by Ray Jason
All Fools’ Day does not appeal to me
because I enjoy playing pranks on people.
Instead, I savor it because of its links to the tradition of the court
jester. In an era when disagreeing with
a king could be a beheading experience, the one exception was the resident
fool. He could lampoon the foibles and
lunacy of royal conduct and usually live to tell.
In some centuries, the entombment of truth was so successful that the court jester seemed to be the only person making any sense - hence the term, “the wisdom of the fool.” So in the spirit of the perceptive buffoon, who makes outlandish claims about the state of the global kingdom, I offer you some insights and opinions. Perhaps they are just April Fools’ jokes … or perhaps not …
DEMOCRACY IS NOW A SHAM The founding principle for this new form of government which
emerged in the 18th century, was that the Common Man was the
ultimate source of power. Citizen
legislators would enact the laws and shape the nation’s destiny. But instead, our republic is now strong-armed
by professional politicians. The two dominant
concerns of these careerists are to STAY in power and to do the bidding of
those who ENABLE them to stay in power.
Anyone who doubts this statement might try explaining why campaign finance
reform and term limits are perennially “off the table.” Actually, that is an understatement - they
aren’t even in the building.
It is bad enough that the President, Congress and the Courts
serve the interests of a minority that is so tiny that it is almost
microscopic. What is even worse, is WHO
that elite constituency is. It is
exclusively THE BIGS: Big banks, Big corporations, Big agriculture, Big energy,
Big pharmaceuticals, Big health care, Big high tech and the BIGGEST of them all
- the military-industrial complex.
The “Vox Populi” – voice of the people is now as quaint and
outmoded as telephone booths on street-corners.
Even when there is a massive outpouring of disapproval for a policy -
such as the enormous public outcry against Iraq Invasion 2 – the will of
the people is disregarded. Instead, the “leaders”
kiss the sterns of their financial backers.
Ten million irate citizens cannot offset a single Halliburton.
But not only has genuine democracy vaporized, its putrid
carcass is used against the ordinary person for whom it was initially
conceived. Our demagogues give stirring
speeches applauding our inalienable rights and the freedoms that our
constitution protects. But at the same
time, they barely whimper when a whistle blower reveals that the surveillance
grid that is monitoring our behavior is beyond the wildest imaginings of Orwell
or Huxley. And when the head of the Department
of Omnipresent Surveillance admits that he lied to Congress, he is not prosecuted
for perjury. Amazingly, he doesn’t even
lose his job.
When the President signs the NDAA act which allows for “indefinite
detention” of citizens without formal charges or without the right to a lawyer,
it should be utterly clear that the boot of Soft-Core Tyranny is now on our
neck. And that unchecked and almost
un-noticed power continues to grow at an obscene pace. Examples of this are the militarization of
small town police departments, the unending malignant growth of the Department
of Homeland Security and the cessation of Posse Comitatus which keeps the
military from being used as a domestic police force.
But even though our career politicians only represent the
rich and the powerful, and even though they abet the steady erosion of our
constitutionally ordained rights, it is even worse! That’s because despite making a mockery of
democracy at home, they trumpet its virtues abroad. This is shameful Hypocrisy with a capital
H.
What they are really trying to spread is not Democracy but
Predatory Capitalism. They want to
expand the sphere of influence of their financial backers who want greater
market share in more and more markets.
They do this through subtle intrusion via the IMF and the World
Bank. Concurrent with this, they embrace
the most corrupt and brutal local politicians they can find. The saying “He may be a genocidal dictator,
but he’s OUR genocidal dictator” is not a punch-line in a joke. It is standard operating procedure for U.S.
foreign policy. If this kinder, gentler
approach fails, then the next steps are assassination or invasion. So the spreading of democracy leaves death,
mutilation and destruction in its wake.
In conclusion, it appears to me that America is no longer
a world-wide exemplar of how to sculpt a civilized society. Instead, it is far down the road to becoming
a full-blown Corporate Police State. It
has fallen so tragically, that it is now just a self-deluded bully strutting
about the global stage - unaware that the theatre has already emptied.
But what do I know?
I’m just an April Fool …
