By The Light Of A Burning Bridge - A Permanent Goodbye to the US

[NVMojo]

BY THE LIGHT OF A BURNING BRIDGE
A Permanent Goodbye to the United States

by
Michael C. Ruppert

From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com. All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted, distributed or posted on an Internet web site for non-profit purposes only.

“Sometimes you get your best light from a burning bridge” – Don Henley, “My Thanksgiving”

August 16th 2006, 11:45 AM – CARACAS – It was about a week before I left the United States forever that I watched Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tell Charlie Rose something all of us already know in our hearts. “Today,” he said, “the United States is hated around the world far worse than it was at the height of the Vietnam War.” I remember the Vietnam War. I will never forget it.

I opposed that war, and I still remember riots on the UCLA campus in May,1970 when four students were shot dead by National Guard troops at Kent State University in Ohio. I was a college student then, and I was 2S-deferred for the draft. A year later I would be re-classified 1A as the nation shifted to a lottery system. At least someone in my country was willing to risk his life in the face of injustice. It gave me hope. That kind of risk-taking was commonplace then, from the civil rights movement to the anti-war movement, to the American Indian Movement. American blood was shed regularly on American soil to resist American tyranny; from Watts, to Detroit, to Selma, to San Francisco to Memphis to Wounded Knee. It fertilized our lives and souls as it touched the ground. The willingness to endure physical suffering, material sacrifice, and jail for the sake of justice was a singular mark of the American character that earned respect as it infected the world.

What is the United States infecting the world with today?

Now it seems the American people won’t even risk their credit ratings, student loans, the next piece of ass, or a sideways glance from people who look at them like AIDS patients for daring to deviate from the corporate, media-instilled norm. We have come a long way backward. Rodney King’s “Can’t we all just get along” has become the modern day theme song for the surrender of America’s character, and the L.A. Rebellion of 1992 was probably the last flame of will to fight injustice in American history.

more...

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/081606_burning_bridge.shtml

[Speck Tater]

1. “Mike, the world doesn’t want to be saved.”

Powerful stuff, and well worth reading.

[cspanlovr]

2. What an excellent read. Thanks!

[NurseLefty]

3. This Is Mind-Blowing

Planning to share with friends. What a great piece!
Myself, I am stuck within the belly of the beast, but I drive a small car and buy Citgo gas exclusively. What is happening in SA is giving me some hope for the future. Let's just hope they can thrive without meddling or sabotage, if you know what I mean...

[BridgeTheGap]

6. Unfortunately, CITGO won't be retailing

much longer in the U.S. - read the article a few months ago. They are giving up their retail operations and going strictly as a wholesaler. We're loosing a good alternative! They will be selling gas to other retailers - not sure if there is any way to identify who.
Go see: "Who Killed The Electric Car?"

[halobeam]

4. How incredible his story is.

I'm saddened for him that he had to leave, but happy for him that he actually DID it. I feel a pull towards running out of here as fast as I can.. but how? I have kids, and aging parents... nieces, nephews...

If I were alone, I'd go. I guess my fate is sealed too, along with the rest who are "living in the problem".

Thought provoking piece, to say the LEAST.

[enid602]

5. HOW TRUE

". . . the L.A. Rebellion of 1992 was probably the last flame of will to fight injustice in American history."

[Phrogman]

7. The day I heard the US Supreme Court had stopped an election

recount, is the day I started packing the bags for our move to out of the country.

Good luck in the real world Mr.Ruppert, I think you'll like it.

[tomreedtoon]

8. And most of the Bush supporters were New Lefties in high school.

Oh, yes, they wore their miniskirts and their peace symbols, they proclaimed solidarity with black people, they marched and they shut down the schools. Then, they decided to "grow up," they cut their hair, they had kids, they took those kids out of public schools because the "wrong element" was moving into their neighborhoods, and they now drive gas-wasting SUV's with W stickers on them.

So don't tell me about how good things were back in the 60's or how we've "moved backwards." We were never forwards. Most people of my generation were hypocrites. The really dedicated people on the Left, like the guy who wrote this post, deluded themselves into thinking the crowds behind them were dedicated to their ideals.

[Cant_wait_for_2008]

9. Amen !!! I am ashamed that so many of us baby boomers sold out to the Man

Now we are all going to pay the price for those mistakes. :(

[OneBlueSky]

10. the U.S. has become the Evil Empire that past presidents . . .

demonized . . . the true "Axis of Evil" in the 21st Century consists of the United States, Great Britain, and Israel . . .

[jdog]

11. Mixed feelings.

Very sad. I understand why he would leave, and I don't blame him - he's done alot and paid a big price. But there are many people are staying and fighting. It's just such a huge machine in place working against them, it looks like there aren't. In the 60's the press wasn't so controlled, and still it was hard to build momentum.