surrender video of a demonstration against the war, Homeland Security filed a criminal complaint against the journalist Greg Palast, claiming that threatened "critical infrastructure" when he and a TV producer were filming victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Palast wrote a bestseller critical of the Bush administration. Other journalists and writers were punished in other ways. Joseph C. Wilson accused Bush, in The New York Times opinion, to lead the country to war based on a false charge that Saddam Hussein had acquired yellowcake uranium in Niger. His wife, Valerie Plame, was revealed as a CIA spy --- a form of retaliation that ended her career. "Yes, here is an example of true betrayal or treason, but, of course, when the White House thugs who do, get away with it. Scooter Libby was ultimately convicted of this crime, and although the heart beat Bush vowed that when she discovered that Valerie Plame outed, who had castigated the letter of the law. It was one more lie in a wave of deception perpetrated by this Board of jackals. Bush pardoned Libby before seeing a single day in jail. And do not forget once the venerable New York Times the "paper of record," which sets the standard for the rest of the U.S. newspapers. They beat the drums of war for the rush to war with the Fox "News" channel. "You do not have a closing news --- in modern America is not possible. But you may have, as Frank Rich and Sidney Blumenthal have pointed out, a steady stream of news lies pollution too. What you already have an address from the White House false information flow is so relentless that it is increasingly difficult to separate truth from falsehood. In a fascist system, it's not the lies that count but the muddying. When citizens can not tell fake from real news, to give up their demands for accountability, little by little.

9) The dissent equals treason. "Dissent cast as" treason "and criticism as" espionage ". All close this society, as well as makes laws that criminalize increasing certain types of speech and expand the definition of" espionage "and "Traitor." "I'm sure that much of what I said in this trial could be interpreted as" betrayal "by those who pervert the truth, and I heard they are thinking or have already begun to confiscate the property of people who dissent. Yes, the land of the free and home of the brave. "And this is where the circle closes: most Americans do not realize that since September last year when Congress --- wrongly, foolishly, passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 --- The president has the power to call any U.S. citizen an "enemy combatant." He has the power to define the meaning of 'enemy combatant'. ... He has the power to have taken us like we are changing planes at Newark tomorrow, or we have taken a knock on the door, or ship you or me to a Navy brig and keep you or me in isolation, possibly for months while awaiting trial. (Prolonged isolation, as psychiatrists know, triggers psychosis in otherwise healthy inmates mentally. That is why Stalin's gulag had an isolation cell, like Guantánamo, in all prisons satellite. Camp 6, the newest, most brutal facility at the Guantánamo, is all isolation cells. We U.S. citizens Judgement will --- For now. But legal rights activists at the Center for Constitutional Rights say that the Bush administration is trying increasingly aggressively to find ways to avoid giving U.S. citizens, including a fair trial. "Enemy combatant" status is a crime --- not even something that has to be done. "We have absolutely moved ove

About the Author

I was born in Oregon but grew up in L.A. I've done a fair amount of traveling and started by hitch-hiking up & down the West Coast several times and across the U.S. I've been to Europe several times. Earned a B.A. in English Lit from Cal State Long Beach. Been an avid reader all my life. Write mostly political essays and working on a major project (2,000 pgs. complete so far). Love stimulating conversations and listening to oldies but goodies, Motown, jazz, etc. Divorced and have a son who recently got married. Work as an assistant in Special Education.

EEP100 - Lecture 18