Department of Homeland Propaganda?

Is It 1934 or 2004?

As I sit here typing away I know it's 2004 and I live in the United States.
So why does it feel like Germany 1934? Who turned the clock back?

In the last month we find Sinclair Broadcasting attempting to derail an ABC "Nightline" broadcast it finds "un-American" because of its "anti-war statement." Since when is paying proper honour and homage to our brave war dead "un-American"?

We have Department of Defense brass trying to persuade CBS to bury a story revealing abuse of Iraqi detainees by members of the 800th Military Police Brigade (Uniontown NY), in violation of both international law and and the Geneva Convention.

We have heard from both the Oval Office and the Pentagon in their steadfast refusal to permit the public acknowledgement and recognition of our war dead.

This is America 2004, but recent events which have occured during the watch of G.W. remind me an awful lot of what was standard operations during the Third Reich. The German people never received an accurate accounting of the war Hitler waged with his European neighbors. They were lied to about why the war was started, they were lied to about the casualties and nobody ever bothered to tell them what the costs were.
Sound familiar?

German's were told by their government that the Reichswehrmacht was the best equiped, most technologically advanced army in the world. They were never told that vehicles were insuch short supply that horses were used to haul artillery during many campaigns. G.W. is spending more than 5 billion dollars a month in Iraq, and yet American soldiers get killed almost every day because they don't have armored vehicles to patrol with.
The SUV parked in your driveway provides about as much ballistic protection as a basic Army Humvee. Where the hell is the money going?

There was also a general, undefined xenophobic paranoia cultivated within German society by the Reich. This was a tool they used, quite effectively, to hammer home any diffectives and edicts they wished, including many which restricted and curtailed the civil rights and liberties of German citizens. Remember, the Patriot Act?

Germans were encouraged to and, in fact told, it was their duty as loyal
citizens to report the movements and activities of their neighbors, co-workers, friends and even family members to Reich officals and even to the Gestapo. Anyone who failed to conform, questioned authority or spoke their mind became a suspect, and therefore a target for further investigation. Remember, the Patriot Act?

During the current term the Bush administration created the Department of Homeland Security. If he gets another term will we have a Department of Homeland Propaganda? And who will we be a war with next? And what further lies will be told?

Santayana taught us, "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it"

When you go to the poll to vote this November, you should ask yourself a question: Which direction do you want America to go? Left or Right are no longer the issue. Do you want America to go Forward into our bright Future, or continue going back into somebody else's dark Past?



As always, I welcome your comments
--ryan


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