We Are the Change

Authoritarianism

Rudy Giuliani has said, “Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.” This is a statement that could very well have come from Vladimir Putin; it’s the very definition of authoritarianism, not freedom.
Is the United States still even a functioning democracy? Polls show a large majority of Americans favor universal healthcare, getting out of Iraq and action on global climate change yet there is no action by either party in these matters. Likewise polls show most Americans oppose warrantless spying on Americans, torture, endless war, suspension of rights and the coming internal passports yet many Democrats vote with the Republicans to support these measures. A question worth asking: If we had a functioning democracy, wouldn’t “our” government carry out the will of the people instead of the will of the corporatists?
The United States continues its slide toward authoritarianism.  We are supposed to believe that freedom is about giving up freedom; we have always been at war with Eurasia; you are getting sleepy, your eyelids are getting very heavy. George Orwell was a visionary indeed.

We are Going to Attack Iran

Famous propagandist Hermann Goering said: "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
It has become clear that the Bush regime is going to bomb Iran. The American people are being brainwashed into believing that Iran is a crazy country seeking nuclear weapons with which to attack Israel and the US. The lies are being repeated everyday - we have seen this script before.

Here is the Bush gameplan which follows Goering’s advice to the tee:
1. Make up allegations and lies about the country you want to attack then repeat these lies at every opportunity over and over.
2. Eventually a majority of the American people will come to accept the lies as an obvious and unquestionable truth – remember “WMD” and “Saddam and 9/11”.
3. Launch your attack and accuse anyone who doesn’t support it as un-American.
We are well along the way in stage 2.

Here are some of the lies you will hear repeated everyday in our media.

The first lie: The Iranian president said he was going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. The truth: He never said it. He did allude to something Khomeini said about the regime in Jerusalem disappearing from history.

The second lie: Iran is building a nuclear bomb. The truth: They have been able to enrich a tiny amount of uranium which they are allowed to do under treaty. The IAEA certified in 2007 that: “Iran has continued to facilitate access” and found "no evidence of a nuclear weapons program". The IAEA did report that Iran was technically in breach because it has failed to provide information to resolve specific questions but Iran claimed those questions “exceed the boundaries of the existing safeguards agreement”.

The third lie: The Iranians are crazy and if they had a nuclear weapon they would use it with no regard for deterrence. The truth: Who has Iran invaded? Iran is ruled by right wing religious theocrats but their actions have been very calculated and measured which demonstrates a high degree of rational self interest not craziness.

The fourth lie: Iranians are arming the insurgents in Iraq. The truth: The Iranians are Shiites and the insurgents are Sunni. In case you haven’t been paying attention for the last four years – Shiites are not going to give weapons to Sunnis – duh. Now the Iranians have armed their Shiite brothers in Iraq, but they are not attacking our troops (since we have put them in power and are doing their work). No doubt a few Iranian weapons have been stolen and found their way into Sunni hands.

The groundwork is being laid for the coming attack on Iran. If you pay attention, you will hear the above lies or some variation repeated over and over in the media everyday. In Bush’s own words: “See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” Or in the words of Joseph Goebbels: “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”.