As the Russia-gate hysteria expands, it is coming to resemble the McCarthyism of the 1950s, except this time liberals and progressives are promoting the insidious “guilt by association,” as Michael Milillo describes.
By Michael Milillo
Does the American government requiring “RT America” — a Russian news organization — to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) constitute censorship by the government?
Legendary CBS News’ correspondent Edward R. Murrow.
If registration in this context is NOT censorship as many latter-day “liberal” McCarthyites contend, then Americans should NOT be afraid to appear on “RT America” as commentators presenting their opinions which may be different from the current narratives that are being propagated by the mainstream media across the United States.
But Americans will be afraid to appear due to “Guilt by Association,” which in its current form is being used to suggest that any Russian who happens to be attending the same social event as President Trump is therefore proof that Trump is a Russian collaborator. Thus, by extrapolation, “Guilt by Association” will be used to denounce any American who appears on “RT America” and presents a narrative that conflicts with the narrative being broadcast by the mainstream media.
The mainstream media will immediately indict that American commentator as a “Russian agent” – or at least that will be the reasonable fear – and thus other Americans will be prevented from listening to and/or reading these alternative opinions – and that amounts to censorship.
Some mainstream media outlets have already censored stories when the analyses conflict with the current liberal narrative for what caused Hillary Clinton to lose to Donald Trump in the November 2016 elections. That narrative is that Hillary Clinton was defeated due to the Russian government hacking into the computer servers at the Democratic National Committee, i.e., “Russia-gate.”
Some liberal web sites now are censoring material that conflicts with this Russia-gate narrative. Case in point is an article written by HuffPost’s contributor Joe Lauria entitled “On The Origins of Russia-gate.”
One day after Lauria posted his article on the “HuffPost” web site, the “HuffPost” editorial staff deleted — censored — the article, citing supposed factual errors. However, the editors did not attempt to contact Lauria before the deletion or to discuss with Lauria what facts he used in his article that were deemed false or misleading. His real offense appears to have been that the story raised doubts about the current narrative accepting the certainty of Russian “meddling” in the 2016 election.
Although some have argued that “HuffPost” has the right to censor material published on its web site, the “HuffPost” readers should NOT be involved in that determination (without at least the author getting a chance to provide a defense). That is censorship by “Mob Rule.”
McCarthyite Blacklists
To further explain what censorship looks like, watch the “70th Year Commemoration of the Hollywood Blacklist” on C-Span. The commemoration cites the statements or the testimonies of the “Blacklisted” entertainers who appeared before the “House Un-American Activities Committee” [HUAC] in 1947.
Lawyer Roy Cohn (right) with Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
If today’s liberals are infuriated by the 1947 proceedings of HUAC and the McCarthyism that challenged the patriotism of Americans, then these liberals should NOT be in favor of today’s censorship either. What HUAC and McCarthyism did was to make Americans fearful of being called “Un-American” just because their opinions or politics were different from what either HUAC or Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy said they should be.
Beyond that, Americans came to shun neighbors, fellow workers, and acquaintances — in order to protect themselves from ending up on the “Blacklist” — because you didn’t know who might be accused or might be pressured to make accusations, such as the case of director Elia Kazan.
As “RT America” has been accused by the American government to “speak in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government” — Russia, therefore “RT America” must register under FARA. But the BBC “speaks in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government” – the United Kingdom. Then why hasn’t the American government requested that the BBC register as well under NARA as “RT America” was forced to do under protest?
Is it because the BBC has accepted without question the dominant narratives of the U.S. mainstream media in the BBC’s reporting of the news? Unlike the BBC, “RT America” has allowed alternative opinions to be heard by its audience rather than stringently following the mainstream media’s narratives.
There are some liberals who argue that “RT America” is a tool used by the Russian government to disseminate Russian propaganda. But Americans who have appeared on “RT America” present their own alternative opinions, NOT the opinions of the Russian government.
If you think the U.S. government requiring “RT America” to register as a foreign agent is NOT censorship, then you have NOT heard of “The Case of Milo Radulovich.” When Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy was looking for communists employed by the U.S. government, he supposedly found one such person in Milo Radulovich, a Lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve.
In 1953, Air Force regulation 35-62 stated, “A man may be regarded as a security risk if he has close and continuing associations with communists or people believed to have communist sympathies.”
When Lieutenant Radulovich refused to resign from the Air Force as he did nothing wrong, a special Board “recommended that Radulovich be severed from the Air Force” despite the fact that the board never questioned the loyalty of Lieutenant Radulovich.
Radulovich was an easy target because his father “subscribed to several Serbian newspapers, one of which was classified as Communist by the US government.” And as his sister supported liberal causes, she was declared to be a communist sympathizer.
With this “Guilt By Association” in mind, CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow said, “We believe that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, even though that iniquity be proved, and in this case it was not.”
As an archive of Edward R. Murrow’s work noted, “Not only were the witch hunts affecting the military, Hollywood, government, and academia, this case proved that the average guy can be targeted.”
Murrow’s Lament
During the broadcast of “See It Now” on March 9, 1954 by CBS TV, Edward R. Murrow said: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.
Couple walking along the Kremlin, Dec. 7, 2016. (Photo by Robert Parry)
“We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”
Putting what Murrow said into perspective as it relates to “RT America,” both the U.S. government and many liberals are now using the same tactic of “Guilt By Association” by insinuating that “RT America” is a Russian news organization and thus must be a puppet of the Russian government without providing any proof to support that accusation.
Murrow’s comment is just as relevant today as it was back in 1954. Perhaps even more so because liberals are supposed to be the good guys.
[For more on this topic, see Consortiumnews.com’s “Russia-gate Breeds Establishment McCarthyism.”]
Michael Milillo, who lives in Pennsylvania, is a retiree with a background in accounting and finance.
Political progressives (by definition) haven’t supported the “Russian Tale,” which was launched following the election, used as a excuse for the election outcome. Democrats and liberals have vigorously promoted it, in spite of the facts. Those who have disputed the claims tended to get blocked off of liberal discussion boards, making the discussion of this issue a bit difficult.
On what happened with the 2016 election, look at the official election results. Both candidates were opposed by much of their own voting bases, for some of the same reasons. Roughly half of all voters rejected BOTH, and either voted third party or withheld their votes. If Russia “influenced” the election, why did they want Clinton to win? After all, Clinton got the most votes. Trump is president as a result of our convoluted electoral college process (while rare, it’s not the first time that the candidate who got the most votes, lost the election, because of the electoral college). And Russia had nothing to do with any of it.
“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” This is actually a summary of a paragraph from Adolph Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” not a direct quote, and it is correct. We saw proof of this with Bush’s lie about “Iraq’s stockpiles of wmd,” which plunged the US into the longest war in this country’s history. And much of the country still accepts it as fact. So, Democrats will continue to recite their anti-Russian lie at least until after the 2018 Congressional election.
I was a young boy during those times – I listened to “Voice of America” daily and the news was always the same – but what is truly amazing is that Americans like a Mentally Retarded baby -never grew up to be any but a mentally retarded adult – Americans relish doing evil to (each other and the world) at large and it never appear to Americans that – there is any other form of life – other than the totally mindless pursuit of infamy – How is this possible – Americans are regarded as having a very high (IQ) – but it also very likely that I got this part very wrong…
In any case when the history of America and Americans is written – it will be concluded that the total systematic failure of America and Americans is the greatest failure n the history of the world – a failure without parralel, not only a failure at home – but everything Americans touched turned into dust
The Roman Empire was evil – but it left an indelible mark on civilization – equally on account of slavery the British Empire has been regarded as evil – but not of the previous empires can be compared in any way to the American Empire – and the only legacy left by Americans is world – wide disasters – I have even seen an American company run by a lady – using the Crimes Against Humanity conducted by Americans in IRAQ as a Marketing Tool and each day bring a new revelation of American Crimes Against Humanity –
Read through your comment. See the problem? With the limited perspective of a young child, you stereotype over 300 million Americans as ignorant, right wing yahoos. Except you, presumably.
When we think that people like Lindsey Graham, Louie Gohmert, Tom Cotton can get elected by US voters, that such people get promoted and empowered by reelection, that huge numbers of US citizens do not believe in global warming or evolution, that millions accept “End Times” as fact and 2 million children are home-schooled, often to keep them from the world of facts(!) and that ridiculous stories pass by “social media” and are part of mainstream belief, the modern McCarthyism may be the new normal.
The Trump Administration Just Admitted a Secretly Detained American Has Asked for a Lawyer – But It Won’t Give Him One
An American citizen being held in Iraq has been accused of fighting for ISIS. An ugly person for sure, but he is still a US Citizen. So how can the government possibly not give him an attorney? Because it is completely lawless. The ACLU has this to say about the matter:
Yes, it is frightening. Just as in Stalin’s USSR, a black car could show up at my house at 3:00 AM in the morning, and take me off to some place unknown to anyone. If it can happen in Iraq to a US citizen, it can happen to one in Indiana or Texas.
The US of A has learned from the cesspool called Israel how to do “incremental” grabs. In Israel it’s mostly about stealing land and water. So far in the US, it’s mostly about stealing our liberties. One small bite at a time in both cases.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/detention/trump-administration-just-admitted-secretly-detained-american-has
Additionally, it’s nice to see Edward R. Murrow mentioned. He was a truthteller and also could lighten it up a little!
Michael Milillo, Thank you for this article. It needs repeating over and over what the USA is doing to itself allowing these traitors like Mueller , Schiff and Clinton to dictate policy. What good is net neutrality when the government wants to censor anything worthwhile reading and watching, e.g. RT? So we can read their crappy lies and misdirections faster? As long as I can recall I have railed against censorship and didn’t censor anything for my kids. I just didn’t leave things in the outright open all the time. This action taken against RT is nauseation (I made up that term for it). I guess we need new words and terms and classifications as otherwise what these disgusting and ill-informed reptiles are doing leaves us speechless. I would like to “catapult the propaganda” with W. in the same sling!
I’m amazed that out of thirty responses there were no intelligent comments. Why believe an individual who has told a multitude of lies and a long list of unfulfilled promises. The individual’s only concern is to himself and not the American public. He is the epitome of a failure and not a “True” reprensentative of what America stands for. The individual is nothing more than a “faked fact”.
I believe you overlook that fact that investigative and prosecutorial misbehavior precedents established with scum-bags can and will be used to entrap and destroy the innocent.
Consider a New Testament parable:
You fail to offer any evidence or argument that you alone can perceive intelligence. A stupid remark.
The MSM continues to dismantle it’s once held, dazzling reputation and fails to educate it’s readership. During E.R. Murrow’s generation, Russophobia meant something entirely different than the Russophobia of today. The former threat of communist infiltration into American culture and politics, pales in comparison to the new and present danger of Incompetence on the part of major Western news media outlets. Their main thesis and objective(s) seem to be outright propaganda, panic peddling, misinformation (a sign of Intel agency penetration) and digression from subject matters, essays or articles that initially introduces the reader, with a brief overview of current history and only then, a discussion of some current issue at hand. The principle reason high echelon politicians like Trump are (clumsily) attempting to foster better relationships with Russia and China are largely due to a succession of intelligence failures. The gathering of inaccurate or poor intel has thus negatively impacted on the effectiveness of our diplomatic corps, they are the first line of defense, figuratively speaking. This condition leaves the door wide open to anyone and everyone, whoever comes along, to try and fix some political conundrum. Failures, such as the inability to foresee the fall of the USSR. The billions of tax dollars spent on gathering sensitive information, not to mention additional funding’s from dark money (Billionaires) (Corporate entities with a special interest), from illegal narcotics peddling- with all that dough, what did our Intel agencies really accomplish? other than spy on their own citizenry at large by shredding our nations Bill of Rights, via successfully lobbing for the Patriot and NDA act(s).. Did our intelligence community foresee the fall of the USSR? NO. Did they do anything to circumvent the nuclear proliferation activities of the Pakistani nuclear physicist, Abdul Qadeer Khan network? NO. Did they see the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah building? NO. Did they see 911 coming, even after the 1993 attack on one of the towers? NO. Were we able to help our British friends out to stop the 7-7 London subway bombings in 1995? NO. Even the Watergate plumbers, the incident itself, wasn’t within their grasp to restrain, a strictly “in-house” matter that could even be nipped at the bud, through internal policing. In fact, it took a British National and private dick by the name of A. J. Woolston-Smith to give us the “Big Scoop” that our MSM failed to put into print,-with all their resources and dollars at hand.!. In complete fairness, it’s not only our Intel but the former KGB who failed as well; by permitting their finest nuclear scientists to sell technical services and nuclear technology to North Korea and now that pompous Lavrov (I’d thought I’d never live to see the day where these two words were in one sentence) had the unmitigated gall to blame the US for issuing direct military threats to Un! Mr Lavrov! if it weren’t for the US inaction(s) against Khan’s network and the Russians permitting it’s smugglers and physicists to literally hand nukes over to Un, the world wouldn’t be on the precipice of WW III ! No questions from any of the MSM’s as to how this all got started; Hint: publishing recent historical overviews of innumerable Intel failures and illegal nuclear diversions for general public consumption. No interrogation of Senators in charge of national security over-site matters, No constructive criticism aimed at Lavrov’s recent accusations or at least remind him, in print, of those dozen or so (extreme) breaches in nuclear proliferation i.e., losses of fission grade U235 and Pu 232 from former Soviet nuclear facilities Just a lot of boisterous, meaningless Russophobic claptrap and hot air from our MSM- NO substance, NO constructive criticisms, no meaningful historical over views of our current, desperate, military situation on the Korean peninsula. The forth estate has collapsed along with our constitutional rights! Murrow is not lamenting, he’s rolling in his grave !!!
Not sure that the media was ever really trustworthy (a few, perhaps, but on the whole).
https://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/globalism/rockefeller.htm
“The Council on Foreign Relations co-sponsors an assembly Rethinking America’s Security: Beyond Cold War to New World Order which is attended by 65 prestigious members of government, labor, academia, the media, military, and the professions from nine countries. Later, several of the conference participants joined some 100 other world leaders for another closed door meeting of the Bilderberg Society in Baden Baden, Germany. The Bilderbergers also exert considerable clout in determining the foreign policies of their respective governments. While at that meeting, David Rockefeller — co-founder (with Zbigniew Brzezinski) of the Trilateral Commission — said in a speech:
‘We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination [read as ‘democracy’] practiced in past centuries.”
> While at that meeting, David Rockefeller — co-founder (with Zbigniew Brzezinski)
> of the Trilateral Commission — said in a speech:
Can you give the actual direct source for this quotation, and not a dubious third-hand one?
Why McCarthysm works?
It is deep totalitarian culture embedded within America society as Chomsky posited quarter century ago indirectly referring to broader concepts of society of control by Deleuze, maintaining veneer of open society illusion while in fact run via underlying American cultural command and control structure of privilege and punishment all encompassing by religion of American exceptionalism.
More on that from Tocqueville and Mills angle:
https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/faux-elections-and-american-insanity-of-fear/
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.” — Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa was a great man, gone too soon.
Zappa for President
I guess there are limits to globalization:
A border-less society now consists of:
1] Free movement of people, products and capital.
2] Restricted movement of news, ideas and points of view.
The democrat party, “liberals”, and anybody else who buys into the flimsy accusations about Russia, are liars investing in a scheme that brings us all closer to nuclear war. These are our real enemies, not some imagined figures in the Kremlin.
A few days ago I heard Thom Hartman rebuke a caller’s comment about Soros being involved in things just as the Koch brothers are. Hand in glove:
(excerpt from http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/11/us-looks-to-southeast-asia-to-unleash.html)
APCO Worldwide is notorious for fabricating news articles to manipulate inner corporate governance, while Edelman is notorious specifically regarding Thailand for providing lobbying services (PDF) to ousted dictator Thaksin Shinawatra, removed from power in 2006 via a military coup ICG itself vehemently opposed, condemned, and to this day protests.
Edelman’s lobbying for Thaksin Shinawatra was headed by Kenneth Adelman, who joined Edelman as a senior adviser in 2001. Not only is Edelman a corporate sponsor of ICG, but Kenneth Adelman himself is listed in the appendixes of ICG’s Thailand report as a senior ICG adviser. Adelman also chairs the US State Department’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED) subsidiary, Freedom House – another front alongside Washington and London-based lobbyists that have pressured Thailand since the ousting of Shinawatra in 2006.
Listed along with Adelman is George Soros who sits on ICG’s board of trustees. Soros’ Open Society Foundation is listed by ICG as one of its sponsors.
Soros and his Open Society Foundation’s involvement is essential to note. Virtually all of Thailand’s “opposition” groups – from supposed student and academic fronts to media platforms and activists – are funded by both NED and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. These include Prachatai, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Thai Netizens, the New Democracy Movement (NDM), Human Rights Watch Thailand, Amnesty International Thailand, iLaw, the Isaan Record, and many more.
The concerted efforts by ICG, its corporate sponsors through lobbying, and among its memberships various other associations like Freedom House and Open Society to attack and undermine Thailand in favor of the West’s proxy of choice – Thaksin Shinawatra and the large and growing opposition front the West is building inside Thailand – already raises suspicions about ICG’s motivation in publishing its most recent report regarding ISIS in Thailand.
Observing Western efforts against Thailand’s Southeast Asian neighbors, particularly Myanmar and the Philippines, raises suspicions even further.
The United States has expertly cultivated a deadly sectarian divide in Myanmar – turning nationalist extremists against the nation’s Rohingya minority and using the resulting violence to undermine the nation’s military while propelling Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) into power. The violence also compromises constructive economic and diplomatic ties between Myanmar and China.
Things have gotten so out of control now that we even have some Americans who believe Russia had been cultivating Trump for decades!
I’m not making that up.
Either people have gone mad or they have been completely brain washed by certain commentators or are wedded to some ideology that has as a supporting tenet the beyond laughable notion that Russia has been cultivating Trump for decades.
What in the heck has happened to rational thought in the U.S. when folks cling to such malarkey?
I have read somewhere that almost 50% of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were either responsible for or at least complicit in 9-11 and this notwithstanding the fact that even George Bush acceded that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. Unfortunately the average American like the average British person and people the world over, are fundamentally stupid. One of the measures of mental illness is measured by people who think they see things that most other people can’t see. In other words Drew, you, me and the rest of the posters here are nuts because we see things that millions upon millions of other people don’t see or believe. It is incredible that the specter of McCarthyism has reared its ugly head again and as before, the public have fallen for it. What’s more frightening about this phenomenon, is that although I say the public are stupid I don’t mean that they are all uneducated etc, there are many well educated people who also believe the farcical Russia gate story too. Its like a plague, it attacks people of good education and those with average or no education.
The statements of many are dictated by their social group and workplace constraints.
They know what gains agreement with their equally confused friends, and what their bosses approve.
Falsehood pays and is safe.
H.L. Mencken said “The average man avoids truth as diligently as he avoids arson, regicide, and piracy on the high seas, and for the same reasons: it is dangerous, no good can come of it, and it doesn’t pay.”
The shills for the rich merely arrange the lies, and dramatize what will happen to those who disagree.
Spot on Sam. Love the Mencken quote.
Many good political quotes can be found in George Seldes’ book of quotations. I am compiling quotations suitable for a new nonpartisan internet College of Policy Debate, from selections in that and six other volumes of quotations. The largest single sources of great quotes are probably Bacon or Jefferson, and Mencken has many very good thoughts.
The Great Quotations by George Seldes is a really good book! Strangely, the less expensive paperback is by far the most useful, for the quotes are alphabetical by topic. In the hardback version the individuals being quoted are alphabetical, and if I’m looking for “patriotism” I have a lot of tedious work in the index.
Great insight Mr. Wilson.
I think most people get almost all, if not all, their news via the mainstream media, and the media is complicit in pushing the same story, Russia-gate. Many people hate Trump and want to believe anything that substantiates the idea he should be removed from office, even if they understand the consequences, but most don’t. I think Clinton’s reference to Trump’s base as deplorables was said, not as a gaffe, but was intended to be a divisive statement pitting his base against the so called moderates and liberals she was courting, and who see themselves as superior. She created for them a common enemy.
As scary as that may be consider that an even higher percentage of people believe that the Twin Towers collapsed due to impacts and fire, this despite irrefutable documentation showing the buildings collapsing at free-fall speed. Nothing political at all with regards to simple physics.
Just to give you some perspective, 7 percent of ADULT Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. That is 16.4 million people.
Well, how now brown cow? They’re partially right, the “milk” part, which as most everyone would agree, CAN come from a brown cow!
Sometimes I think it better to be ignorant as to how ignorant people really are.
‘Rational thought’ in America? What a quaint concept. Group Think rules EVERYWHERE. The fakestream media, as pointed out by Chomsky and Herman 25 years ago in ‘Manufacturing Consent’, is now even more oligopolised, fraudulent and propagandistic. Fifty percent of the population is, by definition, of below median intelligence. Jingoism is compulsory and frenetic. Education is garbage. The population is morbidly obese, metabolically deranged, and life expectancy is ebbing away as maternal mortality increases. The merest hint that one doubts the agit-prop, or that Israel is the greatest little ‘democracy’ this side of the USA, will end a career, bring instant and total ostracism, and, soon, a criminal charge of ‘antisemitism’. The USA is DEAD from the neck up, yet the zombified corpse is still lashing around in search of new victims.
Hi Mulga! You got it down pat!! Good to see you here.
If all the US media owned by those who give their primary loyalty to Israel were required to register as foreign agents, then registering RT, BBC, AFP and Reuters as a foreign agents might be justifiable.
Good reply!
The fraudulent Russia-gate campaign has presented overwhelming evidence that the Mainstream Media is willing to echo any hoax that the neoliberal establishment may invent.
Well if you’re owned by corporate America you do become the echo chamber for neoliberal policies. That’s a given.
Let’s hope that those with little time or concern for others find that evidence overwhelming.
I certainly don’t think RT should be required to register as a foreign agent, as the DOJ has demanded. In reference to today’s liberals who support the Russia-gate story, most if not all that I know are affiliated with the democratic party. They consider themselves liberals because they support gay rights, are pro-abortion, believe in climate change, and although they are concerned about environmental issues they do little to make a difference. They read the NY Times, or Washington Post, and listen to MSNBC, and are in total agreement with the ravings of Rachel Maddow on Russia-gate. Almost all said nothing about Obama’s policies, like his war in Libya, or his drone warfare. In fact there was no criticism of his policies at all. The anti-war party more or less died once he was elected into office. To be succinct most who claim to be liberal, or progressive in their thinking are not real liberals. I think it is the reason so many of them have fallen into line with Russia hacked the DNC and were pro-Trump. If anything they are a self-righteous, lot that feel superior to those “nut” jobs who voted Trump into office.
Yes, liberalism is the result of sympathy, which usually results from at least minor suffering. Very few Americans have suffered much, and they have been trained to despise and exploit, rather than sympathize. They choose the party most profitable to themselves and lie that this is liberal or conservative: but in fact they liberate only themselves, and conserve nothing but their own wealth and power.
The hypocrisy ends when empire ends, when the people are plunged into poverty from which only cooperation can lift them. A few will rally to civilization upon fear of poverty, when they are at risk but not yet ruined themselves. The majority will wait until they are ruined themselves, when the whole government must be swept away and rebuilt at unprecedented expense in blood and treasure. And those not yet so reduced will man the armored vehicles and machine guns to “restore order” for the rich.
I agree Sam, that those who have experienced hard times in their life often become more empathic to those in need, but not always. I feel the problem is that people are brainwashed via our educational system, and the propaganda constantly spewed through the airways, or in the printed media. It’s what countries do when they are so called democracies, mind control, which makes people tow the line, or fall into it. Americans also are bad at history, and recent history often slips their mind. They tend to deal with each issue without putting anything into a broader context, and as a result their understanding of issues is blind-sided.
Hi Annie-
Just an FYI: The term is “toe the line”, and it references soldiers or sailors lining up for inspection or punishment, or at the starting line for a race. They also have “toe lines” in the british parliament. Today it means to conform to an established standard or political program.
The word “liberal” has been drained of all meaning. I had called myself a liberal from the 1960’s until the recent past, but now I don’t know what to call myself. In the current Democratic Party a liberal is a politically-correct conservative. Both Obama and Clinton are closet Republicans. The word “liberal” has become a shorthand for “neoliberal,” a political philosophy I completely reject. Something similar has happened with the word “Christian.” And “truth” now means truthiness. Are you listening, Rachel Maddow? Russia-gate is truthiness.
I really like what you had to say. It says it all.
Yes, and “conservative” has come to mean nothing more than conserving personal wealth and power, with complete betrayal of the founding principles and documents that should be conserved. Both labels have long been false claims of political scammers and nothing more.
Russia-gate is Israel-gate, nothing but a distraction from the obvious zionist control of the DNC and mass media. Israel and zionism are the sole critical foreign influence in the US. I doubt that many believe the Russia-gate propaganda; but the mass media dictate what they dare to say at work, and trick the fools to believe that their best opportunities lie in tolerance of zionism. Only when the US government has been rebuilt, to protect elections and mass media from money, will we have democracy in America. Until then we have a tyranny of corruption, a gang operation and no more.