Humanity
Suffers The Savagery
Of The American Empire’s
Post 9/11 Worldview
By Jason Miller
20 March, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Karl Rove, the mastermind of
Bush II’s ascension to America’s seat of power, is a man
of great distinction. Despite his decidedly porcine features, Mr. Rove’s
Machiavellian lust for power, narcissistic lack of empathy, sycophantic
devotion to the Bush crime family, deceitful nature, and conniving mind
coalesce to leave the Prince looking like a pauper.
Remember Rove’s infamous
remarks concerning the 9/11 tragedy?
1. “Liberals saw the
savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer
therapy and understanding for our attackers.” Referring to conservatives,
he said that they “saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and
prepared for war.”
2. “At the core, we
are dealing with two parties that have fundamentally different views
on national security. Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview and many
Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview. That doesn’t make them unpatriotic—not
at all. But it does make them wrong—deeply and profoundly and
consistently wrong.”
Powerful propaganda indeed
Both remarks have had the
intended effect. Millions of indoctrinated Americans have responded
in knee-jerk fashion, blindly waving the flag to support the imperialist,
plutocratic, and dictatorial agenda of Rove, Bush and their fellow Zionist
puppets of Israel. (Does AIPAC office out of the Black House yet?) Despite
their fundamentally flawed logic, Rove’s comments sowed the seeds
of fear and insecurity deeply into the psyche of many Americans. Throwing
critical thinking to the wind (and thus carrying out their programming),
many of Bush’s loyal minions vilify those who support moral principals
such as universal human rights, equality, peace and social justice,
labeling them as liberals, socialists, or (God forbid) Communists.
Taking their oversimplification
one step further, many who still believe in the fairy tale version of
America assume that each liberal must be a Democrat. Never mind that
many Democrats have shown themselves to be as devoid of virtue as their
Republican counterparts. Many “good Americans” are inculcated
with the belief that people with “liberal” beliefs blindly
support all Democrats. For those conforming to American groupthink,
it is nearly impossible to deviate from the false dichotomies of conservative
vs. liberal or Republican vs. Conservative. How comforting for our de
facto ruling class that they can count on placid acceptance of their
moral turpitude as scores of millions of Americans are too absorbed
in working, consuming, and watching television to notice. Don’t
worry. Be happy.
Who can we scapegoat?
Someone recently asked me
how the illegal occupation of Iraq has changed our nation. Since Bush
and his cabal used 9/11 as a blatantly false pretense for invading Iraq,
I decided to examine how the United States has changed since the WTC
collapse.
In his clever sound-bites
I quoted above, Rove set up yet another false dichotomy (manipulative
people love to use them). According to him, we had only two choices:
pursue the 9/11 perpetrators through legal channels and come to realize
that our imperialistic, murderous behavior was fueling intense hatred
against the United States or go to war. Taking bold legal action to
capture and punish those responsible for the WTC collapse while changing
our behavior to conform to international law would have made more sense
than going to war against a nation which had no involvement in 9/11.
However, catching the criminals and embracing legal behavior would have
led to indictments against members of the Bush Regime (since substantial
evidence now exists that they enabled or caused the 9/11 demolition
of the WTC). Besides, respecting human rights and international law
would require the current administration to scrap virtually all of their
foreign and domestic policies. So, ignoring the rational option and
a host of other possibilities which may or may not have made sense,
our criminal government invaded Iraq.
Let’s take a look and
see
Let’s compare and contrast
“pre-9/11” and “post-9/11” America so we can
sharpen the simplistic, distorted images of the two worldviews Rove
(AKA Turd Blossom) sought to create with his clever propaganda. Perhaps
we can discern whether or not the Bush Regime’s policies and actions
since September 11, 2001 have been “deeply and profoundly and
consistently right”.
Muslims do not have a monopoly
on extremism
I want to start in my own
backyard here in Kansas. The “apocalyptic” event on 9/11
sparked the fervor of the Christian extremists in our midst. Our very
own Senator Brownback is making a bid for the Presidency on a platform
which essentially promises to convert the United States into a theocracy.
After conducting a kangaroo court, a majority of the Kansas State School
Board members decided they were both erudite and righteous enough to
re-write the definition of science and to open the door to introduce
the “theory” of Intelligent Design in our public schools,
which one of my sons attends. I feel reassured knowing that his school
will teach him that merely observing the complexity of the world “proves”
that there has to be an intelligent designer (translated as the Christian
deity). Thankfully, he will also learn that the idea of Intelligent
Design rivals the Theory of Evolution, despite the fact that Evolution
is supported by years of research by thousands of scientists. And what
discussion of Christian extremism would be complete without mention
of Kansan Fred Phelps, a "minister" filled with hatred and
venom?
(Note to Christians who actually
follow the compassionate teachings of Christ and employ the mind that
God gave you: it is not you whom I disparage.)
Time travel to the Gilded
Age anyone?
Recently, my favorite pet
store closed. My family and I frequented this “mom and pop”
shop often. Their prices were a little high, but they took excellent
care of their animals, carried outstanding inventory, and were friendly
and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, once Petco erected one of their Big-Box
stores in the same parking lot, our pet supplier was doomed. In our
metro area with a population of nearly two million, there are a mere
handful of small proprietors running pet stores. Thanks to Petco and
other corporate behemoths, a multitude of small businesses in our city
have folded during the Bush Regime.
On several occasions, my
wife’s cousin has told me of Wal-Mart’s impact on her small
home-town in Missouri. The big yellow smiley face brought frowns to
most of Brookfield’s inhabitants. It cost the taxpayers $300,000.00
worth of incentives to bring a “Super-Store” to town. Little
did the unsuspecting residents know that they were paying to enable
Wal-Mart to work its “magic”, which included driving many
small businesses under while offering lower wages and fewer benefits
to displaced workers. Always low prices, wages and morals.
Yes, a corporatocracy is
a beautiful thing. The minimum wage has not increased since 1997. The
number of uninsured Americans has risen to 45 million. Such is life
in the “free market” economy touted so highly by Bush and
his corporate cronies. But true believers know that our president is
doing what is best for the country. Marketers of the American Dream
have taught them that soulless corporations (which enjoy many of the
rights and few of the responsibilities of a real person) will protect
the interests of the working people and consumers.
Since 9/11, Rove and the
Bush Regime have steadily eroded government regulation of corporate
leviathans. Spinning yarns that would make an unscrupulous salesperson
blush, our ruling elites and the compliant mainstream media assure us
that most CEOs, whose salaries average 400 times that of their employees
and who exist to please their avaricious share-holders, are certain
to make decisions which balance ethics with profit. Today’s wealthy
elite are too morally evolved to engage in the exploitation and passive
murder of employees and consumers committed by their predecessors during
the Gilded Age. They can be trusted. Post-9/11 America is a wonderful
place for small business owners, consumers, and employees. Just think
of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Monsanto, the offshoring of American jobs,
powerful corporate lobbyists, Nike sweatshops, the military industrial
complex, union-busting, the obscene profits of drug and oil companies,
and on, and on ….
Murder, mayhem, and sinister
motives veiled by “noble causes”
What portrait of the world
since 9/11 would be complete without considering America’s invasion
and colonial occupation of Iraq? The dangerous minds behind the Project
for the New American Century, a think tank that outlines strategy for
the United States to achieve world military domination, determined that
they needed a new Pearl Harbor to launch their quest for global hegemony.
9/11 provided that catalyst. Rumsfeld, Powell and company shrewdly convinced
enough Americans of Iraq’s culpability for 9/11 (and that Hussein
possessed WMD’s) that they mustered the necessary popular support
to initiate their imperialist invasion. Mark Twain himself could not
have penned fiction to top the intricate, suspenseful dramas scripted
by the Neocons. Defying the United Nations and violating a myriad of
international laws, the United States threw off the last vestiges of
benevolence by pre-emptively invading a sovereign nation (whose people
it had already been passively mass murdering by the hundreds of thousands
through the UN economic sanctions it orchestrated in the 1990’s).
The invasion did end the
sanctions, but the United States has now actively murdered tens of thousands
of innocent Iraqi civilians (anywhere from 38,000 to 250,000 depending
on which report one believes---but remember: the US military “doesn’t
do body counts”). Iraq's infrastructure is in a shambles. Few
civilians have access to water or sewage facilities. Electricity is
only available for several hours a day. Oil production is well below
pre-invasion levels. Chaos and civil war grip the nation. And did I
mention the 2,300 Americans who joined the military to protect their
country but instead wasted their lives on an ill-conceived plot to expand
the American Empire? Mission accomplished, eh George?
Who needs human rights when
we have a benevolent dictatorship?
Personally, I liked the pre-9/11
worldview, especially since it included a nearly intact Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton would thrive in post 9/11 America, where the Bill
of Rights is going the way of the Dodo. I know it is unpatriotic of
me while our nation is waging a “war on terror”, but I sorely
miss the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Maybe
I am just spoiled and idealistic, but the Patriot Act, the death of
habeas corpus, denial of due process, torture, and illegal domestic
spying deeply disturb me. Viewing the world through the quaint lenses
of my pre-9/11 worldview, I believe that the vision of America that
was born in 1789 could still become a reality. Unfortunately, under
the pretext of “national security”, the Bush Regime is unraveling
the progress that Abolitionists, Populists, Progressives, civil rights
activists, and many others made toward the ideals spelled out in our
Constitution. America was evolving toward the nation Thomas Paine had
envisioned. Now Paine’s vision is in jeopardy of dying. The vultures
of despotism are eagerly circling to greedily pick the flesh from the
bones of democracy’s carcass. Remember Jose Padilla, Abu Gharib,
Bagram Air Base, Guantanamo Bay, illegal domestic spying, the illegal
occupation in Iraq, two stolen elections, 9/11, the Reichstag Fire,
the Enabling Act….
In the post-9/11 worldview,
consolidation of power into the Executive Branch is necessary to protect
us from the terrorists. Since it is now common knowledge amongst the
Empire’s loyalists that all Islamic people are terrorists, we
need to entrust Bush with as much power as possible to maximize our
protection. Why bother with the messy constraints of a system of checks
and balances when we can have one man, particularly one the caliber
of George Bush, making the decisions based on his beliefs and the directives
he receives from God. Occasionally Congress raises its head and grunts
an objection at Emperor George when Senators like Schumer and Clinton
think it will further their political careers to show people they can
flex some muscle, but most of the time our legislative branch rubber-stamps
the edicts from the Black House. Bush has repeatedly demonstrated that
he is a rogue with no respect for that “God-damned piece of paper”
housed at the National Archives or those pansy international laws (probably
written by the French). You think any self-respecting Texan is going
to let those wooden-shoed, tulip tending ultraliberals at The Hague
tell him what to do? Hell, he doesn’t need FISA’s approval
to spy on Americans, let alone a bunch of “foreigners” telling
him how to run his country. The sad reality is that George Bush is the
world’s most dangerous terrorist. His stockpile of WMDs surpasses
those envisioned in Saddam Hussein’s wildest imaginings, he is
not afraid to use them, and he is quite adept at using them without
firing them. W is the new sheriff in town. Bush only submits to one
Earthly authority. Israel dictates US foreign policy when it is not
too heavily engaged in its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.
Hey, Big Spender…
As of 3/15/06, our national
debt was $8.28 trillion and was increasing by an average of $2.1 billion
per day. Prior to 9/11, the United States was less than $5.8 trillion
in the red. We obviously had a pre-9/11 problem, but the Black House’s
post-9/11 worldview involves addressing the problem with a brilliant
solution: keep borrowing more from Japan and China, continue increasing
military expenditures (which already account for 60% of global military
spending), advance more cut taxes for the rich, and persist in choking
off social programs which benefit humanity and the environment.
Welcome to the “Third
World”, New Orleans!
Some of you nostalgic dreamers
with a pre-9/11 worldview might remember Mardi Gras, the Big Easy, and
the birth-place of jazz. You might also remember the passive mass murder
committed by the Bush Regime as they did virtually nothing to prepare
for Katrina, despite warnings about the inadequacies of the levees that
came as early as 2001. In fact, under Bush, the federal government reduced
funding intended to strengthen the levees and whittled FEMA down to
a shadow of its former self. There is now video evidence that Bush received
a briefing the day before Katrina struck which alerted him to the magnitude
of the storm; his response was to ignore it. Apparently, he chose to
act based on a post- 9/11 worldview and let local authorities contend
with the storm. At least give him credit for flying over and waving
at New Orleans from Air Force One after the storm had passed. And Mother
Bush did pay a visit to the Astrodome to remind Americans that the Katrina
evacuees were “underprivileged anyway, so this is working very
well for them.” Thanks to the criminal negligence and ineptitude
of our federal government (which collects the lion’s share of
tax money from We the People and is mandated by the Constitution to
“promote the general welfare”), thousands of people are
dead or missing and a major city lies in ruins. How peculiar that most
of the dead and missing are poor and black. What an odd coincidence.
I owe my soul to the company
store….
I yearn for the days when
so many Americans hadn’t traded their souls and freedom for an
SUV to drive (paying big dollars for gasoline gives them self-justification
for their hatred of Muslims), magnetic “Support the Troops”
ribbons (at least we now have a replacement for the plastic Jesus),
a McDonald’s on every other corner (a scapegoat for unhealthy
eating habits), Wal-Mart (to keep prices, wages, benefits, and competition
low), the DHS (to play Big Brother and keep them safe), and free market
capitalism (so they can keep buying more “stuff”). Yet I
wonder, did a time truly exist during my adult life when massive numbers
of Americans were not spiritually bereft, or was I simply one of the
consumer zombies and thus unaware of the problem? I conclude it was
probably the latter. Thankfully, I was able to wrest my soul free from
the tenacious grip of the American Corporatocracy, and I intend to help
as many as I am able to reclaim theirs.
My conclusion?
After some reflection, it
would appear that America’s pre-9/11 worldview was much more rational,
logical, and conducive to continued human existence on this planet than
the post-9/11 worldview. Karl Rove spoke of a pre-9/11 viewpoint as
“deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong.” If that
is true, let’s go back to being “wrong”. I am neither
Democrat nor Republican, but in this case, I cast my vote definitively
on the side Mr. Rove characterized as Democrat.
As Rove mentioned, I think
we need to “prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding
for our attackers”. After all, the Bush Regime is full of criminals
and sociopaths. In light of his low key yet powerful role in the Bush
dynasty, let’s put Mr. Rove behind bars and on the couch first.
Perhaps Mr. Fitzgerald will accomplish that task in the near future.
Final Note:
In many previous essays,
I have detailed numerous actions that a person with a social conscience
can take to challenge the malefactors who are destroying our constitutional
republic and wreaking havoc on the world. Now I am suggesting yet another.
It is only a start, but it is simple and has a chance of success if
enough people participate. I understand that it is easy to lapse into
deep cynicism, but our democracy is on life support, not dead. If We
the People exercise what is left of our Constitutional rights, there
is a chance we can reclaim our nation. If we don’t, we have thrown
in the towel and lost.
Please click on the link
below to support the Censure and Impeachment of George Bush:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/635
Jason Miller
is a 39 year old sociopolitical essayist with a degree in liberal arts
and an extensive self-education. When he is not spending time with his
wife and three sons, doing research, or writing, he works as a loan
counselor. He is a member of Amnesty International and an avid supporter
of Oxfam International and Human Rights Watch. He welcomes responses
at [email protected]
and comments on his blog, Thomas Paine’s Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com.