"Revelations" of "12 YEARS ...
I watched President Obama struggle this morning; trying to convince the "witless" among us that no nation has, or should, fore-swear intelligence-gathering in the pursuit of its national security. The thought occurred to me that some "truths" are not "self-evident" to our citizenry. That thought was shocking, because it reveals generations of our citizens, younger than mine, who are so poorly educated, and/or otherwise stupid enough, to abandon, voluntarily, our nation's security!! I know the nation's youth were convinced by "W" that they should just "go shopping" and not worry about Iraq; but unwillingness to face bullets is one thing; to hand the likes of PUTIN the keys to your country is quite another!
Those of you who have not yet seen 12 Years A Slave should find the courage to do so. If you can face it down, you will see why this story was "buried" by the powers-that-be, more than a hundred years ago. You will also understand the curious treatment the film received by the Golden Globes; and the coming "handling" that the Academy will likely give it -- (its not one of "theirs", you know).
If you watch the film carefully, you will see the root of European power portrayed by a white male with the Bible in one hand, and the Lash in the other. That is a perfect metaphor for the way Europe acquired its power and wealth, and how it maintains it today. The Bible and Lash, very necessary for the economy of the time, has been transformed to "Information" and "Finance" to fit our economy today. Otherwise, the model remains the same. The complicity of the slaves, the white female, the "Overseers" and the Social Order of the day are all laid bare. It does not take a lot of "intelligence" to extrapolate from that time to this one.
In his speech this morning about the NSA and intelligence-gathering, the President cited the spying on private citizens committed against Martin Luther King by J. Edgar Hoover. This nation has still to get to the "bottom" of Hoover's "activities" during the 1960s and the benefits Presidents Johnson and Nixon derived from those activities.
But the most egregious abuse of government authority against its own citizens, in our history, was the Fugitive Slave Act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_Slave_Act_of_1850. The story portrayed in 12 Years A Slave, takes place when that law terrorized our nation. Citizens were forced to spy on each other, and act as agents of Southern Slavers; or pay severe penalties for refusing. The descendants of the "Overseers" who served those slave owners are alive and well in our politics today. They are to be found among those "Libertarian" and "Populist" white males so prominent in the Tea Party and Republican Party.
Stay Vigilant! Remember, "W" gazed into Putin's eyes and fell in love; Obama did NOT!
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