One Nation, Under a Heartless God

Our aggressive militaristic nature derives from conservatism which is an ideology born of paranoia. As the country trends more conservative, expect more military adventurism. You can see it now. With two war ongoing, the sabre rattling directed at other nation(s) is reaching fever pitch.

Americans are often generous and warm on a personal level.
But as Toni Morrison and the first poster here point out we have a long history of blocking out and suppressing any empathy for slaves and Native Americans. I do not completly agree with USan that Spanish occupiers assimilated with Native Americans. They often committed brutal slaughters too.

We have a well-developed national ability to deny the humanity of others. Same goes for any colonial policy where human rights is an annoying detail standing in the way of trade and acquistion of land.

Forget what the silly psychologists say, and know that human (egoic) nature is INHERENTLY evil. Buddha, Christ, J. Krishnamurti, and other mystics have known this for thousands of years--a thousand Freuds would not equal the understanding of one elightened mystic. Here's a post from another site that examamines the problem of ego. In an unenlightened state we cannot help but bump into and be mean to one another:

Evil is a vast subject with, really, one core manifestation. Like an
unfinished building we all start out with a conditioned mind. The
influences and powers that be want to put it in a mold, according to
the church, family, culture, etc. As we get older, if that
conditioning goes unchallenged, the mold hardens because the
conditioning reinforces itself. This is exhibited, outwardly, as a
separate identity, a filter, as it were, that all the time
says: "this is mine, not mine; me, not me, etc.." It lives in
constant unconscious comparison (judgment). Thus, duality is running
at full speed, and what we normally call individuality (egoic
individuality) is really an illusion.

This is the 'core' from which 'evil' arises--a separate self that
wants to do what it calls 'good' or 'evil.' Both are evil because the
purpose, either hidden or overt is self gain, whereby the false
center is strengthened or hardened. Further, this process is ALWAYS
an UNCONSCIOUSNESS one. Why? Because a broader understanding of the
nature of being and one's relationship with it is absent. The self,
ego, (unconsciously) seeking more of itself must, of necessity, be a
process of isolation--the outcome of which is a greater and greater
feeling of separation-- of loneliness.

One of the major problems we face is that we're so deep in the cave
of self (some have called it spiritual sleep) that we deny that there
is anything outside of it. We do not know that we do not know, and
often deny that there is anything outside of the cave to know! And
the density of darkness grows, along with increasing inner
fragmentation and plurality. This assertion seems to disturb some
here, and Conrad has called it my 'scary bears': "Vernon Howard has
said that 'evil' can be likened to weed seeds. The weeds grow up and
choke off the Light, until finally the false self falls so in love
with the thrill of the choking vines, it denies that there is
anything outside of them."

Essentially, this means that when the ego is almost in total control,
the filter is cemented in place, that it is highly UNLIKELY or
IMPROBABLE (not impossible) that an individual will move toward
spiritual enlightenment. He has permitted the darkness to close him
off, and becomes dedicated to promoting more of what he secretly
loves: egotism. Ever see this manifested? You suggest to someone that
understanding yourself is what is most important and they say:

"Oh, don't think about yourself so much, that will just make you
crazy; go out and MAKE something of yourself!"

"If you're so interested in spirituality and religion, then go into
the seminary or become a priest!"

"The doctors and psychologists always know what is best, listen to
them!"

"Watch out for that silly enlightenment stuff, they're just a cult.."

These are some of the more obvious responses, but there are many more
subtle ones that are meant to discourage one from inner
investigation. At times, a look or a gesture may be enough.

Krishnamurti once told Aldous Huxley (a professed humanist and
pacifist) that he had a mind like a wastebasket; it was so full of
junk that there wasn't room for anything else. Did he mean that
Huxley was so in love with his own intellect that he could no longer
transcend it?

Now, I should probably make it clear that I am personally
investigating this charge, meaning I do not yet perceive enough--
i.e., understand it from the spirit of awareness--to make a
declarative statement. Though from reading other scriptures and
listening to mystics of note, I see a similar thread running through
their teachings.

The Bible:

"Blaspheme the Holy Spirit," meaning if you reject Truth and/or
strike out against true teaching enough, you will lose the
possibility of being 'born again' (enlightenment) .

Vernon Howard:

See above. Vernon spoke much about this. Further, he said that the
very nature of evil is to attack the Light or the appearance of the
Light within an individual. Even when evil is rebuked by the Light,
it 'wins,' in that it feels more of itself [ego reinforcement] .

Guy Finley (In his talk, "The Evolution of Evil":

...darkness has a density, and makes it difficult to see that there
is anything outside of it, or beyond it. This may lead to the belief
that there is nothing beyond it [a basis for the belief in atheism],
or a belief that there is something beyond it, but is impossible to
realize or achieve (like Christ did, for example) while still alive
(faux theism or Christianity) . Both beliefs are self-enclosing, and
prevent further investigation. What this really means is that it is
very difficult for the 'conditioned self' to see anything outside or
beyond itself. The greater the hold ego has upon the individual, the
greater the density of darkness, and the more he or she will resist
the importuning of the Light, or as K said "penetrating into the
darkness" [to go beyond it].

Let's get back to what I think might be a fundamental
misunderstanding here. The question we often explore is: Are we
creators of the reality we perceive or conduits for energies that
operate through us? Physically, we know we are not creators of the
substance of the universe; we are part and dependent upon a bigger
whole. Point in fact: if we do not eat, we starve to death. So
physically our survival depends upon our relationship with objects.
Further, we all share this same dependency, correct? The physical
body ages, withers, then dies. Though, we can perhaps slow the
process, we cannot entirely prevent it. And even if we found a remedy
for aging and illness, we would not be immune from accidents, or from
the destruction of war. My point is that physically we all, more or
less, share the same relationship with the earth and universe at
large, agreed?

Psychically, or psychologically, relationship is not always so clear,
is it? If principles or rules apply, they are not readily apparent.
And we do not know the limits of our ability to perceive, though we
may think we do. You cannot know what you do not know until you know
it--or be aware of what you are not aware of until you become aware
of it--correct? What I mean is that the best we can do is SUSPECT
that we have only a limited awareness. If we know how to listen, we
can 'hear' or feel the pull of something else within us. Perhaps this
is the calling of our essence to complete itself.

Now, back to the subject of creation: are we conduits of creation
originating from a greater Source--a greater Energy or Essence--or do
we create independent of this Source? Asking another way:
Psychologically, do we possess the energy of creation, or does it
possess us? Vernon Howard once said we are neither our own strength
or our own weakness; they are energetic states that POSSESS us.

Thought, for example, does not belong ONLY to me or you, but the
whole of mankind. So even a false center contrived and maintained by
thought-energy is not unique to the individual, meaning ego is a
SHARED phenomenon; it involves the PROCESS OF THINKING, which is
common to all--all egos. Only the PARTICULARS are different, not the
principle of ego. Do you see this?

Then evil arising through egoic 'will' must use a false identity to
perpetuate itself. Without "I" or "me" evil cannot exist because
without "I" or "me" there is no self-will! This is very profound.
Individually, we cannot take credit or blame for the darkness or
light, but only ALLOW ourselves, either through ignorance or
awareness to be conduits--possessed by--one or the other, right?

This begs the question: are there forces, entities, energies that
have a motive to posses our psychic system, meaning to use us in some
way through possession, or do we originate these energies/entities?
We all know about negative states; they make us feel like crap, snap
at other people, be crabby, or jump into the 'garbage truck.' Same
with positive energies when the self is absent during a beautiful
sunset or scene, or we're just feeling happy, generous, or at peace?
In spiritual literature we find mention of angels and demons. Are
these meant to be symbolic of positive and negative states/energies?
Even in Greek Mythology, there are the Muses.

What effect do psychic states in general have upon us at any
particular moment? They're always changing! If we try to grab onto
and repeat a beautiful feeling, what happens? It eludes us, right?
The mystics tell us that it is IDENTIFICATION with various states
that reinforce a false center from which all evil arises. Modern
psychology talks a lot about self-esteem, which is really a process
of identification and comparison as well; therefore, either so-called
positive self-esteem or negative self-esteem are two sides of the
same 'dark' coin, are they not?

Krishnamurti asks:

Can the mind, with full awareness, enter into the darkness without
justification, condemnation, or identification and dispel it? Meaning
can we watch the states that possess our mind, just to be aware of
them without resistance, calling them good or bad, or seeking a
particular result?

K calls this 'choiceless awareness.'

Through awareness, and only through awareness, can the nature of good
and evil be understood.

One Heartless Nation, Under God.

elmysterio,

Sorry there. If the edit didn't take hold the last line was to read:
"Most conclusions, no matter how well researched and thought out, are effected by those two magic words."

Tired.

elmysterio,
Fair enough. Though it would be a fun chat in person about perceptions and bias. Especially when "bloody" histories are involved. Most conclusions, no matter how well researched and thought out, are effected by those two magic words.

All the best.

abuelito said:"our xenophobia right now sets us apart from the rest of the world, so that we act hostile to strangers and immigrants and Arabs and Muslims. but we weren't always like this."

I disagree... looking back on the history of the United States, there's always been a backlash against immigrants...

imfedup said:"You are here to say how mean we ALL are and I am here to defend all the good people who have helped my family through the years. This country is not full of butchers! There are more decent, helping individuals than you care notice and I will not have those people condemned because of your perceptions and bias."

No, you're right, the country isn't full of butchers... it's full of naive people who allow the butchers to run the show, therefore, committing massive atrocities in the name of the United States of America... The History of the US is especially bloody... And the people are responsible for that. Also, it's not my perceptions and bias... just looking at the historical evidence and coming a well-reasoned and thoroughly thought out conclusion. But thanks for your response. Your passion is admirable.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people," he said in a 2003 sermon. "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

On Bill Maher's show the other night, Bill went out into the streets and asked people "Who are we fighting in Iraq?" Most could not answer. "Terrorists!" was the most common answer. "But who are they?" Maher persisted.

When you're willing to kill and care not who or why........ what else is there to say? The Creator will judge America harshly for such craveness.

Great title to your commentary, Ted, and a great opinion piece, too! We need more Left comments that cut the crap and have passion in them while they are at it. Thanks for a good read.

I asked an old timer once "what is wrong with the world today?"..
he said "well the trouble is, most people are numb from the arse hole up"

asking for more clarification, he responded " the only time they will do anything, is if they get the runs (diarrhea), or they can't have a crap, the rest of the time no signals past the arse, makes it any where near the brain"

from the plethora of pepto and all the other rudimentary canal cures and meds out there, it is not such a whacky statement

(tongue in cheek)
Jim
Canada jim_murray@jdz.ca

Why would the TSA put a double amputee from Iraq through the double security procedure as though he were a potential terrorist?
Because this American hero was a young, Hispanic, double amputee mutilated in a rich man's war for the sake of Wall Street, Hallibuton and Israel. Ask any member of the political elite or their propagandists - What does such a young cripple have to live for? Does he have a large stock portfolio?, a tax shelter in the Cayman Islands?, a mansion on the Hamptons?, a villa in Provence (like Richard Perle)?, a fat laundered account in Geneva????
No? Well then, he could become a recruit for Al Queda - just by virtue of his deformity and his entire life chopped up by imperialist and Zionist ambitions. No one in the ruling class would want him boarding their plane without being thoroughly checked for explosive tears or incendiary words - or looks so sharp they might pierce the hearts of our robber barons!

Remember. The 'most moral' Israeli Defense Forces do no allow young Palestinians with cancer to cross from Gaza into Egypt or Jordan for chemo or radiation therapy...because, they reason, "these Arabs have nothing to live for anyway and might become suicide terrorists." (Quoted from a BBC article on the hundreds of Palestinians dying for lack of medical care or dialysis because the Israelis deny them passage to hospitals in other countries.)

Your double amputee, Hispanic with grandparents in Mexico or Guatemala, may be your son and mine (at least in our hearts and minds' eye) ...but he is no son to our rulers and the TSA is there to protect them. So don't you dare protest the injustice - your reward could be a fatal cardiac arrhythmia brought on by multiple Tasers shocks from our heroic guardians.

USAn April 24th, 2008 10:45 am: Nearly all Latin Americans are at least half native american ancestry ...

So?

Almost every "Native American" in the USA has less than one-half Indian ancestry, and most have far less than that. Blame our perceived failures more on the illogical perpetuation of delusional tribalism and identity politics at odds with our founding ideals rather than physical assimilation, which has happened here just as much as anywhere else.

To experience (fortunately nowadays I do this more through the internet {reading then NetspeaKing } than actual contact [which is better 'cause my confrontationalism would undoubtedly lead to problems] americanism as a foreigner is both enlightening and disheartening.

Both my enlightenment and disheartenment come from the same place, joined not at the hip but rather the brain, sooooo many, far too many, americans are numbed and dumbed beyond the pale.

Doggod is all over this article just like it is all over america. Religion thrives, incorrectly and definitely misplaced, in america like it does in no other nation and this includes the Vatican City and all muslem nations.

At least the pope and his boys and those who follow the muslem religion are more in tune with their respective religions whereas most americans use religion much like they use toilet paper - as a tool.

So by default the american dogs/gods are all over this article and america playing its usual role as the victim completely misses, no ignores, this fact.

There is one aspect of life as we know it in which americans are definitely number ONE and no it is not women's hockey. It is in numbless and dumbless and my goodness so many americans prove this on a daily basis.

Your karma is forthcoming, unfortunately it is the entire universe who will pay.

Hell, we didn't even "win" the American Revolution. The Brits basically gave it to us. They basically got fed up with all the money going into a war with a remote colony that was basically worthless in comparison with money machines like India, and cut back their military effort so much that they effectively gave it to us. It's only the "written in the USA" histories that wave the flag about our revolution. You'll find a much different, and ultimately more believable, story in accounts from east of the Atlantic.

Great Country, my Ass.

Little Brother April 23rd, 2008 5:56 pm

Well done ........ Walter/Huxley?

How did a soft-hearted people wind up making such a hard-ass country?

Perhaps it is because America is the most delusional nation on Earth ........ except possibly Israel?

whatfools said: "If this country will not be brought to its senses, it must be brought to its knees"

Now there's a statement worthy of support

Amen.

America is an experiment to test the hypothesis, When you encourage every man, woman, and child to pursue its own selfish material interest, what kind of a society do you get? Thrown in an unhealthy dash of Puritanism, a sprinkle of Calvinism, and season generously with radical hedonism. What you get is fat asses speeding through the MacDonald's drive-thru to get home for a long night of one-handed Internet surfing.

Annebrit....I agree with your statement as I'm living the serfdom'ish thing right now. My entire life, my work, my lack of savings and future are dependent on my ability to pay off the debts I increased.

We need to keep off the debt wagon for awhile and then we will be free to choose jobs that we would like to do, build a business, take vacations, and plan of the future....right now I'm paying everyone else and living off the scraps.

But wait! The serf issue isn't accurate as the serfs had more freedom, time off, etc....really it's a form of a usury society that we are in.

Thanks for your kind words, Ephraim. I'm flattered. 8)

chezgebaude,
Thanks for the correction. I should make you my editor for future
postings. ;)

Jack37,

Thanks. I never heard of Thomas Morton. The brutality and refusal to assimilate with the native Americans was largely an English thing.

Both the Spansih and French settlers went to some lengths to assimilate. Nearly all Latin Americans are at least half native american ancestry - their food and culture being heavily influenced from the original inhabitants, and it is no accident that so many people native North Americans adopted French surnames.

However, sometines the culture gets it's influence in despite opression -much of the things associated with US cowboy culture came from the native people of the high plains and southwest. And look at all the quintsentially British things that are really Indian.

In May 1627 a confident, educated and sophisticated Englishman named Thomas Morton raised a huge Maypole on a hill near Boston Bay and welcomed "all comers" including of course Native people to a Revel, by which they celebrated their mutual prosperity with music, dance, feasting and (yes) cohabitations---that was the model for America we should have had. Instead, his close-by neighbors, The Pilgrims of Plimoth including Mr. Law and Order Myles Standish (whom Morton called "Captain Shrimp"), came and arrested Morton, tried to kill him, banished him---and untouched, Morton came right back to keep it going until the arrival of Boston's Puritans in 1630. They in turn made Morton their FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: arrested him and deported him without trial, and burned down everything he built. So the America we have today comes directly from them, instead of a multicultural Maypole they gave us prisons and whipping posts---the inevitable America that comes from having one "holy people" taking everything by violence from all the others in "God's" name.....Well, guess what: the fake little model melodrama of "struggling Pilgrims" still presented at today's Plimoth Plantation, for all its techno-brilliance, is dying as its lies deserve: Morton shrewdly predicted that they would make America nothing but a Christian Capitalist Labor Camp; and Morton's Merrymount Revels will again be restaged at his colony-site on Saturday May 10th 12 noon to 5pm including Morris Dancers and much more. Morton, America's FIRST POET IN ENGLISH, loved this place and respected it and its peoples---Find out a lot more about him and how he is celebrated today at http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com

Why is America so "mean"? Whoever said we were so "good", and on what evidence or authority? Actually, Sigmund Freud already hit the nail on the head during World War I when he wrote about the barbarity being displayed by European society:

"In reality our fellow-citizens have not sunk so low as we feared because they had never risen so high as we believed."

As the ancient Greeks said: "Know thyself!"

The post from "imfedup" is really a good one:

". . . came to this country where opportunities were unlimited . . ."

Right, right, right! Past tense: WERE unlimited. He has the right usage for the wrong reason.

It's quite simple - follow the money.

Little money, little evil - big money, big evil.

This goes for all aspects of life - at all times.

Thats why you need to regain real democratic control over the money - and you will gain control over your lives.

Today, the only thing you have is debt - which means you really are serfs.

So mean, because America was built on war not democracy
I agree CC, God has nothing to do with the way America is.

Maybe the USA should keep Gitmo open...to house the Bush Administration for their War Crimes trials in 2009

Little Brother really should have his own blog. He writes better than almost anyone routinely featured on Common Dreams. The guy's truly brilliant. The amazing thing is, he knows how the apostrophe is used! I'd given up expecting anyone on the web to comprehend that niggling detail, not to mention ordinary spelling. Little Brother, I'm guessing, was or is an editor somewhere. Only editors know how to punctuate or spell. This is, after all, the age of cyberdimwittedness.

of course this nation is under a heartless god. So the heartless one lives in this nation and the world even. his names are many and diverse. You have seen him as Greed, Death, Liar, Domination, he has power. he even comes claiming to be Peace..but isn't. he also claims to defend..yet assaults. he claims prospertity in the face of hunger. this is nothing new.

this nation is also under another God, Almighty, Mercy, Love, Redemption are just a few of His names. You have seen him as Truth.

so make your choices (as you catcha your plane) do what ya can.. but never blame The God of Love. try to hold your head up as your heart breaks, mark those things well.

your not limited to 'only 3 presidential canidates'.

your not limited to 'just shoot the remaining inmates'.

your not limited to 'a bag of money'.

i know these are extremely serious topics, mark them well..document as much as you can.

write a song, and make it good, true, and personal. He will hear you sing. keep it written in your wallet, sing it when you want...but ya never know when, that song may be your best credential to get you thru the airport...hahaha

smilllllllllllllllleeeeeeeessssssssss & kisssssssesssss WILD ;)

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are." St. Augustine

The trick is to find and foster hope in such times as these (those "interesting times" the old curse speaks of...which are all times in all places where humans care to dwell.).

From the article; "In ancient Rome the executioners abided by a rule; If they failed to hack off you head after three swings of the blade, they set you free."

Never heard that one before, but think about it for a second. Even one, relatively benign, sharp blow to the cervical spine can render one permanently paralyzed, not to mention three serious attempts at severance.

Poetic license by the author, I suppose, to make a point.

The USA is more extremely capitalist than other countries and basic to capitalist ideology is Social Darwinism with the doctrine of the survival of the fittest and the beneficial effect of competition. Americans are always at war with someone or something. It is not just a metaphor but a view of life. Do in your neighbor before he does you in is a part of the ideology here as opposed to the more usual doctrine of do unto your neighbor as you would wish him to do unto you.

Thanks for your thoughtful article, Mr. Rall. One is warmed by the fire of your outrage. More should be so. I heard Bernadette Dohrn on the radio today and thought about radicals of the past. Where are they today? Do we still need Bernadette?

In American history, various reform movements have come and gone. The populists at the end of the 19th century, the reformers of the forties. But our education system fails to pass on the wisdom so hard won. We see it even today as a generation loses the wisdom of the sixties. How did we ever win the civil rights act? How did environmental laws ever get passed? Our modern heroes, like Obama, are not MLK or Bobby Kennedy. Why not? Where is the outrage? What will it take?

Like the disaffected intellectuals of the fifties and early sixties, maybe its time to move to Paris for awhile. The country may yet descend into a froth of facism before returning to its senses again, aware of the evil. We have a country that spends more than all the other countries put together on its military budget. At some point, the others may bring us down to size. If we invade Iran, it may just be too much for some people and they may decide to stop us.

America is not a tolerant and enlightened nation. It is backwards and nationalist. We must realize what is going on and either act or get out of the way. Soon, it will be too late.

> America was founded by people like Anne Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the ass kicking, head smashing mafia, who back then called themselves the Pilgrims.

I would expect that the above mentioned characters are Catholics, not Protestants. The most vicious Nazi group in Europe was the Ustashe, The Croat, Catholic followers of Hitler. The most right wing pro Nazi groups in the USA during the 1930's - 1950's were also Catholics. Father Coughlin and his followers and the various America First pro Fascist groups. The German Bund groups were also Catholic. On the other hand some of the pro Nazi groups were anti-Catholic. In Israel the Likudniks who espouse a Fascist ideology are Jewish. Basically Right wingers come from all backgrounds. There are certain personalities that gravitate toward right wing ideologies no matter what religion or ethnic group. One characteristic is the uniform belief that might makes right and their group is superior. As a general rule these people tend to be bullies all of their life and trying to reason with them is near impossible. Humans are basically violent animals (so are most others) and those less violent have an obligation to try and control the violent ones though sometimes violence is necessary to do so.

Ted Rall, this is a scatterbrained piece of writing.

Also: when I spent Sundays at a very enlightened Unity Church in Key West, Florida, we were told that if we buy insurance, on a subliminal level we will want to get our money's worth and unconsciously set loose the factors that will warrant using said insurance. I think lots of Americans recognize that what our military is doing elsewhere IS going to come back to haunt us. On some level, in just about everyone but the most maimed and savage human creatures is an understanding that we ARE all connected; and what is done to anyone that stands against TRUE justice, will become a debt that requires repayment.

A while back CD posted an article written by a European who was traveling through the U.S. and noted the attitude of a certain fear & paranoia. I believe the author also reached the conclusion I am sharing, that there is a silent collective shadow that expects the shoe to drop. (Some of us would not put it past our "leaders" to light the spark, as many of us, with or without substantial evidence, SENSE that 911 was a similarly set trigger.)

Ah, the airport security dilemma. Reminds me of one of many incredible lines from the film, "Little Murders," where Carroll Newquest, frustrated with the city's unsolved crimes rhapsodies, "They need a fence around every block! I want my freedom!" He explains how he makes it home each day from work, celebrating the fact he's not been mugged, knifed or attacked. "Okay, let's see if I can get around the corner." (Pause) "Okay, let's see if I can make it to the elevator without being grabbed," etc. The paranoid society with a presumed threat around every corner will find false solace and security in a police state. Some of our fellow citizens ARE there.

elmysterio,

Are you suggesting that all citizens of this country,(Mostly from lineage of immigrants) must pay for the sins of the earliest settlers?
This place isn't perfect, but my family arrived from Austria with their tails between their legs in 1939.(No, we are not Jewish. Hitler was an equal opportunity murderer.) With no money and no knowledge of the language, my grandfather adapted and thrived in this new land were opportunities were limitless. My father grew up and prospered and I'm getting ready to send my first son (Classical Pianist)to college. You are here to say how mean we ALL are and I am here to defend all the good people who have helped my family through the years. This country is not full of butchers! There are more decent, helping individuals than you care notice and I will not have those people condemned because of your perceptions and bias.

ceecee_em April 23rd, 2008 1:28 pm

What in the name of anything and everything does this article have to do with God?
____________________________

• Not a Godder, myself, but I quite agree that God is a non sequitur here. Probably the work of an inartful headline writer, though, not the author.

• I don't mean to go all retro in our Brave New World, where it's all about the Meds, but I personally can't usefully generalize whether entire nations, societies, or cultures are nice or not-nice; it's a transactional phenomenon, in any case. I mean, as a pacifist, and squeamish to boot, I'm horrified when I consider any number of ultra-violent practices-- so it creeps me out to think of Mayans ritually beheading people or yanking out their beating hearts or whatever. Or the Conquistadors' complementary atrocities (as I characterize them).

But I'm certain that if one could magically visit such brutal cultures and individuals, and magically understand their speech, one would find pleasant, good-humored, peaceful persons. And to extend the point, there are still shards and streaks of light flickering in even our debased Babylon. If we and our history are utterly corrupt and abominable, why bother searching for common dreams?

• greenerthanthou, I feel your pain! I haven't had occasion to take AMTRAK for a while, but I was totally disheartened a while back when the local teevee news made a big, happy splash about TSA-style sadistic pseudo-security procedures coming to 30th Street Station in Philly. "God," I thought. "Talk about a gigantic fucking step backwards!" Whoops, there's God popping up again where He doesn't belong.

I force myself to remember that many well-meaning-- if complacent, ignorant, fearful, and shallow-- Amerikans still find this sort of thing comforting. It's hard to believe that everyone doesn't cringe at images so strongly reminiscent of authoritarian regimes-- armed guards and dogs patrolling platforms, checking papers, and manning checkpoints.

And I have a bad feeling that, like Amerika's dependence on paramilitary mercenary goon squads, that this insanity won't be readily dismantled once the present Dark Lord is allowed to retire with full dignity and benefits. I hope I'm wrong.

• ddell413, perhaps the unfortunate headline put you off. You suggest that Rall is himself heartless and mean-spirited, and maybe just chickenshit, not to actually intervene and speak up for the vet. You must judge him as you see fit, of course, but I don't get a sense that Rall was indifferent or contemptuous of the vet. Rall at least speaks to that very point, the dilemma of witnessing mistreatment when intervention is plainly risky.

You can fault him for not being a hero, and he would probably agree. But that's not being heartless-- just timid, or even cowardly if you prefer.

• Harry Shearer has a recurring feature on his "Le Show" weekly radio program called "Tales of Airport Security". One week it featured a snafu caused by a couple flying from the US to Canada (or vice-versa) with newborn baby. The problem was that the baby didn't have a Social Security number, which brought the travel to a screeching halt.

The salient part in this micro-tragedy occurs as the hapless couple are shifted from one supervisor to another. At one point, the mother plaintively asks the chief poo-bah why it's so important that the baby have an SS# to take a simple vacation flight to visit family. Without batting an eyelash, the poo-bah explains quite seriously that terrorists are known to place explosives in infant corpses to smuggle them on planes.

The mother, aghast, asks how it could be possible, and wouldn't security personnel be able to tell that the infant was cold and dead? "Chemicals", the security administrator replied. They keep the little corpse warm with chemicals.

Given this stunning mind-set, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if some teevee Terrorism Expert or TSA flack solemnly asserted that given all of the enraged insurgent amputees in Iraq and Afghanistan, what could be more likely than terrorists posing as US military vets?

Boy, what Captain Queeg couldnt've accomplished if he'd lived to head Homeland Security!

The United States is controlled by "humans" who have evolved in a terribly perverse way. They have learned to manipulate technology to the point that their humanity is gone. Morally, they have devolved to the pre-slime era. The rest of us seem powerless to do anything about it even as we see society crumbling around us.

those references to old historical events the pilgrims etc. probably don't mean much anymore. the country changes- people change- with each generation so i don't think that stuff is what it's about. i don't even think u.s. people are much better or worse than other people. our xenophobia right now sets us apart from the rest of the world, so that we act hostile to strangers and immigrants and Arabs and Muslims. but we weren't always like this. that's why you see old guys like me shaking their heads in bewilderment, feeling like we stepped through a looking glass into this nightmare. but still vaguely remembering a different america.

To cope with the world as it is, I think you have to learn to be a "Happy Warrior" like the late great Hubert Humphrey. I finally learned what he was about by reading his book: The Education of a Public Man. A good and decent man who tried to make the world a better place. President Carter once addressed him directly and said: "You should have been president." The answers are out there if you will but be still, and listen....and try very hard to be wise. You won't need any fancy education to do it.

Well not only has George W. made a tax law making war profits taxable at 7%, instead of the normal rate (which of course profit, can't be claimed offshore cause you can't build weapons for America but in Amerika, (sic...see Airbus-refueler,)) so this would be good if their were a competitive bidding yet it is consortium that price fix, as well as pay the 2 Georges, ie Carlyle group, and Lynn Cheney-(Lockheed Martin) as well as of course unbid contracts with her husband,,,, but I won't be surprised if he makes it a law that politicians can't be convicted of crimes, he has already exempted corprations from prosecution for actions outside the country, ie war crimes...Blackwater...Exxon, and on and on

Our country was founded by pirates. They exploited everybody, blacks, indians, children, women and men.

There are some pirates who are better than others, but he bottom line is that all the candidates are pirates. They want to take from everybody and only give to themselves, no matter who gets hurt.

so it goes...

"The disconnect occurs when we express our collective will, through our courts and government officials." There is no disconnect. You have to be outside the US to see it, maybe, but the American love affair with violence is there at every level. Start with guns and the tacit assumption that every American has the right to exact summary vengeance on any other American. Go on to the mindless patriotism and the brainwashed religion. Include the unshakeable assumption of superiority and god-given dominance over other nations. This is a country which is consistent from lowest labourer to Commander in Chief. Violence works, and the US has the right to use it on whoever it pleases.

We were getting a LOT better,

right up until right after Kennedy was assassinated

Rall talks about a "heartless God" but says nothing when the young veteran is given the security treatment.

I guess that's heartfelt.

Oh, great, just great. I'm flying out to visit my mom in a few days, and one of my great fears is being mistaken by the TSA for being something or someone I'm not. This article does little to reassure me.

On the other hand, I suppose I can cut the TSA a little slack. After all, being a double-amputee and a US veteran is a typical terrorist trick, right? Why, the titanium legs (hollowed) could easily accomodate more than three ounces of hair shampoo; cosmetic surgery to change one's "middle-east" visage to one of "latino" visage can be done at any tatoo parlor; military ID's are a cinch to forge.

Any chance Obama would abolish the DHS if elected? Now that would be progress.

Frank and whatfools: I take Amtrak to avoid the gestapo, but they have their own version now.
I was confronted by an armed guard demanding my "papers", and I resisted like Frank did. Well, the first thing I did was say, "Jesus Christ", to which the guard replied, "I'm not him. I'm his representative". Fascism and Christianity mixing, just like in Germany, Italy and Spain.

I wrote an angry letter to Amtrak pointing out what a farce it is to pretend that someone could hijack a train. What are they going to do, run it off the track and into a building? Give me a break. There are miles of tracks. You don't need to get onto a train to derail it!!
They never answered.

This is the government demanding that you register with them in order to travel. You can't travel without a government issued ID right now, unless you walk or hitchhike. And Frank proves that they're cracking down on unauthorized walking. Remember that in New Orleans, people on foot weren't allowed to leave, only those in cars.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/03/AR200704...
And speaking of Amtrak, an Amtrak employee told me that amtrak had 2 or 3 trains, with coaches only, no sleepers (to hold more people) ready to evacuate New Orleans. She said that employees had placed a pillow, a blanket and a bottle of water at each seat. FEMA told Amtrak not to use the trains.

"How did we become so mean?"

Hmmmm... The country of the United States of America was BORN mean. Plain and simple. It's like a "fetal alcohol" country... always angry and violent, and completely irrational.

AnneBrit said: "a most wonderful history"

Say What??? Which history are you talking about? The genocide of the Native Americans? Or is it the slaughter Mexicans and expropriation of Mexican land? Or is it the brutal oppression of the working class by the elites over 2 1/2 centuries? Or could it be the senseless and unnecessary nuking of 2 Japanese cities... I know, it's the constant meddling and evil influence the CIA has had on numerous countries. All wonderful things.

Many Americans are kind and friendly.

Then there are the ones who came over because they were low lifes who couldn't get along with their neighbors. Look at the Pilgrims. They couldn't make it in England or Holland. They came here and founded religious states where they persecuted heretics and killed the natives who had land and such that they wanted. Our founding fathers put a stop to the official religious persecution, but left the Indian slaughter and slave holding as it was.

These military members who brag about their family history of military "service"? Howard Zinn quotes a soldier who wrote his family that shooting Filipinos was more fun than shooting rabbits. I guess he begat soldiers who begat soldiers who participated in war crimes in various wars to this day. I wonder who Oliver North's granddaddy was?

There are supposedly 18 veterans committing suicide a day now. This is like the 100,000 vets who survived Vietnam who couldn't take the guilt and killed themselves. You won't see veterans who enjoy raping, murdering and looting feeling any guilt. They'll reproduce.

Obviously, I'm not saying that all vets who live are psychopaths. My dad came out of WW2 a pacifist. The vets in Vietnam Vets and Iraq Vets Against the War are great people. But you have to wonder about the effect of endless wars of aggression and land grabbing on the character of the American people.

Soft hearted? We must have been meeting different people over the years, you and I, Ted. I have met a lot of mean bastards, the type that shot Peter Fonda and his buddy at the end of Easy Rider.

People like Geraldine Ferraro who want to punish that uppity Barack Obama for taking unfair advantage of his dark skin.

Reminds me of the last verse in Tom Paxton's song, "What did you learn in School today?".

I learned that our government must be strong,
It's always right and never wrong,
Our leaders are the finest men,
And we elect them again and again.

How did we become so mean? It's easy: we reap what we sow.
And we sow it internationally, even cosmically. It's a creation of collective consciousness. There are not enough truly enlightened, peaceful souls among us.

We have never been soft hearted as a nation. We are a settler nation that has never felt secure and we keep creating (or inventing) new threats foreign and domestic to keep control of our unruly public.

While like Microsoft we are chocked full of absolutely wonderful people, our collective actions are often heartless and indefensible--such is often the emergent property of human systems.

Americans are no meaner than anybody else.

You are just very succefully enstranged - much due to your educational system - read John Taylor Gatto:
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/

You have the most powerful artist and thinkers, rebels and dissendents - a most wonderful history.

Read your own history - about the constant struggle between the people and the elites. Start talking to people - you will find they are just like you!

If we are suppose to be the good guys, then how do we let bad guys like Bush and Cheney into office to do evil? Is it that we have a dark side and they can carry it out for us?

Lots of people were ready to invade Iraq and did not want to hear anything about inspectors. Inspectors would have found no WMD, which would have ruined the whole excuse for invading Iraq in the first place. Better that we ignore the inspections, jump the gun and invade before truth spoils the whole lie.

...

The meanness of the USAns is the same arrogant, racist mentality one sees wherever, english-speaking Protestant fanatic settler types (and more recently Jews) decide a piece of land is theirs.

One saw it in the Ulster-Scots who ethnically-cleansed Ireland under Cromwell, then went across the ocean and did the same on a grater scale to the first nations, and even to the French Acadians (they hated Catholics more than even Indians).

Same thing went on in Australia, NZ, South Africa, and, is ongoing in Israel.

"In one respect, the three remaining presidential candidates say, "Yes, we do." They've promised to close Gitmo."

And that's worth about as much as:

"I'd like to end Guantanamo. I'd like it to be over with," Bush said at a news conference..."

Meanwhile, re: "...high-intensity fascism in a nation settling into authoritarianism lite."

Got "pulled over" by the Dallas PD while walking back from the grocery store. Identification was demanded; I refused by explaining that, in America, I do not need to carry z-papers. My German impression didn't go over well - I was searched, threatened with arrest for failing to provide z-papers, and warned that my attitude was not "good."

Why was I randomly stopped? Cause I "fit a description" of course. In case you're wondering, the description must have been white male around forty years old carrying grocery bags. After twenty minutes of this nonsense, and the participation of a second cop, I was "allowed to go" but with this warning: we know who you are now.

What in the name of anything and everything does this article have to do with God?

Mindless Robots of the Terrorist Support Agency (TSA) are like that. I have avoided then so far by refusing to fly at whatever my personal cost. If this government will not be brought to it's senses then it must be brought to it's knees. Call in 'well' and take the remaining days of this administration off.

Give me a break. Americans are no more "soft hearted" than anyone else on the planet. I recently spoke with a supposedly educated, church-going person who told me the attack and occupation on Iraq was justified because 3,000 Americans died on 9/11.

I told her there were no Iraqis involved in the attack and that Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with it. She just looked at me with disbelief. This person doesn't have a TV, but she's still out of touch. People believe what they want to believe, I guess.

fear and more fear. . .astonishing in a nation so wealthy and relatively safe. puzzling, no?

Right On,Mordecai, the pilgrims were fanatical deviants from their home country and its beliefs and values, just like Jim Jones. Its interesting how America tends to throw up these types down through the ages.

The founding Fathers came out of the Enlightenment - but the educated and forward thinking level of Society is always the smallest, but periodically they tend to throw up their type, also. Unfortuanately they tend to get assassinated. Ideas about social justice dont go down big is the U.S. - no money in that.

I think the Civil War was an anomaly in terms of the north winning. The south woke up the next day and promised themselves they'd come up with 100 things to do each day to win the country back while the Yankees celebrated and got fat. I think the south is winning or actually won. Watch C-SPAN and see if you can hear a repug without a southern drawl. Yeeha. Point is, the repugs are still in control (60-vote in Senate, federal judges, MSM, etc) and look where we are.

America is not "mean" because there is some God that is "heartless". American is "mean" to the extent it has not and does not elect enough liberals to both its federal and state governments. (See next sentence.) America is gets "meaner" to the extent it does not reign in corporations including especially those in media businesses which are capable of swinging elections. (See previous sentence.)

Our country was weaned on genocide, slavery, and exclusion of women. And you want to know why we are so mean? We were born mean. Mean to those not like us. Read our history books.
Hoa binh

The young man with the prosthetic legs - I want to just weep and scream at the same time. And so many more like him being maltreated by our nation. Damn those TSA employees who treated him so poorly. Damn all of us for our cruelty and our ACCEPTANCE of cruelty to all living creatures.

Why is America so mean? Who landed on Plymouth Rock? I've quoted this line from a Robert Lowell poem before; but I'll do it again:

We wrung our bread
From stocks and stones
And fenced our gardens
With the red man's bones.

America was founded by people like Anne Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the ass kicking, head smashing mafia, who back then called themselves the Pilgrims. The so-called Founding Fathers are anomalies in this sea of bottom feeding human beings. We are still living today with that dichotomy - and the Pilgrims are winning and winning big. Only now, the gardens are being fenced with the bones of the poor and the middle class.