Naomi Wolfe: Dear World, Please Confront America
Category: News and Politics

The following was written by Naomi Wolfe, author of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, which details America's nearly completed descent into fascism.

NAOMI WOLF: DEAR WORLD, PLEASE CONFRONT AMERICA

Reprinted from DAILY NEWS EGYPT

Is it possible to fall out of love with your own country? For two years, I, like many Americans, have been focused intently on documenting, exposing, and alerting the nation to the Bush administration's criminality and its assault on the Constitution and the rule of law — a story often marginalized at home. I was certain that when Americans knew what was being done in their name, they would react with horror and outrage.

Three months ago, the Bush administration still clung to its devil's sound bite, "We don't torture." Now, Doctors Without Borders has issued its report documenting American-held detainees' traumas, and even lie detector tests confirm they have been tortured. The Red Cross report has leaked: torture and war crimes. Jane Mayer's impeccably researched exposé "The Dark Side" just hit the stores: torture, crafted and directed from the top.

The Washington Post gave readers actual video footage of the abusive interrogation of a Canadian minor, Omar Khadr, who was seen showing his still-bleeding abdominal wounds, weeping and pleading with his captors.

So the truth is out and freely available. And America is still napping, worrying about its weight, and hanging out at the mall.
I had thought that after so much exposure, thousands of Americans would be holding vigils on Capitol Hill, that religious leaders would be asking God's forgiveness, and that a popular groundswell of revulsion, similar to the nineteenth-century anti-slavery movement, would emerge. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, if torture is not wrong, nothing is wrong.
And yet no such thing has occurred. There is no crisis in America's churches and synagogues, no Christian and Jewish leaders crying out for justice in the name of Jesus, a tortured political prisoner, or of Yahweh, who demands righteousness. I asked a contact in the interfaith world why. He replied, "The mainstream churches don't care, because they are Republican. And the synagogues don't care, because the prisoners are Arabs."

It was then that I realized that I could not be in love with my country right now. How can I care about the fate of people like that? If this is what Americans are feeling, if that is who we are, we don't deserve our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Even America's vaunted judicial system has failed to constrain obvious abuses. A Federal court has ruled that the military tribunals system — Star Chambers where evidence derived from torture is used against the accused — can proceed. Another recently ruled that the president may call anyone anywhere an "enemy combatant" and detain him or her indefinitely.
So Americans are colluding with a criminal regime. We have become an outlaw nation — a clear and present danger to international law and global stability — among civilized countries that have been our allies. We are — rightly — on Canada's list of rogue nations that torture.

Europe is still high from Barack Obama's recent visit. Many Americans, too, hope that an Obama victory in November will roll back this nightmare. But this is no time to yield to delusions. Even if Obama wins, he may well be a radically weakened president. The Bush administration has created a transnational apparatus of lawlessness that he alone, without global intervention, can neither roll back nor control.

Private security firms — for example, Blackwater — will still be operating, accountable neither to him nor to Congress, and not bound, they have argued, by international treaties. Weapons manufacturers and the telecommunications industry, with billions at stake in maintaining a hyped "war on terror" and their new global surveillance market, will deploy a lavishly financed army of lobbyists to defend their interests.

Moreover, if elected, Obama will be constrained by his own Democratic Party. America's political parties bear little resemblance to the disciplined organizations familiar in parliamentary democracies in Europe and elsewhere. And Democrats in Congress will be even more divided after November if, as many expect, conservative members defeat Republican incumbents damaged by their association with Bush.

To be sure, some Democrats have recently launched Congressional hearings into the Bush administration's abuses of power. Unfortunately, with virtually no media coverage, there is little pressure to broaden official investigations and ensure genuine accountability.

But, while grassroots pressure has not worked, money still talks. We need targeted government-led sanctions against the US by civilized countries, including international divestment of capital. Many studies have shown that tying investment to democracy and human rights reform is effective in the developing world. There is no reason why it can't be effective against the world's superpower.

We also need an internationally coordinated strategy for prosecuting war criminals at the top and further down the chain of command — individual countries pressing charges, as Italy and France have done. Although the United States is not a signatory to the statute that established the International Criminal Court, violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions are war crimes for which anyone — potentially even the US president — may be tried in any of the other 193 countries that are parties to the conventions. The whole world can hunt these criminals down.

An outlaw America is a global problem that threatens the rest of the international community. If this regime gets away with flouting international law, what is to prevent the next administration — or this administration, continuing under its secret succession plan in the event of an emergency — from going further and targeting its political opponents at home and abroad?
We Americans are either too incapable, or too dysfunctional, to help ourselves right now. Like drug addicts or the mentally ill who refuse treatment, we need our friends to intervene. So remember us as we were in our better moments, and take action to save us — and the world — from ourselves.

Maybe then I can fall in love with my country again.

Naomi Wolf,the author, most recently, of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot and the forthcoming Give me Liberty: How to Become an American Revolutionary, is co-founder of the American Freedom Campaign, a US democracy movement. This commentary is published by DAILY NEWS EGYPT in collaboration with Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).

7:21 AM - 14 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Election Madness
Category: News and Politics

I really like Obama.  I pray he wins.  That being said, let me also say this - he needs to take the gloves off and fight fire with fire.  This taking the high road thing is fine and dandy, but I'm getting sick of watching grandpa McNumbnuts and his army of Rove disciples launching this onslaught of negative, character assassinating, patriotism questioning commercials that are aimed at those who get their news in small, bite-sized gulps, heavy on the slogans and soundbites. The republicans are already deep into the bag of dirty tricks, in full "swift-boat" mode, and I'm worried that we might get stuck with at least 4 more years of neocon insanity.  All these character assassination tv ads are pissing me off.  Most of them are so comically ridiculous that anyone who knows a hoot about anything to do with politics is immune and will not be swayed by such silliness.  I'm not concerned about those people. 

I'm concerned about the uninformed, out of touch voters who are guided by soundbites and easily misled by smooth campaign tactics aimed at swaying the easily swayed.  They are the people who will get the anonymous email that says Obama is a muslim who was schooled in a madrasa, and believe it.  I work with a guy who refers to Barak as "the muslim".  My wife was forwarded the infamous email about Obama being a muslim, by her aunt, who obviously believes it.  I guess what I'm saying is we progressives/liberals need to be preaching to the uninformed, because they are fair game, and right now, the bad guys are doing a better job of reeling in that block of voters than we are.  If you meet somebody who thinks Obama is a muslim, explain the truth to them.  You don't have to be confrontational about it.  Just try to get the facts into whatever conversation you're having about the presidential race.  He's a christian with a long history of heavy involvement in a christian church.  He's not muslim....he never has been muslim (couldn't resist the Larry Craig-ism).  Not that that should matter.  As long as somebody has the track record and the skills to lead, it shouldn't matter what church they go to as long as the job comes first.  But, being realistic about it, being muslim and running for president would never fly in this country right now.  It will probably be a long, long time before it will fly.  So, for the time being, we'll have to hold our noses and go about the unsavory task of defending Obama's christianity.  I'm not saying christianity is unsavory, just that we shouldn't feel the need to justify Obama's chosen religion.  It shouldn't matter, and it should be none of our business.  But, to a lot of people, it does matter, and, that being the case, it is our business.  While we're busy defending Obama's faith, we could also throw in some info that opens people's eyes to the fact that unless you're very wealthy, you have no business supporting the current administation and it's adherents.  It's crucial that we spread the word.  The undecided, easily swayed block of voters are there for the taking, and they could very well determine who wins the election.

7:33 PM - 17 Comments - 9 Kudos - Add Comment

The Bitch is Back
Category: News and Politics

I don't trust the motives of anybody who has as much to gain by fucking us over as the oil companies do. I don't trust the government, either. They are either intertwined with, or bought and paid for by the oil companies. They will all say or do whatever they have to in order for us to be led like rats by the pied piper merrily down Buttfucker Lane while they stuff their pockets with our money and fuck us over. We (none of us) really have no right to bitch. We let them do it. We can see them fucking us in the ass, this very moment, and we do nothing.

We bitch about gas prices, and we buy it anyway. We see a corrupt administration using our children to attack, conquer and control nations who never attacked us, and we let it happen. Iraq is the opening salvo in the war to control what happens to the rest of the world's fossil fuels. That doesn't mean that we (the U.S) will benefit from our conquering other nations and stealing their resources. It means that oil companies will benefit from our conquering other nations and stealing their resources. That's what a lot of people don't understand, particularly those who support our criminal regime and it's immoral actions. We're not taking the oil for us, we're taking it for BIG OIL. Hence the record profits being recorded by American oil companies. All public policy in this country is skewed to benefit corporate interests, oil in particular. I think we should do what Chavez did in Venezuela. Let the government take control of our nations resources. Tell the oil companies they can extract and refine the oil, but the people of America reap the lion's share of the rewards. Chavez told the oil companies to leave if they didn't like it. They stayed. Probably hoping the U.S. will invade and return the oil to it's rightful owners.

Why do you think our health care system is simultaneously the least effective, yet the most expensive, in the industrialized world. Our health care system is not in place to heal sick people, it's in place to generate profit, and it's doing a wonderful job. Why do you think nothing is being done to fix our health care system? To the people who make the rules, and those who operate their puppet strings and stuff their wallets with money, it's not broken. If you're one of those who have good health insurance, and think everything is rosy and that those who don't have coverage are lazy idiots looking for handouts, I pray you never have to walk in their shoes. I find it mind boggling that people will side with corporate greed against their fellow man, cheering while the one shits on and devours the other. Self-righteously cursing the less fortunate as worthless bums who deserve their fate. Demonizing socialized medicine like it's the black plague, rather than a way to ensure that all people have affordable access to quality healthcare. I know that's a horrible thing. Healthcare for all. What the fuck am I thinking? If those lazy welfare scamming assholes wanted health insurance, they'd get out and get a job. Worthless fucks. Right?

You may be asking yourself why I'm bitching, since I just wrote that none of us has the right to bitch. I guess I'm bitching because I feel like it....and that's a good enough reason for me. I'll probably even bitch some more later, because...........because I fucking can.

3:31 PM - 18 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Welcome to my nightmare
Category: News and Politics

I don't really have the mental energy to research and back up what I'm going to write tonight, so take everything I say in this post for what it's worth, which is not much. I'm just a free(?), tax paying citizen shooting his mouth off, blowing off some steam…..and ultimately, pissing in the wind. I'm sitting here alone, reading political blogs and news, getting freaked out by all the catastrophes-in-the-making that seem to be shifting into high gear, all at the same time, all seemingly without a remedy. A tragic, cataclysmic coincidence, or an extremely well thought out, highly diabolical plan. I don't know which, but it doesn't matter, because it's freaking me out.

There's peak oil, which is the point where we've passed the highest level of global oil production that we'll ever have, and from here on out our output will diminish. Couple that with ever-growing usage levels, propelled by the economic coming-of-age of India and China, and it spells big trouble, economically, for everybody. We're already seeing the beginning effects of peak oil. At the grocery store, at the gas pumps and in the economy. IMHO, we should be concentrating our efforts and resources on alternative sources of fuel, and alternative lifestyles based on less, or, better yet, no oil. It's a finite resource, production has peaked, it's already causing armed conflicts, and it fucks up the environment. Which is a perfect segue for my next calamity….global warming.

I don't know all the scientific mumbo jumbo regarding global warming. I turn on one radio station, and I hear some corporate sponsored, smooth talking snake oil peddler telling me I need to reduce my carbon footprint because I'm fucking up the planet. I tune to a different station, with a different corporate sponsored, smooth talking snake oil peddler telling me it's all a paranoid delusion, and I can buy all the Hummers and extended-cab, hemi powered monster trucks that I want, because it's all a bullshit scam perpetrated on the citizens of the world by Al Gore, because…..umm….because…..well, just because. I take into account the possible motives that both sides would have for misleading me, and it makes me think that global warming is indeed true, and we should be tripping over ourselves to do what we can to reverse the damage we've done. I mean, give me one good reason why Al Gore and others would lie to the public, crying wolf about an issue that doesn't really exist? What would Al Gore stand to gain from trying to convince society that we need to change the way we live or we're doomed. For monetary gain? He's already extremely wealthy. For political gain? Getting up on a soapbox and telling the public that they need to change their lifestyle because they're killing the planet is political suicide. Politicians stay in power by telling us what we want to hear, regardless of whether it's true or not. I feel, in my gut, that this highly intelligent, well connected, well informed man has credible evidence of, and truly believes in, global warming. I also feel that those who deny that global warming is a threat, or that our civilization is causing it, are from one of two different camps: Those who refuse to consider changing their lifestyle or exercising any kind of personal restraint, and those who stand to gain monetarily from keeping the status quo. I, myself, am from the "it's better to be safe than sorry" school of thought. Now all I need is the gumption to actually do something about it.

Then there's the collapsing real estate market, which, coupled with other factors such as endless wars, an epidemic of failed banks and the aforementioned peak oil, is causing our economy to go down the shitter. Read the headlines. Home foreclosures are at record levels, the stock market is sliding backwards, huge financial institutions are failing (why does the government rescue them, but lets it's citizens fry?), unemployment is rising, the dollar is losing value, the auto industry is hemorrhaging money, the airline industry is dangling from a precipice, on the verge of collapse, and on and on and on. A perfect economic storm is brewing, and we're all going to get rained on.

As if all the above weren't enough, there are imminent shortages of food and water on the horizon, being brought about by a wide array of causes, including climate change, drought, pollution and a new emphasis on the production of bio-fuels.

Add to all the above a couple of never ending, illegal, immoral wars, an evaporating middle class and skyrocketing health care costs, and a government that is transparently doing the bidding of corporate interests, rather than that of We The People, and it all seems a little overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that I think I'll go ahead and post this blog and focus my attention on more immediate concerns, like sports, music or pop culture before I get a headache.

5:35 AM - 17 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

I feel the need, the need to........blog
Category: News and Politics

Starting last fall, and lasting until a couple months ago, I was heavily into the political scene, and was blogging voraciously (is that a correct use of that word?).  Railing against "the man", making friends and enemies....but mostly friends.  Hanging at each other's blogs, leaving comments, supporting each other....or giving each other shit.  Staying in touch with people who I should be in better touch with, a lot more than I did before myspace.  It was a lot of fun.  Writing something and sparking a little conversation with anyone, from any corner of the fricking globe, any time of day, about any subject anybody feels like spouting off about.  Getting somebody so pissed off that they actually take the time out of their day to tell me off, or try and prove me wrong about whatever is the topic being discussed.  Usually politics.  This blogosphere is a digital chew toy for the beast, a place for the masses to vent and posture, without being a real threat to the powers that be. Just enough of an outlet to keep us occupied, without posing any real challenge to their authority.  That's not a complaint, or a judgement.  It's just how I see it.  This (blogging and venting about politics) is a good thing. 

As more people get involved, and educated, it helps to more fully expose the misdeeds of those who would seek to manipulate, exploit and enslave the masses.  It gives us a place to bitch, vent our frustration, inform one another, and stay in pretty much a constant state of communication with one another.  As an added bonus, it gives us the opportunity to get the anger out of our system without getting into trouble.  Hopefully, we will eventually open enough eyes and minds to persuade the puppet masters, through peer pressure, to chill the fuck out.  Without any kind of revolt.  No revolution.  No Bastille Day.  Just some really rich, powerful, conniving bastards seeing the light and deciding to chill the heck out.  Those who seek peace and equality will continue to grow in numbers until we simply absorb the war pigs, and they'll just cease to exist.  All without firing a bullet.  Good devouring evil, through the overwhelming force of it's will.  The logical conclusion to a long, wild ride. 

Anyway, back to the subject.  I was digging the whole blogging thing, when suddenly, out of the blue, I just got sick of it.  Not just blogging, but politics, world events, anything of substance.  I was burnt.  I just quit blogging and closed my myspace account.  Bam.  Gone.  See ya.  I took a break, and just kept an eye on things without actively partaking.  Recharging my battery.  Well, the last couple weeks I've been feeling the fire in my belly a little.  I fear a McCain presidency like I fear the Grim Reaper, and it seems to be stirring my inner blogger from his slumber.  This is just a warm-up blog, to just do it, to get my feet wet.  I'll save all the gory pictures and ranting for later.  I will leave you with this article about the imminent scarcity of food.  After reading it I felt fear mingled with gratitude for what I have, and it made me feel kind of silly for being pissed off about the price of gas and food.  There are people in the world who would love to have our problems.  

Currently listening : Rock Crown By Seven Mary Three Release date: 1997-06-03

6:53 AM - 20 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment