Unlike the Other Time Evil Wrought Havoc on America-- There will be No Romanticizing the Story

[Demeter]

OpEdNews.com

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_andrew_b_061030_this_time___unlike_t.htm


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October 30, 2006

This Time --Unlike the Other Time Evil Wrought Havoc on America-- There will be No Romanticizing the Story

By Andrew Bard Schmookler

Only once before the present rise to power of these Bushites have forces from within America itself inflicted such damage on the American nation. Then, too, like today, the catastrophic damage to America can be understood –at the deepest level-as the consequence of "evil forces" taking possession of the nation. (See "The Concept of Evil: Why It's Intellectually Valid and Politically and Spiritually Important" at www.nonesoblind.org/blog/?page_id=26.)

Those are two important parallels between the present Bushite era and the time in the middle of the 19th century when America fractured (along geographic lines) into two bitterly hostile halves and then plunged itself into a national bloodbath. Among the differences between these two occasions of the catastrophic surrender of America's destiny to evil forces, one difference (I would wager) will be this. Unlike with that earlier disaster –the American Civil War-with the catastrophe of this time of Bushite rule, Americans will not find any way to romanticize and celebrate the consequences of evil's ascendancy.

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Unlike of 1861 or 1929 or 1941, the crisis of today is not because of anything that's happened to our country. (Even if the official story of 9/11 were accepted as true, there's no reason why that trauma had to precipitate a lasting crisis in our national life.) No, the reason for our present crisis is that we're being ruled by a regime of lawbreaking, usurpatious, lying, power-lusting and blundering thugs.

It's not that we need better leadership in this crisis. The leadership is the crisis.
This is a crisis, in other words, that did not have to be. It did not just happen; it was created --at least much of it--as a deliberate policy choice. In view of this, it is difficult to even imagine any way that Americans will find any way to celebrate this Bushite disaster, or make the massive damage inflicted upon the nation seem in any way heroic.

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To glean from this dark era what we should, America will need to sweep away the lies and the polarization with --as another nation has termed it-- Truth and Reconciliation. The story of this period ought to be told –publicly and prominently-- and ought not to be told as anything but a time of stain and disgrace.



Authors Website: http://nonesoblind.org/

Authors Bio: Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America's Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states.

[indepat]

1. K&R: guess those in the media didn't notice the lawbreaking, usurpatious, power-lusting and

blundering thugs running the show had mucked things up so, staining the soul of this Republic and doing it irreparable harm or maybe it's the price they and tens of millions of supporters are gladly willing to pay.