[Col. Writ. 7/31/05] Copyright '05 Mumia Abu-Jamal
It's amazing when you think about it, but in less than two slim
terms, the Bush administration and its neocon minions, have pushed the
nation into a New Era, one which will bedevil the US for generations.
By pushing the nation into a bogus war, by essentially taking over a
nation based on lies and pretexts, the country will have to wrestle with
the nettling problem of Iraq for years to come. It doesn't matter who
becomes president in 2008. It doesn't matter which political party
controls the Congress. (As if it really matters now, huh?).
The American Empire, unimpeded by any imperial rival, tells the rest
of the world to go to hell, and now, by the millions, people of the
world are itching to return the sentiment.
One writer, Tony Judt, in an article in *The New York Review of
Books* (July 14, 2005), quotes a comment he heard from a senior "and
rather conservative" Spanish diplomat, saying:
"We grew up under Franco with a dream of America. That dream
encouraged us to imagine
and later to build a different, better Spain. All dreams must
fade -- but not all dreams must
become nightmares. We Spanish know a little about political
nightmares. What is
happening to America? How do you explain Guantanamo?" [p. 18]
In this apparent era of imperial fever, Judt has criticism for
historians, the press, and politicians:
"Historians and pundits who leap aboard the bandwagon of American
Empire have forgotten
a little too quickly that for an empire to be born, a republic
has first to die. In the longer run
no country can expect to behave imperially -- brutally,
contemptuously, illegally -- abroad
while preserving republican values at home. For it is a mistake
to suppose that institutions
alone will save a republic from the abuses that make or break
republics, it is men. And in
the United States today, the men (and women) of the country's
political class have failed.
Congress appears helpless to impede the concentration of power in
the executive branch;
indeed, with few exceptions it has contributed actively and even
enthusiastically to the
process." [pp. 17-18]
Like drunken monkeys, Americans have lurched, from hope to hope,
from ledge to ledge; from timetable to timetable; from installed
toadies, to quasi-elected ones; from illusion to illusion; to try to
reconstruct one of the oldest societies on earth. Every step forward,
has been a tumble backwards two feet.
And the best that the "loyal opposition" can muster is a misdirected
call for more troops!
The War in Iraq, like all wars, eventually comes home, to wreak its
havoc, and render its casualties, among those who blithely and blindly
sent such violence forth. It is already having an impact on the poorest
among us, who find less and less resources available for the
hardscrabble existence of living in urban, or rural America. The
struggle to raise, to educate, and to gainfully employ young people
today is a struggle that millions of parents are finding well-nigh
impossible.
Politicians offer childish diversions, like hearings into computer
games, or bills shielding young people from sex on the internet; or the
latest biggie -- congressional hearings into steroid use by athletes.
Meanwhile, 'New Rome' is burning. Capitalism buys the Congress, and
rents their names to pass bills which further weakens workers, while
empowering the business class (as in the recent CAFTA -- Central
American Free Trade Agreement -- bill). Remember NAFTA? Remember its
promises? Remember its realities? One wonders, what ever happened to a
Global Free Labor Agreement -- where the interests of labor, worldwide,
is protected?
Speaking of 'crimes of Empire', I urge all of those reading this to
read the book, *America's Disappeared: Detainees, Secret Imprisonment,
and the "War on Terror"*, edited by Rachel Meeropol (New York: Open
Media/Seven Stories Press, 2005). Despite its timely subject, its been
largely ignored by a media pressing for its place at the imperial
table. If you want to know what Guantanamo is really about, check it out.
Decades ago, George Bush I threatened to bring forth a 'New World
Order.' Bush II made it real.
This is the foreboding picture of that world.
Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Technorati Tags: Politics Death Penalty
It's amazing when you think about it, but in less than two slim
terms, the Bush administration and its neocon minions, have pushed the
nation into a New Era, one which will bedevil the US for generations.
By pushing the nation into a bogus war, by essentially taking over a
nation based on lies and pretexts, the country will have to wrestle with
the nettling problem of Iraq for years to come. It doesn't matter who
becomes president in 2008. It doesn't matter which political party
controls the Congress. (As if it really matters now, huh?).
The American Empire, unimpeded by any imperial rival, tells the rest
of the world to go to hell, and now, by the millions, people of the
world are itching to return the sentiment.
One writer, Tony Judt, in an article in *The New York Review of
Books* (July 14, 2005), quotes a comment he heard from a senior "and
rather conservative" Spanish diplomat, saying:
"We grew up under Franco with a dream of America. That dream
encouraged us to imagine
and later to build a different, better Spain. All dreams must
fade -- but not all dreams must
become nightmares. We Spanish know a little about political
nightmares. What is
happening to America? How do you explain Guantanamo?" [p. 18]
In this apparent era of imperial fever, Judt has criticism for
historians, the press, and politicians:
"Historians and pundits who leap aboard the bandwagon of American
Empire have forgotten
a little too quickly that for an empire to be born, a republic
has first to die. In the longer run
no country can expect to behave imperially -- brutally,
contemptuously, illegally -- abroad
while preserving republican values at home. For it is a mistake
to suppose that institutions
alone will save a republic from the abuses that make or break
republics, it is men. And in
the United States today, the men (and women) of the country's
political class have failed.
Congress appears helpless to impede the concentration of power in
the executive branch;
indeed, with few exceptions it has contributed actively and even
enthusiastically to the
process." [pp. 17-18]
Like drunken monkeys, Americans have lurched, from hope to hope,
from ledge to ledge; from timetable to timetable; from installed
toadies, to quasi-elected ones; from illusion to illusion; to try to
reconstruct one of the oldest societies on earth. Every step forward,
has been a tumble backwards two feet.
And the best that the "loyal opposition" can muster is a misdirected
call for more troops!
The War in Iraq, like all wars, eventually comes home, to wreak its
havoc, and render its casualties, among those who blithely and blindly
sent such violence forth. It is already having an impact on the poorest
among us, who find less and less resources available for the
hardscrabble existence of living in urban, or rural America. The
struggle to raise, to educate, and to gainfully employ young people
today is a struggle that millions of parents are finding well-nigh
impossible.
Politicians offer childish diversions, like hearings into computer
games, or bills shielding young people from sex on the internet; or the
latest biggie -- congressional hearings into steroid use by athletes.
Meanwhile, 'New Rome' is burning. Capitalism buys the Congress, and
rents their names to pass bills which further weakens workers, while
empowering the business class (as in the recent CAFTA -- Central
American Free Trade Agreement -- bill). Remember NAFTA? Remember its
promises? Remember its realities? One wonders, what ever happened to a
Global Free Labor Agreement -- where the interests of labor, worldwide,
is protected?
Speaking of 'crimes of Empire', I urge all of those reading this to
read the book, *America's Disappeared: Detainees, Secret Imprisonment,
and the "War on Terror"*, edited by Rachel Meeropol (New York: Open
Media/Seven Stories Press, 2005). Despite its timely subject, its been
largely ignored by a media pressing for its place at the imperial
table. If you want to know what Guantanamo is really about, check it out.
Decades ago, George Bush I threatened to bring forth a 'New World
Order.' Bush II made it real.
This is the foreboding picture of that world.
Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Technorati Tags: Politics Death Penalty
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