U.S. Blames Northern Lights on Russia, Imposes Sanctions

 

The U.S. State Department has accused Russia of hacking into the ionosphere and generating excessive and annoying levels of Northern Lights.  The ongoing display of light saber rattling, apparently a misguided attempt to "show off" the technological prowess of their teams of warmongering physicists, extends its "tentacles of terror" deep into the sovereign territory of the U.S. and its European allies.  This has resulted in widespread panic in U.S. cities like Buffalo, NY and Detroit, MI, where public displays of drunkenness and rowdiness have skyrocketed.

While no evidence of Russian responsibility has been offered, White House spokesperson, Josh Earnest, recently stated:  "The motive is obvious.  The constant flashing and gyrating shapes in the sky are intended to cause sleep deprivation.  When people don't get enough sleep, their guard is down.  The Russians are trying to undermine our national security with this cheap stunt.  It's an unprecedented act of aggression and, trust me, will not go unanswered.  We are coordinating our response with the Department of Defense, NSA, CIA, and Hayden Planetarium in New York."

 

One reporter asked about the rumors that world-renowned astrophysicist, Dr. Neal deGraas Tyson, had been summoned to the White House to seek his expert advice on exactly what appropriate counter-measures and retaliation might be available.

"Well . . . Mr. Tyson appears to be a Putin-apologist and commie sympathizer.  When we approached him about this, after he stopped rudely laughing in our faces, the guy just shrugged his shoulders and walked away shaking his head.  What an arrogant man.  We are keeping our eye on him."

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, has just presented American demands to the United Nations Security Council that a comprehensive regime of economic sanctions be imposed on Russia for tampering with the electromagnetic field of the Earth.

"We need to show these Russians once and for all we mean business.  Today it's Northern Lights.  Tomorrow they'll be injecting vodka into the aquifers serving the citizens of the free world, or blasting balalaika music at us 24/7 from outer space.  This is an outrage and an act of war.  As humanitarians concerned with the welfare of people everywhere on this planet, it is our duty to support the Russian citizenry as they attempt to free themselves from the barbaric oppression and inhumane cruelty of government tyranny, by cutting off all food, water, medicine, electricity, and internet access.  Let these sanctions do their job.  Pass this resolution immediately!"

In a separate interview, another reporter asked Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, what will America do if the sanctions don't work.

"We have a Plan B.  If sanctions don't break the chains of totalitarian control which Putin is attempting to impose on the world, perhaps a few thousand cruise missiles will."

So . . .

Rest assured, folks, our enlightened leadership has the situation under control.  America will in the end triumph. 

But just to be safe . . .

While there is no medical evidence that Northern Lights per se can cause physiological damage, the FDA has just recommended that until this siege is brought under control, everyone should stay indoors and keep their blinds and curtains drawn. 

Should you have to go out at night, apply SPF-50 sun block to exposed areas and wear sunglasses.  DO NOT STARE AT THE LIGHTS!  It is unlikely but still possible that they contain subliminal "brainwashing" messages.  If you are bothered by the unusual urge to read Das Kapital by Karl Marx, or seized by the impulse to stand on a table and break out singing The Internationale, immediately see a doctor.  This is covered under Obamacare.




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



U.S. Blames Northern Lights on Russia, Imposes Sanctions

It’s Not Hillary’s Physical Health That’s The Issue . . . It’s Her Mental Health!

 

Muhammad Ali hardly spoke publicly during the last decade of his life because of his Parkinson's Disease.  What a tragic loss for the world.  Ali was funny, insightful, inspiring, brilliant!

There is much talk that Hillary Clinton's aberrant behavior -- bouts of coughing, physical weakness, public freezes, and the constant attendance by a mysterious "doctor" at all media events -- signals that she too is suffering from this incapacitating affliction.

If Hillary Clinton is elected and does indeed have Parkinson's Disease, we can only hope that this horrible, debilitating disease quickly progresses, ravages her nervous system, that she is immobilized and silenced by it, rendered completely mute.  Because too often what comes out of her mouth consists of self-serving lies, treacherous distortions and fabricated narratives, threats to other world leaders and nations, destructive fantasies unhinged from any moral anchor or basic decency, these being so extreme and strident they've become an existential threat to the human race and evidence she is totally detached from reality itself.

On the other hand, this Parkinson's business -- although very convincing evidence and analysis has come to light -- at this point is all speculation.  I'm not a doctor and I have no way of knowing the state of her physical health.  She's certainly not telling.

What is not a matter of speculation is the state of her mental health.

Much has been made of the video of her laughing about Gaddafi's anal rape with a knife, mutilation, and death at the hands of monstrous terrorists.  "Oh look, how jaded she is, how she celebrates such brutality."  Indeed, even the most tactless diplomats in the past would have sugar-coated this barbaric incident with some well-crafted language:

"It is, of course, unfortunate when any national leader's life is ended this way.  Mr. Gaddafi may in our view have been less than acceptable but he worked hard for the people of Libya.  Such savagery cannot be condoned under any circumstances."

Ms. Clinton apparently sees no need to embrace such standards.  Then again, neither do other hardened criminals and psychopaths who, unburdened by considerations of shared humanity or unaware even of the "optics" of such insensitivity, take joy in the suffering of perceived enemies, thus view the taking of human life as a sport, or an occasion for a joke.

Hillary Clinton is the textbook definition of a sociopath.

What are the key symptoms of sociopathy which I believe apply?

• Glibness and Superficial Charm
• Manipulative and Conning
  They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
• Grandiose Sense of Self
  Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."
• Pathological Lying
  Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.
• Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
  A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
• Shallow Emotions
  When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
• Incapacity for Love
• Callousness/Lack of Empathy
  Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.
• Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
  Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.
• Irresponsibility/Unreliability
  Not concerned about wrecking others' lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.

Hillary Clinton sees herself as some grand chess master, shaping the world -- in particular the Middle East -- to her liking and that of Israel.  Her muscular world view and truculent foreign policies are parallel to and probably inspired by the geopolitical ramblings -- by the way, since recanted -- of Zbigniew Brzezinski, author of the seminal neocon manual for world conquest and global empire, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives.  Hillary Clinton's evident ambition is to sit in the history books next to Margaret Thatcher, Disraeli, Alexander the Great . . . perhaps even more fittingly, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan.

This selfish woman will do anything and everything to promote and deify herself.  No cost is too great, no amount of human suffering will be spared, everyone in her path will either genuflect or be destroyed.  She will do whatever it takes -- even if it requires nuclear war -- to achieve the ascendant place in the history books she believes she deserves.  A warped sense of destiny fueled by narcissism and lust for power demands it.

This is the real sickness of Hillary Clinton.  Two aspirins and a glass of orange juice won't help what ails this demented creature of pomp and entitlement. Nor will pumping her full of Levodopa.  It's temporary and cosmetic.  Hillary's pathology is enduring and systemic.

Electing this monster -- as opposed to the monster served up by the Republican Party -- to the presidency would be like injecting leukemia cells into the body politic of America.  The country is already being hollowed out from the inside by the greed of those she identifies and associates herself with.  It's both appalling and frightening to see the MSM regularly cast this ruthless, self-serving, social climbing lapdog of the .01% as a "progressive" and the candidate of the common people.  Are we really that stupid?  That gullible?

This election is sure one for the books.

It's as if America keeps searching for that one final nail for the coffin of its misguided and increasingly floundering empire.

Hillary Clinton might just be that nail.


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

It’s Not Hillary’s Physical Health That’s The Issue . . . It’s Her Mental Health!

I didn’t throw my vote away!

 

It's that time of year.  I got my absentee ballot.

I'm proud to say I didn't throw my vote away.

Here were the choices for president . . .

1. A lying psychopath who takes special delight in murdering heads of state and innocent civilians, will start World War III, if that's what it takes to get her name writ large in the history books.
2. A lying sociopath with ADD and a penchant for locker room talk, who takes special delight in making racist threats against anyone who's not white, and moreover who can't put together a coherent sentence containing more than six words.
3. A clueless empty suit who apparently has modeled himself after Alfred E. Neuman, who thinks Aleppo is a blood disease which causes diarrhea in house pets, and the name of the leader of North Korea is Kim Buk Too.
4. An articulate medical doctor, peace and environmental activist, who has an inspiring and detailed plan for reducing poverty and wealth inequality, ending the unnecessary and destructive wars, addressing the mounting crisis of climate change, and restoring representative democracy and integrity to government.

Seriously?  There's a choice?

It reminds me of the time I was asked to appear on a TV game show.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Choose Well or Die, America's new giveaway fun fest, where some lucky guy gets a chance to go home with a new lease on life, or meet the Grim Reaper.  Tonight's first guest is John Rachel, itinerant blogger and novelist originally from Detroit, Michigan.  Welcome, John.  How are you feeling tonight?"

"Better than an Eskimo with a bikini wax."

"Sounds terrific, John.  So here are your choices.  Now take your time and think this over.  Would you rather . . ."

1. Have your eyes gouged out with red hot tire irons while the lower half of your body is immersed in a vat of pure hydrochloric acid?
2. Be anally raped by a buffalo while five rabid pit bulls rip your face apart?
3. Be skinned alive, then trampled to death by a stampeding herd of elephants?
4. Win $1 billion tax free, and be shuttled all over the world from your private tropical island in the South Pacific, in a luxurious 360-foot yacht with 24 of your closest friends and admirers?

"Hmm.  This is tougher than I thought.  Is that yacht eco-friendly?"

You get the idea.

 

Anyway, after thinking about it for less time than it takes Bruce Willis to comb his hair, here's how I marked my ballot. 

Did I throw my vote away?  I guess that depends on how you define "throw away".

I decided to vote on principle.  Somebody has to, because . . . eventually everyone must. 

It should never come down to what we are faced with this election, deciding between psychopathic Hillary or sociopathic Donald.  But it has.  I'm not sure which of them is worse.  It's too close to call.

I do know one thing.  If we play this game again this time . . . it'll be the same next time.  Maybe even worse, though that's hard to imagine.

What's the principle which defines my choice?

A vote is an endorsement.  Therefore . . .

I will not cast my vote for corruption; lying; wars; rampant corporatism; totalitarian rule by an oligarchy; wealth inequality; government by Wall Street, the too-big-to-fail banks, and transnationals; the destruction of democracy.  Both Clinton and Trump are all of that and more.  More of the slow, steady evisceration of what I once believed America stood for.

A vote is too precious to waste on criminals and narcissists.



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


I didn’t throw my vote away!

Paying For The Peace Dividend

Understandably, the first reaction I get when I tell people we're going to get the U.S. government to refund to its citizens $4,826,000,000,000 is:  "What?  We can't afford that.  Our government is already in hock over $19 trillion and every year since 2000, we've been running a deficit."

Aside from the fact that the deficit spending -- which has been the focus of overwrought debates, ultimatums, government shutdowns, and a celebrated hand grenade tossed back and forth in the political blame game -- is both unnecessary and entirely intentional, the ultimate impact of the Peace Dividend is actually to remedy such fiscal irresponsibility.  The Peace Dividend refund drives a whole host of fundamental reforms which will over time help to put our financial house in order.  However, that's a topic for another blog.

The Peace Dividend is paid out over three years.  Thus, each year we have to come up with a little over $1.6 trillion each fiscal year.

Here's how we do it.  Here's how we raise a minimum of $1.6 trillion dollars each year . . .

$200 billion . . . cut from the official DOD budget.
$83 billion . . . cut from future Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria war budgets.
$45 billion . . . cut from homeland security agency budgets.
$32 billion . . . cut from the black budgets of the NSA and CIA.
$102 billion . . . raised from closing tax loopholes and taxing offshored money.
$469 billion . . . ending unnecessary and counter-productive corporate welfare.
$103 billion . . . raised by making corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
$400 billion . . . raising income taxes on the wealthiest to what they were in 1975.
$177 billion. . . raised from financial transaction tax on public trading.
$250 billion . . . raised by issuing domestic-use-only Peace Dollars.
$250 billion . . . raised issuing Peace Bonds for investing in a peaceful future.

I better slow down!  I'm already way over $2 trillion!

Now, as you all know, I'm not an economic analyst, a statistician, a financial wizard of any ilk.  Yet, I was able in broad strokes to demonstrate how simple it is to make the necessary adjustments.  Granted, my plan will have to be fine-tuned by acclaimed and self-anointed experts.  But before the proselytizers and pretenders armed with skepticism and hatchets subject us to their pompous, pedantic and patronizing pruning, just bear this in mind . . . 

 

The Peace Dividend is a refund due to American citizens.  That is a given.  Read my book.  It's all there.  I didn't make this stuff up.  The facts are clear.  American citizens have been the victims of the greatest rip-off of tax money in the history of the world.  They deserve -- and should demand, no excuses, no negotiation, no compromise -- a full refund.  No analysis can alter this reality.

Yes, it may be unprecedented.  It most certainly is controversial.  Traditionalists and those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo -- because it keeps them wealthy and in the centers of power -- will declare it outrageous!  Insane!  Irresponsible!  Impossible!

But the the truth is, what is outrageous, insane, irresponsible, and impossible is to promote and pursue never-ending war, keep needlessly killing innocent people -- including our own fine young men and women in uniform -- continue to turn America into a pariah in the world community with the incessant bombing and support of terrorist proxies.  What's truly outrageous, insane, irresponsible, and impossible is spreading chaos, destruction and death, fomenting terrorist attacks and an unparalleled refugee crisis across the globe.  What's outrageous, insane, irresponsible, and impossible is the pursuit of a psychopathic agenda of imperial conquest, which has destroyed our democracy and imposed a vulgar, savage regime of fear here at home, in the form of the insidious and fraudulent War on Terror.  This madness must be stopped or America will crumble under the weight of its own hubris and delusions of grandeur.

The point here is a simple one.  What's not lacking here are the mechanics of finding and refunding the money.  What's lacking is the political will.  What's lacking is any sense of responsibility among our corrupt pay-for-play political leaders.  What's tragically lacking is the public awareness of how far out-of-control the situation is.  Were people to wake up to what's really going on with our military madness, imperial delusions of world empire, and ruthless oppression of everyday citizens under a systematic, propaganda-fueled, carefully crafted and entirely orchestrated regime of totalitarian control by a veritable handful of rich and powerful elites, heads would role! 

Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.  With 300 million guns at hand, when things start getting violent, we can only expect a bloodbath to unfold.  My sincere hope is that the urgently required regime change is still possible non-violently.  We do this by replacing any uncooperative legislators with ones who understand that their obligations are first and foremost to their constituents, that being elected to represent us, implies that they actually will represent us, putting our welfare and the health of our families and communities ahead of all else.

I propose the Peace Dividend as a decisive test.  It's a line in the sand.

Either "they" are for it or against it.

It's how we decide who to vote for.  If a candidate won't support it -- by signing a legally binding contract to guarantee his or her support -- we find one who will.

The games are over.  The rich and powerful plutocrats have had a good run.  They've bled the country and its citizens dry.  Now it's payback time.

If the politicos who've created and perpetuated the mess we're in can't own up to the error of their way and fix the problem, beginning with proper redress in the form of a full refund of the money taken fraudulently from good, decent, hard-working Americans, then they are not serious about making the necessary changes, regardless of what they say.

Either they give us our money back, or they get their walking papers.

They do not deserve our support and will be removed -- unelected -- from office.

These soon-to-be ex-congressman and presidential hopefuls are very talented people.

I'm sure they'll do well on the comedy club circuit or selling time-shares in the Caribbean.


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


Paying For The Peace Dividend

Dealing With A Shark Attack

 

How do you deal with a shark attack in a swimming pool?

You drain the water and watch the shark suffocate.

The Peace Dividend strategy does exactly that.

It drains the pool of funds which our insane neocon-infested military establishment -- which includes the DOD, NSA, CIA, DHS, Congress, and the White House -- abuses with its never-ending wars and delusional monomaniacal pursuit of world empire.

We take back all of the money they've defrauded us out of for the past 24 years -- we could go back further but two-and-a-half decades is a good start -- then watch them desperately gasp and struggle as they try to persist in their aggressive bullying of the world. 

No money.  No more unnecessary wars. 

No money.  No more boondoggles like the F-35.

No money.  No more senseless waste like the trillion dollar upgrade of our nuclear arsenal.

No money.  America will start waging peace instead of waging war.

Peace is something we can actually afford.

The Peace Dividend, the pool of money totaling $4.82 trillion which was paid in taxes -- by you and I -- under false pretenses, collected on the basis of lies told us by our government  in support of wasteful D.O.D. extravagance and military aggression on no less than eight foreign countries since 1992, is money which will be distributed as a refund to each and every single American citizen.  It is our money, tax dollars paid in good faith by decent hard-working folks who trusted their government to put it to correct and proper use. 

We were fooled.

We were lied to.

We were conned. 

We were defrauded! 

We were callously ripped off!



The Peace Dividend refund comes to $14,952 for each and every living U.S. citizen, paid out over three years.

That comes to almost $60,000 for a family of four.

This is money which should have been ours to spend, and recovering it -- as is completely within our rights in a government of the people, by the people, for the people -- unlike the military madmen, we'll put it to good use.  We can buy some news clothes for the kids, pay down our credit cards, replace that car that's falling apart, take a long overdue vacation.

Am I crazy?

No . . . we are crazy if we don't stick up for ourselves.

We are crazy if we don't stop the abuse of power and hold our government accountable.

We are crazy if we don't reject and reverse this gross misappropriation of our tax dollars.

As victims of the worst crime in history -- the biggest tax rip-off ever -- we deserve full and immediate compensation.

Let's get started.

By the way, if anyone is tempted to ask me how a shark got into the swimming pool, I have a question for you . . .

How did so many homicidal, warmongering sociopaths get into the centers of power in Washington DC?

The Peace Dividend strategy is a direct attack on America’s systemic addiction to war by appealing to the self-interest of its citizens, literally INCENTIVIZING people to redirect their thinking and start WORKING FOR PEACE!

 

The Peace Dividend: The Most Controversial Proposal in the History of the World is now available both as an ebook and deluxe paperback at all of the usual outlets . . .

Amazon (Kindle) / US . . . amzn.to/2cpIRfQ
Amazon (Print) / US . . . amzn.to/2cEhnCb
Amazon (Kindle) / UK . . . amzn.to/2cKXFsV
Amazon (Kindle) / Canada . . . amzn.to/2ciZKdl
Amazon (Kindle) / Japan . . . amzn.to/2cbf3TO
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/2cWxvzd
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/2cI8cB6
Apple iTunes . . . apple.co/2cqw7an
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/2cb6Cse
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/2c3mJsl

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


Dealing With A Shark Attack

VIDEO BLOG: Open up the debates!

I want to throw out a challenge to the participants in the coming presidential debates.

Of course, the fair and democratic thing to do would be to open the debates to Jill Stein and Gary Johnson.

But certainly the Democratic and Republican parties, and the puppets administering the debates, couldn’t care less about fairness or democracy.  They’re in the game for power and it’s winner take all.  Screw the founding fathers, the intent of the Constitution, and all that fancy high-sounding theoretical fluff.  They want to win.  There’s lots of money to be made for their corporate and Wall Street friends.

So I’m not going to talk about values, and none of what I have to say is directed at either the Republican or Democratic leadership, and certainly not the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is just a shill organization, a smokescreen for that same leadership.
I
 am making my appeal first to the candidates, and second to the TV network in charge, CNN.
Donald Trump thinks Jill Stein is a beer mug you can buy at Jillian’s Curios in Topeka, Kansas.  Trump knows what a Johnson is but hasn’t a clue about this Gary guy, or why he should worry about this Gary guy’s peepee.  Besides, Trump shouldn’t care who’s onstage. What is he going to do?  Fine tune the septic swill that spews out of his pie hole?

So I say to you, Donald.  Let’s go for it.  The more the merrier!

Clinton is the problem.  I don’t think she relishes having someone like Jill Stein on that debate stage.  Jill is more intelligent, better informed, has integrity, knows what America really needs, speaks for the priorities and values of the vast majority, and is honest.  Whew!  That could be a real problem.
See, Hillary and the Donald are bullshitters of the highest order.  Hillary is in her comfort zone in a pile of shit.  She figures she can hold her own against even the tsunami of the stinky stuff Trump will barrage her with.

But Jill Stein?  Big problem there.

So my challenge is to you, Hillary.  You claim to be the Iron Lady of America, with all the right stuff to be the first female prez in our history.  Show us you’re not afraid of some real competition.  Do you have the brass cajones, the bulked up ovaries, to go head-to-head with someone who actually has something to say?  Who has a real program for rescuing America from the likes of hypocrites like you?  Are you up for it?

I think not.  But Hillary, this is your chance to prove me wrong.  Let’s see some courage.  Show some guts.  You can still laugh that hyena laugh, even faint, have convulsions, or cough your way through the performance.  Jill Stein won’t crimp your style.  She’ll just put some substance on the table.
Like I said, I doubt if Hillary is up to it.  I expect her to refuse to allow Stein and Johnson in the debates.  While Johnson poses no threat, Hillary is DEATHLY AFRAID OF JILL STEIN!

Alright!  NOW it’s time for you folks over at CNN to listen up.  Come on, guys.  Let’s put on your thinking caps.

I’m not talking public duty, responsible broadcasting, patriotism, or anything of the like here.

I’m talking money!

Big clue . . . Hillary turns down debating Jill Stein.  Why?  Because it’ll be a bloodbath.  Stein will chop up Clinton like those table chefs at Benihana.  Then she’ll turn to Trump and vaporize the moronic egomaniac.  Trump won’t know it because he’s oblivious to everything except his own self-aggrandizing blasts of noxious self-adulation.  But the audience will know!

Do you see what’s at stake here?  You guys want a cage fight and you’re counting on a real battle of the bloviators from Clinton and Trump.  But what about the midget who comes out of the audience and pile drives both of them into a mat soaked with the blood of their disgusting egos.  THIS IS WHAT YOU’RE REALLY LOOKING FOR!

You’ll make good money on that first debate.  But after Stein turns Hillary and Donald into hog sausage, the next debate will be the windfall of windfalls!  The second debate will get so many viewers, it’ll make the Superbowl look like a 4 am public service announcement.

So wake up, CNN!  When Hillary refuses, get all righteous on her.  Start talking about inclusiveness and the right of the voting public to have real choice.  Tell Hillary that public duty requires you to put both Jill Stein and Gary Johnson in the debates.

Then send me a fat check for putting you on to the greatest cash cow in the history of politics.  Call the second debate . . . 

“The Fiercest Bloodiest No-Holds-Barred Death Match Presidential Debate in History”

Blood and guts!  It’s what sells.



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

VIDEO BLOG: Open up the debates!

It’s not easy being infallible . . .

 

In case you didn't hear President Obama's historic speech at the Hiroshima Peace Park this past May 27th, let me sum it up for you.  Paraphrasing . . .

"It's very sad.  War is nasty.  Shit happens."

There is broad consensus among reputable historians -- who don't filter everything through the brainwashing lens of American exceptionalism -- that dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was entirely unnecessary.

There is concrete evidence -- I've seen the U.S. government documents on display at the Hiroshima Peace Museum myself -- that dropping the bombs was an experiment.  These two Japanese cities, both of relatively marginal importance in terms of the war effort, were the petri dishes, the Japanese were the bacteria.  The nuclear scientists who had developed a deployable nuclear weapon wanted to see how people and dwellings would hold up in the 10,830º fireball.  You think I'm exaggerating about any of this?  The bombs didn't target factories or military installations.  The epicenter of the Hiroshima explosion was directly over a medical clinic, for chrissakes!

With those two heinous war crimes, of course, America was just getting warmed up.

Next came Korea, or more specifically North Korea.  In what was considered a savage and one-sided genocidal attack, over 20% of the population -- by some estimates close to 1.4 million people -- mostly civilians were killed by the U.S. campaign.  North Korea was reduced to rubble.  At the end of the carpet bombing, planes were returning with all of their bombs, with the pilots complaining there was nothing left to bomb.  Why did North Korea deserve such genocide?  They were demanding that as promised at the end of World War II, when they were finally liberated from the oppressive rule of the Japanese, that the country be unified and free democratic elections be held.  You think I'm making this up?  If you can go beyond the facile fairy tales of our high school history texts and do some reading, you'll find this right in the historical record.


 

After taking a little breather, the U.S. moved on to Vietnam.  What was the problem there?  These misguided gooks might go communist and we couldn't let that happen!  Of course, Vietnam is now a communist country.  I've been there.  It's a pretty decent place.  No one tried to shoot me.  I practically never saw any police.  The food is spicy.  Amazingly, I was treated with courtesy and kindness.  Why was I amazed?  Because we slaughtered between 1.3 and 3.9 million Vietnamese in that war, again mostly civilians.  We sprayed them and their farmland with lethal chemicals that are still causing horrible birth defects.  In fact, America dropped twice as many bombs on this tiny country as was dropped by all sides in every theater of World War II! 

Try to wrap your head around that.

Of course, just because we were at war with Vietnam didn't mean we would confine our destruction and carnage to that country, in losing the war.  We also mercilessly bombed Cambodia and Laos.  In Cambodia -- a country we weren't at war with -- America dropped a half million tons of bombs killing 100,000 innocent people. 

But that was child's play compared to Laos, again a country which was neutral not in any way participating in the Vietnam conflict.  Laos has the chilling distinction of being per capita the most bombed country in the history of the world!  Yes, we really cut loose on this tiny, impoverished nation by dropping 2,000,000 TONS OF EXPLOSIVES on them!

And how bad does America feel about the death and destruction it inflicted on tiny Laos?  Never one to let an opportunity for cynical irony go ignored, Obama in his public relations swing through Southeast Asia stopped by to do some glad-handing.  While when it comes to countries we've abused Obama prefers to leave the past behind, to look ahead toward a bright, harmonious future -- in particular one controlled by the corporate totalitarian regime of TPP -- he did give a nod to a little problem that 2,000,000 tons of explosives had left scattered across the landscape of Laos: that of unexploded ordnance.  He was in such a generous mood that he committed $90 million to help clean up the mess before more children lost their arms and legs.  $90 million for 2 million tons of explosives only four-and-a-half decades late.  What a guy!

I could go on but we'd be looking at a book.  A very depressing one at that.

The point is the bombing and the wars just keep on going and in parallel we are treated to a never-ending barrage of self-righteous deceptions and exceptionalist demagoguery.

The only difference now is that the rhetoric is more vitriolic and audaciously deceitful.

Since hopefully many of you like myself may not be amused by Obama's infinite capacity for expectorating America-first drivel, let me spare you from listening to this narcissistic ideologue and sum up his recent speech before the United Nations.  I read between the lines a bit, and here's the gist of this remarkable gust of self-congratulatory hot air:

"We know if you repeat a lie often enough, it will stick.  We are also firmly committed to never admitting a mistake, and no matter how implausible, always finding someone else to blame for what goes wrong.  Finally, the United States of America never apologizes."

For the final UN speech of his celebrated 8 years as president, I think Obama has done an excellent job of clarifying exactly where the U.S. stands, and sealing his place in the history books after the U.S. inevitably implodes, as one of the most myopic of our chief executives.

Having said that, I'm still for offering a balanced view.  Though we often get caught up in quibbling about the details, let's look at the big picture and give credit where credit is due.

Do you think keeping track of the torrent of destructive but spellbinding lies dumped on the American public and the rest of the world is easy?

Can you fathom how thoroughly exhausting it must be to relentlessly embrace and nurture such intemperate arrogance, such malignant hubris, such shameless moral insensitivity, how draining it is to keep feeding the rhetorical river of buttery self-congratulations and slimy bombast?

What about having to unrelentingly deny facts, obfuscate and hide the truth?  What about the colossal task of constructing an alternative and patently false reality to keep American citizens from waking up to the horror their leaders are visiting on the rest of the world?  You're going to tell me this is not incredibly grueling work?

In a nutshell . . .

Do you think it's easy being infallible?

Maybe we should ask President Obama at his next news conference.


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



It’s not easy being infallible . . .