04.30.06
Posted in ...ism schisms, View points at 1:23 am by daMan
America seems to have a selective memory…
We make a big deal of how we "won the Cold War" — the political war between the concepts of Communism and Democracy. We claim that this victory entitles us to the self-appointed position of "leaders of the free world", whichever world that may actually be.
The "Cold War", so-called because it was mostly a battle of ideas, was supposedly waged to oppose the Soviet Union in its tendency to, among many things:
- violate the sovereignity of nations, via invasions, occupations and violent atrocities
- suppress personal freedoms of its citizens and those of its subject nations
- restrict the press, and the fair and accurate reporting of the truth
- imprison people without cause in their prisons, known as "Gulags"
- persecuting political and, especially, religious minorities in actions known as "pogroms"
The Soviet Union was an "invading force" — but the United States is a "liberator". Suppression of civil liberties was a crime in the U.S.S.R., but somehow is protection under the U.S.A. PATRIOT act?
During the Reagan era, we proudly boasted that chief among the positive differences between America and Russia was that Americans were free — free to speak and, more importantly, to speak out against their government should they choose. Now, citizens are accused of treason for exercising the very virtues we claim our brave sons and daughters are dying for every day in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places.
The gravest atrocity of the soviet era in the minds of many was the imprisonment of thousands, if not millions, without trial or charge. But we now defend the very same behavior — despite the evidence of atrocities at Guantanamo and Abu Ghirab — in the name of "national security"…
What was the point of winning the "Cold War", if all we accomplished was to become the very enemy we struggled to defeat?
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04.23.06
Posted in Poli-tricks, Stop the f--king madness! at 10:12 pm by daMan
…r-i-i-i-g-h-t… another one of those "authentic audio tapes" from bin Laden?
they must really think we’re fuckin’ stoopid… most of the tapes OBL released, as is to be expected of a megalomaniac, have been video tapes — to stick it in our faces, and offer irrefutable proof of his continued survival despite our attempts to destroy him.
suddenly, for the past year or so, only audio tapes are released. what happened? a guy who is powerful enough to remain a dangerous terrorist threat can’t afford a couple hundred bucks for a camcorder???
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04.10.06
Posted in Poli-tricks, View points at 12:18 pm by daMan
so…. we mock them as "surrender monkeys" because of our self-congratulatory mis-telling of World War II events…
then, dig up this image to ridicule them for not supporting our Iraqi invasion…
but when it comes to actually standing up to one’s own government, and fighting for one’s rights, it would seem that the French just took our asses to school, as massive student protests overthrow a law that would have allowed companies to hire anyone under 26 for up to two years, and fire them without cause or explanation… the students, and unions, saw this as bullshit, called it such… and took it out like the trash…
we have also been schooled on standing up against election fraud by the Ukranians, who not only fought against the Russian’s rigging of their 2004 Presidential election, but just spanked the candidate they did elect in their recent parliamentary election for not making good on his campaign promises….
Liberia reveals itself to be centuries ahead of U.S. in terms of gender politics. This nation, formed by freed ameriKKKan slaves in 1820 during the "get the hell back to Africa" movement, boasts the first elected female head of state of any African nation… any bets on how many decades until we move past our own national machismo, and can claim the same?
yet somehow, we persist in representing ourselves as "leaders of the free world"… somebody out there, please write in and explain what that means anymore…
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