Thursday, February 09, 2006

When conspiracies ARE real

Many Americans, and notably the right wing, eschew “conspiracy theory” in the belief that conspiracies just don’t happen. Well, I have news: sometimes, conspiracy is real, and the theories are true. Just look around if you don’t believe me. If you want to whitewash it with a prettier name, go for it…just remember not to throw out the facts simply because you don’t like the terminology.

http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/06/02/far06002.html

Misery tours help NOLA heal

NOLA still hasn’t recovered from Katrina and Rita, and “misery tours” are helping locals and visitors heal by witnessing how NOLA was left high and WET! Every American should see the devastation that these tours reveal.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tours
7feb07,0,6783936.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The “devastation tour” is New Orleans's newest attraction. Even locals ride the bus, saying it traverses a sadness that must be seen and shared.
Elizabeth Mehren

Political assassinations 'R' US

For decades, America swore off political assassinations (euphemistically dubbed “eliminations with extreme prejudice”). Even George H. W. Bush followed this bad-karma-avoiding precedent. Yes, Bush “41” recognized that heavy-handedness coupled with shortsightedness truly is not in the best interests of the nation. What a shame that what’s good enough for Poppy isn’t good enough for Junior, who insists on beating his chest and having his own way no matter what. Judging from his behavior, I keep waiting to read that the enfant terrible finally threw a tantrum and held his breath until he turned blue.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3476929

U.S. is back in assassination business
Patrick Shea

Third world elections here? We should be so lucky!

All Americans who care about preserving our democracy should read this article. We are losing the battle, my friends…but, armed with information like this, I hope we will yet win the war.

http://margotbworldnews.com/archive/2005January/Jan24/death.html

The Strange Death of American Democracy: Endgame in Ohio
Michael Keefer
www.globalresearch.ca
The URL of this article is http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KEE501A.html

Another Downing Street memo?

Imagine that: there are, at last count, two Downing Street memos. Many Americans already know about the one accusing Bush of seeking to sex up the intelligence to justify invading Iraq, but how many know about the latest one circulating on the web? I’ll give you a hint. Don’t like the news? Just bomb the messenger! At least, that’s what Bush had in mind during discussions with Toady Blair about bombing al Jazeera. Luckily, Blair talked Bush out of it. Why Blair thinks his association with Bush is a good thing (politically speaking) is beyond me.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607_1,00.html

The secret Downing Street memo
SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY
DAVID MANNING
Matthew Rycroft

The fourteen points of fascism

And lest we forget, here are the fourteen points of fascism along with clear and present evidence that the Bush junta now occupying the White House constitutes an undeniably fascist regime. Who says Hitler’s Germany can’t happen here? I have news for you folks: it already has! Remember, Hitler didn’t just rush into killing Jews. That large step rested on the shoulders of many smaller, subtler steps that, like us today, many good Germans didn’t even notice – nor did they understand the implications.

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

Good-bye, Homeland

WAKE UP, AMERICA!
Nap time is over!

I never thought I’d see the day the American press would enslave itself to the corporations, thereby becoming completely corrupt and irrelevant to its faithful readers.

I never thought our government would wire-tap its own citizens for over a year before they would find out (with the complicity of the media, who made sure we didn’t find out during the 2004 elections).

I never thought our government would build files on Internet habits of fellow Americans: not activists, not terrorists…fellow Americans.

I never thought I'd see my fellow Americans so willingly give up our nation's dearest values of justice, common decency, and fair play.

Or enslave themselves to fascist overlords, as if to concur that only the obscenely wealthy deserve to make money while working Americans starve in their struggle to make ends meet.

I never thought I'd see the day when so many of my countrymen would be deceived by shouting-head media figures who owe no allegiance to the public and who therefore are not accountable for the facts they promulgate (remember the Fairness Doctrine? I do. If you don’t, check out http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/fairness.html, which is linked at the title of this post).

I never thought I’d see such media figures discourage free and fair debate, squelching dissent in all forms because they are too insulated by their own massive wealth to care about the harm they are doing.

I never thought I'd see my own friends and family would unthinkingly call me unAmerican and unpatriotic because I still hold dear those old-fashioned values of justice, common decency, and fair play.

I never thought that I would look to Great Britain for news regarding latest plans being cooked up for us by this evil administration (a la the second Downing Street memo).

Or that intelligence and facts would be fixed to match plans to invade a sovereign nation (a la Iraq in the first Downing Street memo).

I never thought I’d see a CIA operative deliberately outted by her very own government.

Or that my country would be responsible for disappearing people.

Or learn that my country used napalm on innocent Iraqis. (That’s the trouble with napalm: it can’t distinguish where it should go.)

Or witness continued tax giveaways to the wealthy at the expense of plans to rebuild a great American city...New Orleans…whose less wealthy residents suffered inordinately more than their wealthier counterparts.

I never thought my government would destroy volumes of electronic evidence to hide its evil doings.

Or that a male prostitute with the initials Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert (same guy, different alias) would have access to the White House 196 times. Who needs honest media when gigolos are ready, willing, and able to serve up all the news that the right-wing wants you to hear?

Or a U.S. company, Enron, would bilk every last dollar from the American worker while leaving the taxpayer holding an empty wallet. This is what fascism is all about, people: transferring the private burdens of the corporations onto the backs of the American taxpaying public. Wake up and smell the coffee!

I never thought I’d see the CEO of Enron, Ken Lay, resurface to preside over Bush’s coronation – oops, I meant inauguration – party!

Or innocent American voters become unwitting enablers to a corrupt party masquerading as Republicans.

I never thought my America, with its warm, inclusive arms, would devolve to become judgmental and exclusive.

Or see my beloved Statue of Liberty clutching a list of excuses telling us why some immigrants are no longer welcome.

Or CNN/Time-Warner hire a man indicted for Enron malfeasances, as if to say well done!

Or hundreds of American businesses incorporate in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes to the country from which they make money. If America had an unbiased press, it would have investigated this story as vigorously as Bill Clinton’s sexual peccadillos.

I surely never thought I’d tell my fellow Americans to go to al Jazeera for a fair and balanced look at what this administration is doing in our name. I also tell them watch and listen to “Democracy Now!” with Amy Goodman. If only CNN had maintained the standards of its inception – the very standards now held dear by al Jazeera.

And, lastly, I will never forget the icy chill that overcame me as I watched a wildly cheering crowd at Bush coronation festivities amid tons of confetti floating dreamily from above at Madison Square Garden…reminiscent of a Hitler rally as seen on the History Channel.

Peace.