- Although the quest for or preservation of "democracy"
is often used as a justification for war, history has incessantly revealed
that such a quest is often little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to
install a puppet regime.
-
- Nazi leader Herman Goering once remarked that it was
easy to lead people into war, regardless of whether they resided within
"a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, a parliament, or a communist
dictatorship." All that was required, Goering argued, is for their
government to "tell them they are being attacked, and [then] denounce
the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater
danger."
-
- Many years ago, when I was younger and more idealistic,
I would have viewed Goering's statement as an anachronism. After all, millions
had suffered immensely during the nightmare of World War II, and it seemed
that this historical imprint alone would have indelibly reminded people
about the folly of blindly following leaders into war. Also (and despite
Goering's assertion) democracy appeared to offer additional protections
from this folly as well, particularly in wealthy, industrialized nations
like America, where freedom of speech and press permitted the free exchange
of ideas, which in turn served to balance emotion and reason, and exposed
any lies used to rationalize an unjust war. While it is true that America
still suffered through the Vietnam era, it did not do so unquestioningly,
nor with a blind faith in the nation"s leaders.
-
- But the coup by the plutocratic supporters of George
W. Bush in the year 2000, coupled with the invasion of Iraq, changed all
that, revealing how easily Americans can be manipulated, how willing they
are to be lied to, and how vacuous the freedoms of speech and press have
become when the bulk of information is filtered through corporate-controlled
media that profit from jingoism, propaganda and dishonesty. But, perhaps
most disturbingly, these events demonstrated that even though the words
"freedom, democracy and human rights" are chanted like mantras
by political leaders, many Americans have apparently welcomed, or at the
very least are blissfully unconcerned about, the erosion of freedom, the
abuse of human rights, and the nation"s growing transformation from
a democracy into a neo-fascist dictatorship.
-
- Although the quest for or preservation of "democracy"
is often used as a justification for war, history has incessantly revealed
that such a quest is often little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to
install a puppet regime. Decades ago, the folk singer Phil Ochs, in his
song COPS OF THE WORLD (the lyrics of which are still hauntingly relevant
today), stated that in American lexicon democracy is simply another name
for profits, and that in poorer, "third world" countries democracy
normally consists of an imperialist power handpicking leaders for the local
populace to "elect." The late Cuban guerrilla leader Che Guevara
went even further, stating that in these impoverished nations democracies
are simply facades established by imperialist powers to placate the masses,
when in reality "third-world" governments, burdened with debt
and dependent upon wealthier nations for basic necessities, frequently
have to implement policies that appease their imperialist masters even
if it means the suffering of their own people.
-
- More recently PRAVDA columnist John Bourke examined this
phenomenon in the context of American efforts to allegedly install "democracy"
in Iraq (<http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/98/387/11401_iraq.htmlIraqi
Democracy or Our Iraqi Democracy, 12/1/03) by pointing out that the majority
of Iraq"s population are from the Shiite sect of Islam, and a truly
democratic vote would undoubtedly place their representatives into power.
This could, Bourke explains, eventually lead to the establishment of a
"fundamentalist Islamic state." Yet, despite all the Bush dictatorship"s
pretensions about the Iraqi war bringing "democracy to the region,"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has flatly stated that no government
in Iraq, even a democratically elected one, will be permitted to install
an Islamic state. After Rumsfeld revealed that the desire to promote democracy
in Iraq was basically a lie, another "justification" for the
war became the need to defend "human rights." Clearly Saddam
Hussein was a brutal dictator who maintained power through the use of fear,
torture, disappearances and mass murders. But he was just one of many such
dictators, some of whom are still in power and supported by the United
States.
-
- The reality is that it was not the violation of human
rights that disturbed the neo-fascist ideologies of the Bush dictatorship,
but the fact that Hussein had simply exhausted his usefulness. It is particularly
revealing that the demonization of Hussein came after he was no longer
needed as an American ally, just as, under the first Bush regime, the demonization
of dictator Manuel Noriega, and the subsequent invasion of Panama, occurred
only after Noriega was no longer needed as an American ally. Prior to this,
the human rights violations committed by both these men were routinely
ignored, and sometimes welcomed. As I reported in a previous PRAVDA article
(<http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/383/11003_Hoffman.htmlPolitics
of Assassination, 10/2/03), the CIA had on at least one occasion even turned
over to Hussein a list of suspected communists with the knowledge that
those on the list would be brutally tortured and executed. It was also
revealing that the invasion of Panama conveniently came at a time when
Americans were outraged about the billions of tax dollars they would be
forced to pay to bail out defunct "savings and loans" companies,
whose financial practices had resulted in the unjust enrichment of the
few, and the loss of life savings for the many. It is equally revealing
that the invasion of Iraq came while many, if not the majority of, Americans,
felt that the corrupt appointment of George W. Bush to the presidency had
undermined democracy, and that his inept handling of the economy was resulting
in massive job losses for the poor and middle-class, while the rich were
benefitting from "tax cuts."
-
- In addition, America's alleged "respect" for
human rights continues to be a lie, since one of the largest terrorist
training camps in the world, the School of the Americas, which is located
within the boundaries of the United States, still trains murderers, torturers
and rapists whose atrocities, primarily throughout Central and South America,
make the number of people killed by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups
pale in comparison. Ironically (or perhaps not ironically) Manuel Noriega
was a graduate of this "school." Of course all of the issues
and facts discussed above are not "deep, dark secrets." But they
also are not items Americans are likely to see or hear while watching or
listening to news broadcasts from corporate-controlled media. These media
are still licking their collective lips over the ratings and profits windfall
sired by the Iraqi war, and are certainly not going to report upon anything
that will prevent the Bush dictatorship from engaging in more wars and
invasions in the future. So it has become the province of fictionalized
dramas to expose what the jingoistic "news" media want hidden.
One example is the medical drama ER (short for "Emergency Room").
In recent episodes an American doctor traveled to a war-torn African country
to provide medical services for the humanitarian organization Doctors Without
Borders. When asked why the American government's alleged concern for human
rights did not extend to Africa, he sadly remarked, "They've got no
oil." Another aid worker later remarked that she was astonished that
Americans were not "rioting in the streets" in protest of the
deceptions that led to the Iraqi war.
-
- Although "rioting in the streets" would undoubtedly
bring more political repression, courtesy of America's megalomaniacal Attorney
General John Ashcroft and his so-called "Justice Department"
(those who saw the videotaped abuses inflicted on post 9/11 detainees clearly
know what this means), the lack of outrage in America against the lies,
hypocrisy and bloodlust of the Bush dictatorship, and those who support
it, is frightening. It would seem that all Americans, but particularly
those with children or other family members serving in Iraq, would be demanding
impeachment after seeing a bellicose Bush in military attire on the deck
of an aircraft carrier, since he avoided military service himself by joining
the National Guard, and then went absent without leave (AWOL) from that.
It would seem Americans would be equally infuriated that other deceptive
instigators of the Iraqi war--like Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Paul Wolfowitz--avoided
serving in the military. It would also seem that Americans would rebel
against those who not only undermined democracy to create the Bush dictatorship,
but who never even bothered to protect this democracy through military
service--like former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, Bush"s
brother (and Florida Governor) Jeb, and Supreme Court "justices?"
Antonia Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Finally it would seem that Americans
would demand that the political commentators and celebrities who supported
the Iraqi war, yet avoided serving in the military--like Sean Hannity,
Joe Scarborough, William Kristol, Bill O"Reilly, Brit Hume, Kid Rock,
Toby Keith, Ted Nugent, Bruce Willis and numerous others--now "put
their money where their mouths are" by trading in their guitars, microphones,
mansions and film careers playing "make-believe" soldiers for
rifles, military fatigues and a "real" opportunity to get killed
or maimed. After all, it is not difficult to be "brave" when
the lives at risk are not one"s own.
-
- But instead of outrage it appears that many Americans
continue to be lulled into complacency by lullabies of propaganda and deceit,
while those who exploit the war for self-aggrandizement and profit adroitly
evade detection by camouflaging themselves in counterfeit garments of "patriotism."
-
- In a previous article for PRAVDA (Lessons Learned, But
Forgotten, 8/13/03), I explained that, in forming America's government,
the founders relied heavily upon the principle "that power tends to
corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This belief inspired
a system of "checks-and-balances," as well as a Bill of Rights,
to guarantee that certain individual liberties would never be abrogated
by either the government or the majority. I further asserted how history
seemed to substantiate the founders" judgment about the corrupting
influence of power, since governments premised upon the hypothesis that
human beings were intrinsically good (and thus no check-and-balance was
necessary) consistently produced some of the world"s most brutal dictators.
The dilemma that persistently arises in America, however, is the fact that
power, and those who hold it, resent being "checked and balanced."
Yet this delicate system is the only bulwark between American democracy
and American fascism. Therefore it is no surprise that the primary target
of the Bush dictatorship is not Afghanistan or Iraq, but the check-and-balance
system. Fascism fits well into the simplistic ideologies of the Bush dictatorship.
While fascists essentially agree with America"s forefathers that people
are basically evil, they actively manipulate this evil by trumpeting emotion
over logic, and "great lies" over truth. This is normally accomplished
through the exploitation of "scapegoats," who are marketed as
the source of all social ills, coupled with appeals to humanity"s
basest instincts--bigotry, greed, fanatical nationalism, fear, and lust
for conquest (just to name a few).
-
- In fact, several disturbing analogies exist between George
W. Bush and history's most infamous fascist, Adolph Hitler: Both men assumed
power in defiance of the will of the majority; both men used "great
lies" to pursue their warmongering agendas; both men preyed upon humanity's
basest instincts to disseminate those "great lies"; both men
were appeased by the British government, Hitler through Neville Chamberlain
and Bush through Tony Blair; both men were willing to use national tragedies
to justify the destruction of civil liberties, Hitler through the burning
of the Reichstag and Bush through the September 11th terrorist attacks;
both men were/are suspected of either participating in, or ignoring warnings
about the imminence of, these tragedies in order to enhance their political
stature and power; both men demonstrated no compunction about exploiting
a culture of death for political self-aggrandizement, Hitler through his
well-publicized genocide campaigns, and Bush who, while governor of Texas,
routinely denied DNA tests to death row inmates, even though such tests
could prevent wrongful executions; both men were willing to appeal to racism,
Hitler through his quest for a "master race," and Bush through
his condemnation of affirmative action policies, which primarily benefit
racial minorities. While denouncing such policies as "preferential
treatment," Bush predictably displayed no such aversion to the preferential
treatment enjoyed by wealthy white people, like himself, through a system
of nepotism and cronyism; both men reveled in war and exploited the military
to satiate their personal ambitions and vendettas; both men used war to
enrich their political cronies; both men demonstrated contempt for international
law and the concerns of the world community; and both men believed they
were/are on some holy crusade inspired by a "divine province"
that placed them into power.
-
- But the disconcerting advantages the Bush dictatorship
enjoys over Hitler's are the scientific advances that have made the implementation
of fascism much easier. New technologies have given the government Orwellian
capabilities. Programs now exist to decipher every stroke made on a computer
keyboard, to spy upon people from great distances, to create databases
designed to blacklist and harass those who don"t obsequiously genuflect
before official dogma, and to install microchips into vehicles, and even
into people, to monitor their every move. In addition, advances in genetics
provide the opportunity to establish a "master race," simply
by denying insurance or other medical care to those with genetic proclivities
to certain diseases, and to create DNA databases that will enable the government
to categorize and/or spy upon individuals with certain genetic predispositions.
There is also the glut of "recreational" technology to keep Americans
inactive and thus ill-informed: computer games, videos and DVDs, 24-hour
sports broadcasts, hundreds of television channels available through cable
or satellite, and a media enamored with a "cult-of-celebrity"
to distract the populace with superficialities (innocuously called "infotainment")
while social injustices are ignored and freedom and democracy decimated.
In fact some social critics recently noted the irony that more outrage
had been generated over the methods used to select a champion in college
football than the methods used to elect a president.
-
- Of course some may argue that Hitler clearly was compelled
by evil motives, while Bush was compelled by "benevolent" ones.
But this ignores the reality that the primary difference between Bush and
Hitler may simply be milieu, not mind-set. In fact, actor/activist Harry
Belafonte once courageously asserted that the Bush administration is "possessed
of evil." These words should not be dismissed as hyperbole. Hitler,
after all, did not begin his campaign for world domination until fascism
was deeply entrenched in Germany. The Bush dictatorship is still manufacturing
this entrenchment. Given the analogies above, one must wonder if history
would have been so radically different if George W. Bush and his war-crazed
cronies were in power in 1938 Berlin instead of 2004 America.
-
- Even a cursory study of American history reveals a nation
that perpetually swings, like a pendulum, from overreaction to regret.
During these periods of regret, the excesses and harms that overreaction
generates are usually cured. But, with the new millennium only a few years
old, concerned Americans, as well as the rest of the world, are now facing
the prospect of the most powerful country on earth metamorphosing into
a neo-fascist nation, existing in a constant state of war as truth is sacrificed
on the altar of bellicosity, nationalism, greed, hypocrisy and selfish
ambition. If this is left unchecked, those who seek to resurrect that long
moribund world of peace and justice will soon become lone voices in the
wilderness, eventually being heard no more. And by the time the people
of the United States realize how myopic they were to have placed their
democracy, their freedoms, their trust and their lives into the hands of
deceitful and evil people, the pendulum will have ceased swinging.
-
- David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of http://pravda.ru
-
- End note:
-
- This is just one interestingly accurate view of a political
level of that what is called our reality. Unfortunately, as such it can
be understood in a proper way only if other factors, that are outside of
this frame, are considered. First of them is the fact that politics does
not exist. How difficult that task is shows that even older Bush is not
aware of this fact. Making his son do that what he believes is the best
for their country he is fatherly limiting the array of damage control possibilities
left to the U.S. population. This is why younger Bush faces the real possibility
of becoming a subject of the Prophet Tecumseh's curse.
-
- IZAKOVIC
- http://www.deepspace4.com
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