How many of those who take the fame-bait become our beloved idols? our SuperStars? yet in reality, are secret-covenant slaves? From minor actors to mega-stars, how often do we see the tragedies of fame leak out in fits and starts of bizarre behaviors and addictions? Could many of these star aberrations be trauma-based mind-kontrol glitches? attempts to endure the unendurable? to survive demeaning, behind-the-scenes demands of handlers, masters, “owners”?
In Hollywood and other fame-factories, power domination has always been an open secret—just like Harvey Weinstein1 (and dozens of other master-moguls whose names remain yet suppressed). So perhaps gifted “stars” are not really spoiled narcissists, but are pawns caught up in a psychopathic system from which there is no easy escape? What if their gifts and other uses are fine-tuned through MK-Ultra “training” where they play the parts they were (tortured? infused?) programmed for until someone or something breaks? like Allison Mack2? like NXIVM3? like hundreds who are yet to be revealed / exposed?
Can we also learn something from the following presenter about the presence of mind-kontrol and dark occult symbolism in the entertainment we are embracing?
In the Old Testament Book of Job, we read how one called Satan sought to destroy a “man [who] was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”*
The pattern was this:
1. devastating financial ruin;1
2. loss of his children / family;2
3. destruction of his health;3
4. loss of the support of his wife;4
5. friends falsely accusing him of wrong-doing, paranoia, etc.;5
6. strangers harassing him;6
7. traumatic dreams, visions, nightmares, confusion, terror, despair;7
8. no one truly listening to / understanding his reasoning and complaints;8
9. no apparent relief, not even when appealing to the highest form of justice (i.e., God).9
With the aid of modern technology, this Job pattern of disrupt and destroy has never been so pervasive and global as in our time. Millions, if not tens of millions, worldwide are becoming targeted individuals (TIs) or associations (TAs) by gang-stalkers as
▪ propaganda, lies, false witness, and moral decay surfeit our world;
▪ compromised / corrupted persons or authorities participate out of fear or favor;
▪ rising unemployment (often deliberately crisis-created) disposes people to become paid dupes or willing / unwilling servants of scripted, unlawful, disrupt and destroy agendas;
▪ free-markets merge with skyrocketing numbers of psychopaths pursuing command and control structures like monopolies and oligopolies;
▪ power elites become frantic to control or destroy anyone opposed to or in competition with their power and gain obsessions;
▪ ethnic-, religious-, or ideological-phobias / malice; and ex-partner hostilities find incredible opportunity for life disruption;
▪ secret combinations team up with the adversary of all good to recreate a world in his image and control;
▪ NWOs (7-headed?) pursue their psychopathic agendas of mind-control;
▪ “WE, the People” allow ourselves: 1) to remain in ignorance of the dire state of our world; 2) to disregard the crimes and injustices of our economic and governmental systems; 3) to be bought and sold like slaves and robots; 4) to remain silent in fear10; and so forth.
Of course, there may be some TIs and TAs whose paranoia is not entirely based in fact, but part of the gang-stalking agenda is to exacerbate disruption and paranoia in subtle, distressing ways that may seem individually innocuous, but in the persistent aggregate are meant to devastate. With the aid of the internet, many witnesses are trying to raise awareness of the “unbelievable”; and to end targeting and bullying.
Could it be that our awareness of and zero tolerance for targeting is vital to saving this world?
Of course, many will dismiss gang-stalking as ridiculous “conspiracy theory,” but when disrupt and destroy agendas11 coincide with historical déjà vus, patterns, and warnings, the willfully ignorant (who are mocked and scorned by psychopathic insiders) will, in time, learn truth by sad experience.
Perhaps, in a campaign to STOP organized harassment, the initial vital steps for most people are: 1) to become aware of this historical (latter-day accelerated) disrupt and destroy agenda; 2) to acknowledge that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”;12 and 3) to seek to access the only protection possible when confronting powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints (New Testament | Ephesians 6:13-18; bold emphasis added).
NOTE: There are some out there who claim the Law of Attraction governs this gang-stalking “perception.” Do NOT be deceived. There is a First Law of Attraction that supersedes the world's so-called LoA13 that so many deceptively espouse. The superseding First Law of Attraction is this:
The Devil [and his cohorts are] more obsessed with persons striving to do and be good than with persons who are not.
So know this: disrupt and destroy is a universal plan of devils and demons opposite to a Divine Plan for growth in Faith, Hope, and Charity. Each individual's Divine Plan unfolds (or not) as s/he exercises agency in confronting the natural man14 and the demonic powers and promises that entice.
A corollary to this First Law (in a world where psychopaths are obsessed with accumulating ever more power, gain, and control) is that any one who manifests integrity, altruism, independence of thought, spiritual / special gift, or poses any kind of perceived threat to “command and control” agendas will be targeted.
How long till we understand that there is no sure safety or help to be found when we look to the arm of flesh alone?
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Old Testament | Isaiah 40:28–31).
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* Old Testament | Job 1:1
Also, Old Testament | Job 1:8 ~ And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Old Testament | Job 2:3 ~ And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
1. Old Testament | Job 1:14–17 ~ And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 2. Old Testament | Job 1:18–19 ~ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 3. Old Testament | Job 2:7–8 ~ So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Old Testament | Job 30:16-31 ~ And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep. 4. Old Testament | Job 2:9 ~ Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 5. Old Testament | Job 4:7–9 ~ [Eliphaz:] Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. Old Testament | Job 8:2–6 ~ [Bildad:] How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice? If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression; If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. Old Testament | Job 11:2–3, 13–14 ~ [Zophar:] Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? ... If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. Old Testament | Job 15:2–6 ~ [Eliphaz:] Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee. Old Testament | Job 18:2–4 ~ [Bildad:] How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak. Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight? He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place? Old Testament | Job 22:5, 21-23 ~ [Eliphaz”] Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? ... Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Old Testament | Job 34:35–37 ~ [Elihu:] Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God. Old Testament | Job 12:4 ~ [Job:] I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn. 6. Old Testament | Job 30:1, 8–15 ~ [Job:] BUT now they that are younger than I have me in derision, ... They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me. Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. 7. Old Testament | Job 7:11, 13–15, 20; 10:15 ~ [Job:] Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ... When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. ... I am a burden to myself? ... I am full of confusion; 8. Old Testament | Job 19:2-3, 5-22 ~ [Job to his “friends”:] How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me. ... If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach: Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net. Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree. He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle. He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body. Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me. All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me. My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? Old Testament | Job 21:1–3; 34 ~ [Job:] ... Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. ... How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? 9. Old Testament | Job 16:9–14, 16, 20 ~ [Job:] ... mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. ... My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; ... My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
To read the full of Job's complaints, see particularly chapters 3, 6-7, 9-10, 12-13, 16-17, 18-21, 23-24, 26-31. 10. New Testament | 2 Timothy 1:7 ~ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 11. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2017/02/disrupt-and-destroy.html 12. New Testament | Ephesians 6:12 13. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2009/10/to-sick-and-afflicted.html http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2009/09/why-i-doubt-law-of-attraction.html 14. New Testament | 1 Corinthians 2:14–16 ~ But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Book of Mormon | Mosiah 3:19 ~ For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
(These thoughts were sparked while listening to CBC Radio, “Ideas” (Paul Kennedy) “Machiavelli: The Prince of Paradox,” broadcast 6 November 2013 in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the writing of The Prince.1
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Satire: “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.”
So, was Niccolò Machiavelli2 being satirical (or not) when he wrote The Prince?
Perhaps context and history can give us some clues.
1. Machiavelli chose not to publish The Prince during his life; and there is no evidence that it was ever given to its addressee: the “Magnificent Lorenzo, son of Piero de’ Medici.”
2. This Magnificent Lorenzo was the son of a usurping family that presided over Machiavelli’s torture before his time of exile in which he wrote The Prince.
3. Machiavelli lived in a time of vanity and violence, pride and paranoia. Come to think of it—which Machiavelli probably did in the many hours of his self-described communion with history—this Medici period of vanity and violence, pride and paranoia was just another long stretch of never-ending, historical déjà vu.
4. A review of the “long-term security” and “survival” of so-called “statesmen.”
5. Reading Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal (1729)3 in the same sitting as The Prince (1513).
So, for the sake of those who believe The Prince is “a work on statesmanship” and that it “systematically analyze[s] the requirements of power and survival” (being the words of Mr. Henry Kissinger at min. 1:10-1:27 of the “Ideas” broadcast ), let’s look at an abbreviated sample of power and survival:4
Assassinated
Executed
Other Ends
Sennacherib (681 BCE)
King Saul (while fleeing, circa 1007 BCE)
Cyrus the Great (slain in battle, 528 BCE)
Xerxes I (465 BCE)
Robespierre (1794 CE)
Alexander the Great (poisoned? at age 33, 323 BCE)
So, perhaps the “requirements of power and survival” need a little less delusion (by Kissinger and friends) and a little more systematic analysis.
Of course, some “Princes” do manage to survive their tenure of (tyrannical) power by the practice of so-called “judicious” excesses, yet how often are they plagued with continual paranoia, if not outright madness? Thus, in the light of history (which often unfolds in the dark), is it not stupefying to view The Prince as some formula for secure statesmanship?
But, even if Machiavelli were not mocking the Magnificent Lorenzo (et ilk), I submit that the facts of history do. Tyrannical rulers seem more susceptible to being deposed than “democratic” ones, and manifest as much, if not greater, paranoia.
So, let’s line-up the dead “statesmen / Princes” of history and ask:
Are we naive, delusional, and / or fools-worthy-of-mockery to believe there is power and security in the prescriptions of The Prince?
~
▪ That the sun never sets on American bases and SOFA’s1 in near déjà vu of a recent fallen/defeated Empire;
▪ That so many pretend that money ≠ power ≠ undue influence ≠ inevitable corruption ≠ inevitable death of freedom;
▪ That we manufacture/manipulate citizen consent thru deception and propaganda and call it freedom of speech;
▪ That so many malign “enemies” for sins copied in secret (though sometimes openly, without apparent shame or remorse);
▪ That so many still praise, pursue, envy, and worship excess (while calling it, “deserved prosperity”);
▪ That we openly admit, justify, and sometimes celebrate assassination and torture;
▪ That pundits spin 1984 newspeak without apparent consciousness (aka: SCOTUSese; Newtspeak; Mittification; Santorumph; aPauling attachment to romanticized, libertarian dogma and fallacies2; and donkey parallels);
▪ That we stage democracy like a propped up storefront.
Is this the preferred point of destination for the American Constitution? Apparently not, for we have also come to a turning point, again! as more and more are turning up to protest. Thank goodness (and for believers in something higher than man and mammon, Thank God!)
In the High Middle Ages (1000-1300 AD/CE), in order to combat religious instability (including but not limited to alleged heretics,[1]) the powers-that-were resorted to:
1) denunciations (openly and secretly);
2) concealing the nature of charges and evidence against the accused;
3) “invitations” to confess (something? anything?);
4) torture to extract confessions;
5) torture to extract the names of “guilty” others;
6) indefinite detentions;
7) secret trials;
8) occasional “accidental executions” during torture;
9) propaganda to justify all the above.
In the beginning of the 21st Century,[2] in order to combat national and global instabilities (including, but not limited to genuine terrorists), the powers-that-were-once-democratic have resorted to:
1) denunciations (openly and secretly);
2) concealing the nature of charges and evidence against the accused;
3) “invitations” to confess (something? anything?);
4) torture to extract confessions;
5) torture to extract the names of “guilty” others;
6) indefinite detentions;
7) secret trials;
8) occasional “accidental executions” during torture;
9) propaganda to justify all the above.
Have we passed a thousand years merely to look into the mirror of déjà vu?
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[1] Which some saw as being equivalent to spiritual murder—and thus worse than physical death.
[2] Though actually beginning in the USA several years before via the CIA and its predecessors—in déjà vu of many other nation states throughout history.
For more on the Inquisitions of the High Middle Ages, one can access the Great Courses series, entitled “The High Middle Ages” Lecture 12 with Professor Philip Daileader of The College of William and Mary.
Author: A. Sobkowski
ruins of a Roman Temple
from Wikimedia Commons
Creative Commons Attribution/Share-alike license
In the Great Courses®, Foundations of Western Civilization II series, Professor Robert Bucholz reminds us in the very first lecture, that “Above all, European culture produced certain ideas that have become pillars of our culture:
1. ‘All men are created equal.’
2. ‘No taxation without representation.’
3. ‘The people united can never be defeated.’
4. A free press.
5. Limited government.
6. Innocence until proof of guilt.
7. Judgment by a jury of peers.”
Prof. Bucholz does not ask this question, but this writer does. Why are these foundational pillars of our democracy so transparently broken in this sophisticated 21st Century? Consider:
▪ [Faux*-]Citizens United that entrenched even further the plutocracy of a corrupted system wherein corporate power and wealth make a mockery of equality.
▪ Plutocratic corporations that complain of unfair tax rates, yet seldom pay the rate and seldom suffer significant consequence, leaving the middle and lower classes to take up the tax-slack in a corrupted government in which real citizens have only faux representation.
▪ Corporate HyPEs (Highly Paid Employees) who beat the media drums of culture and social war against any who dispute the legitimacy of illegitimate reign—dividing citizens into divisive camps of beloved propagandites and reviled fact-finders.
▪ A press caught in the spin of false witness, half-truths, mammon-mongering, pandering, fear-baiting, ratings wars, and Murdoching. Where is press freedom when ad dollars kill stories, ideology trumps analysis, job security buys soul, and profit reigns supreme?
▪ Where limited government means—“too weak” to control the excesses, crimes, and corruptions of multinationals, but unlimited enough to bail out avarice; subsidize corporate profits; grant massive favors; and then to pass the costs to the people.
▪ When proof of guilt is in the mind of the Chief Beholder; when habeas corpus means to bring the body secretly to Guantanamo (et other secret places); where guilt is presumed and thereafter “confirmed” via torture.
▪ Where a “jury of peers” means authoritarian elites in secret, hearsay- or speculation-driven sessions. Where fair trials are precluded by national security claims and rights exclusions, though sometimes (preferably?) pre-empted by assassination. By what low road have we come to openly cheering assassination and defending torture in the “land of the [formerly] free”?
The pillars are shattered and broken, folks! Another déjà vu!
The only hope to rebuild and restore them is in a united, informed citizenry—rejecting the abuses and propaganda of the far right and the far left and the 14th Amendment-based person-hood of corporations. And to ask ourselves at every step: Can we ever rebuild if we fail to honor, in every instance, the virtues of those pillars (especially in relation to perceived opponents or enemies)?
How grateful we should be for the many unsung, relatively unknown activists who are in the trenches, already at work in various aspects of restoration. Fifteen have been profiled in the recent issue of Yes! Magazine.**
[In light of the talking heads that have surfaced recently from the constitutional shallows to take credit for the demise of Osama bin Laden, we disclose a(n aborted) simulation meant to explore in greater depth those constitutional shallows. Of course, one prefers not to mock others, but when “those others” continue to manifest escalating obtuseness about the torque perpetrated upon the American Constitution under their “righteous” watch, one has diminishing options. NOTE to obtusers: “mock-on.wrtr!” considers every person (even you) to have human rights whereas torture.gov does not. Who would not prefer the “lance” of a Jon(athan) Swift or Stewart to that of a Pol Pot or Pinochet[1]? Unless of course, one is also obtuse about Pol Pot and Pinochet! Or likewise, if one believes that objectives justify any means! NOTE TWO: names have been amended for a purpose.]
A FEW BAD APPLES[2]
Place: Gitmo interrogation room
Time: 8th Anniversary (more or less)
Scene: Black box room; large viewing screen—i.e., a whitish sheet draped to divide the room; 3 metal chairs face screen; the dented middle one is occupied by Rush Limpaugh, fresh-faced and attired in an orange jump-suit; he has been duct-taped in place; the other two chairs are empty; Donald Drumsfeld stands in a back corner—on one leg—at a desk elevated to the proper height by 2 flat stacks of metal chairs. A timing clock shows 6 hours, 3 minutes.
Voice from beyond the screen: “Mr. Limpaugh, in the interests of partial disclosure, you have been renditioned by Citizens against Torture and Hypocrisy (CaTaH for short) to screen a new documentary. Through a free and democratic process and a series of small participatory incentives, you were voted as the man most likely to resist information. CaTaH couldn’t afford renditions for our other guests, being Mr. Dick Chainee, who declined our invitation claiming a prior hunting engagement; and Mr. Karl Rover, who was voted as the man most likely to invent information, but who also declined, claiming he was in protracted, top-secret (Oops! Oh well!) negotiation for the Fix-job of Bill O’Really!. You may have noticed Mr. Drumsfeld in a back corner. He was not invited initially, but insisted on coming at his own expense to prove a standing-point. He has been allowed to remain on his express promise (which we remind him, was given in writing) that he NOT interfere in these proceedings.
“Now, we know Mr. L., that silence is not one of your strong suits, so we are sorry about the duct-tape. It will be removed at the end of the screening. Oh, and just so you know, we have double security on standby. We will begin without further delay.”
Documentary scenes (DS-x) flash upon the viewing screen:
DS-1) Video of Geo Bush: whacking brush and other Texas shrubs while muttering “I’ve bin had! I’ve bin had!” under his breath. [Several Secret Service hover in the scanty shade.] Suddenly GB exclaims (as the Texas sun caresses his boyish face): “I say, nobody whacks a Texas Bush with impunity. We’ll re-designate. If they ain’t entitled to rights, then we can’t do nothin’ wrong by ‘em. Right, boys. It’s brilliant sense and first-class history, if I don’t praise so myself.”
DS-2) Video of Dick Chainee: “We’ll have to work sort of the dark side, if you will. We’ve got to spend time in the shadows in the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, without any discussion, without any discussion, without any discussion, [tech hiccup is thumped into submission] using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies—if we’re going to be successful. That’s the world these folks operate in. And, uh, so it’s going to be vital for us to use any means, any means, any means, any means, any means [2nd tech hiccup corrected with a loud whack on the module] at our disposal basically to achieve our objectives.”[3]
DS-3) Video of David S. Addingnone [running caption: DC’s DA: aka Dick Chainee’s Dark-side Advocate]. DsA hangs his long cape and 5-gallon black ‘n white cowboy hat in a secret closet. Sits down at his computer to redact his email and memos.
DS-4) Video montage of Jack Bauer extracting information on 24 while being cheered by several senior and semi-officials, including but not limited to Chertiff and that other guy, Feithful—all closely clustered in a windowless office. (Several are taking notes).
In his Gitmo corner, Donald Drumsfeld mutters: “Way to go, Jack-O. These CaTaH wimps should be conscripted to hell, fire ‘n damnation.”
(A deep sigh from beyond the screen!) Voice-over: “Excuse us Mr. D, but you did sign a contract, if you recall.”
Mr. D shifts his weight and mutters: “Duress vitiates, if you care to look it up.”
Voice-over: “Just so you know, Mr. D, three strikes and you’re outta here. OK.”
DS-5) Surveillance photo of former OLC Assistant A.G. Jay S. Bywybee signing “The Torture Memo” while holding his nose.
DS-6) Surveillance video of underling John Yoo-Hoo (while blowing his): “The working definition we find most apt is ‘equivalent to organ failure’.”
DS-7) Video of Cofvert Blackout rubbing his knuckles as caption scrolls: Former head of Counterterrorist Center and subsequent point-man says “Gloves off” BlueSky Memo. Additional caption: CB has serendipitous 2005 segue into vice chairmanship of Blackwater USA: State Dept’s biggest private security contractor, etc.
DS-8) Photos of Abu Ghraib (as seen by the public). More photos of American soldiers and detainees (not yet seen by the public and unlikely to be seen per Obamah Executive Order, but leaked to CaTaH for limited viewing rights after paying a $50.00 incentive).
In the corner, Donald Drumsfeld mutters: “A few bad apples!” He shifts to his other leg.
DS-9) Video of Rush Limpaugh in front of a large microphone (with righteous indignation) “These guys have been trained in making false allegations of torture. It’s all a ploy to discredit America and its values.”
DS-10) Scrolling text of The Torture Memo.
Orange-faced Rush squeezes his eyes tight shut. Voice-over begins to read the text aloud. Rush opens his eyes and pretends to read. Voice pauses then continues reading. Rush tries to tip his chair over, but it has been clipped to the floor. As he thrashes about, the documentary goes to pause. After a few minutes, things settle and the voice resumes reading hi-lighted portions.
DS-11) Photo of George Tenetloss [running caption: Former CIA Chief]: Classified memos scroll across his face.
DS-12) Grainy video of unknown persons burning videos and DVDs. Caption reads: CIA cleaning its drawers of interrogation films to make way for new blanks.
DS-13) Video of Condolee Rice [running caption: Former National Security Advisor & former Secretary of State]: “Whatever you think, Mr. President is far Right by me and extremely Right by America. And I cannot repeat enough, Sir, how your secret redefinition of torture has proved a brilliant strategy. I myself have covertly referenced it innumerable times; and I can assure you, Sir, that without it, we would have looked and sounded very, very, VERY bad—indeed and in fact. Yes, sir, Sir, redefinition was plain and simply masterful—and very comforting to the conscience, I might add. Yes, indeed.”
Rush Limpaugh feigns (?) respiratory distress. In shock and awful fury, Drumsfeld rushes to Rush’s side, thumps the detainee’s chest and blows air into his nose.[4] (Rush’s mouth is not available re duct tape; supine rendition not possible either for the same reason). Rush’s eyes dilate in enhanced distress as he thrashes his head from side to side to avoid Drumsfeld’s yawning maw. Drumsfeld hollers and gesticulates at the screen. “Enough, already, you imbeciles! Can’t you see the man has had enough? Are you monsters? Have you no regard for HIS ‘n OUR CONSTITUTION?
Rush’s torquing girth succeeds in rupturing the chair’s substandard[5] leg-welding. Freed from restraints, the chair launches and the ensuing rear-ender propels the gesticulating Don into and through the viewing screen which cascades in billowing grace upon the pomp d’circumstance.
Sounds of a crash and [redacted] frustration are heard from the Voice-over shadows. Meanwhile two actors in Military Police costume scramble in unrehearsed confusion toward the undulating scene.
Frustrated Voice-over: “Well, you’ve done it, Mr. Rush. Our limited budget did not anticipate reconstruction costs, so you’re off the evidentiary hook, so to speak, though it appears a second water-board may be prudent considering Mr. D’s resuscitation deposits and our irritations. In any event, we will keep your first confessional and universal release on file for future reference. And we’re sorry to inform you, that since we didn’t anticipate your quasi-termination for several more hours, our rendition plane is still fundraising for fuel. In the meantime, you can enjoy some Gitmo soundtracks, which, considering your increased time exposure, may now exceed our original pain-threshold assessment. Sorry about that, but you sort of brought it on yourself, didn’t you? As they say, when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong profile, you get what’s on the pike, deserve it or not.”
Voice-over exits lugging the irreparably damaged projector.
The military actors don earplugs as a Gitmo soundtrack blasts into the black box. Lights fade to pitch black as Rush and Drumsfeld stiffen in shock and awe.
[All of which constitutes the aborted end of a never-to-be-acknowledged semi-simulation.]
--------------/
[1] Note: We have deliberately selected specimens from the far left and the far right of the torture.gov spectrum.
[2] First suggested working title: “Shock and Awful!”
[3] This is an accurate transcription of D.C.’s actual words from Meet the Press, Sep 16, 2001. In addition to other sources, see: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/themes/darkside.html ; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/script.html
[4] A commendable reversal of attitude considering his previous declaration: “I don’t do detainees.” (Ref: Jane Mayer’s, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, p. 188)
[5] We highly recommend a congressional investigation into the Gitmo chair supplier (a well-known gov’t. contractor that we decline to name IF litigation is possibly pending). We believe there may be ample evidence of malfeasance because a concealed USPO (with paid-in-full notation) was later discovered in the mangled chair tubing. The PO was for 20,000 Gitmo metal chairs at $1,006.66 /chair. The chair price seems excessive considering the quality, the efficient market hypothesis, and considering we could only find 42 such chairs in the entire, semi-vacant (now used as storage) half of the once bustling Gitmo facility. DISCLOSURE: we managed to rent our Gitmo location for the day’s semi-simulation at less than half the price of one dented chair. (And there wasn’t even a supply and demand competitor! Would you believe!)
(All indented paragraphs are partial quotes from, or are based on portions of, the Judgment at Nuremberg film script, screen play by Abby Mann.)
Sixty-three years ago (1947), the United States conducted a trial examining the issue of individual complicity of justice officials in crimes committed while in the service of the German state. This trial was memorialized in a fictionalized film (1961), entitled, “Judgment at Nuremberg.” Considering recent statements made by former DOJ lawyer John Yoo and several others1 justifying (redefining) torture and the reach of executive power, it is disturbingly déjà vu to revisit the film. If we were to remake it today and title it “Judgment at Guantánamo” (or Abu Ghraib, or Washington, or [redacted] Secret CIA Prison), the script would have disquieting parallels—not in the degree of the crimes, but in the authoritarian, nationalistic mentality that leads one to justify uncivilized behaviors.
How far and deep, in the coming years, will these legal and constitutional factures run? Will we, in time, have our own “Ernst Jannings” confess:
My counsel would have you believe, we were not aware of torture. Of secret prisions. Of kidnappings, renditions, assassinations. Not aware?! Where were we?
Where were we when torture advocates began justifying it in the press—even in our very own Congress? Where were we when our newscasts and magazines published damning photographs? Where were we when torture logs were published? When witnesses testified before Congress or in publications? Where were we when advocates of justice and humanity cried out in warning? Were we deaf? Dumb? Blind?
My counsel says we were not aware of the extent of torture used. Not aware of deaths. Of secret prisions. Of kidnappings, renditions, assassinations. He would give you the excuse we were only aware of one or two unfortunate cases. Does that make us any the less guilty? Maybe we didn’t know the details. But if we didn’t know, it was because we didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to admit that many of our so-called enemy combatants were entirely innocent. Or even worse, discounted—justified—our own crimes because others’ crimes were so incomparably worse! Because our “good” intentions justified every means!
And will we, in time, have another Judge Haywood say:
The charge is that of conscious participation in a government-sanctioned system of cruelty and injustice in violation of every moral and legal principle known to all civilized nations. The tribunal has carefully studied the record and found therein abundant evidence to support beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against these defendants.
Defense Counsel, in their very skillful defense, have asserted that there are others who must share the ultimate responsibility for what happened. There is truth in this. The real complaining party at the bar in this courtroom is civilization. But this tribunal finds that the accused in the dock are responsible for their actions. Men and women who took part in the enactment of laws and decrees the purpose of which was the torture of human beings. Men and women who, in executive positions, actively participated in the enforcement of these “laws,” illegal under both U.S. and international law. The principle of criminal law in every civilized society has this in common: Any person who sways another to commit torture or murder—any person who furnishes the order for the purpose of the crime—any person who is an accessory to the crime is guilty.
Defense counsel further asserts that the defendants were exceptional lawyers and officials and acted in what they thought was the best interest of their country. There is truth in this also. But this trial has shown that under a national crisis ordinary, even able and extraordinary men and women, can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat through this trial can ever forget them. How easily it can happen.
There are those in our own country too, who today speak of the protection of country—of survival. A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy—to rest survival upon what is expedient—to look the other way. The answer to that is: Survival as what? A country isn’t a rock. It’s not an extension of one’s self. It’s what it stands for. It’s what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult. Before the people of the world, let it now be noted that here, in our decision, this is what we stand for: Justice, truth, and the value of a single human being.
And will we, as a people, eventually come to say:
Judge Haywood, we wanted to tell you, we never knew it would come to what it did. You must believe it.
Only to hear our Judge reply:
It came to that the first time you justified the torture of another human being.
-----------------/ 1. Including former VP, Dick Cheney and former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove. See also, References section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Yoo for various writings and opinions.
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us." (OT:Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
"Dwell in the past and you'll lose an eye. Forget the past and you'll lose both eyes." (Old Russian Proverb)
(Subject to change over time: experience/learning/ evidence)
▪ Life is a three-act drama with pre-mortal, mortal, and post-mortal stages. ▪ The second act boils us down toward test one:[1] the test of power. ▪ Abusers of power lose it in Act Three when justice and equity take the bench. ▪ Tipping points happen—over time and a fulcrum. ▪ Motes and beams are everywhere.[2] ▪ Folly is a shadow of every ism, including capitalism. ▪ Money talks louder than morals—all the way to the tipping point. ▪ The direction you are facing, matters.[3] ▪ Extremism in the defense of liberty is extremism.[4] ▪ When the blind follow the blind, it is time to blow the whistle.[5] ▪ Opposites attract the same lobbyists. ▪ Solon of Athens espoused, “Nothing in excess;” laissez-faire capitalists pursue “Everything in excess” (except the costs of gross profit). ▪ “Simplify” displayed on the counter-top of a new 21,000 sq. ft. home does not compute. ▪ High fructose corn syrup is not the staff of life. Unfortunately, sweets can twirl your teeth. ▪ Revolving doors between government and business do not admit sufficient fresh air. ▪ The common good doesn’t seem to be very common. ▪ N. American football is a testosterone pageant in tights.[6] ▪ Exploitation is a delusion of grandeur. Stewardship is a grander conclusion. ▪ The excesses of major religions occur when members fail their espoused values. The excesses of ideological tyrannies occur when tyrants act upon theirs.[7] ▪ Praise is best deflected toward God. ▪ Too many who say, “I do, I do,” don’t. ▪ Electronic media has become the Roman Coliseum of the 21st Century. ▪ The First Law of Attraction[8]: the Devil is more obsessed with persons striving to do and be good than with persons who are not. ▪ The trans-rational[9] is beyond most of us, so if it’s “turtles all the way down,”[10] maybe it is “revelation all the way up.”[11] ▪ Egoism accounts for 80% of human problems. The remaining 27% lies with rhetoric and propaganda.
In the near words of Groucho Marx, “These are my [views]; if you don’t like them, I have others.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [1]New Testament: Matt. 4:2-4—The first temptation presented to Jesus, to misuse His power to satisfy self-interest/-will/-gratification. [2] Ref: Matthew 7:3-5 [3]Old Testament: Jer. 32:33 [4] A Barry Goldwater phrase “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” A phrase applauded by some of the GOP. (Suggestion: reverse liberty and justice to see if it sounds more palatable, or is the latter half merely castor-oil for the first?) [5] Ref: Matthew 15:14 [6] Observation of a friend, MS, who wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. [7] Ref: Ravi Zacharias [8] Ref: Adam & Eve; Biblical Job; Jesus in the Wilderness; CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, etc., etc., etc. [9] Ref: Flatland by Edwin Abbott. In summary, circles, squares and other flatlanders can’t get a fix on spheres and cubes; can’t quite reason themselves into the properties of those in 3-D space. Enlightenment of things beyond (i.e., trans-) Flatland takes condescension from those above & beyond. Any parallels here in 3-D? [10]Google this phrase if you have not heard of it. It’s just one way of saying we don’t have a rational explanation for some things. [11] Conditional on the will of the Revelator and the willingness/ ability of the revelatee to receive.
About SMS
A few 6-to-7-Word Memoirs: ▪ Hope for the world comes and goes. ▪ Loves to read more than eat. ▪ Loves to think more than eat. ▪ Eats too much while reading and thinking. ▪ Always running out of time and daylight. ▪ Finds extremes too far from the center. ▪ Troubled by the world’s failure of memory. ▪ Has a tendency to counsel God. ▪ Learned gratitude before it was too late. ▪ Apparently hasn't learned enough gratitude yet.
3) People are free to post divergent or convergent views on their own blogs; 4) Learning from comments here would be preferable, but— (see 1, 2, & 3).
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Blog Title Credit
*"This is like déjà vu all over again" is perhaps the most perfect tautology possible and is credited to Yogi Berra.
