In Way Over Its Head, U.S. Empire Doubles Down

I've written before about suspecting that the decision to brand U.S. imperial wars as Democrat (Ukraine, genocide in Gaza) or Republican (Iraq, Afghanistan) was a strategic error. Case in point: the wrestling match in Congress to pass yet another $95.3 billion for "D" wars, including ramping up a long term military presence to turn Taiwan into the next Ukraine.

Unrelated issues like militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, a vote and donation magnet for Republicans, are a stumbling block under this strategy. The Punch and Judy show of the two parties battling it out despite having the very same corporate sponsors is now impinging on keeping the debt-ridden empire and its proxy warriors solvent.

What to do?

Simon Ateba, White House correspondent for Today News Africa, summed up the plan succinctly:

Possibly Congress can beat that. Here's what they spent valuable time and effort on yesterday -- condemning evidence-free allegations of rape being used to portray Israelis as victims rather than genociders.

The U.S. empire is on the skids. Broke, ideologically deranged, and clutching at straws to justify its continued aggressive actions around the globe. (For a peek into U.S. ambitions to put nukes in space -- and the resistance -- check out the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.)

It's understandable that empire managers are panicking. Their worst nightmare has come true. As their decades of global dominance wind down before they even got a chance to dominate outer space, targeted nations are making common cause with one another. 

https://twitter.com/Sprinter99800/status/1754837851756188009

Who could have foreseen this development? Just about everybody who can perceive that the emperor has no clothes.

Occupying The Narrative Keeps Peace Candidates On Mute, Ensures War Spending Will Roll On

Jill Stein at a fundraiser in Portland, Maine October 30, 2015.
You will not see photos of Stein with a cute baby in corporate media, so I am sharing one here. 

The American Herald Tribune published David Swanson's interview with Green Party leader and presidential candidate Jill Stein this week. In it Swanson makes the audacious claim that, since Stein's platform most closely reflects the priorities of people rather than those of corporations, she has a better chance of winning than do candidates who kiss the ring of Pentagon contractors. Because a majority of people would actually vote for the platform Stein campaigns on.

But my inbox is clogged with letters and op-eds from people who should know better who are "feeling the Bern." Liberals are again hopelessly hoping for change from the Democratic Party. Why in the face of so much evidence to the contrary do they continue to be duped?

I think it's because they still get most of their information from corporate "news" -- a zone which blacks out any reference to non-corporate sponsored candidates.

In life under corporate government, it's all about hogging the narrative. Making sure people never hear from candidates who respond intelligently to what people really want.

Because people want the military budget to stop gobbling up over half the federal budget every year. They want to stop supporting 800+ military bases around the planet. The want the wars for oil and the resulting refugee crisis and the proliferation of nuclear weapons to cease.

"Refugee crisis: Pregnant woman and children among 40 victims after boat sinks off Turkish coast"
Mirror.co.uk  Jan. 30, 2016

People don't want the future inhabitants of the White House to have a blank check for waging war on "terror" with no geographic or temporal boundaries.

People want student debt canceled, and free university education like other rich countries have. Stein has an interesting strategy here. She told Swanson:

"I have yet to find a young person in debt who doesn't become a missionary for our campaign the minute they learn that we will cancel their debt...43 million young people – that is a plurality of the vote. In a three-way race, that's enough to win the vote."

People want universal health care like other rich countries have. Stein retired from practice as a medical doctor to promote the kind of environmental policies that human health needs dictate.

Also on board: Dr. Margaret Flowers, a Green Party candidate for the Senate in Maryland and a vigorous activist on behalf of a single payer health care system. (Actually, click here to read the article.)

People want the government to respond to climate crisis rather than continuing to pump out carbon and other pollutants at the taxpayers' expense.

People want to have a say in whether or not to live under corporate global government instead of having it shoved down their throats by fast tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal through Congress.

From Black Agenda Report "Ethnic Cleansing: The Ultimate Environmental Racism" by Glen Ford

People want clean food and water, and real information in order to know if they are poisoning their own children unwittingly.

People want police accountability and an end to extrajudicial killing by guns at home and air strikes abroad.

People want the government to help poor families fleeing the murderous policies engendered in Central America by CAFTA and torturers trained at the taxpayer-supported School of the Americas. People don't want migrant children handed over to human traffickers after being housed in concentration camp-like conditions for weeks or months on end.

But even more than all these things, people want to believe in something. Anything that might pull us back from the precipice. Don't think corporate media doesn't recognize this. It's very important to manage this profound need of mobs in times of crisis.

That's why the demagogue with the bad hair appeals to so many frightened working class voters. They see enormous structural problems with our system as it stands, but they also have a compelling need to blame it on someone else. It couldn't be their fault, because they feel like victims themselves. They've lost faith in corporate government and most corporate media. Only "news" outlets that broadcast scapegoats appeal to them now.

Their news feed will make sure they never hear of Dr. Jill Stein or Dr. Margaret Flowers. How about yours?

Canteen Annie At The Bomb Factory: Mother Courage At @BathIronWorks #mepolitics

STREET THEATER AT BATH IRON WORKS WILL MARK 

MAINE’S PARTICIPATION IN NATIONWIDE 

SPRING MOBILIZATION FOR PEACE

At General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works on Saturday, March 21 at noon CODEPINK, as part of the nationwide Spring Mobilization for Peace, will present CANTEEN ANNIE AT THE BOMB FACTORY based on Bertolt Brecht’s legendary antiwar play, Mother Courage and Her Children.

Bruce Gagnon, an organizer of an ongoing series of Lenten vigils to protest militarism explains the significance of presenting the play at Bath Iron Works: “We need to stand together to express our opposition to the ongoing crime against peace which is the building of guided missile warships at BIW.”

Gagnon will speak on March 21, along with international organizers Hee Eun “Silver” Park and Paco Michelson, peace activists from the Jeju Island Anti-Naval Base struggle. Park and Michelson are travelling across the U.S. in March and April to share the story of the struggle through the screening of a new full-length documentary, Gureombi, and speaking about their personal experiences on Jeju Island, Korea where a coral reef is being destroyed to create a deep water port for the destroyers built in Bath. The film will be shown March 20 at 7pm at Grace Episcopal Church in Bath and on March 23 in New York City before touring the rest of the country.

Free transportation on March 21 will be provided from Portland, leaving Monument Square at 10:30 am, and Brunswick, leaving the train station there at 11:15 am. CODEPINK and other sponsors of the event are calling on Bath Iron Works to convert to producing light rail trains for public transportation rather than weapons of mass destruction.

This event is sponsored by Smilin’ Tree Disarmament Farm’s Lenten Vigil at Bath Iron Works,CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Peace Works of Greater Brunswick, Alliance for Democracy, and Global Network Against Nuclear Weapons & Power in Space. FMI: (207) 542-7119

CANTEEN ANNIE AT THE BOMB FACTORY

CHARACTERS: There are 7 main characters, each with a mask that identifies them.

In order of appearance:

 

 

 

Canteen Annie

Son #1

Son #2

Daughter

Recruiter

Payroll Master

Soldier

SETTING: Annie’s Canteen is held at each end by a stagehand, in such a way that the BIW shipyard is visible in the background.

SCENE #1

Canteen Annie, Son #1, Son #2, and Daughter are visible behind the cut out window of Annie’s canteen. Extras approach the window from stage left, mime a transaction, and exit stage right.

Annie steps out from behind the canteen holding her mask, approaches the microphone and addresses the audience.

;

Annie: Selling food to workers at the bomb factory is what I do. Hey, a mom has got to make a living somehow. It’s a family business. My kids don’t have to make bombs or enlist in the military. I can feed them right here! Besides, where else are they going to get a job these days? Have you seen those lines at unemployment? If it wasn’t for the bomb factory, nobody would be working.

SCENE #2  The Unemployed Chorus

Lead singer at the microphone, others lined up behind him across the stage in profile holding sheafs of papers representing job applications.

Everyone sings to the tune of 

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

BROTHER, HAVE YOU GOT A JOB?

SISTER, ARE YOU WORKING?

WE JUST WANT TO EARN A WAGE,

NO B.S. AND NO SHIRKING.

EVERY JOB WE SEEM TO FIND

DOESN’T PAY A LIVING;

ASKING FOLKS IF THEY WANT FRIES

IS THE ONLY JOB THEY’RE GIVING.

IF WE GOT A JOB RIGHT HERE

WE’D HELP TO BUILD DESTROYERS,

MAKING LOTS OF PROFITS FOR

GEN. DYNAMICS AND ITS LAWYERS.

WE DON’T WANT TO BUILD FOR WAR

WE WANT JOBS SUSTAINING

LIFE AND HEALTH AND LIBERTY

FOR EVERYONE REMAINING.

WHY CAN’T WE BUILD WINDMILL TOWERS? 

TRAINS & TRACKS THEY RUN ON?

WHY DO ALL OUR TAXES GO 

TO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?

SCENE #3

Son #1 steps from behind the canteen, followed by Annie. They approach the microphone.

Son #1: I hate this canteen like a disease. My hair smells like grease all the time. I’m better than this.

Annie: Be thankful for what we’ve got, son!

Recruiter enters from stage left. He has his mask in one hand, paper and a pen in the other

Recruiter to Son #1: How would you like a brand new pickup truck kid? Just sign right here. I’ll make sure you get a good job in the army. With benefits. And money for college after.

Annie: Get away from my son! He doesn’t want to talk to you!

Son #1: Yes I do!

Annie: Listen to me! Don’t listen to the recruiter! War is hell. It destroys the innocent.

Recruiter to Son #1: Just sign here.

               to Annie: I won't let you spoil my war for me. Destroys the weak, does it? Well, what does peace do for'em, huh? War feeds its people better.

EXIT RECRUITER AND SON #1

Annie returns, dejected, to the canteen.

SCENE #4

Son #2 steps from behind the canteen wearing glasses and carrying a laptop case. He is followed by Annie. They approach the microphone.

Son #2: I won’t make the mistakes my brother made. I’m studying accounting.

Annie: That’s a good boy!

Payroll Master enters from stage left. He has his mask in one hand, paper and a pen in the other.

Payroll Master to Son #2: How would you like a job? I need smart young men like you to work in the payroll department at the bomb factory.

Annie: Get away from my son! He doesn’t want to talk to you!

Son #2: Yes I do!

Payroll Master to Son #2: Just sign here.

EXIT PAY MASTER AND SON #2

Annie returns, dejected, to the canteen.

SCENE #5

Daughter (in red boots) steps out from behind the canteen carrying school books. Annie waves goodbye to her from the canteen window.

Daughter approaches the microphone.

Daughter: I can’t believe I’m finally at community college. A dream come true!

Soldier enters from stage left, carrying his mask in one hand and school books under his other arm. He sees Daughter, drops his books on the ground, and grabs her around the neck from behind.

Daughter: (Screams) Help! Rape!

Soldier lets go of her and she crumples to the stage. He runs off stage right.

Daughter applies duct taped X to the mouth of her mask and slowly stands up with mask covering her real face. She goes to back of stage and picks up a large sign protesting the war economy and blood for oil. Begins walking back and forth across the stage showing one side of her sign, then the other.

Soldier approaches from stage right and pantomimes shooting her. She crumples to the stage and remains there.

Annie runs out from behind the canteen and crouches over her fallen Daughter.

Annie: (Crying) Oh, daughter, what have they done to you? What have they done?

SCENE #6

A new swarm of workers enters from stage left and stands at the canteen window.

Canteen Annie rises slowly from her fallen daughter. She goes dejectedly to the microphone.

Annie: Yes, I'll manage, although there's not much point in it now. But I must get back to business.

Annie goes back behind the canteen window and pantomimes selling food to workers.

THE END

Manufacturing Consent: How The Sausage Gets Made

Source: Hyperallergic

There is consent, and then there is manufactured consent. News blackouts are a good way of manufacturing consent. If people don't know about something, or know only a tiny sliver of managed truth, it's easier to get them to go along with official policies they would likely oppose if only they knew. 

A good example is the corporate news coverage of  last summer's attacks on Gaza by Israel. If you were a U.S. corporate news consumer, you would be left with the impression that Hamas started it (untrue, Israel broke the ceasefire). Also that their rockets were a comparable threat to the bombardment unleashed by Israel on hospitals, schools, water treatment plants and other infrastructure -- a ridiculous proposition.

What is an effective response to managed "news" in our day?

Conceptual artist Banksy traveled to Gaza and painted a kitten on one piece of the thousands of pieces of rubble that Gazans have huddled in this winter while trying not to freeze to death. From NBC News: 

Bansky says, "A local man came up and said 'Please - what does this mean?' I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website - but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens."

Here's his video: 

Students at the University of Toronto this week took a different, less aesthetic, yet elegantly simple approach. At a lecture by two prominent deniers of the Armenian Genocide, "WWI 100th Anniversary - Human Suffering in Eastern Anatolia,” students waited until the denial began and then stood and simply turned their backs.

Source: Armenian Weekly

According to the report in Armenian Weekly:

Several racial slurs and discriminatory comments were directed at the protesters as they stood in silence. 

Lecture organizers briefly stopped the event, but after campus police made it clear that the form of protest did not interfere with the event, they were asked to continue. 

Protesters continued standing with their backs to the podium as Fein spoke, then marched out in an organized walk-out, leaving the remaining twenty or so attendees to listen to the rest of the lecture.

The government of Turkey spends quite a bit of money each year to deny that the wealth of its oligarchs is, in many cases, based on the theft of resources the genocide of Armenians made possible. Author Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted by his government for saying in an interview, "Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here, and a million Armenians. And almost nobody dares to mention that. So I do."

In the U.S. there is yet another way to manufacture consent, this one also at taxpayers' expense: Rep. Chellie Pingree sent out the following survey to her constituents. (She also sent it to me -- though I live in a different congressional district, I guess I have hounded her enough over the years to be considered an honorary constituent). 

You can see my comments following Pingree's carefully managed, Democratic Party flavored list of possible priorities.

My comments in full:

Stop ignoring the 50+% of budget going to the Pentagon and its contractors each year. None of your priorities will be addressed until that problem is fixed. Continuing to show up at General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works year after year pledging allegiance to the military contracting as a job creation program is disingenuous at best. Fix the bloated military budget, it will pay for everything else. 

And if BIW was building public transportation instead of nuclear-equipped warships that cost billions of my tax dollars, it would be creating far more jobs as well. As you claim you well know. It would also be far better for the environment to build something life sustaining rather than weapons of mass destruction. 

But, since this form is set up so that I have to check one of your pre-selected  issues, I will check "oppose unfair trade agreements" aka the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership. If passed, the TPP will gut Maine jobs on a scale not seen since Bill Clinton passed NAFTA. And make corporate profits more important than state or federal laws. What could go wrong?