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Nixon was paranoid, and a liar to some extent, but even for all his human foibles, there seemed to exist a core of decency in the man. Decent enough to fund the EPA, and to forbid the BIA from excising tribes from the rolls, and decent enough to resign when he realized how much damage he'd done to his party and the presidency.
The people behind many of Nixon's mistakes, however, have been recycled through the Republican party for the past thirty-five years, surfacing again during the Reagan administration on the fringes of the Iran/Contra scandal (and the question of whether someone negotiated with Iran to hold the hostages until after the election).
Grover Norquist, one of the founding fathers of the neocon movement, is still the twisted bastard he's always been. His government-drowning wet dream seems to be the foundation of nearly everything the neocons have tried to do, to reduce American faith in government to a mere fraction of its potential. OF COURSE the neocons distrust government--not only does it interfere with the power of the corporate sector, but they're just so BAD at governing in the first place that it would seem obvious to them that government doesn't work. THEIR notion of government doesn't work, but, then again, that should come as no surprise. They don't WANT it to.
They've had these thirty-five years, and a whole shopping list of missteps, to hone their skills at both manipulation of data and public opinion. Darling Raygun played this message with his "we're from the government and we're here to help" line, and the stage for all of this nonsense in Iraq and the Muddle East was set up during his administration. It was only a matter of time before they put together some excuse for occupying an oil-rich nation. They just weren't sure WHERE and WHEN.
We SHOULD be suspicious of government. Our founding fathers certainly were. They understood how power attracts the corruptible. But the message we should be getting out is that we should be suspicious of POWER, in all its many forms.
"Question Authority" isn't just some trite, outdated phrase, but something all humans should do on a constant basis. By crippling government, they've set the stage for everything to be controlled by corporate fiat, and there is NO reason to believe the corporations would be any more benevolent than government. The chances are far less, as a matter of fact, for corporations make no bones about their primary purpose being the accumulation of profit.
Governments collect power. Corporations collect power and profit. As far as I'm concerned, government's main task should be limiting how much power any one entity, or conglomeration of entities, can amass. Including itself.
The message? "Corporations are no more inherently benevolent than government. If you are willing to cast a suspicious eye on one, you should not ignore the other."
The neocons and their Republican stooges have learned quite a bit in the past thirty-five years. Perhaps even more than we've learned, when you get right down to it. Meaning "we," the official arm of the Democratic Party, not those of us out here on the "fringes." WE get it. They either do NOT, or they're bound into the same destructive patterns as their Republican counterparts.
Government should be used to maintain public services, keep power from accumulating in any one place, and defend this nation from threats, both foreign and domestic. It is not a cure-all, by any means, but it IS the single thing we can rely on to prevent dangerous infections in the body politick. It has to be made to be more responsive to citizen needs and citizen concerns, and prevented from gaining a dangerous level of power in and of itself.
Crippling government to the advantage of the corporations is not an answer to government corruption or mismanagement. True oversight will take care of that. Not just congressional oversight, but citizen oversight.
The neocons are in the business of acquiring power for their corporate allies, and it is THIS that fuels their attacks against government. Nothing more, nothing less. As long as government is doing its job, and preventing the acquisition of too much power in one place, the neocons cannot succeed.
They serve Mammon, regardless of what God they CLAIM to serve. Greed above ALL.
GOP = Greed On Purpose.
They want more. More power, more money, more STUFF. No matter the cost to the future, or this nation as a whole. It's evil on an epic scale, but worse because it cloaks itself in the guise of good.
Nixon was a small evil, and, in the end, not all that evil at all. Just misguided and troubled as some humans are. But those he left behind have corrupted the whole system and it is that corruption that we now face. A canker at the heart of the rose. A cancer at the core of the American spirit.
They've been smart. We now have to be smarter. They've trained Americans to be reactive to soundbytes and now, as much as we hate to do it, we have to start thinking of how to put our message out in the same way. At least until we can start to reverse some of the damage they've done.
Having the best-crafted, most thoughtful, and brilliant message in the world isn't going to help unless we can get and keep the attention of the people. The stage is set. There may never be a better time to say what must be said.
It's going to take wit and talent, but we've got more of it than the Repugs and neo-cons have ever had.
"Corporations exist to take your money and make use of your labor. That's it. Anything else they promise you is a lie."
"The news media is telling you want they want you to think."
"Freedom means choosing for yourself, and allowing others to do the same."
"Diplomacy requires that we, occasionally, actually talk to our ENEMIES."
"Acting the swaggering bully doesn't ever engender friendship or trust."
"Big Business is NOT your friend. It wants to be your MASTER."
"Government isn't perfect, but just consider the alternative."
"Too much power in too few hands is DEADLY to the notion of liberty."
"Americans have always known when enough is enough. And we've had enough."
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