The Red White and Blue Color Revolution

 

Orange . . . Rose . . . Purple . . . Yellow . . . Saffron . . . Green . . .

The West, with of course America itself in the lead, loves color revolutions!

I say:  Game on!  Let's go for it.

But instead of another color revolution posing as a victory for democracy but which in reality is more colonial subjugation by the Greater American Empire, let's have a color revolution that will really make a difference.  Let's install democracy in a country now truly desperate for real citizen empowerment and the vast saving graces of representative government, transparency, freedom of the press, respect for human rights -- you know the list, since its trumpeted 24/7 by our propaganda machinery, whether these inspiring and noble ideals have any basis in reality or not.

Yes, we'll call this one:  The Red White and Blue Color Revolution!

It will be regime change, of course, because that's what color revolutions are all about.

But this one will take place in Washington DC, putative center of the Universe, the grand "decider" when it comes to all things global, the bright beacon of hope and freedom and enlightened leadership.

If it isn't already obvious, U.S. citizens now live in a police state under the oppressive and ruthless rule of an authoritarian oligarchic elite.  Everyday citizens have no voice in their government, their most vital constitutionally-guaranteed rights have been nullified, their tax dollars are being used in service to a kleptocratic cartel of corporate/banking/energy industry/Wall Street/military-industrial-government-complex insiders, they are under constant surveillance by a sprawling Stasi-like security state.  Anything resembling basic social services are under siege and being slashed in the name of austerity, and promoting the general welfare as chartered by the Constitution is dismissed as socialist daydreaming. Our essential infrastructure is crumbling, the result of gross indifference and neglect.  The quality of our air, drinking water, schools, communities, even our daily life, continue their steady decline. While the rich immerse themselves in greater opulence and grandeur at the banquet table, the rest of us dumpster dive for what scraps we can scavenge in the alley in back.  They snidely reassure us:  "Buy a lottery ticket! You might win."

So what about our elections?  How is hope and change holding up in the voting booth?

The simple truth is that the dismal array of prospects we are now forced to select from to "represent us" in their official capacities shows no prospect for any of this turning around.  Choice at the polls is an illusion.  It's always between one corporate lapdog and another corporate lapdog, regardless of party affiliation.

This is intentional.  The major party duopoly is configured to maintain the status quo.

Those in power intend to stay in power and use that power to enrich themselves and their wealthy benefactors who will use their wealth to keep their minions in positions of power.  It's an unforgiving closed-loop feedback system, the political engine of crony capitalism.

It keeps "them" in and "you and I" out.

There is only on solution . . .

Regime change in Washington DC.

Translation:  Replacing every elected representative who does not guarantee absolute, non-negotiable, unambiguous loyalty and service to those who elect him or her to office.

The Red White and Blue Color Revolution!

I'm dead serious.  Because America is in dead serious trouble.

We need a clean sweep.  We'll "drain the swamp" . . . for real this time!

Let's not fool ourselves any longer.  Anything less will doom America to further rapacious exploitation, and consign Americans to total enslavement under ruthless totalitarianism:  One nation under God . . . by the rich and for the rich.

As revolutions go, they can be peaceful or violent, responsible or bloody.

That will not be our choice to make.  It'll be up to those in power.

Either they'll go quietly, respectful of the democratic will of the people.

Or . . .






[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]


The Red White and Blue Color Revolution

Absentee Patriotism

 

It's no secret that I am very critical of the policies of this
administration, and the general direction America has been taking for
the past three decades.

As a result, infrequently but uncomfortably too often, I get this remark from
some rabid, myopic super-patriot who gets their understanding of our
political system from the box that his hot glue gun came in:

"You don't even live here. You have no right to criticize America."

It's one of those battle cries from desperately small minds which on the surface
offers some common sense logic but with bare minimum scrutiny falls
apart like stale Saltines.

Let's imagine . . .

It's 1938 and I am a Jew who has been living in Nazi Germany. I am getting
increasingly uncomfortable with developments both locally in my village
and nationally. So I leave and become an expatriate, a German citizen
living in a foreign country.

While living outside the sphere of the Reich and its pervasive propaganda
machine, I see that my discomfort was more than justified, that there
are horrible things going on in my home country which threaten not only
my fellow Jews, but threaten other individuals and the peace and
stability of the whole European continent. I learn from other
expatriates about the forced labor and concentration camps, and what
appears to be a well-planned program being put in place for the
extermination of millions of people. I learn of a massive build-up of
military machinery which portends provocations of neighboring countries
and promises massive military confrontation.

Are the people who question my now living overseas saying I would have had
no right to warn people about the developments I had learned about? That I
was disqualified by my foreign mailing address from speaking out against the
policies of "my country"? That I would not have had the right to at
least warn other Jews __ my fellow citizens __ and urge them to
escape as soon as possible or face possible extermination?

I would argue that not only would I have the right to be critical of my country, I would have a moral obligation, a duty to do so, openly and aggressively.

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."  -  Edmund Burke

Am I making a comparison between today's U.S. and Nazi Germany?

Yes and no. Of course, anytime anyone wants to provoke a hysterical public
outcry on any matter these days, they just yell 'Nazi' or 'Hitler' or
'holocaust' and the knee jerk response is right there for the having.
That's not what I'm doing here. The U.S. is slowly descending into a
form of autocracy, a totalitarianism quite unlike Nazi Germany in many
respects. But I believe it is potentially as thoroughly and ultimately
menacing.

We can fret and argue about whether that's correct but that's not the point I'm making.

The simple point here is that, regardless of where I live or choose to travel, I share 
with every other American citizen the duty
to keep a watchful eye on what my government is doing in my name, and
to speak out when and where I see objectionable plans, policies,
declarations, or provocative acts towards other countries. It is
especially incumbent on me __ it is my responsibility as a citizen __ to
share from out here what is not available from within
U.S. borders, because of what is clearly massive censorship of the news
there by the government and main stream media, which have become
Siamese Twins joined at the pocketbook.

It is particularly my duty to warn others in America who are not as I am in a 
position to live elsewhere, of developments which portend the worst and pose 
threats to them.

We all see the signs. Often we don't know what to make of them. The incessant
puerile prattle of politicians and pundits creates a constant stream of
obfuscation and confusion.

But it is the duty of every single American citizen to try to make sense
of our increasingly precarious situation, and to share their insights with
their fellow citizens. It is our duty to call out the official
lies, the gross imbalance of power, the horrific inequality of wealth,
the ongoing and systematic efforts by our government to promote and
prosecute in our names policies and initiatives, foreign and domestic,
which if the public had full knowledge of, it would steadfastly reject.

It takes a lot of courage these days to speak out against the government,
especially the current administration, which has done a phenomenal job
of PR and spin, and certainly makes no secret of its intent to squash
dissent in America.

Yet,  despite massive surveillance of citizens by the security agencies, the
watch lists, the no-fly lists, the kill lists, the persecution of
whistle blowers, the beatings and arrests which the most peaceful
demonstrators now endure at the hands of the police, the suspension of
habeas corpus, gross abuses of the FISA Act and the National Defense
Authorization Act, there are still many courageous individuals and
organizations which continue the daunting but necessary battle to expose
the deeply entrenched and dangerous corruption which now poisons our
system of government.

I make no claims to be on the same level as these exemplary patriots, speaking
truth to power under the threat of persecution, an unconstitutional
repression of free speech and basic human rights, the whole of which is
more and more is beginning to exhibit parallels with some of the more
oppressive regimes in history.


 

Right or wrong, I'm just an ordinary citizen merely doing my duty.

Just like you.

I watch. I listen. I speak out. I vote.

I do what little I can.

I wish it were more.



[ This originated at the author's personal web page . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Militarizing The Police – Part 4

Kelly Thomas was killed by police brutality.

Let me be clear about something here. When I talk about militarizing the
police, I'm not just referring to equipment. I'm talking about a
mentality __ a world view.

Militarizing anyone is a tough, convoluted process. As they grow up, even if boys
are taught to be boys, they are also taught to love thy neighbor, be
respectful of human life, thou shalt not kill, and so on. Then when
taken into the military, everything is turned upside down and they are
told: Okay, now forget about all of that, at least with respect to some
subset of the human race __ the Japs, the Nazis, the Arabs, the Gooks,
whoever. They are told that none of those old rules of kindness, even
God's sacred commandments, don't apply. Those people over there
are your enemies. You will show them no respect, no mercy, in fact, you
are to destroy them, kill them without hesitation or remorse. And if
you do a good job of slaughtering them, you will be lauded, decorated
with medals, become a national hero, the object of admiration and
praise. Chicks will dig you.

Okay . . .

What happens when the police start seeing themselves as an extension of the
military, here not to protect and serve, issue the occasional traffic
violation, give talks to kids in school about being good citizens, but
to PROTECT THE HOMELAND against THEM?

And then what happens, when the average American citizen comes under suspicion?
Suspicion of being a misfit, a troublemaker, a dissident, a traitor? Of
not being "with us" but "against us"? Of being a commie-sympathizer, a
towelhead, a jihadist? What happens when databases are being kept of
potential threats, of people who allegedly fit some profile of being a
terrorist, lists of citizens who allegedly fail to fall in line, and may
well be trying to undermine our great country, sabotage the government,
destroy the land of the brave, home of the free? What happens when the public is now seen as the potential enemy?

That's the kind of militarization of the police we most have to fear. Because here's what you get . . .

Enough said. I don't want to be accused of being a fear monger or some wild-eyed Chicken Little paranoid. There's more than enough of that going on already. But we've all been put on notice. The signs are there and we've been given fair warning.

Given how far along I believe the militarization of the police has already progressed, what is the government __ both the law enforcement branches and many agencies who provide non-security related services like the Social Security Administration and postal service __ preparing for?
Social order breaks down when people become desperate or angry. When they are both desperate and angry, the doors for massive insurrection swing wide open. What could precipitate such catastrophic and violent breakdown of our society?

In my view, there are a number of scenarios which are not entirely out of the question __ some say they are likely __ which could drive desperation and anger. These are, I might note, what the government think tanks themselves say they're worried about.

1. The abandonment of the dollar
   as the world's reserve currency or machinations by private banking and
   investment resulting in the complete collapse of the American economy.
2. The foundering of delivery mechanisms or severe interruption of the supply chains for the critical necessities for survival: food, water, electricity, heating oil, natural gas, gasoline.
3. Violent insurrection or civil war based on widespread discontent and hysteria.
4. World War III or any far-reaching global conflict precipitating any of the above.

The U.S. dollar as the reserve currency is already under assault. We have become grossly irresponsible and abused the enormous privileges we enjoyed for decades. Now the BRICS and several other nations are trying to get out from under the oppressive thumb of the U.S. banking cartels.

The supply chains for food and other necessities are long and fragile. It has been claimed, for example, that if the trucks, boats, planes and trains supplying the supermarket were to somehow be compromised, the shelves would be completely empty in just a few day. Then what? Hunger is a virulent and uncompromising enemy of social order.

The government has created such a vast pool of fear and paranoia, people have armed themselves to the teeth. Back in the 90s, the police beating of Rodney King set off huge riots across the country. Those were much calmer days than we have now post-911. With the grotesque polarization of the population on a vast array of issues, the U.S. has become a tinderbox. It's hard to predict what the spark might be that will set it all off. But it sure doesn't take a Nostradamus to see what's coming.

With Syria, Iran, the Ukraine, the encirclement of Russia and China by the U.S. military, it is obvious to anyone looking that there's a psychotic rogue element within the architecture of the U.S. government that is itching for a war. When it happens, with economies across the landscape on the brink of collapse and the fragile balance of peace in the world ready to shatter, this will mean conflagration and chaos like never before in history. If America in the midst of this insanity, were to go nuclear __ and yes, my friends, there are plans for it __ even if there's no sizable retaliation and we survive, the U.S. will become a leprous pariah in the international community. However you stack it up, if we continue on our present course and are the instigator of a major war, America will end up bankrupt, scorned, isolated __ a pathetic shell of a once glorious nation.

Though you wouldn't know it, with all of the "exceptionalist" blather and chest-beating jingoism that passes for patriotism in the media and spews from the pulpits of political power, America is widely resented, feared, despised. When the rest of the world can't handle any more of our belligerence and turns on us, it won't end well. We'll go down kicking, screaming, throwing an epic tantrum.

That's how federal agencies responsible now for civil order see things.

That's what the local police are being militarized for.

That's what they are preparing for.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

“Free as a butterfly in a hurricane.”

Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
The wretched refuse of your teaming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me
I say lift thy skirts, lo! come to my door
I embrace thou even as a common whore
'Tis the illusion of freedom you implore?
Here you have it, you shall seek no more

President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act on December 31, 2011.

Happy New Year!

[ The title of this blog is a quote from my recent novel 12-12-12. Visit http://jdrachel.com/12-12-12 ]