Published in Intrepid Report on May 11, 2012
By Larry Pinkney
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
—Mahatma Gandhi (attributed)“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
—Howard Zinn
Recently, Mr. ‘Hope And Change’ Barack Obama (also known as the predator-drone-missile president), officially launched his corporate reelection campaign by shamelessly touting his role in the extra-judicial, U.S. government’s official version, of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
Of course, Mr. ‘ Hope And Change’ said nothing of his even more recent assassination of the U.S. Constitution, when he signed into law the draconian and infamous National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which calls for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens in this nation without the bother of the constitutional right to the due process of being charged, having a trial, a jury, or even the right to present a legal defense, etc. Now, U.S. citizens can be legally ‘disappeared,’ tortured, and indefinitely imprisoned in this supposed ‘land of the free and home of the brave.’
The nostrils of the Republican Party power brokers angrily flared at Obama’s cheek in taking credit for the Bin Laden assassination; as in typical Obama fashion he had out-Republicaned the Republicans in a pathetic and shameless display of blood curdling hypocrisy. The power brokers of both of the corporately-owned and symbiotically-joined Democrat and Republican parties never even bothered to question the legitimacy of U.S. government extra-judicial killings or how such killings ensure and strengthen the perpetual spiral of an ‘eye for an eye’ “terrorism.” And, of course, neither the Democrats or Republicans dared to seriously address the NDAA assassination and gutting of the U.S. Constitution. Why? Because both political parties were overwhelmingly complicit in and with Obama’s unconstitutional assassination of the human rights of everyday ordinary Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people in the United States.
The U.S. government’s approach in perpetually carrying out bloody wars and aggression in nations around the world is utterly insane and horrible for everyday people here and abroad, but it is absolutely great for the small blood sucking corporate Wall Street elite who rake in trillions of dollars in profit by making bombs, fighter and bomber aircraft, war ships, missiles, bullets, land mines, and an endless array of other implements of war. The ordinary people be damned!
This insanity is not about maintaining ‘security.’ It is about ensuring insecurity for ordinary people, through the maintenance of an atmosphere of disinformation, perpetual fear and war mongering in the deliberately manufactured, fallacious, and misguided name of so-called ‘patriotism.’ Thus, we ordinary people, at home and abroad, are kept in a state of deliberately maintained insanity, fed by the endless lies, distractions, and omissions by the U.S. corporate-stream ‘news’ media.
There is no need to be overwhelmed by this insanity, for the game is rigged and simple, which is precisely why it has been so effectively utilized against ordinary people for so very long now. The insidiousness of this game is in fact its simplicity: Keep the people divided, manipulated, and distracted at home and abroad. Meanwhile, the phony left/right paradigm embodied by the Democrat and Republican parties is constantly rammed down our throats.
The very first thing that we, the everyday people must ‘OCCUPY,’ is our own minds. To reiterate: We must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by this rigged systemic game being used against us. Rather, we must recognize this system for what it is and how it functions and act accordingly.
A people who do not critically think on their own will remain as the emotional and physical chattel of the system’s power brokers and their systemic gatekeepers. When we begin to critically think and challenge this corrupt system, we are in essence laying the foundation for bringing about genuine systemic change. This takes work and it must be a conscious effort on our part. Remember that this is a long and protracted struggle, not an overnight affair. Remember too, the Chinese proverb that says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” Some of us may have already begun this journey as a part of humanity’s struggle, but many more are needed.
It’s time to be critical thinkers and collectively creative. Break free from this systemic mindset of insanity! Free your minds for yourselves and our Mother Earth. Each one reach one. Each one teach one. Do it NOW!
Onward, then, my sisters and brothers. Onward!
Larry Pinkney is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, San Francisco BayView newspaper, Black Commentator, Intrepid Report, Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), 107Cowgate (Ireland and Scotland), and Mayihlome News (Azania/South Africa). For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book.)
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