Fascism has found the cracks in our system. Criminals have figured out how to milk the government subsidies and war manufacturing is not exempt from this problem. Neither is Big Pharma or the Food Industry or mainstream media etc; it is ALL corrupted. The military is not special or safeguarded from this corruption.

Corporate Fascism is gaining a strong foothold in our country; even small town America where I live is corrupted by it. We are in n BIG trouble! Even if the sheeple majority woke up tomorrow we'd be fighting a losing battle. The kings of the world have returned and they'll want their slaves like they always do. "Let em eat cake!" Funny thing, their demoralization campaign has succeeded in digressing us back to an 'our tribe against their tribe' mentality. So perhaps we deserve kings ruling over us.

And BTW, Neoconservative foreign policy (which is NOT conservative!!!) is the policy of Corporate Fascists in the business of war. It is a sham and a disgrace. It's nothing to be proud of.

It's their fault they don't watch TV!!!

If anyone thinks all this murder and mayhem is somehow removed from actual America, just read "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee" to see how sadistic and brutal we were to the Native Americans.

Of the 400 treaties we brokered with the Indians, how many do you think we kept?

ZERO.

Besides, who would want to see all that icky stuff showing burned beyond recognition human bodies when we can watch such excellent fare as "Dancing with the Stars?"

Just because a majority of the 9/11 Commisioners say they were lied to by the feds, had their investigation blocked by the same and couldn't call some of the witnesses they wanted doesn't mean anything!

America got a hard iron on 9/11 and by God, someone's going to get it good and hard.

"Ya' hear that Iran!"

@Anonymous

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the sentiment you express is precisely that which most "Sheeple" -as you call them – express.

It's as if you are articulating the philosophy of the sheeple.

It's a dangerous slope. And it's wrong.

We care like hell where are boys are – the truth is that we need to debate where we send them…but we will always have to send them somewhere.

Thanks for the poignant Exile link. While I found myself agreeing with much of what the author said, I worry that this world-view of is somewhat limited, in that it blinds us from anything besides the 'strong survive' aspect of evolution. Supposed Social Darwinism.

I wonder if there is relatively equal significance in less obviously depict-able motivations and experiences. The gray areas.

better than Arbeit macht frei I guess.

Who controlled the gate? set it up. Who controlled the explosion. Investigate that. Was Powell ever charged for lying in the UN? I don't think so,nor, by the look of it is it likely to happen until somehow a major sheriff of tombstone gets his/her? teeth into this crap and makes it play. Only -shock horror- it hasn't happened yet. Because people die. Files go missing. Employees change.
Who controls justice? What is justice as the batons and tear gas and electric charges sweep the area?? Who controls NEWS? secrecy is the order of the day. Fear and reward in the Lab. But Keep talking. Thats really all we can legitimately do on a day by day basis being sheep,looking for another gate. as I am. Getting regularly fleeced.
rm

Maybe you do care, maybe I do too; but whether we agree with what we are doing over there or not, it is still our tribe bombing their tribe. To the Afghan’s it does not matter whether you or I are for or against the bombings, they’ll still have a grievance against us and our tribe. Collective responsibility trumps personal responsibility.

So what does that mean, and of what use is your personal moral indignation then?
It means you are going to have to live with, communicate with, and change the minds of “sheeple” and “corporate fascists”. You can continue to stay on your high horse speaking hyperbole of them, and achieve nothing; or you can swim among them and do something by changing one mind at a time.

Go read Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea.

However I don't believe that the Corporo-Fascist war profiteers can be stopped, mainly because it would require all the fat, TV-educated, Pop-Cultured, White Trash/Gangsta minded Sheeple to care about something other than their own insatiable appetite for pleasure.

Sheeple are heartless creatures and the bottom line is they couldn't care less about the suffering endured by strange foreigners who don't speak English and who worship 'evil' gods. They don't care about 'those people over there' – and the war profiteering CRIMINALS are banking on this fact. They've done their research and they have complete confidence in their success – because regardless of what people like you do to 'blow whistles' at them, in the end your efforts were futile, which is why they allow you to go on, doing what you do!

The Monster cannot be stopped and eventually we will ALL be its victim. We already are; where is all that depleted uranium dust going? It doesn't go away and there is such a thing as weather.

The war criminals strongest ally is always the Sheeple and unfortunately that's just about all that's left of us (thanks to their decades in the making media campaign we are royally screwed).

They tried with "embeds" but only the suck up media will play. And how many feel good stories can they do about war?

The real truth telling media is locked out (or taken out). Do you remember the bombing of Al Jezerra in Bgadad? The US military didn't want them telling the truth so they bombed their headquarters which was also a message to the press to not get in the wat with inconvenient truth.

I agree with you on the need to show photographs of casualties Mrs. Edmonds. (I hope that's not a surprise.)

Naturally, when the American people decide to engage in a war – they must fully know the costs we pay as a people.

That said, imagery can be manipulated. And as carelessly as our media trivialize suffering and violence, one questions their ability to handle other critical issues. Handing Olbermann imagery of dead soldiers and civilians, gives death-porn a green-light.

Is that oxymoron or just straight out moron? or maybe anonymouse?? xro

In the meantime, there are lots of pictures of Afghanistan that we're not supposed to see in the documentary Rethink Afghanistan.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE

words and music by Pete Seeger
performed by Pete Seeger and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

©1961 (Renewed) Fall River Music Inc
All Rights Reserved.

I read the story of one contractor injured in Iraq, first without any pictures. Then I saw the same story again, but with pictures and you can't help, but to cry. Oh, the power of pictures.

http://www.propublica.org/feature/kbr-contractor-struggles-after-iraq-injuries-1006

alternet oct 6
xro

Marc W. Herold
Dept. of Economics
University of New Hampshire

"Blamelessness is not figured by groups it's figured by personal responsibility."

In the West it is. Unfortunately they do not see it that way, you are projecting your values onto them. Personal responsibility is an abstract concept to much of the world. As the saying goes: its the tribes, stupid!

"And I don't think the ME is any more ripe for blame than several other areas of the world."

Massacres Paid Your Mortgage, Dude.

"I'm especially thinking of the US which is largely responsible for the underlying conditions setting the stage for what's going on there now."

My friend this is a very superficial analysis. Serious discussion of the causes of the regions ills begin at Sykes-Picot (which the US was not involved in) at the latest.

This is a region where history matters, and historical grudges from hundreds if not thousands of years are still carried around by normal people; the historical depth of knowledge of its citizens amazes me. The US while unpopular in the region of late, is still a relative newcomer.

Look, unfortunately much of the world is illiberal (liberal in the classical sense). You will have much greater success as a progressive activist and/or in making the world a better place once you accept this reality to start from, instead of mirror imaging or projecting your values onto people.

Myself, I've got a story to tell about trying to get information on what we–the US and UK–were bombing in Iraq from 1991-2000. Send me an e-mail address and I'll send you a note I sent to Andrew Bacevich on it.

With my best regards, and deepest admiration for your efforts,

Daniel White

Simon

Blamelessness is not figured by groups it's figured by personal responsibility. As such there are plenty of blameless Palestinians. And I don't think the ME is any more ripe for blame than several other areas of the world. I'm especially thinking of the US which is largely responsible for the underlying conditions setting the stage for what's going on there now.

Mizgin: thanks for responding to truth/fact deniers.

I'll go along with you on the 30:1 kill ratio as laughable. The real ratio is closer to 50:1. Do you have more denial to pull out of your ass? The only reason I ask is because it looks like you've got a lot of it stuffed up there, along with all the rest of your shit.

Sibel, it may be that the pictures for the Afghanistan war have gone the way of election-fraud twitterers. According to Peter Galbraith, he was ordered to cover up Afghan election fraud in order to keep Mr. "Unocal" Karzai in business.

Where are all those great lovers of DEMOCRACY???

CLASSIC!

"Kill ratio of 30 innocents to 1 bad guy"

Did you pull that out of Edmond's ass? I've heard there are a lot of stories up there.

There's no such thing as a blameless group of people in the Middle East.

Unless you are willing to commit hundreds of thousands of more US troops (which we don’t have absent a draft) and trillions more dollars (which we also don’t have) to Afghanistan so we can install our values by force (ala the neocons), you are going to have to check your moral indignation at the door.

1. 6 Children and 3 Women Killed During NATO Raid in Afghanistan

2. US soldiers gun down schoolboy in Paktika.

3. Six civilians dead in Kandahar air strike by foreign forces

4. Eight civilians killed in air raid of foreign troops in Helmand

Obama is escalating his wars against the poorest people on earth in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

He is a liar, a murderer, a War Criminal, just like George W Bush.

Nothing has changed, just escalated.

The only mission I can see for the US armed forces is for the Mediterranean fleet : to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza; to put ashore Seabees to help restore a tiny bit of humanity to the lives of the blameless Palestinians there; to strike a blow, at long last, against terrorism.

I believe that what is being suppressed regarding war zones probably pales in comparison to certain business deals made by the international bankers who tend to finance both side of a war and or certain business deals, directly or indirectly.

I personally have worked in the renewable energy field since 1991 and have had my own experience with "them". One can be "hobbled" in more ways than one as I was. My experience would be of serious interest and if and when the time is appropriate, I will be happy to expound on this.

Recently, a little birdie (Alcedindae) said I was unfair and irresponsible. There are many players. They are all greedy, filthy basterds (sic). Follow the money. http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090909/tbs-turkey-imf-955c2a1.html

Today the military controls all those pictures, only allowing their trusted MSM friends anywhere near the action.

Dennis

Here's a link to that video.

Unfortunately, they won't be seen for a few reasons:

The corporate owned MSM says does the story have "legs"? Is it "sexy" enough? Will our foreign correspondent look good as they report in the middle of this dangerous situation?

Also, how many average people know the difference between the Taliban and Al-Quaeda? How many actually know where the hell Afghanistan is? (There are probably still a few that have no clue where Iraq is).

A large part of this is that disconnect factor. That's THOSE people OVER THERE. Not here. That doesn't affect me. It's like during the Vietnam War. Cronkite would read out casulity numbers for the day. And it was like listening to the stock market results. Nobody gave it a second thought because (a)we have to stop those evil Communists. And (b)that doesn't affect me.

Did the Afghan govt. pass the law that lets husbands beat and rape their wives if they deny them sex? Obama keeps talking abot respecting human rights. Ok Mr. President. What about this Afghan law? His response was essentially that's not our problem. Which frankly is a massive insult to women AND rape survivors everywhere.

The MSM won't show this stuff because they know they can get away with it. If everyone who knows this has to stop actually cut into their profit margin, THEN and ONLY THEN will they pay attention. But that's unglamourous hard work. In addition to trying not to be laid off, become homeless. And losing your health coverage.