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TechnoratiFear, Loathing and the Crisis of Confidence
Just a few weeks ago, Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University released a little-noticed study showing that one-third of Americans now "believe in a broad smorgasbord of conspiracy theories" revolving around government complicity in everything from the 9/11 attacks to the Kennedy assassination. The same survey last year found that "anger against the federal government is at record levels."
It would be easy to chalk up these troubling findings to the unending propaganda of fear. America has been experiencing the searing blast of politicized terror warnings and breaking-news graphics for the better part of six years now, and populations living under such constant government and media shock treatment can go a wee bit berserk.
But while many of these conspiracy theories are offensive and factually unsupported, the underlying paranoia and loathing are not surprising, and the feelings are not motivated merely by a fear of the next bogeyman around the corner. The sentiments are symptoms of a deep crisis of confidence in our public institutions-a crisis that is a predictable reaction to a government that now all but admits it breaks laws, hides information and disregards the public.
We have seen troops sent to war based on manipulated intelligence. We have discovered phones wiretapped without warrants. Just last week, we found out the CIA destroyed tapes of potentially illegal torture sessions. So many scandals now plague the government, it is hard to remember them all. And they have all happened with almost no consequences for the perpetrators.
Nonetheless, every era has its sensational scandals, and so it is probably the mundane that has heated the public's low-grade disgust into a simmering boil. After all, what we see our government and our representatives quietly do every day tells us far more than even the headline-grabbing controversies.
Industries essentially bribe politicians with campaign contributions. Government employees regularly move into six-figure jobs lobbying for the industries they once regulated. Presidential candidates of both parties take time off from their small-town stump speeches about the middle class to hold big corporate fundraisers in New York penthouses and D.C. law firms. All of it is legal and treated as ho-hum by the media.
Then there is the bureaucracy, the faceless monolith whose civil service protections and multiyear appointment terms were supposed to prevent it from becoming what it is today: an increasingly important cog in the corrupt machine. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provides perhaps the most pristine example of all.
In October, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that this faceless alphabet-soup agency tasked with regulating the media business now regularly leaks secret information to lobbyists before that information is released to the public. The behavior undoubtedly feeds into the world of "political intelligence"-a burgeoning cottage industry in Washington whereby well-heeled lobbyists gather inside government information for their corporate clients.
A federal agency that even mildly cared about trying to serve the public or follow the law would react to the GAO's damning report by at least pretending to change. Instead, the FCC dug in.
When lobbyists recently pushed the government to relax ownership regulations and allow for further media consolidation, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin provided just one week's notice for a required public hearing on the issue. Officially, the FCC held the hearing to consider public input about the proposed rule change. But Martin later told Congress that before the hearing ever happened he was already putting the finishing touches on his New York Times Op-Ed article formally endorsing the media consolidation plan. And surprise! This week, the FCC officially ratified Martin's deregulation scheme, making it the law of the land.
Like so much of our government's behavior these days, it was kabuki theater at its most obscene-an obscure yet powerful agency getting caught leaking profit-making secrets to lobbyists, and then telling the public its hearings are all a put-on, taking place well after the corrupt deals have already been cut.
In Scripps Howard's report on its poll findings, some experts voiced astonishment at the anger being expressed by the country. But really, we should be baffled if public opinion were any different. Considering what's going on, is anyone actually stunned that America is enraged? Is anyone really confused about why so many believe the government conspires against the public?
David Sirota is the bestselling author of "Hostile Takeover" (Crown, 2006). He is a senior fellow at the Campaign for America's Future and a board member of the Progressive States Network, both nonpartisan research organizations. His daily blog can be found at www.credoaction.com/sirota.
© 2007 TruthDig.com
20 Comments so far
Show AllFRANK 1569, GREENER THAN THOU, REBEL FARMER, STAR OF THE SEA, DREAMER TOO -- Thank you all for perceptive and wisdom about dealing with our unresolved unhealed unfelt feelings. This is clearly part of the trail we must climb to breakthrough our bounds.
SINCE 1492 -- You've also got a corner on the truth here, as I see it, when you mentioned
_(a) "lot of "Good" Americans who will follow what their government tells them …
_(b) The kind of world they want is falling apart right before our eyes today, and
_(c) still they insist we are still a strong healthy country"
Please go to this discussion about Cognitive Dissonance and torture which addresses this, between 1147 am on 22th to > 8 pm.
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed »
I guess there is something about living inside the US that makes one a gullible sheep?
On Sept. 11, 2001 this poster was interviewed on Mexican television and indicated that the US government had motive, opportunity and means to do the deed--and that no one else had.
The same day, journalist and academic Guillermo Almeyra wrote a piece for La Jornada titled (in English translations) Those Martians Speak English! His piece, published on Sept. 12, departed from the reference to Orson Welles' radio show "War of the Worlds" which a large chunk of the listening public believed was real.
He also indicated that the US government were the only folks who had motive, means and opportunity.
A scruffy bunch of Middle Easterners pulled off a caper like that? Right, pull the other one.
Then of course there's that little bit about the buildings being demolished. YOU try bringing buildings of that size and construction down by flying a plane into them.
If you think that what you were told by the US government was true, I have some great swampland here in Central Mexico I will be happy to sell you.
How does a government act in a moral and ethical manner when those who govern are megalomaniacs and sociopaths?
GRENNER THAN THOU: Intelligent posting. I agree with all that you state, and find one other key piece too perfect to satisfy the "god" of coincidence. It was just too fucking convenient for a "Pearl Harbor" like event to show up just when all three branches of government were within the coveted reach of the authoritarians who were plotting, planning and wet dreaming for this strategic moment for three decades. Nope. Given the record "after the fact" of the amoral agendas these people are capable of, sacrificing 3000 of "our own" was just another version of collateral damage. The Walter Reed hospital story and the way vets in need are being sand bagged, shows again the telling lack of humanity in these subhumans who have taken over the US on just about every front. One thing to say for them, they're damned good chess players; but if something as pesky as morality does not stand in your way, it's so much easier to stand on every one else's body, dead, alive or rendered politically comotose (from the onslaught of events that stun reason and rape compassion).
The question is not, what happened; the question is, how will we deal with our unfelt feelings.
greenerthanthou---thank you from the bottom of my heart for saying exactly what I wanted to say in response to this article and to some of the uninformed posts.
What amazes me is the "resistence" to researching the topic that I see in otherwise well-informed people. While I agree we do not know the full story ( maybe we never will), the "official version" is based on a "conspiracy" so lacking in credibility to be laughable, were it not so hideously grotesque, and had it not gotten us to where we are today.
Some so-called progressives have formed their immutable opinions based on reading little or nothing, and by allowing writers like Cockburn, Goodman, Sirota or any number of other "liberal" voices determine their sense of the truth. Those folks couldn;t have done their homework either.
The Truth shall set you free and you're not gonna find it if you don't do your own searching. Ask Howard Zinn what he thinks about 911. If I hadn't done three years of my own homework already, his opinion would set me on a quest. There are many like him. Progressives claim to believe these thugs are shameless criminals but then refuse to believe they may have been complicit in the 911 events. Sheesh!!!! You can lead a horse to water....
Frank1569: Thanks for the post. Informative, as usual.
I don't know what I believe about the 911 attacks. It's a little hard to form an opinion since the powers that be won't give me, or anyone else, the facts. And they immediately carted the evidence off to a dump somewhere. Where ever there is a cover-up I'm going to suspect a crime. I really want an investigation of the cover-up and who was giving the orders to destroy evidence. Let's start there. Then, depending on what is discovered, lets go back and investigate the 911 crime. I think we may have a better shot at getting to the truth with this approach. Maybe some shistle bllowers will come out of the woodwork. Especially if this can be preceeded by an impeachment of the dick.
So people who doubt the official government conspiracy (19 young Arabs directed by a 6 ft dialysis pt in a cave in Afghanistan brought down 3 buildings and paralyzed the US military) are paranoid and berserk?
Actually, I did believe the official theory at first. I was of the "blow-back" persuasion. You know, the US funding Muslim extremists, murdering and bombing all over the world, what goes around, comes around.
Then I heard David Ray Griffin point out that 110 story buildings don't explode into concrete dust(from the East to the Hudson River) and fall in 9 seconds because of a one hour fire. Oh, yeah. That makes more sense to me.
Further exposure to the inconsistencies of the official theory and watching the resistance to investigation has further convinced me.
Insulting my intelligence and/or my sanity is not helpful to your cause.
By the way, I used to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone shooter of President Kennedy, because that was what I was told by all official sources.
Just as in the 9-11 case, dedicated Americans actually read the Warren Commission Report (although Dulles counted on the fact that most Americans don't read) and pointed out the inconsistencies and lies in the Report. Now I no longer believe the official theory on the Kennedy assassination. Was I rational before I heard the evidence and irrational after? I think not.
The 9-11 Commission (formed 18 months after the crime, against the strong objections of the Bush-Cheney junta-explain that David Sirota) learned from the Warren Commission and didn't publish their evidence. Actually, they didn't even let many of the "investigators" on the commission see the evidence!! Explain that, David Sirota.
If muslim extremists were totally responsible for 9-11, why the resistance to an investigation?
And, by the way, no one thinks that Bush put bombs in the WTC. Personally, I have my doubts that he even knew about the plan. Why would they let the village idiot in on the secret?
I am reading a book about the CIA "Legacy of Ashes" and he says that Dulles didn't even tell Eisenhower all that the CIA was doing. The CIA was out of control from its inception.
I'm not saying it was the CIA. I don't know who it was. But I can guarantee it wasn't BinLaden. I can guarantee it was a group high enough in the US hierarchy that they could cause the US military to stand down, they could stop an investigation of a crime scene, they could get the media to refuse to ask questions, and they could use the event to start wars and destroy our civil liberties.
Was 9-11 the worst thing ever done by the US imperialists? No, of course not. That's not the point. The point is it is being used by them to further their nefarious schemes.
If you think you can stop 9-11 truthers by causal dismissals and insults, you're wrong. We are determined to counter the US imperialists by showing that their all-purpose excuse (a noun, a verb, and 9-11) is a self-made excuse.
Back in the day, anyone who claimed there was a "mafia" was one of them conspiracy nuts, but a few who claimed Communists were using Hollywood to overthrow Godmerica were labeled True Patriots. Turns out, as we now know (and knew then,) the "nuts" were right and the True Patriots turned out to be a buncha raving, chickenshit conspiracy nuts.
Back in the day, anyone who claimed Nixon had a few screws loose was a conspiracy nut, and his supporters - like Cheney and Rummy and Bushie - were labeled Real Americans.
Back in the day, anyone who accused Big Tobacco of lying about their death-dealing products were called conspiracy nuts... and, in spite of the Mt. Everest pile of proof, still are...
Back in the day, anyone who claimed Roosevelt had advance warning about Pearl Harbor was labeled a conspiracy nut, even though we now know for a fact that they were right, again...
Today, anyone who connects any dots - for example, Cheney wishes for a new Pear Harbor to catapult his agenda, Bush is warned about an impending new Pearl Harbor and takes zero preventative action, the new Pearl Harbor takes place just a year after Cheney's wish, his agenda is catapulted - is a conspiracy nut.
Me? I believe all of the above were nothing more than coincidences - guess that makes me a "coincidence nut."
I can't even explain how mad know-nothings like Jim Glover make me! Thanks for ruining my day a**hole!! debunking911.com, give me a f**king break
"...potentially illegal torture sessions."
Versus the legal kind?
The 9/11 truth movement need to focus on proving at least one of their Controlled Demolition theories...So far no proof only questions that all have been explained by facts at http://www.debunking911.com/
After you study the factual answers, I will gladly join you in calling for a new investigation.
The important fact is that Bush took the FBI off the Saudi trail when governments and our Intel was warning us about the attack to come.
This controlled Demolition theory just distracts from the really provable crimes and makes the 9/11 movement look more like a cult than open discussion.
Try challenging them on any claim like even that the planes that hit the towers were not real commercial airliners and you will get stonewalled.. They don't discuss they just put out CDs that keep the same false self contradictory claims goin forever with no admitting of any errors.
You guys get mad because Common Dreams or Amy Goodman won't push your contradictory theories... Maybe they don't believe you have any evidence and that you have been caught putting out too much false information.
and speaking of conspiracies,
i'm guessing that blackwater will become the new government in the US.
just think...
armed madmen.
all this country's money is now in their bank accounts. (thanks to a war with the sole purpose of 1) gaining resources that do not belong to us, and 2) to funnel our nation's entire treasury to friendly corporations)
they outnumber our own military.
bound by no laws.
no courts can try them.
how's that for a police state?
and by the way, rep. wexler wants your signature to support impeachment hearings against dick cheney.
www.wexlerwantshearings.com
may as well take part in our democracy while there is some semblance of it left.
Billvj: I lost any respect for him long ago. Remember that Maher is a comedian and self-promoter first...he works for "them", "they" pay him. You can't expect anything else from him. I never spend any of my few hours of the "screen" watching him anymore. There is a line and he won't cross it. He's a coward. I applaud his animal rights convictions, but I wonder if those are real at this point. Could be just pandering to his "market".
You don't need a conspiracy to destroy a country or the world, but you do need a lot of sheep. And, they will become lot of "Good" Americans who will follow what their government tells them. All you really need are enough people in high places who believe that Globalization is good for everyone, and the earth. The political infrastructure is already in place for Corporate America to control our Congress. They will influence the elected officials who will create laws to help globalization march across the land. Our country is ruled by the rich. It's their set of values that we are being asked to implement. The kind of world they want is falling apart right before our eyes today, and still they insist we are still a strong healthy country. America is a fraud.
Hoa binh
What difference would it make if we discovered that Bush and Cheney planted bombs in the WTC?
We already know they are criminals.
We already know the US is moving towards a police state.
Do you think everyone would go in the street if they found out Bush planted a bomb?
People just want to romanticize real life tragedy and be the next JFK expert. I am sure in a few years someone will produce photos of the 21st bomber standing on a building roof off in the background.
There was criminal incompetence, direct or indirect complicity (spiriting the saudis out), and other weirdness in 9 11, such as the Israeli spies laughing as the building fell, but I would expect that type of psychosis from israeli spies.
The word "conspiracy" has become like the word "communist" or "terrorist" in the simple minds of the lemmings. In truth, we are seeing conspiracy fact after fact in regards to, oh, just about everything Bush has done. CIA tapes, outing of Valerie Plame, Lies to send us to Iraq, secret energy meetings, Telecom privacy violations, and sooo much more! These are all already well-documented!
Anyone who has HALF a brain can figure out that there is much more still to be discovered. It pisses me off that CD is not supporting the 9/11 truth movement much. The fact is, it would be a total surprise if there WASN'T a conspiracy around 9/11 and our government!
And yes, even the propoganda push to label all conspiracy theorists as "wacko" is ALSO a very real conspiracy, perpetrated by the media, co-opted by our government.
Bill Maher, if you're reading this, you lost a viewer because of your head-in-the-sand, bully-tactics against 9/11 truthers and your refusal to have an intelligent discussion with the experts around it. I really believed you were smarter than to just paint such a wide, bigoted brush. I guess you've sold out to your media handlers too. Damn.
How about a commission led by David Sirota that would be tasked with writing a REAL ethics code to be obeyed by members of both the Senate and the House and election laws that would make it easier for them to act ethically?
1) Public financing of all federal-level elections to eliminate donations from corporations and lobbyists.
2) Free TV and radio time for all candidates; NO paid commercials not approved by the candidate
3) No revolving door, period.
4) No "help" from industry when drafting laws or policies.
5+) Many more
If the government cares about trust, it will need to open up. Unless it has something to hide, that is. People increasingly know this in the back of their minds, feel it in their guts.
That's the essential dynamic, Mr. Sirota.
A conspiracy is a crime, or plot to commit one, that involves more than one person.
What's the difference between conspiracy fact and conspiracy theory?
In science, the the difference between fact/theory is if it passes through the lens of OPEN AND TRANSPARENT scholarly/published inquiry, experiment, research, it offers repeatability, etc.
So, folks, what's the mechanism by which conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact?
The answer is simple, based on pure autocracy:
If the government says so, it's conspiracy factual, whether or not there was an open investigation.
If you come up with the idea yourself, as a citizen, scientist, or scholar, it's a conspiracy theory, automatically perverse or wrong in some way.