There are obvious reasons why the one-party state can so successfully generate enthusiastic public support for reprehensible foreign and domestic policies despite flagrant abuses of the public trust. <\/p>\n
Corporations control the media<\/a> and the boys and girls in Congress use it to advance their agendas; differing views are held hostage by its influence. Highly personal and emotional issues are instigated to divide and conquer the public, as if John Tierney<\/a> needs to explain to me why Republicans talk dirty. The difference between the “parties” on moral values can be boiled down to this: Republicans pay lip service to them and actually get off on establishing sin, to better enjoy committing it. <\/p>\n What Republicans also do and do extremely well is push buttons. Two teenagers made Iowa news recently for wearing t-shirts to school featuring a fetus with the words, “Abortion Kills Kids.<\/a>” Initially, they were told not to wear them again but that’s changed, and this is a terrific precedence.<\/p>\n Real history t-shirts, designed to educate the public about the lesser known military interventions committed\/supported by the United States, would be an excellent way for the antiwar movement to reclaim momentum lost by pretenders in the Democratic party and to stir national debate. According to William Blum<\/a>, in the updated version of Killing Hope<\/em>, “from 1945 to 2003, the United States attempted to overthrow more than 40 governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements fighting against intolerable regimes. In the process, the US bombed some 25 countries, caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.”<\/p>\n Many more have perished or been made to suffer since. All of these stories need to told. <\/p>\n Americans should be “willing to be honest.” The suggestion is Noam Chomsky’s from his commentary<\/a> on the aerial bombing of Kosovo, a war crime still defended by many progressives as humanitarian. Chomsky carried this critique forward in After the War<\/em><\/a>, when he defined “a trap which is deeply rooted in the intellectual culture, and we have to avoid it. The trap is the doctrine that I sometimes call the doctrine of change of course.” <\/p>\n A perfect example of this doctrine’s effect was Kerry’s insistence on “staying the course” in Iraq eliciting nary a peep from the sheep.<\/p>\n The myth makers must be challenged in a bigger way. And whether the public is too occupied to find this history for themselves, or know it and are apathetic, it should become part of the daily lexicon. It should be done smartly and exactly, not in rhetorical rhyme.<\/p>\n Updated @1912 5\/5\/05<\/u>: “Imagine Life<\/a>” is a campaign hoping to show Americans some realities of Palestinian life. Despite “barely” exposing “the surface of the horrors of the occupation,” the project was dealing with pressure to pull its ads in Boston. Thanks to hundreds calling Comcast to voice their support, the ads (which can be viewed here<\/a>) remained on the air. Donations for future airings can be made there, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are obvious reasons why the one-party state can so successfully generate enthusiastic public support for reprehensible foreign and domestic policies despite flagrant abuses of the public trust. Corporations control the media and the boys and girls in Congress use … Continue reading