American Complicity
By Timothy V. Gatto
30 May,
2008
Countercurrents.org
The blame cannot be shifted
solely onto the shoulders of our political leaders. The American people
cannot claim that they were “misled” by their leaders
and don’t know the truth. While they were indeed misled, the
truth wasn’t long behind the lies. Whether it its the wars in
Iraq or Afghanistan, the food crisis, the loss of our civil liberties
or the sinking of our economy, the American people have been informed
and apprised of everything. We know who the people behind the curtain
are. We know how they did the things that they did. There are no great
secrets that the American people don’t have access to. Everything
is in plain sight.
The mainstream media has failed in its responsibility to accurately
report the truth, still, the American people have known of its duplicity
for years now. The propaganda and outright distortion of the truth
has been part and parcel of just about every major network in the
United States. The majority of Americans realize that they have been
lied to and deceived for a long time. I believe however, that most
Americans know how to find the truth behind the lies. There are many
independent news sources outside the MSM. The truth as I see it, is
that most Americans don’t really want to hear or see the truth.
The truth puts responsibility into the hands of the people. Responsibility
for the actions of their leaders and the conduct of their government
is not palatable to most Americans.
There are many writers and pundits that constantly compare the American people to sheep. Anyone that has read political articles on the internet or in magazines has heard of the word “sheeple”. The word implies that the American people are led around like sheep, and that they are blissfully unaware of their surroundings, and like sheep, being led to slaughter, goes along peaceably to their doom. This is a great comparison, but like many other broad comparisons, it’s far too simplistic and doesn’t even come close to actually describing the mindset of the American people. The truth is that Americans do know what time it is, they do know what is being done in their name and they are very much aware of the erosion of individual liberties, they just don’t want to acknowledge it.
I could stop right here and make a simplistic statement such as the American people are in denial, that it is easier to go along to get along, that ignorance is bliss and hundreds of other statements that say basically the same thing, that it’s easier to deal with a problem if you refuse to admit there is a problem to begin with, if you don’t have a problem, than you don’t need a solution. This type of thinking is essentially the crux of the problem here in America. The simple truth is that many Americans simply don’t want to hear the truth. The admission of a problem is the admission that we need to find a solution. The quest of finding a solution to the problem is more daunting than just living with the problem. Of course this is not the only reason why many Americans stay in a state of denial, there are many reasons, one of which could possibly explain why so many Americans refuse to acknowledge the problem in the first place, and this is that the American model of a representative republic… has failed us miserably. In fact, our federal government is out of control. The truth is that at no time in the history of the United States, has a government so completely ignored the will of its people, as this government has. We have had Presidents ignore the will of the people before, but this President ignores not only the people, but Congress as well.
When faced with a problem of this magnitude, is it any wonder that most Americans hide their heads and pretend there is no problem? I will bring up a few to illustrate my point;
1. The
Federal Government’s Lies that led up to the War in Iraq.
2. The Erosion of Our Civil Liberties.
3. The Voting Fraud in the Last Two Presidential Elections.
4. The Refusal of the Executive Branch to Comply with Congressional
Subpoena’s and the Lack of Desire from Congress to Enforce Them.
All of these examples are direct challenges to our Constitution. Is it any wonder why Americans play deaf and dumb and plead ignorance? These problems seem almost insurmountable to the average citizen. How can we reign in an executive branch without the support of Congress?
This isn’t the only reason that Americans feign ignorance. The situation that we find ourselves in goes against everything that we have been taught to believe. The very idea that a President of the United States could lie to the American people about the reason we started a war, and then to be caught in those lies soon after, is a hard pill to swallow. That Congress does nothing adds insult to injury. The fact that six years later, after a million people are dead and the war rages on, defies understanding.
The Global War on Terror has also left Americans standing in unfamiliar territory when it comes to our rights under the Constitution. We have been given a new set of rules and ordered to abide by them, even though most Americans don’t even understand what they are, or why they were implemented in the first place. When Americans are told that the Magna Carta has been replaced by the Patriot Act and The Military Commissions Act of 2006, most Americans that aren’t criminal defense attorneys have only a vague idea what it all means. The idea that one loses all rights, that the government can search their property and possessions without a warrant, that their phones and computers can be tapped, and that they can be arrested without being charged and held indefinitely without representation and without a trial, most American’s are confused. Is it any wonder why there are so many that pretend that everything is ok?
Voting fraud on a massive scale in the 2000 and 2004 elections leave many wondering where American principles that were taught to them in school have gone. The lack of a verifiable paper trail that records each and every vote and the government’s lack of concern or their desire to fix the problem, lead to many citizens asking why. The refusal of the Executive Branch to allow their people to be questioned by Congress also leads to insecurity. If Congressional subpoena’s can be ignored by the White House, if the President can order the NSA to wiretap anyone without a warrant, what form of government have we replaced our representative republic with?
These are the questions I have. I believe that I am no different than most people and that if I have these questions, than many Americans have the same questions. Is it any wonder that Americans don’t really want to open Pandora’s Box and delve into what’s wrong with our nation? There is only one thing I would like to add. Feigning ignorance, while it may lead you to being able to cope better emotionally, will not actually make you feel better, but it will make you complicit.
Timothy
V. Gatto
[email protected]
http://liberalpro.blogspot.com
