What is wrong with this country and our apathy?

[bluedawg12]

We seem to be so detached, so indifferent to the nightmare world we now live in.

The war and the ensuing revelation about the lies should be enraging people on a mass scale.

The corruption that the repugs have brought to politics is so greedy and obvious that the likes of Arbamripoff and DeLouse and the missing Iraqi billions don't even merit a yawn.

The raiding of our economy, our treasury, our loss of decent jobs with benefits are appalling and painful to regular folks.

Bodies floating in a ravaged NOLA.

Brownie the turd worrying about his designer shirt and TV appearances while thousands of Americans lived like animals in a fourth world hell hole for days after Katrina.

Hate filled, vitriolic, money grubbing theofascists screaming on the air waves every chance they can whore for their power base.

Yet, it seems that only wonks, pundits, and political junkies care.

Yes, the average Joe and Jane are busy working two jobs and trying to find affordable health insurance, but is that really it?

When are people going to get really mad? Organize? Become politically involved? Speak out?

When will hear from unemployed steel workers instead of pat Pukeanon? When will real people find their voice and shout to high hell that they are sick of the corruption, lies, and completely destructive leadership leading us to becoming a third world nation like pigs to slaughter with a hoop in our snouts?

I am amazed by the apathy. Does anyone have any good ideas on what has happened to this nations interest in it's own well being?

[leftofthedial]

1. who cares

[bluedawg12]

3. LMAO. Yup, that says it all...and while I am at it...

let's not care about the environment, global warming, deforestation,
global poverty, over population, and rampant fucking destrtuction of one habitat after another.

What we need are more strip malls in the Everglades and some floating Casino's in the Grand Canyon.

And we really need for the next generation of children to be really stupid and uneducated so they can compete with Indians and Chinese kids for those high tech jobs that call for a deep understanding of the scientific basis of Intelligent Design, with out of course, being able to read or write or count, thanks to our great educational system.

[leftofthedial]

6. the Greenland glaciers racing for the sea

and the slowing Gulf Stream

are scary as shit

but what can anyone do about it?

[serryjw]

2. Bluedawg I have been asking this question

monthly for 5 years.I don't have an answer. Millions should be marching in the streets, but they are going shopping instead. Whenever I say..Democracy doesn't work, I get flamed. It takes so little to amuse Americans. A BIG car, Loud music, video game and a beer and they are perfectly fine.

This Democratic Republic is a Participatory form of government. Bushit & Co can do what they do because no one cares..plain and simple!

[bluedawg12]

4. serryjw- Our motto chold be "Give us bright shiny things."

We are morans who live in denial and rely on Walmart comforts to remind us the we are alive.

[Toots]

40. You have bright shiny things? I want bright shiny things.

You give me. ...ugh.. I Amerikan I take.....

[Marie26]

8. Kinda like how the Romans

used to distract people with big races and gladiator fights. Rome became a despotic regime, but the only time people came close to rioting was when the Colliseum closed! Maybe human nature hasn't changed much.

[serryjw]

12. Pre-empt the Super Bowl

and you will see the riots.

[justabob]

43. Bread and circuses

Human nature hasn't changed much at all.

[Flying Dream Blues]

60. OOPS, just a bob...didn't see your post! Great minds and all that...

[Flying Dream Blues]

59. Yes, "bread and circuses." Nothing's changed.

[kster]

18. Not so much that

they don't care, but that they don't know and or believe what is going on with media/election theft machines. The Reporters are a problem but the biggest problem is the OWNERS of the media news who are in control of what the reporters are saying.

The Owners of the media have got the reporters hands tied, the reporters have got to be pissed because all they want is to be REPORTERS, but they can't because they will be fired.

So what do they do? In this country it is time for a showdown.

It seems like most Dem's are X-Military men, I think they need to call on that experience now more than ever. Repugs are draft dodgers they won't stand up to sh*t.

[Solomon]

5. It's because the democrats are so weak that no matter how bad

Bush gets, people just don't trust the democrats enough to place their reliance there. Ironic because it's precisely their doormat activities that causes the lack of confidence.

They'd rather be liked and toady, than respected.

[serryjw]

9. They are all republican lite

and Bushit tells a good story that the masses believe. I wish I had a dollar for everyone who said they don't TRUST Kerry!..and they TRUST Bushit?


Americans have lost their (desire) for the EDGE. We had a contract with america that the NEXT generation would always have more opportunity. This is now gone..and no seems to mind.

[bluedawg12]

13. Exactly- we have given away the next gen's future- and all with

a smile and nice prayer.

We are a nice, bland, God fearing nation, happily going to war and economically, and ethically going to shit.

[thefloyd]

7. I have no idea

Makes me shake my head in disbelief sometimes. Corporations caused a me
me me culture so if me is ok everything is fine. Iraq war largely reported in newspapers leaving those vivid images off television. Most americans get news by either glancing at headlines on tv while running out the door or via internet at work and believe everything seen or read. Cons very good at the us versus them. Wink and nod through propaganda "Cons are with god" "Cons will make you rich" "Liberals will cause moral decay" "Liberals are defeatist" So on and so forth. Playing on peoples fear still 4 years after 9/11.

[bluedawg12]

19. We've been over thrown by a public relations firm hired by repigs

who have sold us the whole package from war to faith, the radicalright really got it right this time, i.e. how to capture power in an unsuspecting free nation.

We were too trusting and they were too corrupt and too well entrenched and very, very ambitious. Think Newt, think Krytalcon. think of the long years of plannning for a conservapig rule.

[bluedawg12]

10. My problem with the Dem leaderships style is that I would like to see

more of them out and about meeting the real people at real rallies in places like Ohio and Michigan, Indiana, Illnois,..the mid west, then the west, and SW and deep south even.

Get them out of DC and those ivory halls and let's have rallies and speaking tours, tie in's with the unions, and farmers, our leaders need to be real, and need to be visible to people in small towns, and not always on TV or a Sunday morning show.

[killbotfactory]

11. They refined the psycho-babble the nazi's used to rile up the masses

only they don't want nazi's, they want happy consumers who will let the elite go on with their rule.

[bluedawg12]

15. The even refinded the Nurembrug rallies with TV coverage

of shrub speeches to the military! That alone is enough to make your skin crawl, politicizing the troops, like Caesar, and Hitler.

[LeighAnn]

14. "Always been that way, will always be that way"

"And there's nothing you can do about it"

That's what my aunt used to tell me, when I'd be trying to get her to take action about this, that, or the other. That was, until Katrina. Now this Bush 2004 voter is eager to "vote for Hillary". I'd like to see her engage in some civil disobedience, though, before that time.

[cry baby]

16. money, greed, laziness, money, short memories, greed... nt

[Odin2005]

17. I know why.

Because politicians represent the people who give them big bucks, not the common man. Our apathy is a direct result of the defacto plutocracy that runs our contry. The people have no real voice. Only the Rich do. American democracy is as dead as a doornail.

[specimenfred1984]

20. Propaganda, It's a Science Used Against Everyone

Read a few books on propaganda, just pick a few however you choose. Propaganda, both government and corporate, influences every decision made today.

American society is just a bunch of trained mules.

[bluedawg12]

21. Didn't tweety mention a repig public relations firm that actually

has been hired and working on selling the war on iraq for 10 years?
This group, the leland group???...they created the INC and placed Chalabi at the top.

[killbotfactory]

26. I suggest starting with Edward Bernays, nephew of Frued

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

Very involved with corporations and the government for effective PR (really just propaganda with a new name) campaigns.

[bluedawg12]

51. Bernays is a neocon dream come true! Social engineering.

We are all the guinea pigs of Bernay's theories.

he isn't just the father of public relations- he is the father of public manipulation.

This guy should be required study for every 3rd or 4th year high school student - before they can enter the world with a diploma in hand they need to know the ways they can be manipulated.

You know, people sense something is foul and a lie. That's why there are so many conspiracy nuts, they can't put their finger on it but they sense something stinks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

[gumby]

22. The effect of propaganda/psy-ops

should NEVER be misunderestimated. Why would people react in a way you or I think is 'rational' when they have been 'programed' since birth to think and behave in a completely opposite manner?

This country's citizens have been programmed to internalize militarism and consumption as "freedom" and "democracy."

Hey, nationally sanctioned torture is just another way of never having to say you're sorry on your way to the mall.

Think John Wayne. Rush Limbaugh will be happy to tell you all about the plot.

[bluedawg12]

23. Karl Marx used to say America will fall like a ripe apple from a tree

easy picking for the unscrupulous.

Geo. Washington warned us in his farewell speech. beware smooth talkers with corrupt hearts.

[gumby]

24. And Ike warned us

about the Military Industrial Complex that now runs the world.

[wwcsmd]

25. where are the angry children?

For several years now, I've been wondering:

WHERE ARE THE ANGRY CHILDREN?

Back in the 80s, I was one of the "angry children" -- of the anti-Reagan punk variety -- he scared the fuck out of us, and we were angry about it. I'd skipped school to go to protests. I laid across a street in a "die-in" protesting nuclear policies.

My theory had been that it skipped a decade (approximately) -- 50s, 70s, 90s, more complacent; 60s, 80s, and, I was expecting, the 00s, more radical.

We had xeroxed flyers. They have the internet. There should be more of them. Wha' happened?

[killbotfactory]

30. They are out there, the media just ignores them

And popular media denigrates activism.

[bluedawg12]

27. Do we have any power to affect change?

The inter-net, blogs, e-mail? Can we have grass roots power to screw the big hogs?

How do we get power and a voice?

Our leaders really need to get with the grass roots voters, energize us and listen to us.

I want them all, Kerry, Dean, Pelozi, Kennedy, Reid, to get out Washingotn and to see the nation, they need to start the

>>>Spring Dem Tour 2006<<<

meet the folks and get out new voters.

[applegrove]

28. You get exhausted. And the nefarious leaders of the neocons trust

in that. They use fear. Why would they be immune from using exhaustion?

[Ladyhawk]

32. Agreed. I'm really tired of it all.

We're constantly being barraged on all fronts and it's all I can do to work up the energy to write the next letter or make that next phone call.

A guy is about to be executed in California and my personal opinion is that his sentence should be commuted to life in prison. I already signed a petition, but I'm having a tough time picking up the telephone to call the governor's office. :shrug:

California just had a DIEBOLD scare in which I contacted every representative I could think of and it isn't over yet.

Every time I turn around, Republicans are trying to screw over American citizens, screw over the environment, screw over another country.

Hell, I'm still trying to rehab myself after surgery. It's disheartening to see the Republicans attacking so hard. The Dems have started responding somewhat, but I still feel like we need to hold their hands so they'll do what is right. In truth, I'm relying on folks who aren't quite as exhausted, who don't have as many health issues, to shoulder some of the responsibility. Problem is, those folks get tired, too.

[applegrove]

57. Keep it up. And I find you cannot take ownership of all the issues

you want to. You have to pick & choose. Save your strength for the elections to come. Pace yourself.

I worry a great deal about the apathy created by diebold and the like. Transparency now seems to be the last thing on the list of Repukes. I think - that the mistrust and the fear on elections being dicked with - well that is meant to keep people home come election day. I'll agree there has been much in the way of game playing and gerrymandering. Annecdotal evidence of faulty machines. And then there is the speculation. And people read into that - how far they'd imagine the liars in the WH or GOP would go to steal an election.

And that worries me in and of itself because 35% of voters stay home as it is. So how do we encourage people to come out and vote when they can make the case to themselves that "my vote will not matter". Which is all it takes to switch votes 3% to the Repukes. And that is actually how they steal the elections: 2% of religious african american vote here because of abortion hatred, 3% staying home comes lines were too long in this district here, etc.

IMHO

Anyway - peace to you & courage!

[donheld]

29. It's very frustrating isn't it?

We should have people protesting in mass everyday, over what's going on in our country.It seems like we get a few protests here and there. I keep wondering what will it take to arrouse people. We're like lobsters who've just been put in a pot to boil. In my opinion we've become a fascist nation and very few even know it. Very few even know what fascism is.

[Ladyhawk]

31. A guy in my voice class says it's always been this way,

that we're always getting screwed and that with the Bushistas in power it has just become more obvious. He doesn't do anything about the situation because he feels powerless to effect real change. He thinks I'm crazy for getting upset about it, for trying to make a difference, because there is no real difference between the two major political parties. The only real change, he says, will come through a major revolution, either violent or non-violent.

[sandnsea]

33. They're saving Christmas

and boycotting Aruba and Walmart. What more do you want?

[MsConduct]

34. If you keep the people scared, worried and scrambling, they

won't have time for protesting. When someone is worried about keeping their job or wondering if they can afford gas for the car to get to work or being able to pay the heating bill, they have no energy left to fight the good fight. I think stress and worry are the culprits, not apathy. Seething rage takes a lot out of you too.

[Skittles]

35. I don't get it either

I am particularly appalled by people with kids who don't seem to realize America is disappearing before our eyes

[Golden Raisin]

36. We're an empire in the decline phase

This sort of apathy happens after several generations of severely (and I think deliberately) underfunding education thereby producing a dumbed-down, apathetic populace; the total dominance/stranglehold of the corporate/lobbying sphere in and on the powerbrokers in Washington, D.C.; an addiction of the general public to the ever-lowering standards of television (I predict live, televised arena style gladitorial-type combat to the death within 10 years on so-called "reality" TV --- you know it will be on Fox); and a long list of many other diverse negative indicators (the spectacular rise, success and powerful influence of theocrats, neocon thinktanks, etal.) that we are SO on the downward slope, just like Rome. With Dubya, we even have our own Nero.

[zippy890]

39. I fear you are right

another factor in the decline - Our country's culture, communities everything has developed around the automobile, as a people our hands are gripping the steering wheel and NOTHING is going to take it away.

Hence an economy and lifestyle dependent on oil. I see a very rude awakening in america as the decline of the automobile inevitably sets in. Along with the other factors you point to, we are a nation dumbed down and compliantly consuming things as we're told to.


Interesting thoughts - and Welcome to DU!
:toast:

[bluedawg12]

55. A dumbed down, supersitious populace is easier to control, but WHY?

This begs the question, why?

What was wrong with the way things were?

A nation that wanted the next generation to do better than the previous?

There was wealth to go around.

The nation was secure, other than Pearl Harbor, we had not been attcked in modern times.

We helped win WWI and WWII.

We won the cold war.

There was a wealthy class, and enough to go around for a dtrong middle class.

It would seem that the type of social engineering and control that the RW is seeking would only make sense if the nation was in extremis to start with. But these ass hats have actually gone out of their way to harm us. Why??

Why the f*ck are they doing this?

Crap economy for the average person, an ill planned war that is scheduled to go on for decades, cultural wars, a huge national debt, loss of industry, destructiion of the middle class....it is as if we had been invaded by someone who hates us? who are these people and what do they want from us?

[Porcupine]

37. when you heat your house from the neighbors woodpile.......

it gets kind of hard to talk to him. Also your choices then become a)cut your own wood or b)suffer the cold.

Ultimately the US functions by taking more than it's share from the world. We don't want to cut our own wood OR suffer the cold so we all pretend that it's OUR woodpile we are sneaking out to get wood from. It just doesn't work.

[xchrom]

38. greed, served with bread and circuses.

[kansasblue]

41. Bread and circuses. People have bread and the TV provides the circuses

bread and circuses refers to the Roman method of keeping the mob happy. With that mob you could control the city of Rome and the empire.

aka sheeple

[blindpig]

42. Blow up the TV's.

My standard answer to all such threads:P

While trying to maintain is certainly an issue and health care a very big one much of what we work so much for is superfluous. Hundred dollar cable and cell phone bills for example.

As has been mentioned above we Americans have been the most effectively propagandized people in history and the primary vehicle of this propaganda is TV. Not only are we persuaded to give in to our juvenile craving for more, more, more but we are nicely sedated by the pretty moving pictures on the idiot box.

Despite the fact that we run ourselves ragged and many sense that all is not well we're ok with that. I suspect that things could become much worse and people would tolerate it as long as they can submerge their minds in distraction.

Blow up the TV's, then the revolution begins.

[Skidmore]

44. We love our stuff. We need our stuff. We're all about getting

more stuff. We don't want anyone to threaten our supply of stuff. We don't want to entertain the thought that we might have to give up some of our stuff. Stuff is the reason for existence. And, we like our stuff to be cheap.

Stuff, hallmark of a great nation.

[bluedawg12]

45. Excellent ideas! This is a David and Goliath siutation.

Excellent, thoughtful and somewhat depressingly honest replies.

Even the most tuned in and aware among us are suffering from stress over load and bad news fatigue.

We are facing a behemoth, a few are fighting what seems to be a monstrous wave of power, and likely on a world wide scale, at that. A real David and Goliath story.

Of course the well entrenched, highly funded, powers- that- be count on the historical truth that a few “dissidents” can be dealt with. Either, worn out individually, or discredited, or simply out shouted by the many voices from the radicalright that have media outlets ( Weakly Standard), their own networks (Faux News), for Pete’s sake’s how many radicalrightwing radio stations are there? Hundreds! Over 500?

And they all have book contracts! Even numb nut Faux news John Gibson has published his slobbering musings about the so called war on X-mas. O’Liely has published, now he is a guy that really should perish not publish. How many of us can get a book deal and decide to sit down and write any crappy tome about our own personal shallow ruminations? Zero.

How many times have I seen Pat Pukeanon on TV in the last 5 years screeching his cynical neo-Nixonian propaganda? How many times have I seen one real live American on TV interviewed calmly and with out stage craft about real issues? None. How come that discredited propagandist hack, who actually laughs at his own over blown dramatic shtick, is constantly on TV sending a message that does nothing for the good of the country and is a patent ploy to gain and maintain power for his radicalrightwing cause?

Sure they trot out disaster victims, or some other “regular” person when it suits their production values and adds drama to their reportage, but how about a real voice from many, many real folks? And not just people in some dramatic crisis but folks discussing life in America as lived by the (dwindling) middle class, and of course we never really hear from the truly poor about what it’s like to try and fail to grasp the conservapig dream. You know the one that says if you work hard you can be a success? Unless of course you are poor to start with.

Journalism has become entertainment. Real issues surface only when they grab headlines, then the story is milked, real depth never achieved, they loop it ad nauseum for a 24 hour news cycle and then we move on, herd like, lumbering to the next story du jour.

Something must be done and it cannot be done by just a few concerned, enlightened, patriotic people who are willing to take an active part in democracy, because they will fatigue and burn out. The serious problems that are becoming a tsunami of bad news must be addressed en mass. Problems this big require the momentum of large masses of people, many thousands of voices, and real energy to work for change.

[peace_on_earth]

46. What to do to wake people up...

I just posted the answer here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5500969

Please kick and recommend!!

[porphyrian]

47. In the face of incredible atrocity, this is a natural reaction.

It's much easier to believe lies than face a truth so horrible. It happens all the time. It is an unfortunate yet probably necessary defense mechanism of the brain.

[tlsmith1963]

48. It Has Really Disgusted Me

This apathy has made me see what America is really about, & I am sickened by it. Even the false Christmas cheer is getting on my nerves, & this has never really happened before. I keep thinking that maybe it is time for me to move to Canada, since I can hardly stand being around a lot of these people. And yet, I am angry that I have to feel this way. This is my country, too! What the *Hell* is wrong with people here?!!

Tammy

[raccoon]

49. Lots of good stuff has been posted on this thread.

I'll add, many Americans aren't hurting enough YET to do anything. When enough people who used to be middle class have fallen into poverty, don't have health insurance any more, lose their homes, lost their new vehicles, etc., they'll be more motivated to make some changes in the US.

Maybe.

[bluedawg12]

50. Can a civilization in a downward spiral ever pull out of it?

Empires and nations fall.

Emperors, Kings, dictators, nations and empires fall.

When people are pushed against the wall do they really stop and think- en mass- about the next right thing or do they fall for the next strong man that promises prosperity and peace?

The Czar fell to Lenin, then after 80 years Soviet Communism fell to...what the heck is it? A rightwing Putin and a Russian mafia?

Germany had big aspirations in WWI.
Post WWI Germany was a disheartened nation that succumbed to Hitler.
Hitler fell.
Not to sure how they are doing currently- but they have pulled in their horns with respect to war. The economy there..not so hot.

We all know Rome was amazing, yet, due to corruption, over expansion of it's empire it fell. the dark ages followed.


America is a great experiment in democracy and human rights. Every time I read the words of our founding fathers ( and the influence of our founding mothers!) I get a lump in my throat. Imagine a nation aspiring not for greatness, conquest,or the glory of war...but aspiring to guarantee human rights.

A nation with open arms, great resources, and vast open spaces.

200 years later.......well, look around. Resources are being stripped, the wilderness nearly gone, we pay lip service to human rights even as we invade other nations, propagandize with paid news stories and find that the best way to manage news is to buy it!

And just when I think that people have had enough, some new horror show emerges from the very people that have cast themselves as patriotic. Hanh! More like their own personal sand box with toy soldiers and a chubby full piggy bank there for the taking.

[freestyle]

52. Because there is always someone else to hate and fear.

Many people have been effectively propagandized to direct their anger everywhere but at the real sources of their dismay. Corporate chieftains downsize and outsource and the discussion is about immigration and affirmative action. Family life is in the toilet because people are too overworked or too poor to sustain it, but the discussion is about gay marriage. The national debt spirals out of control as a direct result of tax cuts for the rich, but the discussion is about cutting social programs. We are in danger, but the discussion is about ways to kill more people all over the world rather than help them realize their potential. All holidays are under attack by rampant consumerism, but we hear bullshit about a non-existent attack on Christmas. It goes on and on and on. The anger is justified, but it is channeled in destructive and counter-productive ways.

[bluedawg12]

53. Hah! Found it! War is sell. The Rendon Group .

Most Americans may not have the time to figure out who or what is behind the curtain.
But, the sense that we are being lied to is probably behind the growing number of people who distrust government, and even may account for the growing number (IMHO) of people who believe in great conspiracies. They may not be far from the truth.
They sense something is wrong, but can’t be specific, so it becomes a somewhat vague notion of “conspiracy.”

I learned of Bernays from this thread, right here on DU.

I learned of the Rolling Stone article about the Rendon Groups selling of the Iraq War 2, the INC and Chalabi from watching TV last night and heard this concept mentioned in a few brief minutes.

After a little sniffing on the inter net I can put it together now. Bernays is the father of public relations, manipulation and spin.

The Rendon Group is heir to Bernays. Here is some info.:

The selling of the Iraq War 2.

http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/86/9

The Man Who Sold the War
Topics: Iraq | U.S. government | public relations | propaganda

Source: Rolling Stone, November 17, 2005
While the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence drags its feet on discovering how the White House sold the Iraq war, journalist James Bamford has written a major expose on one of the key players: John Rendon. In his Rolling Stone story "The Man Who Sold the War," Bamford traces the development of Rendon and his firm The Rendon Group (TRG) from Democratic Party organizer to Kuwaiti liberator to secretive Pentagon propagandist-for-hire. In a rare interview, Rendon "boasted openly" to Bamford of "the sweep and importance of his firm's efforts as a for-profit spy." One example of TRG's work is the story of Iraqi exile Adnan Ihsan Saeed al-Haideri, who claimed Saddam Hussein had tons of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. The fact that al-Haideri failed CIA polygraph tests didn't stop TRG from giving Judith Miller the print exclusive interview. "Her front-page story, which hit the stands on December 20th, 2001, was exactly the kind of exposure Rendon had been hired to provide," Bamford writes.

........

http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Rendon_Group
Rendon Group

From SourceWatch
The Rendon Group is a secretive public relations firm that has assisted a number of U.S. military interventions in nations including Argentina, Colombia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Panama and Zimbabwe. Rendon's activities include organizing the Iraqi National Congress, a PR front group designed to foment the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

In a 1998 speech to the National Security Conference (NSC), company founder John Rendon described himself as "an information warrior, and a perception manager. This is probably best described in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, when he wrote 'When things turn weird, the weird turn pro.'" .....



...........


Here is some back ground on the father of public manipulation:

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1999Q2/bernays.html

Bernays liked to cultivate an image as a supporter of feminism and other liberating ideas, but his work on behalf of the United Fruit Company had consequences just as evil and terrifying as if he'd worked directly for the Nazis. The Father of Spin sheds new and important light on the extent to which the Bernays' propaganda campaign for the United Fruit Company (today's United Brands) led directly to the CIA's overthrow of the elected government of Guatemala.

The term "banana republic" actually originated in reference to United Fruit's domination of corrupt governments in Guatemala and other Central American countries. The company brutally exploited virtual slave labor in order to produce cheap bananas for the lucrative U.S. market. When a mildly reformist Guatemala government attempted to reign in the company's power, Bernays whipped up media and political sentiment against it in the commie-crazed 1950s.


You have GOT to read this full article it is amazing and eye ball opening.

http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html

How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf

US Congressman Jimmy Hayes of Louisiana - a conservative Democrat who supported the Gulf War - later estimated that the government of Kuwait funded as many as 20 PR, law and lobby firms in its campaign to mobilize US opinion and force against Hussein.72 Participating firms included the Rendon Group, which received a retainer of $100,000 per month for media work, and Neill & Co., which received $50,000 per month for lobbying Congress. Sam Zakhem, a former US ambassador to the oil-rich gulf state of Bahrain, funneled $7.7 million in advertising and lobbying dollars through two front groups, the "Coalition for Americans at Risk" and the "Freedom Task Force." The Coalition, which began in the 1980s as a front for the contras in Nicaragua, prepared and placed TV and newspaper ads, and kept a stable of fifty speakers available for pro-war rallies and publicity events.73

[bluedawg12]

58. To be fair, the Rendon Group denied many of the claims

in a reply to the Bamford article article.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/8868449
Response by the Rendon Group



Mr. Bamford replied to the Rendon Group
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/8868453



Thus leaving the reader dazed and confused, wishing that politics was simply a matter of voting every few years.


**Edited for the sole and customary purpose of correcting the typo's that inevitably arise when fat dog paws type on tiny keyboard keys.

[SmokingJacket]

54. They'll care when they begin to lose their houses en masse.

It's sad, but I'm beginning to think the majority of people don't want to care about others. It'll take some form of self-interest to get people to revolt. I guess twas always thus, though.

[bluedawg12]

56. Why does the RW hate America?

I just have to bring this question forward in the thread.

Because it now becomes clear that this does not make any sense.

Since the RW made their year 2000 election power grab they have set about destroying our industry, middle class, economy, national budget surplus and all....but why??

They had it all. This nation was just fine and dandy. They had power. Most are wealthy as the repigs are more the party of wealth than the Dems. They had power, wealth, they were the captains of industry.

Now we have "global terrorism," and endless war in the ME, a monstrous deficit, a polarized nation.

Why did they do this? Does the radicalrighteaing simply hate America?
it can't be for power. How much power do people need? Hell, Newt had Congress and Bill had the WH. if they didn't like it they just needed another election cycle.

But you know, they entrapped Big Dog, made a world wide farce of impeachment in an attempt for an early pre-election power grab. When that failed they placed Jebbster in Fla and left it to the Supremes to elect shrub....clearly they have been after sole, monopolar, control of this government for a long time.....only to screw it up!

Why? If they wanted power fine but they didn't need to destroy a good and noble nation.