This is a series of musings, based on some comments I wrote on a couple of threads on Sunday, December 10. They have been published in installments here. In each installment, whatever is new is presented in bold, while the earlier installment(s) appear in lighter font.
This is the last of the installments.
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WHAT IS SPIRITUALLY WRONG WITH AMERICA, THAT THE AMERICAN SYSTEM COULD NOT PROTECT ITSELF BETTER AGAINST THESE BUSHITE FORCES?
Are we to believe that things could have happened like this --that a criminal regime of this sort could endure, not signficantly confronted-- at just ANY time in American history?
One thing we know: there hs NEVER been such a pervasive pattern of lies and crimes in the American presidency as with this Bushite bunch.
Here we have a list of scandals –some of them profound scandals– that sometimes gets to seem like almost every day brings a new one. And --still-- America deals with this administration as if it were a genuine presidency, as if it were more than a bunch of criminal suspects.
What does it say about the state of the country that we have not reached consensus on regarding this regime as criminal and fascist and downright evil, and has not used the mechanism designed for the nation to defend itself from this kind of usurpatious power.
It is not clear if the battle against the Bushites COULD be won. If this battle IS winnable, but is just not being fought, what does it say about the spiritual state of America that the system has failed to do what it was supposed to be designed to do?
The battle must be fought somewhere, or it will be lost. John Cochrane wrote in a comment: "When the most powerful nation in the world abandons the principles that require a prisoner to receive a fair trial and hearing within a reasonable time all of us might note that what happens to them today may happen to us tomorrow.”
To which I respond: Yes, the nature of the forces behind this Bushite regime is that there is no limit to how much power they would seek, no point at which they would not push toward complete power. So there is no truce line between allowing their violation of the detainees rights and their marching further and violating ours. You’re right, John.
The battle must be fought, and quite likely it is better to fight it sooner rather than later.
So why does America not more forcefully confront this regime? What is the spiritual defect that could explain this failure?
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.
The Democrats don't stand up in a crunch because basically they accept the same wrong assumptions as the Republicans. They believe good comes from evil means. That's what's taught in the society. So some of them may have some doubts at times, but they've never bought into an alternate paradigm, framing story, or whatever you want to call it. They don't question the system itself.
by
Bill Samuel (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 277 comments)
on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 9:27:12 AM
Kucinich is the only one who has stood up in the Congress
I wonder who Dr. Smookler is supporting in the Democratic Primary. There is only one person in the Congress who has consistently stood up to the forces that be, Dennis Kucinich. Does he support him? Is he working for him? If all of the left united behind Kucinich, he could win. Don't just blog, organize! Whining and preaching to the choir won't move us forward as a progressive movement. Getting out of the blogsosphere going door to door, making phone calls, conducting teachins, house parties, forums, rallies, debates and demonstrations are what we need to do.
by
Trainer12 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 49 comments)
on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 9:32:10 AM
"Whether evil masquerades as good in the public eye, or whether evil is cowardly and sneaky in its murderous ways, it has been and still is very powerful in its ability to slander and even destroy and kill those who would deny it power to rule over the people. That's the main problem in the world today." -- Joseph J. Adamson
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