The People vs the Powerful

aka, one salami slice at a time.
Cecilia from Mariposa Rhythms lived in Germany until she was 19. The Germans are in the perfect position to warn the Americans, how easy it is to fall for a tyrant, or tyrannical laws. As she calls it, it's like a slice from a salami, slice after slice, liberties are taken away, until that one moment, when there is no salami left (liberties and freedoms= democracy) and then you wonder, much too late, how and when it all happened:

The U.S. has been engaging in a “salami-tactic” for a long time now, and we are all being roped into the project. Someday soon we are going to wake up and wonder where the hell the salami went and how we could have all been complicit in so many ways and with so many good intentions: through joining the military, through directly and indirectly working for the military/industrial/congressional complex, through paying our taxes without insisting on the ways they should be spent, through where we spend the money we have left after taxes, through leaving the policy-making and breaking up to the politicians and those that can afford to court them, through inaction, through silence.

It might take us a little longer than the Germans to wake up since many of our most dramatic crimes (wars, massacres, torture) now take place in other countries rather than on “our own” soil. The obscene number of people caged up in our massive prisons are kept relatively invisible, and on most days those of us with full bellies and living wages are not faced with the inconceivable number of people at home and abroad dying the slow deaths of our policies of exploitation, poverty and pollution.

We who reside safely (now) in the U.S. can sit and debate whether or not we support the armed resistances in the Middle East and what that does or doesn’t have to do with our (lack of) understanding and opinions of Islam. But while we sit and debate and sit and wait for the perfect revolution with the perfect ideology and the perfect methodology that we can fully get behind, the U.S. government (in collaboration with multinational corporations and other corrupt leaders around the world) is slicing away at that salami. The intricacies of what we think about Hizbullah, Hamas, the FMLN, Chavez, Morales, Castro, Mao, etc.—the aspects we want to support and those we want to critique—all that may help us formulate the details of our utopian visions (and I do think it is important to have these) but it should not get in the way of our taking immediate action against our criminal government (and I am not just referring to the current administration) and its local and global policies which have necessitated the emergence of these and other resistance movements.

read her full post HERE. Now read this:

The Project for the New American Century, or PNAC, is a Washington-based
think tank created in 1997. Above all else, PNAC desires and demands one
thing: The establishment of a global American empire to bend the will of
all nations. They chafe at the idea that the United States, the last
remaining superpower, does not do more by way of economic and military
force to bring the rest of the world under the umbrella of a new
socio-economic Pax Americana.

The fundamental essence of PNAC's ideology can be found in a White Paper
produced in September of 2000 entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses:
Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century." In it, PNAC outlines
what is required of America to create the global empire they envision.
According to PNAC, America must:
* Reposition permanently based forces to Southern Europe, Southeast Asia
and the Middle East;
* Modernize U.S. forces, including enhancing our fighter aircraft,
submarine and surface fleet capabilities;
* Develop and deploy a global missile defense system, and develop a
strategic dominance of space;
* Control the "International Commons" of cyberspace;
* Increase defense spending to a minimum of 3.8 percent of gross domestic
product, up from the 3 percent currently spent.


Most ominously, this PNAC document described four "Core Missions" for the
American military. The two central requirements are for American forces to
"fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars," and
to "perform the 'constabulary' duties associated with shaping the security
environment in critical regions." Note well that PNAC does not want America
to be prepared to fight simultaneous major wars. That is old school. In
order to bring this plan to fruition, the military must fight these wars
one way or the other to establish American dominance for all to see.

Why is this important? After all, wacky think tanks are a cottage industry
in Washington, DC. They are a dime a dozen. In what way does PNAC stand
above the other groups that would set American foreign policy if they could?
Two events brought PNAC into the mainstream of American government: the
disputed election of George W. Bush, and the attacks of September 11th.
When Bush assumed the Presidency, the men who created and nurtured the
imperial dreams of PNAC became the men who run the Pentagon, the Defense
Department and the White House. When the Towers came down, these men saw,
at long last, their chance to turn their White Papers into substantive
policy.

This article, written a few years ago, is for a lot of people 'old' news..but for those of you who this is new, read the full article HERE.
As I saw Ann Richards'memorial this morning on tv (ex-Texas Governor who passed away), I saw Clinton who spoke and offered his condolences to grieving family members. I turned to my husband and said, you know, Bush would not know how to deal with real people in real pain. He's too dissasociative of people outside of his Ivy league realm. This is why a President who has some genuine notion and understanding of 'regular' people, needs to get back at the helm of this country. Not someone who is devoid of actual paineful, devastating and traumatic consequences of his actions, like Bush is. Just watch how he reacts to people in pain. He doesn't know how to. What can you expect from a guy who is part of an unprecedented attempt at a global economic takeover? Israel, beware, and don't be his patsy!