The U.S. as the Rogue State.

In all the verbiage emanating from the candidates this political cycle, one constantly hears the refrain that either Obama or McCain will make us more secure in this age of terrorism.

What is never mentioned is the ludicrousness of this proposition.Given that this country spends more on “defense” than the rest of the world combined and maintains a string of well equipped bases around the world and has a huge CIA budget devoted to destabilization of foreign governments,propaganda and assassination of foreign leaders, elementary curiosity should provoke questions on who is the greater threat to others.Given the nature of our Press/media as propaganda organs, that is not likely to happen.

What this simple minded analysis shows is that no original thought about important matters would be allowed to cross the mind of the candidates or the Press.We will all be bickering around the edges, as it were, on whether Barack Obama is a celebrity in the mold of Britney or Paris,and,God forbid, they missed Lindsay or Madonna.

Meanwhile in the real planet GM and Ford are collapsing with bankruptcy looming for both in a matter of months.The federal budget deficit is approacing half a trillion dollars with no reprieve in sight.

But the bogeyman,the dark skinned Arab/Muslim is lurking in the smoldering ruins of the WTC Towers,the man with Anthrax is comfortably dead and Barack wants to put the make on your sister using high falutin’ words.The terrorists are indeed here.

8 Comments

Oui on August 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm

.
A friend pointed me just recently to this film documentary.

“The Oil Crash”

It’s very clear now Cheney and his Texas/Saudi Arabian oil friends have decided to change the the Middle East power landscape. Of course Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or the anthrax attack!

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

dada on August 2, 2008 at 4:15 pm

an tom engelhardt says: “let Ira Chernus take you on a magical mystery tour of the strange world of American “values,” American “values voters,” and a mainstream media that values the value-voter story above all else…

War Meets Values on Campaign Trail

Will the Big Winner of 2008 Once Again Be a Conservative Culture-Wars Narrative?

Who would choose psychological security over real security? The mainstream media have an answer: “the ordinary American.” Now that the “values voter” of the 2004 election has largely disappeared, the media have come up with this new character as the mythic hero for their election-year story.

:::

The centrist and even liberal media are as busy as conservatives propagating the idea that, to be one of the average, ordinary Americans, you have to prize (white) working-class values considered “Republican turf” since the late 1960s: individualism, self-reliance, hard work for “modest” (which means stagnant or falling) wages, faith, and a patriotism so strong that it will never surrender.

The American Everyman, the hero of this year’s media story, is an underpaid worker who may very well vote Republican against his or her own economic interests, and all too often against the interests of loved ones who hope to come home alive from Iraq or Afghanistan.

:::

For the foreseeable future, debates about cultural values are going to be played out fiercely on the symbolic terrain of war and national security issues. The all-too-real battlefields abroad will remain obscured by the cultural battlefields at home and by the those timeless “ordinary American values” embedded in the public’s imagination. It’s all too powerful a myth — and too good an election story — to go away anytime soon.

chernus is, as always, rather verbose, but the article is highly recommended.

dada on August 2, 2008 at 4:20 pm

here it is Tomgram: Ira Chernus, Will Culture War Overshadow Real War in 2008?

mea culpa
KlatooBaradaNikto on August 2, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Who is going to make the poor,the brownskinned and destitute more secure against the predatory assaults of the ravenous American beast?That is the real question that should occupy the m8inds of everyone and that is precisely why we will all be ignoring it and why Lindsay Lohan’s opinion will matter more than the anguished cries of millions of Iraqi mothers and fathers.

‘The best are full of doubt while the worst are full of passionate intensity”– W.B.Yeats, Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
- dada on August 2, 2008 at 6:05 pm
  
  klatoo, you and l both know that The American Everyman, the hero of this year’s media story, is…white.
  
  as someone else here has pointed out, oscar l believe, the gist of the mcstain campaign is to give cover to the racists…playing to their fears and creating an atmosphere where they can vote for the white guy with a clear conscience. sad but true, it’s all they got.
  
  as for making anyone, regardless of colour or economic condition, more secure? the RAT’s sure as hell aren’t going to do it, but the demoRATs just might, with the proper leadership and a lot of ass kicking by progressives.
  
  cold comfort l know, but who [else] ya gonna call?
  
  the msm is a lost cause.
Salunga on August 2, 2008 at 8:10 pm

This is the same shit they peddle in dictatorships: “Tighten your belt comrade your poor because of external threats.” All the while the politicians cruise around in limousines and private jets. Its a society we should all share in the good and the bad times.

idredit on August 2, 2008 at 8:39 pm

“Meanwhile in the real planet GM and Ford are collapsing with bankruptcy looming for both in a matter of months. The federal budget deficit is approaching half a trillion dollars with no reprieve in sight.”

that’s the real issue that needs to be deflected….as we postpone the inevitable. In 2004, the real federal budget deficit was over fifty eight trillion. What we’ve been getting is bogus numbers.

Capital controls are coming as the U.S. dollar collapses, gas rationing and food shortage too.

Keep Jill and Joe distracted with Qaedy.

2009-2011 will not be pretty. Whoever wins will be a one termer.

Gaianne on August 3, 2008 at 6:16 pm

And it needs to be said.

Oui on August 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm

.
A friend pointed me just recently to this film documentary.

“The Oil Crash”

It’s very clear now Cheney and his Texas/Saudi Arabian oil friends have decided to change the the Middle East power landscape. Of course Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or the anthrax attack!

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
dada on August 2, 2008 at 4:15 pm

an tom engelhardt says: “let Ira Chernus take you on a magical mystery tour of the strange world of American “values,” American “values voters,” and a mainstream media that values the value-voter story above all else…

War Meets Values on Campaign Trail

Will the Big Winner of 2008 Once Again Be a Conservative Culture-Wars Narrative?

Who would choose psychological security over real security? The mainstream media have an answer: “the ordinary American.” Now that the “values voter” of the 2004 election has largely disappeared, the media have come up with this new character as the mythic hero for their election-year story.

:::

The centrist and even liberal media are as busy as conservatives propagating the idea that, to be one of the average, ordinary Americans, you have to prize (white) working-class values considered “Republican turf” since the late 1960s: individualism, self-reliance, hard work for “modest” (which means stagnant or falling) wages, faith, and a patriotism so strong that it will never surrender.

The American Everyman, the hero of this year’s media story, is an underpaid worker who may very well vote Republican against his or her own economic interests, and all too often against the interests of loved ones who hope to come home alive from Iraq or Afghanistan.

:::

For the foreseeable future, debates about cultural values are going to be played out fiercely on the symbolic terrain of war and national security issues. The all-too-real battlefields abroad will remain obscured by the cultural battlefields at home and by the those timeless “ordinary American values” embedded in the public’s imagination. It’s all too powerful a myth — and too good an election story — to go away anytime soon.

chernus is, as always, rather verbose, but the article is highly recommended.
- dada on August 2, 2008 at 4:20 pm
  
  here it is Tomgram: Ira Chernus, Will Culture War Overshadow Real War in 2008?
  
  mea culpa
- KlatooBaradaNikto on August 2, 2008 at 5:47 pm
  
  Who is going to make the poor,the brownskinned and destitute more secure against the predatory assaults of the ravenous American beast?That is the real question that should occupy the m8inds of everyone and that is precisely why we will all be ignoring it and why Lindsay Lohan’s opinion will matter more than the anguished cries of millions of Iraqi mothers and fathers.
  
  ‘The best are full of doubt while the worst are full of passionate intensity”– W.B.Yeats, Slouching Towards Bethlehem.
  - dada on August 2, 2008 at 6:05 pm
    
    klatoo, you and l both know that The American Everyman, the hero of this year’s media story, is…white.
    
    as someone else here has pointed out, oscar l believe, the gist of the mcstain campaign is to give cover to the racists…playing to their fears and creating an atmosphere where they can vote for the white guy with a clear conscience. sad but true, it’s all they got.
    
    as for making anyone, regardless of colour or economic condition, more secure? the RAT’s sure as hell aren’t going to do it, but the demoRATs just might, with the proper leadership and a lot of ass kicking by progressives.
    
    cold comfort l know, but who [else] ya gonna call?
    
    the msm is a lost cause.
- Salunga on August 2, 2008 at 8:10 pm
  
  This is the same shit they peddle in dictatorships: “Tighten your belt comrade your poor because of external threats.” All the while the politicians cruise around in limousines and private jets. Its a society we should all share in the good and the bad times.
idredit on August 2, 2008 at 8:39 pm

“Meanwhile in the real planet GM and Ford are collapsing with bankruptcy looming for both in a matter of months. The federal budget deficit is approaching half a trillion dollars with no reprieve in sight.”

that’s the real issue that needs to be deflected….as we postpone the inevitable. In 2004, the real federal budget deficit was over fifty eight trillion. What we’ve been getting is bogus numbers.

Capital controls are coming as the U.S. dollar collapses, gas rationing and food shortage too.

Keep Jill and Joe distracted with Qaedy.

2009-2011 will not be pretty. Whoever wins will be a one termer.
Gaianne on August 3, 2008 at 6:16 pm

And it needs to be said.

The U.S. as the Rogue State.

About The Author

KlatooBaradaNikto

8 Comments

Recent Posts

Recent Comments