Last week, we had the "Seige of Georgia", in competition with the marathon send-off of President Ronald Reagan. Guess where all the TV stations and reporters in the world were stationed? The few sent to Georgia sat miles away in a hotel room watching the G-8 (some of it) on TV screens. From a distance they asked their questions. No matter, none of this ever made the corporate news programs. Instead we had in reality an 8 day public relations extravaganza. The longest political commerical in history. Meantime, thousands upon thousands of troops shut down 6 counties in Georgia. But this was thought unimportant. Air traffic stopped over Sea Island (the elegant meeting place), boating, visitors, mail delivery etc. Everything came to a halt. This new army of Pinkerton Guards for the corporate elite, were ready with jaw shattering rubber/plastic bullets, mace, pepper spray, clubs, machine guns, tear gas, and stun guns. Ready for a mere handful of people with signs and bottled water!

Had Iraqi insugents reached our shores? Masked decapitating terrorists? Had the Chinese turned foe and sent millions to Georgia for a takeover? Had Kim Jong, of North Korea, come in search for more Daffy Duck films to add to his massive collection? Were the aliens finally here in search of possum belly and grits? No, none of these. Thousands of troops, in armour were out to stop students and working people with their puppets, signs, drums, and paper flowers. Students and working Americans; trying to stop the exodus of millions of jobs to cheaper lands with no environmental or labor protections. They were attempting to stop the construction of a global plantation that will see the very few enslaving the many. They were there to stop the soulless corporations of the world from robbing people of foreign lands (including America) of their water, oil, gas, timber, minerals and labor. All this protection was meant to keep the people's voice from the table. Only those representing corporate interests and world leaders would decide for the world's billions. Macho couch potatoes minions, could be counted on to don military attire and beat down their fellow citizens, neighbors, and countrymen. Hey, easy money.

The "police state" which descended upon Nazi Germany was welcomed by the vast majority of German citizens. The Nazi propaganda machine had resorted to one scare tactic after another. All this was done in the name of protecting the German people and securing the "home front". And so it was in Georgia that citizens were conditioned to expect hordes of vandals, burning, looting and destroying. "Masked men" in the Seattle demonstrations were shown breaking some windows (this did make the news) and so the fear was born. None of the peaceful marchers knew who these "masked men" were. No matter the visual had been captured and the seed of fear was carefully nutured. If one is spending millions of dollars on military equipment, it stands to reason that police/mercenaries, would look pretty silly with the singing grandmas walking by or kids singing," Let There Be Peace On Earth." Today you can hire anybody for any purpose. Even causing a bit of mayhem and anarchy. It certainly justifies all those tanks and helicopters. We don't want to be free. We want to be safe!

Joseph Goebels, Propaganda Minister for the Nazis, proclaimed, "No people are as free as the German nation!" Goebels also advised Hitler, "If we can control a nation's media, we won't need armies." Goebels plan was to sell attitudes and ideas to an unwitting public. The propagandist has an easy time of it in a dumbed down population raised on sitcoms, action movies, and video games. The more educated the people, the more difficult the propagandist's job is. It is easy to imagine as Goebels did, that with the right group of propagandists (today called PR people and experts), one could ensure the election of canidates, and consumer buying practices. Heck the right propaganda machine could gain control and subsequently disallow any further ideational competition. One day you wake up and there is no one else to make competing truths, canidates (except in name) or attitudes attractive. The 1996 Telecommunications Act (only one national story) gave away our airwaves to corporate America. TV-radio-magazines-newspapers are all becoming one generic bunch of dribble. No debates, no discussions. "If your not for us your against us". Sort of a bummer for dissent and freedom of speech.

Education (woefully inadequate) is the only way an open society can be sufficiently resilient to withstand manipulation of the most talented PR presentations. Otherwise people are led by the most attractive--the one with the most money convincing through commercials, or manipulated by exploiting their fears---continuoulsy. Today we have color coded fear days, evacuations of airports should someone leave a camer unattended, retina scans, searches, triple ID, finger printing, road blocks, concrete barriers, cameras, etc. People need to ask continously no matter the source: "How do you know? What do you mean by your use of the term ----------?" (whatever new doublespeak they're using.) Today astoundingly enough, one is found to be thought suspicious, should the ask too many questions! People disposed to serious reasoning will always keep open the dialogue essential to an open society. The propagandist (PR person or expert) is paid only to present his or her client's point of view. Education is not the delivery of "information" nor the acquisition of sterile facts learned by rote. Education is the the Great Conversation of Humankind. All voices, all ideas, all debate and dissent

In France, the rise of political propaganda was meant to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment . Not until WW I was it recognized as a weapon of importance. Propaganda became synonymous for lying, misleading and cheating. Goebls invented intergrated propaganda and from 1933 onwards imbued German life with the Nationalist-Socialist way of thinking. All media in one hand, the entire society became one big propaganda machine. The Soviet Union (1928-53) was total propaganda. Falsification of photo-material had Stalin looking younger and younger on offical portraits. Other aspects, such a political gatherings, censorship on radia and TV, and of course also the use of blunt, repressive measures make for a meek shuffling public.

Images manipulate. Why do you think that never are there any signs of protest or dissent wherever the President or his administration goes. People are there, just never shown on camera nor in the news. Why are scenes so close cropped showing just seas of flags and clapping people? All of it orchestrated. Democrat or Republican, makes no difference the same tactics are used. For example--years after Gulf War I, it became known from small obscure articles and Senate Hearings, which nobody watched, that most if not all the horror stories leading us to war with Iraq were all manufactured by high price Public Relations firms hired by Kuwait. Yes...war is marketed. Another product that brings in big profits if you work it right. The thing of it is, people begin doubting everything. Did man really land on the moon in 1969? Why no no stars in any of the photos etc. Those buildings shown over and over in Gulf War I being blown up....by percision bombs? Were they just some fake buildings out in Nevada somewhere?

This past week wrapped up the sterile, predictable hearings on 9-11. Even these would never had been held, if it weren't for four widows from New Jersey looking for the truth. They're still looking. The White House, imagine, did everything to stonewall a full and through investigation of an ATTACK on us! These Senate Shows are not even good grade B movies. Over the past decades we have spent trillions of dollars on NORAD, weapons, planes, and funding 15 different intelligence (?) agencies. Trillions! One of the few jobs of government is to protect the people. What did we get?" The FBI doesn't talk to the CIA. The President saw the memo but didn't pay any attention. Nobody answered the phone. My boss went on his break. That agency was closed. We never faced anything like this before etc." What? Had everyone gone fishing? Was everyone was out to lunch? Or hey, maybe preparing to gas and club some protestors against the war in; Whistle Stop Georgia? Seems to be plenty of organization and communication when it comes to attacking American citizens. Planes sure man the skies then.

Hello...knock, knock. We, off the Mayflower, with our Pilgrim papers, are not the enemy. But then it is easier to attack those without weapons or grandmas in their flowered hats. Planes crashing across America and everyone is sitting on their thumbs. Or so we're told. Someone-somewhere was in charge. With all these practice runs these past years there must be an old pamplet around that says, "Joe at the Penatagon will give the order." Me no military person, (I would be better than we got) thinks, "Hmmm--attack? Now what things might I plan on? What might be a target?" Hey, the towers were attacked in 1994, they might try there again. And boy, I bet the nation's seat of government might be another target".Duh! We have all these military schools, think tanks, war manuvers, war rooms, a mountain FILLED with radar-computers-and satellite pictures of someone pissing behind a street light, and we get nothing. Worse yet...nobody burst out laughing at this sad spectacle of a hearing as they all played their scripted parts. "Who me, no I wasn't the one. It was the FBI, no it was the CIA, it was the EPA, the PTA." To me it lookeed like the old Abbott and Costello, "Who's On First". Anyone with a GED will be able to write up the report. "We've learned a great lesson from all this. There was a total lack of communications. The solution is to create a War Czar and a new." What If Something Unexpected Happens Agency." Funding will start at 100 billion. " Nobody will be fired. And most alarmingly, we are never going to know the true facts of girders melting in three building and imploding just like in the movies. We're never going to know, how a tribe of Arabs, got on planes (no photos yet from airport cameras?), with box cutters? Experience in handling computerized jumbo jets? Oh, a couple loops around a cotton field in an antiquated crop duster and they were all set. And we're supposed to sit out here believing this Big Apple story full of worms? It appears people are comfortable living in the Land of Denial. The PR people have earned their money. "Lack of knowledge is darker than night." unknown