Petty and Cruel Dictator
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the president of Iran spoke at Columbia University today. I heard that he was invited there because the President of Columbia wanted to foster a “free exchange of ideas.” Even though I am not an Ahmadinejad supporter, I know he was elected in Iran in a knee-jerk and understandable response to the USA’s bloodily unnecessary invasion of Iraq, as many reactionery governments have been elected in that region and all over the world in response to the spreading US corporate and military empire.
Citing such human rights’ violations in the form of imprisonment and executions, the President of Columbia University, very boorishly said that Ahmadinejad appeared to be a “petty and cruel dictator.” First of all, how does one invite someone to your place for a “free exchange of ideas,” and be such a rude American? Did he only invite Ahmadinejad so he could publicly scold him or to become the darling of Fox News?
Secondly, what about our President who appears to be a “petty and cruel dictator?” George Bush presided over a stunning amount of executions when he was Governor of Texas and the US is operating torture prison camps, openly and secretly, all over the world. BushCo has fought the Supreme Court and Congress for the right to hold thousands of humans without their human rights of due process and they have also been strenuously committed to the strategy of torture—or “enhanced interrogation methods” as the Ministry of Truth likes to call it. A Reverend gets beaten down in the halls of Congress; nooses are being hung in the south; students are being tased on campuses and Congress is censuring Freedom of Speech…how much evidence do we need before we decide that something is profoundly wrong in present-day America?
In 2006, China, the leading practitioner of state sanctioned murder in the form of execution, killed 8000 people in this manner. However, the Premier of China is welcomed to the US by George Bush who is probably envious of President Hu Jintao’s record . We borrow vast sums from China to wage our wars and China is our major trading partner. Wal-Mart’s cheap and dangerous crap is manufactured by near slaves there, but somehow that is okay? Somehow it is okay to welcome Communist China with open arms, but demonize and disparage a Socialist like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela? America has a very lucrative prison business and is the only country in the Americas that practices execution. A barbarian is a barbarian no matter what color, religion or nationality they are.
George Bush has added signing statements to almost 1000 bills that he has signed into law saying that he doesn’t have to obey those very same laws. We have the Nazi-ist sounding Department of Homeland Security which seems to be obsessed with keeping my un-zip-locked baggied lip-gloss off of flights. The un-Patriot Act and breaking of FISA laws and our 4 th Amendment right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure have turned the “Land of the Free” into the “Home of the Slaves.”
To put the cherry on the sundae of the crimes that BushCo have committed, they have sent hundreds of thousands of our own sons and daughters to occupy a country that was no threat to America or its neighbors. Thousands of Americans are dead, wounded or mentally screwed up and millions of Iraqis are dead, wounded, mentally screwed up or displaced from their homes.
Another boorish American, Scott Pelley (of 60 Minutes) hammered Ahmadinejad about sending weapons into Iraq without even once acknowledging the immoral tons of weapons that we rained on the citizens of Iraq during “shocking and awful;” the cluster bombs that look like toys that litter the killing fields of that country and have killed and maimed so many children; the mercenary killers that outnumber our troops and use the people of Iraq for target practice; the thousands of tons of weapons that the US let out of such weapons dumps as al-Qaqaa that were left unguarded while the oil ministry was heavily fortified. Not to mention that America supported Iraq in its eight year long war with Iran that killed an unbelievable amount of people on both sides of the border. The hypocrisy of our system is spectacular and deadly in both ignorance and arrogance.
We here in America are living in a fascist state that regularly puts corporate profits and an insatiable and evil thirst for power above people and their needs. Our supercilious leaders and media are so busy calling the kettle black, they don’t notice or care how dark our pot is. We are supporting Israel in their human rights violations against Palestine, illegally occupying two countries on our own and we have the nerve to claim any kind of moral superiority over anybody?
The fascist, near dictatorship of the Bush regime (a la Nazi Germany) has even intimidated universities to align with their hypocritical murderous rhetoric. Universities should feel free to invite anyone to speak to open much needed dialogue in our country and in the world. And if a person is invited, they should be treated by the person who invited them with a slight modicum of courtesy and then let the rocking and rolling begin with the “Q & A”…which would truly be a free exchange of ideas. I am surprised President Bollinger didn’t have President Ahmadinejad tased.
Peace is going to take all the nations working in cooperation to limit naked aggression and human rights’ violations, not just the ones which the US declare as evil. How many nukes do we have? How many does Pakistan have? How many does India, Israel, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union have? Should the rhetoric be about destroying all weapons of mass destruction and not just prohibiting Iran from obtaining one?
Many countries are committing human rights’ violations and sending arms and troops into many parts of the world. America’s biggest export is violence and we would do well to call for an end to all occupations and violence by beginning to end our own.
Let’s clean our own filthy house before we criticize someone else for theirs.
Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan who was KIA in Iraq on 04/04/04. She is a co-founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace and the author of two books: Not One More Mother’s Child and Dear President Bush.
Thanks for another insightful essay, Cindy!
I was amazed to hear that the very person who invited Ahmadinejad chose to make such rude public remarks about him.
and, we were treated to non-stop coverage of the protests against ahmajinedad yesterday, but not one blip about the thousands of people protesting bush there right now.
i know they are there because i was supposed to be there, but am under the weather so i stayed home.
the hypocrisy is making me throw up a little in my mouth.
cindy
The US house (of Congress) does not need to be cleaned. Burned to the ground and the ground salted, yes. But cleaned? No.
America has become the very disease that it said it fought against in WWII. But how many people know that ’shining lights’ of Amrican capitalism like Henry Ford supported Hitler and his works? Or that Bush’s grand-daddy was Hitler’s banker, and much of the family fortune was derived from the deaths of millions of innocent Jews?
How many modern millionaires have their fortunes based on companies whose only product is death?
With the evidence of the past decade it is plain to see that the US is the moral companion of Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Russia, the Khmer Rouge Cambodia, and Idi Amin’s Uganda, and Pinochet’s Chile.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Cindy Sheehan for Congress!
I wonder why there are so few like Cindy Sheehan in America, doing what she is so bravely doing, when so many know she is absolutely correct on every issue.
Cindy could be likened to the ‘Racheal Carson’ of politics. If we truely support her and she defeats Nancy Pelosi, Cindy will have a voice that none will be able to honestly ignore.
Cindy Sheehan may be that light at the end of the tunnel we so desperately need, if we wish to regain our freedom and be a true land of the free and home of the brave, where we can once again be proud to be known as an American.
Jan: I, too, was struck by disbelief that the president of Columbia acted so boorishly towards Ahmadinejad. Was the prez grandstanding? was he trying to placate wealthy contibutors to Columbia? Whatever his malicious rationale, the result was truly revolting.
Thanks, Cindy, for another incisive piece. Sorry, you’re
“under the weather.” “Under the weather” is an apt metaphor for what we all are indeed going through. Would we all realized how sick we were.
Cindy, be careful not to end up like another crusader… Rachel Corrie, murdered by Israeli soldiers for defending innocent Palestinians, crushed under the treads of a bulldozer.
If president Ahmadinejad was really trying to kill Americans like we’re told, WHY would he want to come here and speak? That makes no sense at all.
A killer doesn’t try to reason with his prey.
This is why bush hasn’t met with any leaders of the nations that he’s attacked. Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran have all been completely ignored. It’s important to know who’s trying to kill who.
Ahmadinejad came off as a reasonable man. Now in a panic to prevent any anti-war sentiment, the chickenhawks are rushing to the podium trying to discredit him. They make themselves more the fool with every word they speak.
The entire point of this exercise was to whip the sheeple into a frenzy prior to a ‘Tonkin Gulf’ incedent that give Bush a pretext for bombing another innocent nation into rubble….
Refreshing perspective. Thanks for not falling into the superhot, hyperbole topic of Israel (like virtually every other piece of analysis on this event seems to have done).
Fast-forwarding to Bush’s speech this morning at the UN, during which he didn’t even mention climate change, and quickly sped off so as to avoid meeting Ahmadinejad, we can add a little more. We can see that our president is afraid to take the tiny risk that even Bollinger took in hearing how the “petty dictator” responds. We can see that Mr. Bush is not interested in seeking out any truth, or any peace, or any understanding. Like Bollinger, like a kangeroo court, he knows it all already.
Cindy,
Wonderful essay. I’ve yet to hear you speak live or meet you but look forward to the day.
This essay clearly demonstrates our flaws - domestic and foreign - and the failure of the ruling elite to challenge Bush in the way they would challenge a foreign head of state.
I would add that I wrote letters to my representative and both my senators expressing outrage that the U.S. would go to war over WMDs when we ourselves hold the largest stockpiles of nuclear bombs and biological and chemical weapons. To top it off, we are violating the very U.N. resolution that we are holding over the head of Iran (and before the destruction - Iraq).
Thank you again Cindy for saying what so many of us believe.
I am just trying to keep a promise to myself not to let myself get worn out again.
I will be fine.
I won’t let happen to me what happened to dear Rachel, or Casey.
I hope
Thanks for all of your kind words.
ME
Let’s clean out our filthy HOUSE– let’s elect peace candidates to Congress, like Cindy! http://www.sheehanforcongress.us
I wonder how many government stooges/thugs are following Cindy ala Jennifer Flynn the AIDS activist?
cindy sheehan for president. i would love to see you as the first women president, and all the progressives you would choose to work in your administration, but at least i have total support for you to defeat pelosi for congress this time around…keep it up cindy , the angels are watching over you.
“I wonder why there are so few like Cindy Sheehan in America, doing what she is so bravely doing, when so many know she is absolutely correct on every issue…KEM PATRICK”
+++++++++++++++++
The explanation is crystal clear to me now, after observing this situation for so long.
This “war” does not really exist in the heads of Americans. There is no draft, there are no photos of dead soldiers, there is no real coverage of this “war” in corporate media, which is nearly all of television.
There are more contractors in Iraq than soldiers. They send lots of money home. Word gets out that Iraq has been very, very good for many Americans and their families. Iraq pays the mortgage, the cars, the educations, and everything else for contractors and their families.
Americans, also, are truly uninformed. It appears that the majority of people working for corporations focus only on their next paychecks. Although unions have been busted and jobs exported out of the country, working Americans care ONLY when they lose their jobs, ONLY when it affects them personally. That’s when they become informed…when it’s too late.
We are also sheeple, for allowing a man to steal two elections, to set up the framework for a dictatorship, and to bankrupt us. We’re too focused on our own little worlds.
And finally, we have pathetic “representation” in Congress, and the Judicial Branch is now politicized and morally bankrupt. We let it happen.
In case anyone was wondering about the term “the Ugly American”. Seems these days it isn’t limited solely to clumsy, culturally insensitive Americans abroad, rather should anyone from abroad venture to Americans shores–unless of course, you are some Right-wing despot or rabid Zionist racist–we welcome them with open arms.
Excellent piece, Cindy.
I apologize for the country I was born in by accident of birth to the people of Palestine, Iraq and Iran…Cuba, Guatemala, Greece, Viet Nam, er, maybe I should just say, the world.
As I said..time to burn it to the ground. And rebuild.
Cindy-
Yours continues to be one of the most fascinating journeys set in motion by the loss of our Democracy in 2000. Many of us have followed your progress as you have transformed your grief and indignation into service for the country and world. Your words and actions are a reflection of the light that lies sleeping within this forlorn nation. Thank you.
While the American government and it’s poodle-like mainstream media has engineered yet another feat of propagandistic nonsense! Instead of actually debating what was said by the Iranian President in a “free exchange” of ideas, the masses have been steered toward mindless adherence to lame-duck scare tactics of a psychotic President and his men.
Screw the President of America! Screw the propaganda! Screw the mainstream media! We, the citizens, the workers, the educators, the artists, the real thinkers, need to take it to the streets! In fact, joining the UAW workers - who are in the fight of their lives to save tens of thousands of decent paying union jobs from being sent overseas - in reclaiming our dignity as a country; reclaiming our right to a fair and just economy; in reclaiming what is rightfully ours from those who took it from us!
The visit by the President of Iran might not seem related to the largest national walkout since 1976, but it is! This government and its obedient media have become professionals at the task of keeping our eyes off the ball.
Cindy, thank you for continuing to speak out. I hope you stay safe. I’m sending a little joke - hopefully you get a laugh out of it.
A teacher asked international students one question: What is your opinion about the shortage of grain in other countries?
African student: “What does ‘grain’ mean?”
European student: “What does ’shortage’ mean?”
American student: “What does ‘other countries’ mean?”
Taiwanese student: “What does ‘your opinion’ mean?”
Don’t lose sight of the fact that New York, and Columbis University, are AIPAC territory. This protest and Bollinger’s cowardly attack have all the earmarks of the pro-Israel lobby. We know they want the US to bomb Iran, and for this they need to get some of the public on board. Unfortunately, they’re playing to the deep hatred and fears of Jews by claiming that Ahmadinejad denies the holocaust and wants to destroy Israel–neither of which are true and both of which are based on deliberately distorted interpretations of his words.
Thank you and bless you, Cindy, for the first rational comments I have read on this issue.
I too was very disturbed by the tone of Scott Pelley’s inverview with Ahmadinajad. If only the media would take the same tone with the “American Hitler,” but we’ll never see that. Shame on Pres. Bollinger for his rudeness and inhospitality. He has disgraced himself, his institution and our country, proving to the entire world the stereotype that Americans are even more rude and obnoxious than was already believed!
Keep up your great work, Cindy. It’s an inspiration!
Bush will have plenty of company in hell… Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Pinochet, Marshall Petain, His Great grand-daddy William Walker (the American ‘fillibuster’ -mercenary-, no really, look it up), Papa Doc Duvallier, Musolini…
For all of my life, I have detested bullies and hypocrits, the arrogant, the greedy and the wilfully ignorant.
Consequently, throughout my life, as I have acquired political and economic awareness, I have also seen the successive governments of the United States of America repeatedly manifest all those characteristics which I find most disgusting.
I pity, but do not forgive, the massive number of citizens of the United States of America who seem so blinded by their feelings of superiority and entitlement that they can remain blissfully ignorant of the perversion of democracy that their own government has become.
As an outside observor (or “alien”, as American authorities so glibly and condescendingly term anyone who is not “one of us”), I DO feel I have a right to comment upon, and even influence in my own small way, the assertions and actions of the various American administrations, since those administrations feel so entitled to dictate to the rest of the world what we should believe and how we should behave.
Cindy: I have followed your story from the beginning. You are among the true American patriots who has managed, through sacrifice and a passionate committment to the truth, to make a real difference. To get through the massive walls set up by the corporate information managers and propagandists that have so perverted political and economic thought in the United States of America. Bless you.
Eloquent Outrage, Cindy. And right to the heart of things. Your feet now fit in a multiplex of big footsteps choosing various paths that have gone before you.
Although I no longer wear any religious labels, preferring direct contact to an always immediately accessible Great Spirit that is Now Here Everywhere [Wow, look at that rose! Thank you … or Hey, can we talk? I need help right now.], and thus IT has always been and IS, I still turn to one of the bravest and Greatest Revolutionaries of all for the model of outspoken courage, poise in the worst of circumstances, and a compassionate, tender Heart for all time:
Matthew, Chapter 23:
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2″The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5″Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’ [Fortunately, Jesus was Jewish; otherwise he would be accused of being anti-semitic.]
8″But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. [which dwells within each of us as in “The kingdom of God is within.”] 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
15″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16″Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
33″You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
37″O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
And Matthew, Chapter 5 - The Beatitudes:
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3″Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called the children of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11″Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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So what is so hard to understand, brother and sisters, especially you avid Bible thumpers?
So what is so hard to understand?
~~~~~~
And lastly from the same Revolutionary:
Love God with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your soul …
And Love your neighbor [your fellow beings, near and far] like yourself …
These are the two Greatest COMMANDMENTS …
SO WHAT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?
ALL WE’VE GOT TO DO IS DO IT … PEACE ON EARTH IN LESS THAN A SECOND, and THEN WE BIG THE WORK TO UNDO THE DAMAGE WE HAVE DONE TO A MAGNIFICENT CREATION THAT HAPPENS TO BE OUR HOME PLANET …
SO WHAT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?
Cee Miracles: Heres a simple way we Neo-pagans look at the world. ‘An it harm none, do as you will’
Or the part from the Hippocratic oath: ‘First, do no harm.’
I know, I know, some of my pevious posts asound anything like that… But when your house is rotting and infested with vermin… fire purifies.
How nice of the university to invite a guest and then abuse that guest. If they wanted to expose greater lack of manners and tact… Can’t see how they could have done it short of tasering the guy. A real university wouldn’t have acted in this manner, no matter how offensive the guest they should have acted politely. When the guest left, then it’s acceptable to say “we won’t have them back.”
Thanks Cindy. Keep speaking the truth to power and the majority of voters in San Francisco will insert you into the Halls of Congress!!
As usual Cindy hits it right on the button! I love this woman. If I were a believer I’d think she must be heaven-sent. I wonder if anyone, anywhere will be able to stand Americans at all by the time Bush and the Bushies get through ruining our reputation with their arrogance, ignorance, and hypocrisy. I suppose it is an inevitable part of our human nature that we will always be distributed in a bell curve ranging from Hitler and Bush to Gandhi and Einstein, but it sure gets frustrating trying to make civilization work with Bush and his ilk constantly undermining our efforts. It seems humanity’s highest aspirations are always being thwarted by its lowest instincts. Can our thirst for enlightenment ever overcome our thirst for blood? I wonder.
Bless you Cindy!!!!!! Amazing how rare it is to hear the truth spoken in this country. When you replace that fascist Pelosi in Congress, it will be a victory worth celebrating.
How about everyone start planning now to go to California next year to help with the end of the campaign!! Or even better, start running your own campaign to kick your own local fascists out of Congress too!
PS … “COMarc” is writing from Germany today. Its always amazing to get out of the US and away from all the BS. And its a good reminder that the rest of the world isn’t as insane.
27.
Galen September 25th, 2007 1:01 pm
Cee Miracles: Heres a simple way we Neo-pagans look at the world. ‘An it harm none, do as you will’
Or the part from the Hippocratic oath: ‘First, do no harm.’
I know, I know, some of my pevious posts asound anything like that… But when your house is rotting and infested with vermin… fire purifies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know. And that’s the simplest way.
Actually just about every philosophy, whether formalized religion or atheististic groups or groups such as pagan or wiccan or philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Kant include the simple: Do not treat others as you would not want to be treated … or Treat others as you would want to be treated. In Western societies it is known as The Gold Rule; in others - the Universal Ethic. It is not in the biblical scripture per se, but variations are.
So now if we would put our actions out there as our mouth trumpets them, and decide to do that … at last … SIMPLE …
And nothing is wrong with outrage … “when your house is rotting and infested with vermin.” Obviously, that otherwise kind and gentle REVOLUTIONARY, as above, said what he needed to say in no uncertain terms when the particular house he was personally familiar with was rotting and infested with vermin.
And, of course, these things that he said were meant to apply both personally and universally.
Gandhi said it too: Do no harm.
And again, I say, WHAT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND? Just decide to live that way.
Amen, Cee, amen.
To all the partiots speaking out now: Cindy, Walt and Merhseimer, Ray McGovern, Bill Christison, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Scott Ritter, Code Pink, and others thanks for your courage. We stand with you!
The term “shadow” was first used by the renowned psychologist Carl Jung to describe the repressed or denied parts of the Self.
As Milburn has pointed out in his 1996 book - The Politics of Denial -the roots of this phenomenon can be traced to childhood. It is very common for authoritarian parents to absolutely reject and squelch/crush aspects of their children that they deem “unacceptable.”
Every child is profoundly vulnerable during their early years, and clearly needs their parents’ nurturance and love.
At the extreme rejection/abandonment can mean death.
Children who split off and deny massive aspects of their true self (especially those aspects their parents scorn, such as sexuality, self-centeredness, and aggressive impulses toward the parents) - will, when they become adults - unconsciously attribute this “bad self” to “The Other.” Such ‘others’ may include minority groups in the society or external enemies. These groups will tend to be despised as inferior, evil, or dangerous.
And, once a person has come to believe that a particular group, such as Blacks, women, gays, Iranians, Iraqies, etc., are “bad” - they find it acceptable to take out their rage against them. While this process is often expressed domestically through citizens’ support for specific socio-political agendas.
It has, during the last century, manifested in an extreme form through repeated episodes of genocide against Armenians, Cambodians, Jews, Bosnians, Tutsis, and others.
The best part of being in Germany is that I hadn’t heard a word about this whole little charade. Partly that’s because I speak very little German and thus wouldn’t understand their news shows even if I was watching. And of course I’d never watch CNN or Murdoch’s SkyNews that’s on here. Al Jeezera’s on here, but I don’t speak Arabic either. But mainly, from where I write this evening this all seems so very bizarre and far, far away. Its hard to believe that the streets I’ve walked in the last few days and the world of Columbia Univ and this madness are in the same world.
Just scrolled up and saw the line about “what’s so hard to understand.” Poignant to someone walking in country where I don’t speak their language much, and only some speak mine. About the only words I know are “bitte” and “danke” (”please” and “thank you”). But, I follow that golden rule, including smiling at others since I prefer others smile at me. And thus I am understood.
This is my first post on CD.
First of all, to Cindy Sheeehan, I just want to say thank you. I never have believed too much in heroes, but to the very few that I do have, I add you to my list. Keep up the work that you are doing; you make me believe there is good in this world. Whenever the world gets tough on you, as I expect it may do from time to time, just remember there are many of us out here who appreciate every nanosecond of your life that you’ve invested in making this world a better place.
Regarding the article, taking in conjuction with the 60 minutes interview the night before, I am fully convinced that Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit has been used conveniently to stir up propaganda in preparations for yet another war. The talking points were the same for Bollinger, as they were for Pelley. In particular, both men who’re supposed to possess a bit more than average professional skepticism because of their fields, both repeated government delivered information (aka propaganda) regarding Iran’s attack of US troops in Baghdad. This is especially disturbing because, if accepted as fact (which Pelley claimed it was), constitutes an indisputable cassus bellus.
However, both Pelley and Bollinger ignore the source of the info, the nature of the evidence, refused to mention Iran’s denial or the history of fabricated stories used by the US military to march to war.
Scott Pelley made himself Bush’s bitch & was quite inflated with himself because he was ‘delivering words from President Bush” –it was embatrassing to see how he swelled like an infected member as he said his piece — “you have made your country a pariah, isolated your people from the world”, and Ahmadinejad just laughed, “Let’s walk down any street in the world, a friend of mine and a friend of President Bush’s — and we’d see who is isolated, who is a pariah.”
Columbia’s president needed to demonstrate that he was a Very Good American, not like Ward Churchill or Norman Finkelstein or Andrew Meyer, that he is proud to march at the head of the Get-Iran-Now parade while at the same time reaping credit for supposedly standing up for free speech.
We need to toss these people into the gladiator ring the way the slaves in “Spartacus” did to their masters, and laugh as their overlarded hearts collapse . . .
“…surprised President Bollinger didn’t have President Ahmadinejad tased…”
You might understand if you knew how much Jewish money is needed to keep Columbia afloat.
And you yourself let Israel have a free pass for nukes as if they were not proliferating and ought to be subject to the same UN sanctions as Iran.
Don’t get me wrong; the war is about oil, not Israel, but the sorest thumb we’ve got in the mideast is our Jewish protectorate there. No big deal since our Iraq adventure is an open wound killing both American and Iraqi indiscriminately for the sake of oil.
1. it is about oil, and
2. Bush is a moron.
there is no 3.
You tell ‘em Cindy! My thoughts exactly ma’am!
Lest it slide into the memory hole:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/1114/
It most certainly is, in part, about what Israel wants and something we can’t ignore by those suddenly revising the record or threatening to yet make the subject taboo. How do we ever confront the problem if we can’t even SAY it?
Not sure how to quote or reply directly to someone but Sam Snedgegar, I think there is a common misconception that the wars are for oil….they’re not.
They are for oil companies.
It guarantees them a source, as well as restricts the free flow of the major producers to the world market.
When you have an inelastic good like oil and you cut back supply you increase your revenue. It’s that simple.
This is evident in the astronomical prices of oil we’re presently experiencing, combined with the record profits earned by the oil companies.
Greenspan and others are trying to undertake some clever revisionism by painting an almost philantropic objective- securing oil for the greater good of American prosperity and not to be squeezed by the terr’ists in the Middle East. Well, if you believe the Bush Administration acts in a manner that is of popular benefit, rather than an elitist few, I have a levee in New Orleans to sell you.
“The fascist, near dictatorship of the Bush regime (a la Nazi Germany) has even intimidated universities to align with their hypocritical murderous rhetoric.”
You are talking on my favorite topic, although even some may not understand or fully appreciate the true extent of this outcome, let alone the ignorant brain washed masses…AKA the consent manufactured by Bu$hCo’s Fascist Kleptocracy and NeoCon Cronies etc…As I understand Gore Vidal latest take on this, America has arrived at Corporatist Fascism…
By the way, a great article Cindy…
Dichterfreund writes:
“Scott Pelley made himself Bush’s bitch…”
he wishes - bush’s bitch is g. betrayus, that hairy hunk of goober munching manliness.
now that everyone is beginning to understand the depth to which the country has sunk, and how close to the abyss we seem to be, i wonder when some action will be taken. not by the congress or senate but by the citzens, like oh say - the ones who write these boards.
we have let a lot of water pass under the bridge and rather than making the case one more time, as was done here, i’d like to see someone actually do something concrete, you know, in the real world.
i don’t see anyone who is ready to “do” something/anything other than bitch the boards and congratulate the writer.
that has become, to me, the power of this moment, or rather, the lack of it.
when so many people see what needs to be done and yet do nothing.
much like, cindy, when your reverend friend who was wrestled to the ground while no one did anything about it.
or the student who got tasered.
someone said that all evil men need in order to succeed is the inaction of good men.
its nice to vent and all but as i say i don’t see any action here.
if the test to post was based on a committment to do something these boards would be much shorter.
its all so much yada yada yada.
no one knows that better than bush.
To the *President-in-waiting* -Cindy Sheehan,
Would that the contest for the leadership of America was based solely on the ability to write cogent, articulate and moving essays with complete heart and *SINCERITY* … because, -on that basis- you would win hands-down over that babbling, arrogant, soulless, sold-out, cowardly, insane, decrepit and diabolical ‘Bushbaby’ creature, -and his maniacal cronies.
Whatever happens in the future dear sister, you have already shone *a very real LIGHT* into the darkness which those devils in power have foisted upon the human race.
The likes of you and, (eg) Dennis Kucinich, have *already* provided many Americans (and those abroad) with a bright flame of HOPE, in an otherwise very murky period of American / human history.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Most people aren’t aware that America has a very positive part to play in the future well-being of humanity, but it first needs to get over it’s present impasse and materially-obsessed gluttony, delusions of grandeur, and depraved selfishness.
Once she has conquered these ‘character flaws’ she, -(like that other adolescent nation, Russia), -can begin to shine…
Eventually we will, -as a race, get back on track, -due not to the demons who have infested the corridors of power with their malevolent obsession with the barbarities of war, but due to those *many millions* of sane people (like your good self Cindy) who have now *SEEN THE LIGHT* - and work consistently to radiate and share their shining vision of a peaceful future.
**HOPE** is an essential and primary ingredient in social change, - without hope, people don’t act or think positively, (creatively) to form a peaceful world.
But with *hope* in their hearts, people then become inspired, even FIRED!
And, as history attests, a fired-up people can achieve very real wonders!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“God Bless America” parrot the unthinking ones, ~ little realising that this ‘blessing’ stuff will occur, -not for as long as they are sullying god’s Earth, and spilling gallons of human blood via their demonic wars, but when they at last begin to LISTEN to what ‘Big G’ has said all along: “Love your brothers and sisters as yourself.”
~~ only *then* do the blessings begin!
With love, unity, and success to all progessive brothers and sisters who read here,
UCD
I hear Bushieboy is bidding on this as new toiletpaper, to go along with his “2-ply US Constitution”
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rare 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta valued at up to $30 million is due to be sold by The Perot Foundation at Sotheby’s in New York in December, the auction house said on Tuesday.
The Magna Carta established rights of the English people and curbed the power of the king. The U.S. Constitution includes ideas and phrases taken almost directly from the charter, which rebellious barons forced their oppressive King John to sign in 1215.
Sotheby’s said the Magna Carta was ratified and reissued with each monarch who succeeded John. It was enacted as law in 1297 by the British parliament when it was reissued by King Edward I. The copy to be sold is from 1297.
Sotheby’s said there are fewer than 20 copies of the Magna Carta and that this copy, which has been on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C., is one of only two held outside of Britain. The other copy, also from 1297, is owned by the Australian government.
David Redden, Sotheby’s vice chairman, said the document “symbolizes mankind’s eternal quest for freedom; it is a talisman of liberty.”
Sotheby’s said The Perot Foundation, created by billionaire former U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot to make philanthropic grants, would use the money for its charities. The Foundation bought the Magna Carta in 1984.
Thanks Cindy.
All I would have added are:
The House of Saud regularly finances the operations of those Sunnis fight Shites in Iraq. Of course, these resources are also used against the occupiers.
The following quotes are quotes from Wright’s Stolen Continents: The America’s Through Indian Eyes Since 1492.
“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.” Thomas Jefferson,1784
“I never apologize for the United States of America. I don’t care what the facts are.”
George Bush, 1988
I guess apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Cindy wrote exactly what I was thinking. Bollinger was just trying to cover his butt by insulting A. He is a coward.
Why is A being vilified? Did he cause 9/11? Did he use a bomb on any other country? Did he invade Iraq? And where is the proof of his sending arms there? What about the arms marked “made in the USA” found in Turkey?
How can all those protestors come out to demonstrate against A but not against the crummy war? Who’s the real enemy to this country?
In Stephen Kinzer’s book “Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq” he successfully makes the case that our actions are often driven by our business “interests” and not our “principles”.
We need a shift to the principled arguments made by Cindy and others. However, until that shift happens, we can more easily understand things in terms of business interests. This doesn’t make “good” sense but, when kept in mind, it makes “sense” of what is going on.
We’re supposed to be afraid that Iran could have control over oil production and shipping of oil. It’s no coincidence that the initials of both “Operation Iraqi Liberation” and “Operation Iranian Liberation” would both spell O.I.L.
Cindy..You deserve all the love, respect, honor and admiration that we as American Citizens can muster. Along with a simple THANK YOU for your heroism, the greatest gift we may bestow upon you is to FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS!!
I still can’t get over how the US squandered a golden opportunity to open up meaningful dialogue with Iran. Immediately after his Columbia appearance, the MSM hysteria went into over-drive, calling the speech a hate forum, etc.
Dan Abrams on MSNBC was literally climbing, upset at the very thought that Americans might actually see the Iran president anything less than an avatar of Satan.
I want to relocate to Venezuela,where Bush might nuke, when he’s done with Iran. At least dying in a war is better than the death we are dying here!
I think Ahamadinejad probably deserves most of what Bollinger said about him.
BUT: It was still a cheap grandstanding ploy by Bollinger. If for one moment I thought that President Bollinger would take the same tone with Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz/Feith/Rice etc.etc.–who certainly have much more blood on their hands than Ahmadinejad–then I would say, give ‘em hell.
Of course, Bollinger, like our sycophantic media, would never address our war-starting, torturing, renditioning, concentration-camp building, secretly spying leaders that way. That’s reserved for the State Approved Enemy.
We live in a country literally drowning in its own hypocrisy.
Thanks, Cindy, however, when Bollinger was describing the petty dictator, I thought he was speaking of GWBush/Cheney. If people would look at both Amadinajad and Bush, they would see that they are the same side of the coin. Both are right wing religious nuts.
When I read about Bollinger’s comments I first wondered, “Why, for heaven’s sake, didn’t he consult some sociologists or cultural anthropologists so he could learn that in Middle Eastern cultures a public insult and being inhospitable to a guest is an extreme injury.” Then I thought, well maybe he DID consult a sociologist or cultural anthropologist in order to find out just what is the BEST WAY TO INSULT someone from Iran and stoke the fires of hostility. ….. It used to be nice living in the United States of America. I hope I can return someday, or rather, I hope the United State of American can return someday. God bless and keep all the fighters for truth, justice, and peace.
To me the most important statement was in the first paragraph:
“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the president of Iran…I know he was elected in Iran in response to the invasion of Iraq.”
That and labeling Iran as part of the “Axis of Evil” during the same time frame.
An echo that does well in The Call To Impeach argument. Not only is the world not better off with Suddam gone, but Bush/Cheney are exposed more and more to the general public as the threats to their security that they are.
George Bush is being orchestrated by Satan, even if he was done in he will be brought back to life. Check your bible.
“i don’t see anyone who is ready to “do” something/anything other than bitch the boards and congratulate the writer.
that has become, to me, the power of this moment, or rather, the lack of it.
when so many people see what needs to be done and yet do nothing.”
We all have to decide for ourselves what action we have to take; when the moment arrives to take it; what direction, what end, we act for.
Action for action’s sake is equivalent to inaction.
Opponents of the reigme have to decide whether they have it in them to act as protesting reformers, or whether they intend revolution. Those decisions take people along different paths.
A reformer acts early to save what he or she thinks is left; a revolutionary has to wait until it becomes obvious to many that nothing is left to salvage. The reformer still believes in certain ideals and institutions, and believes the ideals can be redeemed, the institutions “taken back”. The revolutionary believes the ideals & the institutions to be the very source of evil.
Right on, Cindy. Another instance of the pot calling the kettle black.
Bush has killed over ONE MILLION Iraqis, but the corporate media does not say a word about it. Meanwhile, they repeat Neocon lies about Iran’s democratically elected president (unlike Bush), in order to brainwash the American people into supporting another illegal act of aggression against another Third World country. And this is what most Western intellectuals call a “free, open and democratic society”!
UN-common-dreams wrote”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Most people aren’t aware that America has a very positive part to play in the future well-being of humanity, but it first needs to get over it’s present impasse and materially-obsessed gluttony, delusions of grandeur, and depraved selfishness.
“Eventually we will, -as a race, get back on track…
**HOPE** is an essential and primary ingredient in social change!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uncommon,
Thank you for your thoughts and comments.
While I agree with you that hope and holding a positive vision are very important, I’d add, “So is discernment - the capacity and willingess to see things clearly. That is, to consider 360 degrees of a given predicament.
And to me, part of the reality we face is the possible extinction of our species - Homo Sapiens Sapiens (was this name chosen ironically?!)
No doubt in our universe many sentient species (like us, with the capacity to be aware that we are aware, and to dream and learn) have “blown” it on their planets. Today, the end may come suddenly or gradually, but just as animals and plants, live and then die - it seems simple common sense to allow for the possibilty that our self-centeredness, greed, and fearful paranoia may well do us in.
There is no guarantee that, as you wrote, “America has a very positive part to play in the future well-being of humanity.”
Unquestionably, NATURE will survive. But humanity or the sorts of civilizations we now have - not necessarily. For STARTERS we need to learn to open up to the shadow elements within ourselves, and (if you will) - ‘eat’ and integrate our ‘darker’ sides, rather than project onto others.
A key practical part of all this is that two levels of “action” are needed.
- (’miles of music’ commented: “someone said that all evil men need in order to succeed is the inaction of good men.
“its nice to vent and all but as i say i don’t see any action”
and,
“i don’t see anyone who is ready to “do” something/anything other than bitch the boards and congratulate the writer.)
Outer action: We each can do Something. And, writing here is One action. (Remember that the American Revolutionary War was preceded by People Talking To Each Other, town-meetings, pamplets, etc.) A groundswell of awareness is key.
Inner action: Want to create a peaceful world? You damn well better have discovered the well of inner peace, love, compassion within. I believe it is now an evolutionary imperative for enough of us to transcend selfishness -if we care about surviving.
[On the “coming and going” of civilizations, species, and planets see Olaf Stapleton’s 2 short novels (often sold as one book): Last Men, First Men / and Starmaker. (They are widely regarded as the best science fiction ever written, and I find the author to be a genuinely wise man).
The first takes the reader through 18 species of humans over hundreds of millions of years. Hint: We “the First Men” blow it]
“Humanity” in the full sense of the word -has not yet been born. Will the pregnancy be viable - or a stillbirth? Will we have the opportunity to evolve into our potential - for unselfish love, immense creativity, active compassion, and inquiry into the nature of our multidimensional cosmos?
It’s an unfathomably vast and deep universe out there. And we’re not at the center of it…
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD
Let’s hand it to President Ahmadinejad. In response to alarmingly rude behavior by the president of Columbia University, he held his ground, spoke his truth. Chutzpah? Foolhardiness? Courage?
I don’t understand or sympathize with many of the Iranian president’s espoused beliefs, but I sure don’t condone blatant bad manners from a university president who had invited him to speak. Vote to censure, members of Congress?
Imagine, if you can, the sitting US president invited to speak before a crowd at a major Iranian university. How would we feel if he was taunted, called names by his host? How would the fawning US media react? How would GW comport himself? How would he defend his unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation, resulting in non-ending occupation and the wholesale slaughter of an innocent people? Would he keep composed, speak his truth?
Oil, oil, oil…..
I would not have blamed President Ahmadinejad if had quietly risen from his seat and left the Columbia University stage. He had every right to.
No gays in Iran? The hypocritical “religious right” with their fine, upstanding congressional representatives should be leaping for joy, lining up to buy one-way tickets.
If I had to choose between dining with President Ahmadinejad and GW, I’d select the former. The conversation would be fascinating, illuminating. I’ll bet he wouldn’t talk with his mouth full, either.
My apologies, President Ahmadinejad, for the US’s bad manners. We have so few real leaders here to set good examples.
Thank you DICH..you hit the nail on the head,..
UNCOMMON and POWEROFLOVE..you are both living in a dream world like most Americans at this point.
Iraqis and Afghans are in a living hell as we speak not 12,000 miles from here.You want to stop the killing NOW or sit back and preach while little kids scramble fruitlessly to claw the Napalm from their burning bodies?
Cindy,
You rock!
Saw you at FightingBobFest in Baraboo, WI
Defeat Pelosi!
You will have my financial and moral support.
My apologies UNCOMMON,,,I misread your comment. Pardon me while I remove the foot from my mouth and stick my head in the sand or somewhere.
katsteve,
OF COURSE, stop the killing NOW. But if we keep the same mind that allowed it to happen in the first place - (see my post re - the shadow above) - ya think maybe it might all start up again soon? Somewhere else? Or, maybe right here, for example?
Don’t know yet if it’s true, but rumor has it that Halliburton is speedily building internment camps, and that railroad cars are being fitted with shackles.
Chilling.
Possible.
Would You rule out anything from this administration?
It’s not either/or, my friend. By the end of his life John Lennon knew that. Both/And…even though he had sung:
“YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION,
WELL, YOU KNOW,
WE ALL WANT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND INSTEAD.”
Of course he did get it right when he wrote,
“But if you want money for minds that hate,
all I can tell you is brother, you’ll have to wait.”
Something like that.
OK, here they are:
Revolution
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world.
Tou tell me that it’s evolution,
Well, you know
We all want to change the world.
But when you talk about destruction,
Don’t you know that you can count me out. In.
Don’t you know it’s going to be alright,
Alright, alright.
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan.
You ask me for a contribution,
Well, you know
We’re doing what we can.
Ut if you want money for people with minds that hate,
All I can tell you is brother you have to wait.
Don’t you know it’s going to be alright,
Alright, alright.
You say you’ll change a constitution
Well, you know
We all want ot change your head.
You tell me it’s the institution,
Well, you know
You better free your mind instead.
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao,
You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.
Don’t you know it’s going to be alright,
Alright, alright.
from -
www.beatleslyricsarchive.com
I also feel the need to appologize to this leader of a sovereign nation. The interviewer and audience behaved very poorly. Arab people are well known for their sense of hospitality, and this was a display of the very worst of American manners. Cindy, if you happen to have a mailing address, I would be more than willing to send a letter of appology.
Dichterfreund writes:
We all have to decide for ourselves what action we have to take; when the moment arrives to take it; what direction, what end, we act for.
Action for action’s sake is equivalent to inaction.
Opponents of the regime have to decide whether they have it in them to act as protesting reformers, or whether they intend revolution. Those decisions take people along different paths.
A reformer acts early to save what he or she thinks is left; a revolutionary has to wait until it becomes obvious to many that nothing is left to salvage. The reformer still believes in certain ideals and institutions, and believes the ideals can be redeemed, the institutions “taken back”. The revolutionary believes the ideals & the institutions to be the very source of evil.
————–
respectfully, i agree with you.
in a retrospective kind of way. it is a traditional thought that may not apply as a metric anymore.
the data net is slowly descending on us all and once it is rolled out i think it will be difficult to be revolutionary about anything.
radio frequency identification (rfid’s), read about them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID
are small chips that emit radio signals. they are in every new amercian passport. they will be in the us id cards. all drivers licenses. atm cards. credit cards. they are in many products we buy right now in the grocery store, like razor blades, cereal and such.
they want to put them in every bill in circulation.
into your children.
these chips will make a printout of every place it has been or where it is right now.
with the government’s complex data mining capabilities evolving very quickly, their absolute control of every aspect of life is not far away, should they be allowed to continue.
to have that kind of power in bush’s hands is very threatening.
its beyond voltaire, marx, mao or social thinking at all. it is a new paradigm and requires a revisit to the term revolutionary.
quickly.
so, while i respect each person’s path to enlightenment my point is that a lot of inactive people have all the enlightenment they need to get busy, but don’t.
there is not a lot of time to be casual.
Cee Miracles September 25th, 2007 12:49 pm
‘Christ [which dwells within each of us as in “The kingdom of God is within.”]’
“is within you” in the oldest greek texts (Luke 17 verse 21) also means “is among you”.
So according to the original Greek quote the way of Jesus was probably less an individual experience than modern western spiritual seekers might prefer to think. If the quote translates as “the Kingdom of God is among you” that would mean “It” is something that exits or emerges in a social setting amongst people rather than something you can keep to yourself as a private religious experience at the exclusion of the social.
.
President Ahmadinejad should be given respect especially at a prestigious university where one would expect good manners. Imagine inviting a guest to dinner at your home and then subjecting that guest to ridicule and humiliation at the dinner table in front of your family members and good friends who all join in laughing and making fun of the invited guest. I shudder to think of how this boorish behavior appears to the rest of the world.
I was embarrassed for the leader of Iran. He should have walked out. What a disgrace!
milesofmusic writes:
“there is not a lot of time to be casual.”
True words. I agree that “creeping fascism” now looks more like - fast walking.
Soon, if we don’t change direction, it will be moving toward engulfing the body politic - at a full run.
You also added:
Dichterfreund writes:
‘We all have to decide for ourselves what action we have to take; when the moment arrives to take it; what direction, what end, we act for.
Action for action’s sake is equivalent to inaction.’
Again, quite so.
The point of contact is an inner awareness of one’s unique strengths and limitations, areas of competence and of interest, and especially an honest assessment of one’s level of motivation for any sort of social change work.
At the same time, like the rest of nature,
we are immersed in rhythms and cycles. Acting in ignorance of these, remaining unaware of propitious times for acting - these we do at our own peril. Do avoid understanding these principles is an arrogance we can not afford. (And, it’s what got us here in the first place!)
In the Mayan Factor Jose Arguelles offers reasons to be profoundly hopeful. We are part and parcel of the cosmos in which we live. It can be argued that a number of Great Cycles are coming to a close - now. (Thus, the high drama).
And, at appears even the Cosmos indicates,
“This is the moment. This is the time.”
Finally, the Dalai Lama was once asked if he takes vacations. He bursted out in side=splitting laughter, exclaiming. “Bodhisattva on vacation??!!”
And, from Gandhi: “My life is my message.”
These are beings, like Mandela, who have died while alive - into a life of wise service that liberates.
Prayer and meditation were as central to these individuals, as skillful action.
You are the best Cindy!
Thank you for the wonderful essay!
Cindy Darlin’ … another good one, as always!! Thank you again for all you do … and how you keep on ticking …Do take care.
I’m waiting for the day when Iran exposes all the durty little secrets about the reagan/ bush pere deal to free the hostages … and if bush presses too hard, perhaps they will … at last!!
p.s. a message to the sexist males here who are referring to a couple of men as “bush’s bitch” … this sexist remark is not appreciated by the (intelligent)women at this site or in this country … And is probably not appreciated by the woman who wrote this article ….
Only one additional point:
Ms Sheehan left out the destruction of the native Tibetans being carried out by China.
Anyone who wants to see Tibetan Tibet had better contact a travel agent as soon as possible. The physical grandeur will remain, but the culture will soon be lost forever.
Cindy
Do try to save your energies.
Remember ..all things pass.
Take a walk on a beach or in the woods or mountains…look at a sunset.
The world needs you.
Thanks for the fine essay. C
miles,
“the data net is slowly descending on us all and once it is rolled out i think it will be difficult to be revolutionary about anything.”
I remember when technology was going to relieve us of the need to work so much. The reverse was true — technology burdens us with more work. The data net is largely self-entangling — it creates far too many potential threats; and as you increase the amount of information, you decrease the capacities of the human interpreters of information, and also reduce the quality & capacity of the decision-makers. The power structure never can adapt to the flow of information; moreover, the flow of information strains it to the point where flexible responders and strategists MUST BE excluded from the official structures themselves.
We can also remember a time when the USSR was presented to us as this immensely efficient and powerful country, with spies everywhere and an immense military. The USSR’s collapse was brought about, not by economic insufficiency, but by too much allocation of human labor to policing the society. What looked so imposing turned out to be brittle & exhausted; and we already see a similar exhaustion & brittleness affecting American society.
The human machine always remains the same.
Hi Cindy,
People like you and Randi Rhodes make such a difference in this world. I’m sure your son Casey would be very proud of all you do. It is so frustrating for me to see so many Americans oblivious to what is going on in this Country, or the world for that matter. So many people seem in a hypnotic state obsessed with knowing the latest with Britany Spears Or whoever the latest distraction from the news is on any particular day. Many people will not even take the time to seek out the real news not realizing that their ignorance is destroying this country as surely as George is. To their defense, there are many who are so worn down just trying to keep up in this economy that they just don’t have the energy to do anything about it I’m sure this is by govt. design. Thank you for showing that one person can make a difference, and for mustering the energy to motivate others.
I honestly thought when Nancy Pelosi took office we would see some serious changes. I am sadly dissappointed. You have my support in anything you do. You have proven yourself to be a caring and thoughtful human being as I’m sure you raised your son to be. To know that there are so many others like him dying each day in Iraq who went over there thinking they were doing the right thing makes me sick. That this President is not held accountable for the lies that have killed and destroyed the lives of so many leaves me dumbfounded and very angy.
Keep up the good work and take care of yourself.
Of course, I salute and thank Cindy for steadfastly standing on guard for the rest of us. But it was more interesting to wade through the comments to her piece. Only one commentator, ‘fedupwithpolitics’, got it right with honourable mentions
to ‘SamSnedegar’ and ‘Yace’.
Bollinger’s disgraceful behavior outs him as a hack of the Jewish mafia which is working to foment public opinion into accepting war with Iran, Israel’s most ardent desire. Yes, the whole shameful incident looks like it was staged by AIPAC. How could Ahmadinejahd fall into this trap? I view him as a blue-eyed idealist who simply lacks the cunning of those who want to use him as a tool to get back at Iran for not toeing the line.
What I found fascinating that all you well-meaning and morally outraged contributors did not pick up on this slant. You must understand that you do not own your own country: Israel does. You not only support it, you do its every bidding. Look at the names of the operatives in the Whitehouse who engineered the invasion of Iraq. Let me assure you it was not the village idiot.
It was a real shame when Hitler killed or drove out all those Jewish Germans who had led the Reich to an unparalleled flowering of science and the arts. Those Jews had a different faith but not another allegiance. He did not recognize this fact and we all know the consequences.
While the same can be said for part of the Jewish minority in America, it cannot be said for the other, politicised, part. These people are supporters of Israel first, and America second. A very thin elite have even taken control of your political process and have subordinated your country to Israel’s needs. How else can one explain the madness that reigns in the Middle East? Hitler believed in the 20’s and 30’s that Jews had taken over the world. He was 80 years ahead of his time.
POWEROFLOVE,,I just don’t understand why the bulk of the peace movement is trying to change the system from within. Can’t we do more from outside the system? And why aren’t more people angry enough to put their own lives on hold in order to set things right?
Part of the reason may be this countries feeling that we are “better” than the rest of the world,a dangerous ingrained attitude if you ask me.
The peace movement’s intentions are noble I’m sure, but there has to be a faster way to stop the killing and the corruption from the elites.
Why the powerful are so willing to sacrifice others lives to extend the length of their own days is beyond me. Every man must die eventually.
Bush is so caught up in his legacy and how he will be portrayed on down the time line of history. How pathetic can one get?!?
“If you want money for people with minds that hate,
brother,you’ll have to wait.”"
Well,we don’t have that choice…40 cents of every tax dollar is going to fund this war.
Am I missing something here?
I am sure that the trains with shackles are only the tip of the iceberg at this point.How will we fight when we are finally in cages with bars? The bars are coming down around us as we sit here pondering how life could be.
The following is from an article by a Dutch opinion writer (he was actually comparing his opinion of Ahmadinejad with a Dutch politician), but I had never heard any of this before from the Western media:
“He’s been doing things you never hear about, like sacking corrupt managers and making it cheaper for children from poor families to get married. I’ve even read reports that he has sold the enormous fleet of limousines that his predecessors amassed and given the money to the poor, while he drives around in an ageing Iranian ‘Peikan’.”
What plausible explanations rise from the inconsistency between the courtesy of Bollinger’s invitation and his subsequent offensive behavior? First and foremost is money. You can bet that (the unprinted) condemnation Bollinger received for the invitation, included alumni threats to discontinue funding to Columbia. The street protesters were by a huge majority Jewish - as are Columbia’s alumni. So, with the financial equivalent of the Percy treatment on the horizon, Bollinger caved. Mearsheimer and Walt are right, right, right.
Cindy, we must call for the abolishment of the 16th Amendment first - before we can do anything… while trying to put an end… to this immoral war.
It’s high time for a citizen’s revolt. And only Ron Paul has lent his name - among all the presidential candidates - to this effort.
This is the instrument of evil the “fascisti” (or corporatists, if you prefer) use to legitimate their tyranny over us… and most Americans are blind to this very fact about our existence… in a supposedly “free” society.
It’s what feeds the beast of unscrupulous private bankers through the Federal Reserve System; and its IRS has enabled our government’s unconstitutional intrusion into how we earn and spend our money. This unlawful act is antithetical to the rule of law which caused this nation to be founded in the first place… because it’s a frontal assault on our personal freedom… and it’s a forceful deprivation of one of mankind’s most fundamental liberties, besides.
To do this would stop the funding of this war machine at its source - and in its tracks.
To do nothing about this “greatest fraud ever visited upon the American soil” will result in world totalitarianism and the enslavement of us all.
Prepare for a virtual train wreck; as, under the present circumstances, it cannot be avoided. Bush’s sop to his oil buddies… was, is, and will continue to be… another colossal theft; and this war “over there” is just the start of the real war which will soon be waged “over here” - against us.
But keep your eye on the prize. It’s the one thing that can even begin to salvage our heritage as a free people.
Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, “That government is best which governs least.”
In reading the Declaration of Independence again recently… its words sang to me… clear as a liberty bell.
Given the sheer gravity of what we face today, and all other labels aside, I’m lending my support to a strict constitutionalist this time.
Because totalitarianism cares not if it’s socialist or fascist in nature… it’s incumbent upon all of us to simply “follow the money”… to those who control US.
These are our true enemies, Cindy. Don’t be fooled by these words, “strict constitutionalist”, either. All our government representatives we elect to office are to abide by it… and to swear a solemn oath of allegiance… to preserve, protect and defend it.
Yearn for your right to be loving and free from these madmen. And live to tell about it.
Declare your right to keep the fruits of your labor, and to deal with sound money. Cut these war-mongering bastards off… from the teat of an obtrusive, bankrupt and out-of-control… gigantic federal government apparatus… which steals our liberties… and destroys our youth.
Let’s abolish the 16th Amendment…
… And run these criminals out of town - once and for all!
[Thanks for reading these words. They’re coming from a simple man… who’s normally slow to anger.]
Lark
The Drums of War are beating, beating, beating.
Oh, and BTW, Cindy– if you can squeeze in a cure for the common cold between now and the election, we’d appreciate it!
Keep speaking out Cindy. You are dead-on in this essay and you have more support than you could possibly know.
Would one of the people from the land of the brave please live up to his/her handle and e-mail this Bush’s scorecard to the Black House?
Hi kat,
You wrote:
“The peace movement’s intentions are noble I’m sure, but there has to be a faster way to stop the killing and the corruption from the elites.”
Just one suggestion of an “alternative way.” Despite the sectarian violence that followed Gandhi’s death, the fact is that this “little man in a loincloth” was a lone catalyist for “throwing the British empire out of India.” In the process he created a whole new template for social change.
He also was the inspiration for Rev. King’s marches, and powerful social change movement in America. Despite the racism that still exists, it is clear that King changed the landscape of America and the world.
Whether the “peace movement” likes it or not, at the core of these men’s “brilliance in action” was their intimacy with the Infinite, call it what you will.
Gandhi: “When you reduce yourself to zero, your power becomes invincible.”
But to many activists, such words would make no sense. I say, we’d better become familiar with the paradoxes that go with functioning at higher levels of consciousness — if we’re serious about change.
Cindy, You represent a chance for peace for us all.
Cindy a chance for peace.
We must all resist war and learn to harmonize with each other to have a chance anymore.
Love, Jim
Remember that Saddam want to have a debate with Bush, not a war. But Bush decided to bomb Iraq instead. Ahmadinejid now wants to debate Bush. Look out! Bush will go to great lengths to avoid a debate.
This was another disgraceful example of the arrogance of the U.S. elite. I’m sickened that so many people jumped on the Ahmadinejid-bashing bandwagon, including Randi Rhodes on AirAmerica. I had to turn her off, she was so off-the-wall.
Thanks Cindy for your eloquence. I tried to say much the same thing in a letter to the editor of my local right-wing rag, but doubt they will print it.
Hi POWER,
I agree with you 100%, but what will we do in the mean time while we wait for this transformation?
Most people I work with don’t give a hoot about the 1 million Iraqis killed since 2003 or the million killed off in the preceeding decade. Most just hope we win the war and kill as many of those “low-lifes” as possible.
I get this attitude from both young and old,deeply religious and non-religious people.
I argue with Christians every day wondering how they can justify their thirst for victory and their connection to Jesus, who never mentioned anything about supporting war mongers but in fact preached the opposite.
People are so misguilded here that I just don’t want to remain here any longer.
I imagine people in a war torn country to be more down to earth. Look at the masses taking action in South America to rid themselves of the chains of corporate capitalism. Nothing like that is going on here because they feed us just enough to keep us from realizing just how much control they have over our lives.
kat,
And I agree with you 100%.
A few thoughts…
1) It seems to me a strong possiblity that Bush and Company are seeking to create circumstances which will produce an Armaggedon-like scenario.
(Many “Christians” will be thrilled that the End has come and Jesus will be arriving on the next flight…for, “this destruction is God’s will).
In this sense it would be Bushco’s Intention to piss off as many Muslims and people of Arabian descent as possible.
I don’t think the “Boys in the White House” (wearing the black hats and hearts) are suicidal, however. I am guessing that the elites are seeing a never before seen, world dictatorship, as the only way they will be able to retain power once things really start to fall apart.
Chaos —–> “A STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.”
Climate change, the phenomenon of Peak Oil, economic upheaval, resource wars - my sense is that these things are only going to get more intense.
(See Duane Elgin’s book - Promise Ahead for a convincing vision of what things on our planet may look like by 2020).
2) Humans have lived under war-based, oppressive social systems for thousands of years. For any number of reasons we continute to feel overwhelmed, more or less powerless/relatively indifferent, and caught up in vast networks of hypocrisy
(As you noted bout so-called “Christians”).
My guess is that sadly, one of the most powerful opportunites for change will come out of the massive suffering that lies ahead. Global warming alone will take care of alot of that.
3) Another profoundly hopeful sign is the rapid emergence of multiple, interconnected new paradigms across all forms of knowledge and action - medicine and healing, all the sciences, and poltically as well. Humans Are moving beyond outworn assumptions and outworn habits of thinking about ourselves and our world.
Yet, it is up to each of us to learn to think in complex, rather than simplistic terms. New solutions are an inevitable result of these kinds of leaps. (See Edgar Morin’s Homeland Earth and Thom Hartmann’s articles on Democracy at Thomhartmann.com).
4)There actually are also extraordinarily positive trends coming to fruition at this time. One of these is the “Disclosure Project” (disclosureproject.org.) What’s that? Nothin’ much beyond the most important development in human his-story.
Clearly, each of us must lead by example…and be willing to sacrifice our egos piece by piece - out of Love for the Whole.
Power,
ok,,Thank you then for your advice.
Go Cindy Go!
The Americo
Aristocracy
spew endless
BU__! SH__!
The Shrub’s
question
describes
Himself and his mentors
Cor-’pirates’
That ruin the world.
I am so embarrassed to live in this country but we need to keep fighting like Cindy to take it back.
Smart people are believing this crap about evil dictators yet we have the worst of them all. And now our Congress (remember the one we were so elated about last November) charged the Iranian army as a terrorist wing yesterday.
Yeah, we can’t secure or weapons in this country; we can’t secure our borders with all of their resources, but the Iranians are supposed to be able to secure theirs?
But then again, that’s what you get for being disengaged from society with IPOD and believing in winged angles.
Dover you have it right “We are sheeple, for allowing a man to steal two elections, to set up the framework for a dictatorship, and to bankrupt us. We’re too focused on our own little worlds.
And finally, we have pathetic “representation” in Congress, and the Judicial Branch is now politicized and morally bankrupt. WE LET IT HAPPEN”
When I suggested that my town government vote on a anti-war proclamation I was roundly ridiculed for the very idea of it.
And what ever happened to my beloved Columbia? As MBA student and member of the Columbia chapter of the ‘Students for a Democratic Society’, some forty years ago I am appalled at Bollinger’s fascist neo-con propaganda, and that he got away with it. In those days we would have slapped him upside the head by ransacking his office and by burning his library in the street. Where are the students and faculty today with the balls to confront this moron and throw him out? I trashed my alma mater beer mug today. And I would never again recommend this mediocre ‘university’ to anyone. I think that Columbia, and the socalled ‘ivy league’ universities, along with the ‘Main Stream Media’ are responsible for what ails our Country. Too much greed, too little enlightenment.
Another great essay Cindy. You have my vote for US President.
I agree with you, Cindy. Keep up the good work. I hope you win.