Comments on: Easy Money, Presidential Debates, Palintology, and the Militarization of Sports

By: Poilu

Poilu — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:07:55 +0000

Fred Friendly: Much obliged for that remarkably compelling excerpt from Shirer. I’m instantly impressed at how thoroughly it describes generalized American political “thinking” (and official propaganda) today.
Frightening how such Orwellian “Doublethink” has increasingly come to dominate our would-be “land of the free”, where so many are rendered hopelessly blind to such glaring contradictions by their own “red, white and blue filters”.

I once owned a copy of “Berlin Diary”, and perhaps still do. Time for a little rummaging, I think!

Thanks again. That’s an amazing insight you’ve provided.

By: cg

cg — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:39:31 +0000

Giorgio, they (the left/progressives/americans/the masses) had their chance and blew it because they are every bit as conflicted as their rivals/enemies. Every bit as egotistical and stubborn as any redneck or demagogue.
With Ron Paul, the ONLY chance in Hell for victory, and everybody knows it, they could have at least had half their dreams come true.
Major things like these wars ended and defense cut dramatically.
But no, they have to have it all or nothing. Exactly like the banksters and the super rich. All or nothing. Little spoiled brats each want want want their pet peeves entertained. At the expense of anything else.
Well, DOH!, you get nothing.
Good job.

By: Giorgio

Giorgio — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:26:24 +0000

A great article, as always, by Mr Blum.
As for ‘the honorable governor of Alaska,’ that verbose “redneck”, “Rouge cou” bimbo, gave a sleazy performance on last nite’s vice presidential debates…she even took the high moral ground by lashing out at the perpetrators of the current financial crisis by stating that her team, McCain and Palin, would in her own words “stop the greed and corruption in Wall Street”, honour the Constitution, reform the government and put back the ‘people’ in the driving seat…
I couldn’t help thinking that the success of Ron Paul’s grassroots campaign was at the back of her mind, as she was here trying to steal some of Paul’s thunder. The difference here was that she sounded shallow and dishonest. How could it be otherwise? She joined the very team that is hell bent in bailing out and reward those same Wall Street crooks at the expense of the ‘people’! As Ron Paul has repeatedly said “punish the wrong people who had nothing to do with the problem” and let the real culprits, the mafioso, “the coalition of every evil group in America: the central bank, Wall Street plutocrats, politicians, banksters’, etc. get away scot-free !

By: DavidG.

DavidG. — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:06:59 +0000

The U.S. is little more than a rotting carcase that foolishly thinks it still lives.

The maggots have their way. The smart ones eat the vital organs first, the tasty bits. Quickly they become bloated and pale and die of cancer or heart attacks.

The American dream: it is finished. It drowned in its own greed, its own immorality.

By: Fred Friendly

Fred Friendly — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:59:09 +0000

Poilu writes “Were the German people of the 1930’s and 40’s in any way radically different from ourselves today?”

American journalist William Shirer (who later wrote Rise and Fall of the Third Reich) shows some interesting points for comparison in his Berlin Diary from 1940:

BERLIN, January 24 1940

I think Percival W., a retired Admiral businessman of German parentage who has spent most of
his life in this country, sees something I’ve being trying to get straight. I had never met
him before, but he dropped up to my room this morning for a chat. We discussed the German
conception of ethics, honour, conduct. Said he: “For Germans a thing is right, ethical,
honourable, if it squares with the tradition of what a German thinks a German should do; or
if it advances the interests of Germanism or Germany. But the Germans have no abstract idea
of ethics, or honour, or right conduct.” He gave a pretty illustration. A German friend said
to him: “Isn’t it terrible what the Finns are doing, taking on Russia? It’s utterly wrong.”
When Mr. W. remonstrated that, after all, the Finns were only doing what you would expect all
decent Germans to do if they got in the same fix — namely defending their liberty and
independence against wanton aggression — his friend retorted : “But Russia is Germany’s
friend.”

In other words, for a German to defend his country’s liberty and independence is right. For a
Finn to do the same is wrong, because it disturbs Germany’s relations with Russia. The
abstract idea there is missing in the German mentality.

That probably explains the Germans’ complete lack of regard or sympathy for the plight of the
Poles or Czechs. What the Germans are doing to these people — murdering them, for one thing
– is right because the Germans are doing it, and the victims, in the German view, are an
inferior race who must think right whatever the Germans please to do to them. As Dr. Ley puts
it: “Right is what the Fuhrer does.” All this confirms an idea I got years ago: that the
German conception of “honour,” about which the Germans never cease to talk, is nonsense.

By: Poilu

Poilu — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:44:19 +0000

Always a pleasure to come across the eminently sensible writings of William Blum — an island of sanity in a sea of madness. I’ve never viewed the world (especially the US) in the same way since reading his remarkably eye-opening “Rogue State”.

Regarding that militarization of US sporting events, Leni Riefenstahl and “Triumph of the Will” comes immediately to mind. One can but wonder: Were the German people of the 1930’s and 40’s in any way radically different from ourselves today?

Bravo, William! You’ve once again completely captured the Zeitgeist.

By: lichen

lichen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:15:32 +0000

Thank you, William.

By: John Hatch

John Hatch — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:27:17 +0000

William Blum is an international treasure.

I’ve always thought of the stock market as being like born-again Christianity. The televangelicals do quite nicely; the rubes, not so much. But they always come back.

I think America has been exposed as never before as nothing but a big killing and stealing machine. With a white, English-speaking Jesus as shill. ‘Thanks for comin’ in. Did ya bring yer money? We don’t want no problems with you havin’ ta go ta hell! Hand it over!”

By: Erroll

Erroll — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:08:08 +0000

The tie-in with sports, both professional and amateur, with patriotism was well said. I have often wondered if this is because athletes, like the military, are told to always obey their superiors if they expect to win and never to question authority. With the emphasis in both sports and the military being placed on the body, little regard is seemingly given to challenging and questioning the status quo. When a flag is unfurled at a sporting event or a patriotic song is played, those in the audience simply go along and place their hands over their hearts and pledge allegiance to their country and hope that Obama and/or McCain will somehow lead them to the promised land.

By: Donald Hawkins

Donald Hawkins — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:58:36 +0000

Thanks William as sometimes I start to doubt my own sanity this helped a lot.

By: bozhidar bob balkas

bozhidar bob balkas — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:36:32 +0000

no it’s not just bush, et al but at least 5omn amers who think/feel just like bush.
some of them may demand even more killings.
add to this number at least another 100mn amers who in various degrees and for some reasons support all US wars and we have what we have.
but even many in the minority who object to US wars in iraq and afgh’n, seldom if ever object to latest US warfare on a principle.
objections r based on rationalization (reasons), perceptions, costs in money, etcetc.
from this i conclude that 95% of amers approbate the last two wars.
and each US war had presaged at leats another.
the present two wars r omens for at least 1 more war.. thnx

By: mandt

mandt — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:42:24 +0000

“Is there an expert out there who can advise me? Some payment can be arranged. ” There are many, I’m sure, but perhaps you might want to contact Fallenmonk at : http://fallenmonk.com Peace , MandT

Ps.Great piece!