7.12.2003
Compare and Contrast
I offer you an excerpt from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech before Congress on January 6 1941.
I have spent a few hours writing an entry to share my perspective and oddly enough the vagaries of the cyberworld saw it disappear without even a fizzle. Blink, gone...
Here are President Roosevelt's words. I'll leave you to compare and contrast them with the actions and words of the present White House Occupant.
Me? I'll get back to it tomorrow. It is late and the sudden absence of so much thought from the computer screen has broken my flow and just plain HURT.
"The Four Freedoms" , an excerpt.
The nation takes great satisfaction and much
strength from the things which have been done to
make its people conscious of their individual stake in the
preservation of democratic life in America. Those things have
toughened the fiber of our people, have renewed their faith
and strengthened their devotion to the institutions we make ready to protect.
Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop
thinking about the social and economic problems which are
the root cause of the social revolution which is today a
supreme factor in the world. For there is nothing mysterious
about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy.
The basic things expected by our people of their political
and economic systems are simple.
They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress
in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, the basic things that must
never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable
complexity of our modern world.
The inner and abiding straight of our economic
and political systems is dependent upon
the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.
Many subjects connected with our social economy
call for immediate improvement.
As examples :
We should bring more citizens under the coverage of
old-age pensions and unemployment insurance.
We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care.
We should plan a better system by which persons
deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it.
I have called for personal sacrifice, and I am assured
of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond
to that call. A part of the sacrifice means the payment
of more money in taxes. In my budget message
I will recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program
be paid for from taxation than we are paying for today.
No person should try, or be allowed to get rich out of the program,
and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability
to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our
legislation.
If the congress maintains these principles the voters,
putting patriotism ahead pocketbooks, will give you their
applause.
In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look
forward to a world founded upon four essential human
freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression--
everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship
God in his own way-- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want, which, translated
into world terms, means economic understandings
which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime
life for its inhabitants --everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear, which,
translated into world terms, means a world-wide
reduction of armaments to such a point and
in such a thorough fashion that no nation
will be in a position to commit an act of physical
aggression against any neighbor -anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium.
It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable
in our own time and generation.
That kind of world is the very antithesis of
the so-called "new order" of tyranny which
the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception
--the moral order. A good society is able to face
schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions
alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history we have
been engaged in change, in a perpetual, peaceful
revolution, a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly,
adjusting itself to changing conditions without the
concentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch.
The world order which we seek is the cooperation of
free countries, working together in a friendly,
civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands, heads and
hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith
in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the
supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to
those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our
strength is our unity of purpose.
To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
Read "Heir to the Holocaust: Prescott Bush, 1.5 million dollars and Auschwitz; How the Bush Family Wealth is linked to the Holocaust" to see what the Bush family was up to as FDR gave this State Of the Union Address.
7/12/2003
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7.11.2003
Birds of a Feather
I have earlier pointed out that the present White House Occupant gives lip service to fighting Terrorism while inviting convicted anti-Cuban terrorist Orlando Bosch to sit with him in Florida as he gave a speech.
Well, it seems Mr Bush is about as sincere in his championing of Human Rights and Democracy; expediency seems more the norm for him and his Administration. Case in point: Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov.
"The OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) focuses only on establishment of democracy, the protection of human rights and the freedom of the press. I am now questioning these values." - President Karimov, after the OSCE criticized the 1999 parliamentary elections. Agence France-Presse, January 8, 2000.
Stop by The Memory Hole to see photos of Mr Bush and such champions of Democracy as Rumsfeld and Powell smiling and handshaking Mr Karimov's hand. Brings one back to the image of ol' Rummy shaking hands with Saddam Hussein. And they should smile: Uzbekistan is one of the few countries in the region that like the US. And whats not to like? The US gave Mr Karimov's nation 500 million dollars in aid last year, while looking the other way.
Independent human rights groups estimate that there are more than 600 politically motivated arrests a year in Uzbekistan, and 6,500 political prisoners, some tortured to death. According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two prisoners were even boiled to death.
The US condemned this repression for many years. But since September 11 rewrote America's strategic interests in central Asia, the government of President Islam Karimov has become Washington's new best friend in the region.
The US is funding those it once condemned. Last year Washington gave Uzbekistan $500m (?‚?£300m) in aid. The police and intelligence services - which the state department's website says use "torture as a routine investigation technique" received $79m of this sum.
The pictures point out the simple truth that Saddam is not the last well documented deadly dictator to be welcomed by Rumsfeld and company with open arms and checkbook. Kind of weird to see recent history repeat itself, don't you think? When Rumsfeld worked under Reagan he delivered Saddam Hussein a gift of gold spurs- G.W. may give Karimov something more practical, a gift that offers the cachet of Democracy with none of the chanciness that working with mere media control and passe` bother that physical and economic violence can bring- the Black Box Voting machine system.
Why should a 21st Century Dictator have to worry about the will of the People? Not every nation has a partisan Supreme Court to appoint a reactionary corporate shill who represents merely the top earning (and contributing) percentiles of the citizenry and while not winning the popular vote much less the votes of the Electors of the Electoral College. And how many populaces are coddled enough to just let such a coupe happen without an uprising anyway. Not many, my friend. But Black Box Voting takes the possible suffering out of suffrage for the modern Dictator and his patrons. A bit of electronic sleight-of-hand and "Whalla", the folks who know what is best for you and your class are in office.
Picked this up from Dr. Menlo Presents
"Inside A U.S. Election Vote Counting Program" . Please take time to peruse the many links. This is your Democracy on Fascism, folks, stultified and stunned by money and power. By greed. Over at Seeing the Forest you can explore this linkfest "Voting Machine Story Link Collection" to get a fuller picture of what we decent (and honest) Americans are up against. Yup, a lot of reading; be sure to share all you learn.
Look at who the folks in power right now support; look into their history, see just how many world leaders that have gotten into power with US help are truly fostering Democracy, the values of liberty and justice shining through. E-mail me their names and countries. Consider how many are authoritarian leaders cultivating an elite while growing economic disparity. When the best interests of the majority, of the common person are treated as "Special Interests" by ones government it is pretty obvious Democracy is not being served.
One has to realize something is broken to want to begin fixing it. From the initial "election" to the plundering of our rights, laws and environment to the Iraq attack lies and the 9/11 investigation it is becoming more and more obvious even to overworked and underpaid Joe and Jane Sixpack (folks like me) that the present White House and its administration are anti-American and anti-us, the people. Let's not let the media sweep these potent bits of political reality under the carpet. It is really up to us. Spread the word. As the Bush regime has shown us with their lies Information is Power.
Power to the People (Write on!)
7/11/2003
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7.10.2003
A Heads Up
Link on over to the always excellent Orcinus and get a copy of "Rush Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis". It is a thought provoking eye opener that really helps one to understand the tenor of the seemingly anti -democratic (the political ideal not the party) times that right wing think tanks and media are foisting on us.
Me? I'm reading. I'll be jumping into blogging more as soon as my more up to date worldview coalesces some...
7/10/2003
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It is good to be back.
Trying to get "up to speed" concerning happenings in the world; working on being current means covering a great deal of ground after the better part of four weeks without access to a computer or periodicals or even NPR to offer hints about planetary happenings.
The day after I posted about my need for a laptop a fellow blogger offered me a loaner. Unfortunately I didn't have occasion to view my mail until returnng home. But the kind offer reinforces the sense of community I feel weaving the blogtopia (thanx skippy) together; that and a look at my stats- a bunch of my favorite daily blog reads stop on by when I'm away. To me the highest compliments. I wish I could do something analogous to having cold beverages, something good to eat in the fridge and some comfy chairs in my EP cyber-parlor to make my visitors feel right at home, especially seeing the last things I wrote, impassioned and from the heart but not very clear... eeesh.
The way we use language is really important. Think of language as the container for thought as well as the vehicle for communicating. Public figures, like the current White House resident and his administration have the expertise of the advertising industry behind them, shaping their message for optimum utility in leading "We the People" by our unsuspecting noses. Read " A Nation of Victims" by Renana Brooks to see how Mr Bush's calculated use of language works. A quotation from the article follows:
Psychologist Martin Seligman, in his extensive studies of "learned helplessness," showed that people's motivation to respond to outside threats and problems is undermined by a belief that they have no control over their environment. Learned helplessness is exacerbated by beliefs that problems caused by negative events are permanent; and when the underlying causes are perceived to apply to many other events, the condition becomes pervasive and paralyzing.
Bush is a master at inducing learned helplessness in the electorate. He uses pessimistic language that creates fear and disables people from feeling they can solve their problems. In his September 20, 2001, speech to Congress on the 9/11 attacks, he chose to increase people's sense of vulnerability: "Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.... I ask you to live your lives, and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight.... Be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat." (Subsequent terror alerts by the FBI, CIA and Department of Homeland Security have maintained and expanded this fear of unknown, sinister enemies.) Contrast this rhetoric with Franklin Roosevelt's speech delivered the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He said: "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.... There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces -- with the unbounding determination of our people -- we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God." Roosevelt focuses on an optimistic future rather than an ongoing threat to Americans' personal survival.
Ms Brooks outlines quite clearly the psychological techniques this administration uses in an effort to keep the citizenry dependent. Bush and company do not seem very interested in the possible side effects of this method of governance- but perhaps a higher level of citizen anxiety is a good for his corporate contributors as well, think of the pharmaceuticals, the junkfood, the beer consumed by the uneasy. And in times of stress people shop more to feel better. A win win for the powers that be and their collaborators. A loss to the practice of Democracy and "We the People".
I read this article in the June 30 Nation magazine, but found it handily on the web at Alternet. Truthout also featured it. You might want to forward it to your friends...
Is putting one political party's fortunes ahead of the general welfare and mental well-being of the populace, American? Ruling like a banana republic despot is shameful, Mr Bush.
Bush Rove and company might have a majority of mainstream reporters in their back pockets, but there are plenty of us doing what we can to help the truth see the light of day. Sort of like the Lilliputians tying down Gulliver.
Welcome to the millstone of Truth, Mr Bush. 2004 is just around the corner.
An exciting time to be alive. A wonderful community to share life's verve with.
7/10/2003
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