I can’t stand people who use Nazi Germany and Hitler to draw comparisons with something they disagree with. However, the time has come to put things into perspective.
We Torture People
It has been confirmed that we have done (and for all we know, we continue to do) terrible, inhuman things to people we do not know. No one in those facilities got a trial. Even if they did, NO ONE deserves being treated this way.
Have you ever thought you were going to drown? I have. I was pulled underwater in a strong riptide when I was body surfing as a kid. The waves knocked me around and pulled me out deeper into the water and I thought I was going to die. I couldn’t tell which direction was up, so I swam frantically as I inhaled salt water and could feel myself beginning to lose consciousness. Finally, I broke the surface of the water and caught my favorite and most appreciated breath I’ve ever taken. If this is what waterboarding is like, then it is definitely torture. And I don’t care how effective it is. It’s wrong.
This article sums up how I feel better than I can I think. Read it when you have a few minutes if you’d like some perspective on what we’ve become:
Christian fundamentalists are killing American citizens. They do it by supporting wars where Americans are dying to fight a Holy War they didn’t sign up for. They do it by bombarding Muslims with bombs and bibles. They do it by forcing their beliefs down the throats of every person they see.
If you think that Muslims are fighting a one-sided war where the good, pacifist Christian people are the innocent victims you are sorely mistaken. Fundamentalists here on our soil have been plotting a holy war for decades. They train their children to be soldiers in a battle for God against the evil Muslims of the world.
They believe in the Rapture and look forward to it, despite it being an ominous and terrifying prophecy in which non-Christians are massacred and the world comes to an end. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect a super villain to speak longingly for. A glorious end of the world that will bring all of humanity to a better, beautiful new world… if they agree with me.
This is government-sponsored genocide. The U.S. Government gives these churches funding to stay in business and continue spreading these words of violence and hate. This is your tax money. This is your representation. Why should any foreign country believe that you have no part in it, when it has been driving our “elected” government for years?
This is why we have terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens. What would you do if your family was killed when your home was hit by a bomb and the people who dropped it came to your door, patched you up and handed you a Koran so you’ll have better luck in the afterlife? What would you do if a Muslim soldier came into your home in the middle of the night and took your father/brother/son away in handcuffs without giving you a reason? What would you do if you heard about American civilians being tortured in a Middle Eastern prison? How would you feel if their government admitted to doing it, but instead of prosecuting the people who tortured your countrymen they say:
“To as great of an extent we can say, the last eight years are over, now we can move forward – that would be beneficial both to the country and the president, politically.” – Robert Litt, about Obama’s legal policy
I would feel like I was being forcibly converted to Islam and I would want to rebel against it. I wouldn’t surmise that these soldiers were fighting to give me freedom and peace the way that our media markets these wars. I would hate any nation that did this to me. Is this the war you support with your votes and tax dollars?
Propaganda
The U.S. media is out of control. Factual (non-editorial) news casts are few and far between. The only real breaking news we get is idiotic snippets of Obama going to a burger joint. Groundbreaking shit.
Meanwhile, we don’t see stories like these here in my living room:
MSNBC claims that the people at Fox News are the propagandists that should be ashamed of themselves, but they are just as bad. No mainstream television news organizations covered the protests that were going on all over the country over the original bailouts. The protesters were right outside the windows of half of these organizations and yet: nothing. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, a man I once respected, made a special comment about how ridiculous the bailouts were about a week after it would have been relevant. The government has reversed control over the U.S. by using the media.
Blatant Electoral Fraud
We have a senator (Arlen Specter) who switched from a Republican to a Democrat just so he could be re-elected. He does not participate in the Senate as a Democrat, he has openly spoken about the whole thing being a ploy, and the only thing that happened to him was the slap on the wrist of losing his seniority. He should be impeached! He has openly admitted to lying to his constituents! He only cares about keeping his job even if it requires cheating the electoral process!
Fear
Every week there is a new panic it seems. Whether it’s Bird Flue, Swine Flu, Equine Flu, Salmonella in our tomatoes, SARS, or goddamn Y2K, people should all be afraid. The media hypes up the most ridiculous stories with tones and graphics of incoming Armageddon. People were afraid to leave their homes or go to work because our Vice President Joe Biden decided to practically tell everyone that swine flu is everywhere.
The subtext of every “outbreak” that has occurred is: blame foreigners or minorities. Be afraid of things and people who are different from us. Hooray for the land of the free and home of the brave! The free are told to stay in their homes or they might get sick and die and the brave are so afraid of a peanut that they demand they are taken off grocery store shelves, helping to cause hundreds of factory workers to lose their jobs.
These fear tactics lead Americans to believe that they NEED the government to protect them from all the bad people and dangerous diseases that foreigners bring to our shores. The government knows what’s best for you? How did the government help you out so you wouldn’t lose your home? They gave the bank that jacked up your rate billions of dollars so they could continue paying the collections and repossession companies to hassle you. How did the government make you safe from terrorism? They start an undeclared, unjustified war against a sovereign nation, bomb civilians, torture people, and don’t apologize for any of it. It certainly sounds like the government has my back. I feel safe and secure in these warm chains already.
What He Meant to say was…
And every time a politician says something idiotic, blatantly lies, or gets caught doing something immoral or illegal it’s the same story. A press release where a flunky says “No, what he MEANT to say was…” or an apology speech and nothing is done. It is publicly known that the Bush Administration misled us into war, spied on our citizens, and tortured people in horrific and disgusting ways, among many other scandals. Is anyone doing anything about it? NO! THEY’RE DONATING MILLIONS TO HIS FUCKING LIBRARY!!!
The lies and deceit are so thick that I can’t even tell what’s real! I know we live in a country full of the willingly ignorant, jaded cynics, and the blindly patriotic, but some among you have to see this is a travesty! Everything I see in politics is corrupted to the point that they don’t even put in the effort to hide it anymore. These people need to be cut off from our government (and even our society in many cases) like a gangrenous limb that will poison and kill the rest of the body.
Do Something Small to Help
We need to show the media who’s boss. The first step to stopping special interest groups from hijacking our government is to regain public control over the news media.
We need to watch the programs that tell us the truth. We need to buy the newspapers that follow anti-bias ethics. We need to buy the products that sponsor these outlets. Don’t just ally yourself with a news source because you agree with them. Use a news source that tells the story and that’s it. This is all really easy stuff that you can do just by sitting on your ass and watching TV or surfing the internet.
I have my own opinions that I slant everything with, so I DON’T need someone else to slant the news for me. Give me the straight news and I will do just fine “spinning” it on my own. Otherwise, if you can’t do the job that the Constitution intended you to do, get the fuck out of the news business.
