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The Military Industrial Complex Fights Back

Soon Congress is expected to vote on a bill advanced by John McCain and Carl Levin, a Republican and Democrat who preciously united to bring the foundation needed to propel our nation into a fully militarized nightmare state- similar to what we have been exporting these last few years. It is the Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act. The Senate already discarded milquetoast efforts to tone it down a bit earlier this week. It’s all but over at this point.

In case you haven’t heard the details (which is likely if you have spent much time watching traditional news), the bill essentially labels every spot on this earth as a battlefield, including the United States. It’s a telling moment when they concede, or in fact advance, a never ending war. And that same war is present under each and every rock, according to these lawmakers. It’s certainly the stuff of 1984 (we’ve always been at war with Eastasia). From this notion springs the advancement of military tribunals dealing with all citizens of the globe (once again, Americans included) without the bother of transparency. Detention and disappearance could be the order of the day.

The secretive nature and broad sweeps have already been used on those they deem enemy combatants around the world. As if by fascist playbook, this sort of thing is trial ballooned on “the other” and then brought home for the enjoyment of those who didn’t complain the first time around.

An enormous issue with the militarization and deviation from open aired civilian courts is the very secretive nature of it all. If an individual has truly done a harm that merits societal intervention, then the light of day should shine on the accusations and stand on their own merits. That tired excuse that the information in these trials needs to be hidden is simply a ploy to avoid oversight and scrutiny. The stories have circulated about local warlords turning in neighbors (who get sent to Gitmo) often for decidedly illegitimate reasons. And then just enough scary terror bogymen really are in residence at that blight in Cuba to allow the average citizen to go back to sleep, avoiding the uncomfortable realization that some there did nothing wrong, except perhaps be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or have enemies with the ear of Uncle Sam. It would be mindless to think it would go down in any other manner here. We aren’t that exceptional, I’m sorry to say.

Not to mention that this further advancement of the Military Industrial Complex must be making those entities who profit off of all of this salivate. As resources dwindle, the decision seems to have been made by the few to loot all that is available, consequences be damned.

At a time when Walmarts around the country have to add extra staff to handle the huge influx at midnight when food stamp cards get recharged….is this really the largest threat to the average American right now? Of course not. Who is really destroying our nation?

I’d say the lumbering corporate facilitators in Congress who let our people languish as they advance Military Industrial Complex hardcore porn legislation such as this, but that’s just me.

I have trouble believing that all of the legislators are truly evil. Rancid little snowflakes, all of them, to be sure, some evil, but some merely venal and ignorant- all hideous in their own unique manner. We will find no assistance from this pool of infamy, even as they play good cop/bad cop and taunt us with “less awful” amendments that don’t materialize.

This bill is flying under the radar; few seem to know about it in the general public. But of course that’s understandable; a new woman has popped up to talk about an inappropriate affair with Herman Cain. And if she hadn’t materialized, some damn baby would have to go missing or a hooker’s ipad with Congressional fetish requests would have to be unearthed at a booth in Chili’s- As they debate legislation that would allow the foundations for a new class of “disappeared” to occur in this nation.

If you still have any lingering thoughts that a Democrat (Crip) or a Republican (Blood) might save you, then this should serve as the final wake up call. If the teams truly believed their own rhetoric, an abomination like this would have never been advanced- the fear of the other party occupying the Commander in Chief throne would be too frightening to ponder for the opposing pols. Who would want to cede that kind of power to an enemy? Sure, they say this is for Al-Queda, but that’s what they always say. It only morphs into the others, such as political dissidents down the road. And the Republicrats know they won’t be using this on each other.

McCain joked about his daughter going “to the dark side”, presumably for taking a job at MSNBC (it’s astounding the talent pool in these children of politicians-isn’t it). But if McCain believed the bread and circus nonsense he is peddling, would he ever want to advance this kind of bill during a “dark side of the force” presidency? It’s not a real issue since they work together for corporate interests, anyway- never us. When a clown like Newt Gingrich says “child labor laws are dumb”, it inflames and occupies the national discourse. It’s meant to be that way, and hey…. if he can score one for kids going back to 1827 and get soot to cover their little faces, so much the better. Callista the wife looks good amongst that squalor. Her Tiffany diamonds shine all the brighter in comparison.

It can be a soul crushing moment when it is realized that there are no politicians advancing a core decency for the average American life (and heaven forbid for foreign lives). I’m sure it’s not a new realization for most of the readers of the legitimate free press still operating in the internet hinterland, but for the bulk of Americans, it’s a painful leap they have yet to make. A bill like this is inflammatory to most- when they truly realize what it means- ironically, a bridge between those who still think of themselves with political labels.

It’s all evolving, what this information means. Occupy movements are nebulous, but they seem to have this basic understanding mastered- that the current system is flawed beyond repair. The consent of the governed is being eroded slowly. We still have many decent people who don’t understand, though. Where they use fear and manipulation, we need to use reason, love, and inclusiveness to advance the notion of an equitable society based on mutual respect. We may lose, but what choice do we have? Odd that they decided this bill is necessary after the long-awaited awakening of the populace, that of the OWS movement.

But time is running out. I’m impressed that Occupy hasn’t turned to a violence that places them in the meat grinder. What they’ve been experiencing is bad enough. You just know that groups out to quash this movement are salivating for that. The look at Kent State as a missed opportunity as in a few students weren’t hit. The powerful probably fully expected it to go that manner after beating those kids-prompt some counter-violence and then get out more toys. How funny to disappoint them so. I see a quite asymmetrical situation- I think it will call for something more nuanced- that of turning the opinion of the masses. I don’t know if it’s possible, but it certainly has been done to great effect by the manipulators of our time. One would hope that truth would have an advantage, but base emotions often rule.

I don’t pretend to know the answers, and I’d be suspicious of anyone presenting a view for the future with complete assurance at this point. Who saw OWS coming…. or sadly this bill? So much is in play at this point; it’s a strange, scary time to be alive. But I do know that it’s necessary for the broader populace to understand the coup that is underway. That’s a foundation we need. Attempts at localization will likely be necessary as well. A government that seems to care little for any of us, and simply expects us to behave as cogs in machinery of big commerce will continue to run amok when met with resounding silence. But finally, the silence is waning.

But we are on a path that could lead to our own version of “disappeareds” and that is no exaggeration. We have no choice but to resist.

Kathleen Peine writes out of the Central Time Zone in America so please only email during those hours so as not to wake her. She can be reached at: kathypeine@gmail.com