Book Review: Chomsky

What We Say Goes: Conversations in U.S. Power in a Changing World
By Noam Chomsky

This book is a collection of interviews with David Barsamian done for The American Empire Project.

My husband bought me this book for my birthday and I finished it in one day. I couldn't seem to put it down. It is a wonderful book that not only discusses current events, but gives you a historical background that helps you better understand the current events. The interview format makes this book very interesting. The topic is constantly changing, keeping you wondering what will be discussed next and insuring that you are never bored. There is a wealth of knowledge in this book. I highly recommend that you read it.

Happy Birthday to Me.
(Btw, I turn 26 today)

Torture Tapes

No matter what I do, I cannot sit down and write a decent post. There are probably two or three posts worth reading on this entire blog.

It wasn't always like this. A few years ago I could write something in depth nearly every day. I guess that was before I gave up. It may not seem like it with my content devoid work of late, but I still pay attention to every little detail of what is going on in this country. And every day it becomes more clear that nothing is going to change. I can't muster up the energy to put what I feel in words. This country is a clusterfuck. But, I will give it a try.

I am sure everyone has heard about the CIA guy who has come out and said that he was involved in water-boarding detainees, the ones that were on the tapes that were recently destroyed. This guy is a real piece of work. I say he is a master propagandist.

My husband was watching Dan Abrams last night and this guy was on. He sprinkled his story with enough truth to be credible and the rest of what he said is questionable at best. He admitted that Zubaydah was water-boarded but then went on to say that there were no beatings and that he gave the CIA actionable intelligence.

The interesting thing is that almost word for word this sounded familiar, like I had heard this story before. I had. In Ron Suskind's book, The One Percent Doctrine. Except, in the book, Suskind describes a mentally ill guy who was not only water-boarded, but also beaten. He also goes on to describe the many wild stories that Zubaydah told and how the CIA would jump at every wild accusation just to find that there was nothing there. This is where the CIA guy diverts from the story that I had already heard.

What scares me is that this guy is a master propagandist, unlike the usual talking heads. He is good. I watched in amazement at his flawless execution of the point he is trying to get across: torture is ok because it works and saves lives. He does it as a "skeptic", which gives him the cover of credibility. But, this guy is no skeptic or whistleblower. At the end of the show, he was asked why he came forward and he said, "I wanted the American people to know about this wonderful success story." (paraphrasing)

Success story? To see that the entire smoke and mirror show up until that point had been to arrive at that very moment made my stomach turn. That is where the interview ended, leaving those words hanging there. I sat in silence for a moment trying to process what I had just witnessed. Moments like that I am reminded that I live in a bizarro world.

Here are some things to think about when listening to this guy speak. One, there is no way that the CIA would let this guy go on television and tell people that we water-board people unless they approved it for their on benefit of some sort. Remember, these are the same techniques that the Bush administration has claimed they cannot disclose because they are classified and would "embolden the enemy." Two, CIA agents sign non-disclosure agreements when they begin and cannot divulge secrets without retribution. This guy doesn't seem to have a care in the world, which points to him being allowed to tell us certain things that will be to the benefit of someone. I have no doubt that this guy is not genuine. The whole thing stinks.

Remember, this guy said that the reason he came forward is to tell the American people a torture success story. He said that himself. This, I am afraid, is the first step the establishment is taking to legitimize torture and make it something that is openly acceptable. Remember, the wiretapping scandal was, according to the government, a lie and conspiracy until it wasn't anymore and then it was necessary. The secret rendition prisons were lies made up by the "liberal America-hating media" until they were proven to exist, then they were not only necessary but legal and good.

I am going to have some more content driven posts up in the days to come. There is also going to be a special treat coming soon just for the holidays. So, stay tuned, I guess. And, stay away from the television if you want to stay sane.

I hate the cold

That's why I am glad that it is 80 degrees outside today.

Nice warm spell just in time for my birthday tomorrow.

Propaganda

The task of propaganda lies not in weighing right and wrong, but driving home your own point of view. You cannot objectively explore the facts that favors others and present them in doctrinaire sincerity to the masses. You have to push relentlessly your own case...

Even the most brilliant propaganda will not produce the desired results unless it follows this fundamental rule: You must stick to limiting yourself to essentials and repeat them endlessly. Persistence on this point, as in so many other cases in the world, is the first and most important precondition for success...

Propaganda does not exist to furnish interesting diversions to the blase' young dandies, but to convince above all the masses. In their clumsiness they always require a long lead before they are ready to take notice. Only by thousandfold repetition will the simplest concept stick in their memories.

--Mein Kampf (via Sources of the Western Tradition 6th ed. p. 379)

And people say that Bush doesn't read.

Compliance and Deadly Force

Back in 2005 there was a story about a bipolar guy that was shot and killed on a plane for acting "weird". I believe that this was one of the first times that I lost all hope for this country and realized that most of the "left blogosphere" was not much better than the rest of the brainwashed country. I had a different blog then. I wrote how horrible this was and how stupid the air marshals had been. I was pretty sure that most compassionate people would understand how fucked up it was to shoot a mentally ill person in cold blood after the wife tried to tell them over and over that her husband was bipolar. But, instead, that day I found myself facing the fact that most of my readers that I had formed a relation with were not that compassionate when it came to the mentally ill.

That day I realized that yet again I was on my own. There were a handful of people who were compassionate, but the overwhelming majority agreed that taking out a gun and shooting this man was the "safest" option. Obviously, to me, that day it was clear that most people still see mental illness as a crime. Kill what we don't understand!

To understand what this has to do with anything and why I am bringing this up two years later, I will have to give you some background information. My sister is schizophrenic. Right now she is in the care of my parents, but I am all too aware of the fact that one day they will not be able to care for her anymore. It has already been basically established that the torch will be passed onto me. I have no problem with that other than the fact that it scares the hell out of me.

See, my parents live in a small town where everyone knows that my sister is sick. Everyone knows everyone and the police know who she is and what to expect. I, on the other hand, move around a lot. I live in larger cities where no one knows you. I am a military spouse and I move a lot. That brings me to the airplane story. I was thinking about this the other day and came to the realization that I would never be able to take her on a plane. If she were to live with me, I would not be able to take a plane to visit my parents. I may be living thousands of miles away and I would have to take a car because I cannot trust that my sister would be safe. I cannot say with certainty that she would not be shot and killed for being different.

But it is more than flying. If I am in a place with fascist police, I could never feel comfortable taking her anywhere. She acts "weird", she doesn't "fit in", and she doesn't comply with social norms. Every time I hear a story about a mentally ill person being tasered because they were acting strange or not complying, I get sick. What if that were my sister? What if I took her out in public and she started to freak out? What if the police ignored my pleas that she is sick? What if they ignored me when I said she is harmless? She is not a violent person, she is schizophrenic plus she is a little slow. She would not understand what they were saying to her or wanting her to do.

So, I guess the point is that the next time you hear a story about a mentally ill person who is tasered or shot because they were acting"strange", try to imagine it was your sibling or parent or child. Try to imagine how helpless you would feel knowing that there are only a handful of people that understand mental illness and have compassion for those least among us who are all too unaware of the ugly world that we live in.

Kucinich Update

From the Kucinich campaign:

Our nation faces a crisis, yet its leaders, and the candidates
campaigning for the Presidency, refuse to acknowledge or address
it in any substantive way.
That's why it's time for: A DIALOGUE FOR DEMOCRACY.

This Thursday, November 29, Democratic Presidential Candidate
Dennis Kucinich will host an unprecedented "Dialogue for
Democracy" forum that will be streamed LIVE on the Internet at
KucinichTV.com. Along with invited guests, Dennis will bring
this crisis to the attention of the nation and the world so we
can better understand what's wrong, and, more importantly, what
we can do about it. The first segment of the LIVE broadcast
begins at 11 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. The LIVE forum will
resume at 5 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m.

Changes

I was hoping for major political changes this past year. It seemed like my last hope. In a few months, I will begin packing all my things in preparation for another big change. What is coming is unknown really, since I will not know where I am headed and what I am in for until right before it happens. At this point, I just know that I am leaving sometime in the next six months. Where to I am unsure.

My life is going to change dramatically. I am not looking forward to this change. The thoughts of what's to come are worrisome to say the least. I will be making a major change in my life in the midst of the upcoming elections. What happens in these elections will have a direct impact on my very future. I have no expectations that the electorate will do what is sensible. Actually, I am preparing for the worse. Don't be surprised if my depression comes out in my writing as Spring draws closer.

This post may seem strange, but I have been dealing with this looming change by myself for awhile now. I have known that this time would come. It is not something that has just sprung up. But with each passing month, reality sets in. What the hell have I got myself into? It has been a fun couple of years pretending to be the wife of a civilian and not of a military officer. Those days are coming to an end. Soon the sun sets on this short era of my life and a new era begins. One I can't help thinking will be a dark era. An era filled with regret and depression. But, who cares right? Everyone else can do what they want. Go shopping, don't worry, start more wars, have a grand old time while others suffer, right?