Change Of View

I recently watched “The Power Of Nightmares,” a BBC documentary that chronicled the rise of Muslim extremism and the Neo-Conservative movement. For the last few years I had asked everyone I knew on the Republican side of the aisle just what it was that attracted them to Bush and his administration. No one was able to give me a logical answer, and most eventually attributed their backing of Bush to emotional safety in the era of the “War On Terrorism.”

I never knew exactly what the Neo-Conservative movement was all about, and learning about it and the rise of extremists like Osama Bin Laden (who was less a terrorist than a man with the money to make terrorism happen) has helped me understand how each of these philosophies sprouted from basically the same point — how the masses were out of control and society was virtually crumbling because people were out for their own self-interests. By creating a common enemy — real or imagined — the masses could be kept under control.

That’s stating it very simply, and the documentary took three hours to explain it all with research and interviews with the key players in the NeoCon and Militant Islamist movements. It has caused me to re-think this whole approach of just documenting the hypocrisy of the modern right-wing, as I’m starting to realize that the religious right has been used by the Republican Party and that it’s not the religious right or the people who vote Republican that I’m upset with or have a lack of understanding about. It’s the Neo-Cons themselves. Merely stacking up evidence of wrongdoing and flip-flopping on the part of the Neo-Cons is an exercise performed very well by other websites. And while I believe this recordkeeping is totally necessary, less of my time should be spent merely relaying this information and more should be spent actually thinking about the situation — where we are today and how we can change things to benefit the little guy and the planet instead of just the rich and the mighty.

I’m not trying to suggest I’m any kind of philosopher, nor am I an expert on the culture wars and history. I do think though, that it’s high time I stop acting like a parrot who just repeats things in unison with the crowd and who starts to further his own personal journey in an attempt to actually do something about where we are rather than just point it out. I’m not sure if that makes any sense, but that’s why I’m turning the two Blue State Journal sites into one. If you need proof that the media is run by conservatives, Media Matters handles that better than anyone out there. If you prefer a few conspiracy theories mixed in with your proof of right-wing dominance of the media, check out LegitGov.org. I will, of course, continue to talk about current events in this blog, but I think it’s time that I start viewing citizens of the United States more as people than as members of one club or the other. We are all manipulated by our leaders, some people are manipulated more than others. Some people respond to reason, some do not. Some people are led emotionally, some are not. Some people view issues based upon the impact to the family, some do not have families. Either way though, there are common issues that bind us all together. Will we have clean air tomorrow? Will we be taken care of in our old age? Will we be able to leave a healthy planet to our children? These general issues can be approached a million different ways, but one thing is for sure — the people in charge right now do not have the interests of the planet at heart. They do not have the interests of veterans at heart (witness even more budget cuts and the new “stop loss” letter that recently went out that re-enlisted people until 2031 — that’s not a mistake… TWENTY THIRTY-ONE). They do not care that so many children do not have health care. They do not care that people who desire to work cannot find work that will support their families. They blame the victim. This is morally wrong, and when people see it, I think they know enough to understand it. The debate comes in how to solve these problems. The first step is waking people up from the brainwashing that the administration has performed on them. I think this is already happening with the religious right. The Bush administration, through two election cycles, made promises to the religious right — those people that came out in droves this election to tip the vote just enough to put him in office — that have been (and probably will continue to be) nothing more than lip service. The right is getting angry and they’re starting to feel they’ve been used.

On the other side, I think the election of Howard Dean as DNC Chair will mean that more attention is paid to local Democrats all over America. This is where the real action needs to be taken. The DNC has taken its strategy from Washington for too long, thinking that the same centrist rhetoric that worked for Bill Clinton would work for other candidates. It didn’t, and it won’t. Dean is sure to do everything he can to re-frame the debate at the local level and make sure that people know that issues like affordable health care, affordable housing, and social security are MORAL issues that can be better addressed by Democrats. That’s the first step. When more people at the local level start connecting the drastic cuts in education and social services in their communities directly with the policies of this Neo-Conservative administration, hopefully their eyes will begin to open.

There also has to be a way for people to break out of the fear of terrorism that has been spread by this administration. Each time they want to raid some fund, or raise more money for their corporate buddies, they pull the terrorism card. Terrorism has always been with us, and it will always be with us. What we need to do though is stop seeing our neighbors as potential terrorists and stop being so paranoid that the cells are everywhere. They aren’t. But the thought that they ARE everywhere plays so well in the White House echo chamber called the mainstream media, doesn’t it?

I’m slowly waking up. Someone finally helped me understand what it’s all about. If you can find a way to see it, PLEASE see The Power Of Nightmares. It makes regular appearances on USENET in alt.binaries.documentaries. It was also posted in alt.binaries.hipclone a few days ago.

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