I am in no way surprised at the NSA scandal. With all the shenanigans our Military/Industrial/Secrecy/Prison Complex pulls - you know little things like totally unnecessary wars in Viet Nam, Iraq, the Reagan-era South American illegal incursions, etc. - why be shocked? From the atom bomb on, American government has proven that no new technology will be kept from its war arsenal including the dirty ones - chemicals and germs. So we have this vast new network that can track all information - internet connections, computers, and smart phones - hell they can track one's every key stroke. Did people think they wouldn't use it? Or did people not pay ANY attention when the Patriot Act was passed?
Our Congress passed a law called No-Child-Left-Behind that commands schools to hand over information to military recruiters! The books you check out from your public library are legitimate information of interest to the government - according to the Patriot Act. These last two outrageous laws were passed under President Bush. 9/11 happened on the Bush/Cheney watch. Where was the outrage then? In truth much of the outrage that may have been extant was not reported.
Our Congress passed a law called No-Child-Left-Behind that commands schools to hand over information to military recruiters! The books you check out from your public library are legitimate information of interest to the government - according to the Patriot Act. These last two outrageous laws were passed under President Bush. 9/11 happened on the Bush/Cheney watch. Where was the outrage then? In truth much of the outrage that may have been extant was not reported.
Now we have the media frenzy about the NSA leak and, of course, it's President Obama's fault. I feel bad about Obama. I truly believe he is a good, Christian man who will bear full blame for crimes he may have committed, but which prior Presidents also committed and got away with. I fear our fellow citizens who have worked and fought in Afghanistan will be killed and harassed as they draw down and leave Afghanistan. I fear we will, as in Viet Nam, leave behind collaborators to face ruin as we did to so many Vietnamese. Obama, of course will bear the blame, not Bush.
Here are some things I think were and are far more worthy of being outraged about.
1. No hard, locking cockpit doors on commercial airplanes. My God, I was a preteen when I first noticed a plethora of plane hijackings and now I'm 63. My memories are that it was almost always Palestinians hijacking planes to Cuba. If you live in a dangerous neighborhood you lock the doors.
2. The shrug-your-shoulders response to the assassination of JFK. I asked many people over the years if they thought Oswald acted alone, and if not, did they think our government played a role. The overwhelming majority answered yes, Kennedy was killed by our own government. I grew up in Texas so most of the people I asked were grown-up relatives, grown-up church members, etc. The U.S. House Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1978 that a conspiracy was likely involved in the murder of JFK. I have come to believe that the casual acceptance of Kennedy's death is the proof that the United States of America lost it's soul in November, 1963. Indeed, there is no more such thing as the United States of America. There is a place called the USA where we pretend to honor freedom and justice, where we go through the motions of elections, but George Carlin was right - the U.S. is a club and you and I don't belong. Not even our worthy soldiers belong. But the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, the billionaires whose money comes from government jimmying with the system (like bankers) belong. They are Americans. It's their world. The rest of us just live in it. And die for it.
3. Guantanamo. You've seen the MIA flag right? If not you can see it on most Harley Davidson motorcycles on the other side from the Stars and Stripes. Or at a Veterans cemetery. My first memory of these flags is after we left Viet Nam and there was a belief among many that there were living U.S. soldiers still in Viet Cong prisons. People still believe this. And they will NEVER forget or FORGIVE, right? To do so would be unAmerican. Can we possibly admit that other peoples may feel the same way about their loved ones?
For over 10 years the United States has held innocent human beings in Guantanamo. These people have been tortured. The innocence of most of these prisoners has been apparent for a long time to fair-minded people. This from the nation that lead the way in establishing the Nuremberg Principles at the end of World War II. Is this not the action of a nation with no soul? A nation gone rogue? A nation that places itself so high in self estimation that they can do no wrong?
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Here are some things I think were and are far more worthy of being outraged about.
1. No hard, locking cockpit doors on commercial airplanes. My God, I was a preteen when I first noticed a plethora of plane hijackings and now I'm 63. My memories are that it was almost always Palestinians hijacking planes to Cuba. If you live in a dangerous neighborhood you lock the doors.
2. The shrug-your-shoulders response to the assassination of JFK. I asked many people over the years if they thought Oswald acted alone, and if not, did they think our government played a role. The overwhelming majority answered yes, Kennedy was killed by our own government. I grew up in Texas so most of the people I asked were grown-up relatives, grown-up church members, etc. The U.S. House Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1978 that a conspiracy was likely involved in the murder of JFK. I have come to believe that the casual acceptance of Kennedy's death is the proof that the United States of America lost it's soul in November, 1963. Indeed, there is no more such thing as the United States of America. There is a place called the USA where we pretend to honor freedom and justice, where we go through the motions of elections, but George Carlin was right - the U.S. is a club and you and I don't belong. Not even our worthy soldiers belong. But the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, the billionaires whose money comes from government jimmying with the system (like bankers) belong. They are Americans. It's their world. The rest of us just live in it. And die for it.
3. Guantanamo. You've seen the MIA flag right? If not you can see it on most Harley Davidson motorcycles on the other side from the Stars and Stripes. Or at a Veterans cemetery. My first memory of these flags is after we left Viet Nam and there was a belief among many that there were living U.S. soldiers still in Viet Cong prisons. People still believe this. And they will NEVER forget or FORGIVE, right? To do so would be unAmerican. Can we possibly admit that other peoples may feel the same way about their loved ones?
For over 10 years the United States has held innocent human beings in Guantanamo. These people have been tortured. The innocence of most of these prisoners has been apparent for a long time to fair-minded people. This from the nation that lead the way in establishing the Nuremberg Principles at the end of World War II. Is this not the action of a nation with no soul? A nation gone rogue? A nation that places itself so high in self estimation that they can do no wrong?
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 that "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Right now in Guantanamo, Cuba Jesus Christ is on a hunger strike. American soldiers, under orders, are force feeding Him to keep Him alive so that He may continue to be tortured. His people feel emotions that range from abject misery and horror to absolute hate and dreams of revenge. They will do more than fly an MIA flag. Someday an innocent American soldier will be tortured in revenge. Someday a terrorist attack will kill innocent people because they are filled with hatred of Americans.
Jesus said in Luke 18:14 that "...for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
While American's are shocked, SHOCKED to learn that the NSA is violating their privacy, from all over the world chickens are coming home to roost. God help the innocent among us.
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