Speaking, Hearing, Thinking

For those of you who’ve always been skeptical about how important a part language and philosophy play in our everyday lives, may I invite you to scan the pages of your daily newspaper, skim through your favorite magazine or flip through the alleged “news” channels of your cable or satellite TV stations.

I doubt you’ll find any real news at all. Unless, of course, you subscribe to Whatcom Watch or listen to “Democracy Now!”

Here’s what you will find, passing as “news”…

“Pollution Is Protection.” The fossil fuel profiteers of the Bush Cartel are busy barraging us with a dizzying babble of conflicting opinions regarding whether or not “Global Warming” is real. Although even a cursory examination of the scientific evidence (melting ice sheets, shifting ocean currents, the virtually irreversible accumulation of greenhouse gases) shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mother Earth is hurting big-time, who wants to witness such a negative scenario?

So, when oil-based corporate shills like the Bush Administration sponsor legislation with titles like “The Healthy This Act,” or “The Clean That Act,” or “Protecting The Other Act,” the news media gobbles it up. It’s what we want to hear: Therefore, continued reliance on fossil fuels is no problem; nuclear power is the long-term answer to our energy needs; and “Global Warming” is just a fringe theory. So we can continue to drive our gigantic SUVs and monstrous “pickups” (what exactly are they picking up with these behemoths—747s???), build and pave with impunity and pollute like there’s no tomorrow.

But you know what? America was founded on a dream of “tomorrow.” A tomorrow based on personal freedom and national prosperity. Now “tomorrow” is a bad word, like “liberal.” We don’t want to hear about it. Don’t remind us about tomorrow. Live for today, right? So long, Mother Earth!

“Security Is Freedom.” The Patriot Act, dedicated to the proposition that all men (and women) should be under equal surveillance, is on the verge of being cemented into our national and local judicial systems. We are constantly told—and the media is all too willing to repeat the lie—that there are checks and balances in place so that every upstanding American citizen has due recourse should he or she be falsely accused of terrorist activity. Such as checking the “wrong” book out of the library. Or associating with the “wrong” people.

Yet U.S. citizens are constantly being harassed and/or “detained” without being charged with anything. They’re simply “suspects.” Where are the checks and balances for these people? Where are the checks and balances for you and me? Where is the media on this issue? Well, the Bush Administration has the media on the run. Why? Because of unfortunate reporting techniques regarding the Emperor’s lack of service during the Vietnam War (documents questionable, but accusations true), and the mistreatment of “terrorist” detainees and/or their holy scriptures (sources questionable, but accusations verified). No wonder the so-called “news media” is scurrying around with its tails between its legs. The news media is just plain scared of the Bush Administration.

Fact is, the War on Terrorism is now being waged against the American people by its own government. Aided and abetted by the cowardly mass media. Checks and balances? When it comes to freedom in America today, we the citizens write the checks while the military-industrial complex holds the balance of power. When the Emperor speaks of freedom, he means the freedom to do what he and his cronies want to do.

“War Is Peace.” The classic Orwellian “oldie but goodie.” The media, fed by the Bush Cartel, keeps calling our systematic military imposition into the Middle East, a “war.” Please remind me, because I seem to have forgotten: exactly when did Iraq attack the United States of America? Or was it just the threat of attack? Those alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction that never existed? No, this was plain and simple an invasion, from start to finish. Except there is no finish.

There was an invasion followed by an occupation. The invasion and occupation have resulted in, guess what? A Civil War! Imagine that. Who knew? No, this invasion of Iraq was never a war. This invasion was a crusade from the get-go. The Emperor’s Christian military might versus the heathen Moslems of Iraq. Or Iran. Or Syria. Take your pick. Simply a crusade. A crusade now gone very, very wrong.

This reporter may not know a whole lot about very much, but I do know a thing or two about…well, a thing or two. Sadly, the thing or two I know about both involve violent conflict. One is warfare. Turns out that my family tree is all a-blossom with folks who served in the United States military. Mostly they served in support capacities: finding a cure for malaria, reporting a story on General Patton, stuff like that. Still, they knew what war was about, both the horror and the heroics. Mostly, they preferred peace.

And the other thing is boxing. Besides baseball, it’s the only sport I truly love. One is the perfect combination of strategy, individual perfection and teamwork. The other is the consummate peak of personal brutality. Boxing is individual warfare. I know, I’ve done it, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. But when so-called “leaders” send whole societies into combat with one another, then you’ve got to wonder why. This is not sport, nor is it necessary. Unless you’ve been attacked. Have we been attacked by anybody other than the corporate profiteers who thrive on fear and warfare? Maybe I was too busy dodging right hooks to notice.

War is not peace. Security is not freedom. Pollution is not protection.

We will not be safe until we reclaim our language, discuss our personal and national philosophy, and get rid of those who would sell us into slavery for the furtherance of their own ambition. §