Why are Bush and the other Christocrats/Christians
so in love with going to war?
By: Jeff Wismer
The war in
On
everyone’s hearts and minds these days in the war in
; the war rages on, and the
To Quote
Bush: (http://antiwar.com/quotes.php)
“I just
want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about
peace.”
“I think
war is a dangerous place.”
“...the
role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from
happening in the first place.”
“If we
don’t stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building
missions, we’re going to have a serious problem coming down the road.”
“Our enemies...never stop thinking about new ways to harm
our country and our people, and neither do we.”
“Our
nation is somewhat sad, but we’re angry. There’s a certain level of blood lust,
but we won’t let it drive our reaction. We’re steady, clear-eyed and patient,
but pretty soon we’ll have to start displaying scalps.”
“If this were a dictatorship, it'd
be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.”
Clearly
the desire of Bush to go to war was demonstrated in memos. The first of which was the
The
second was the David Manning memo. In
the weeks before the United States-led invasion of
What better way to
institute the methodology used to go to war with
In the
ExxonMobil
(http://www.exxonsecrets.org/)
Halliburton
(http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/)
Boeing (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/boeg-d17.shtml)
Lockheed
Martin (http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14402)
This in
turn is trumpeted by its main vessel of Fox News Corp:
(http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1067)
The
The lack of a full-fledged opposition party or parties, as
distinct from a Congressional opposition, is a liability in the current
post-coup circumstances. The political party as little more than an oversized
electoral machinery, one of the glories of the American political system (it
has spared the country European-style party bickering and instability) has now
become a major obstacle to building a national resistance against Bush.
http://www.thegully.com/essays/US/politics_2001/010403stop_bush.html
Karl Rove and Bush realized that if they simply branded Osama
as the criminal thug that he was - the leader of an obscure Islamic mafia with
fewer than 20,000 serious members - they wouldn't have the super-villain they
needed for George W. Bush to be seen as a super-hero. If Bush only authorized a
police action, he'd miss a golden opportunity to position himself as the Battle
Commander of The War Against Evil Incarnate.
And so began the building of the mythos. Osama as evil genius. Osama as worldwide
mastermind. Even Osama as the antichrist (as General
Boykin reminded us so candidly).
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0106-13.htm
For George to remain SuperGeorge throughout his term of
office, and thus to pull the country behind him for an FDR-sized transformation
of the nation on behalf of his corporate masters, George needs a war every bit
as huge as FDR's WWII. And that requires Osama to be as big as Hitler in the
minds of Americans. Thus, Richard Perle writes in his
breathless and hyperbolic new book An End To Evil:
"There is no middle way for Americans: It is victory or holocaust."
This archetypal transformation of George W. Bush from
spoiled, rich pretender-to-the-presidency into the caped (well, flight-suited)
SuperGeorge, Defender Of All Things Good And Right has
had a powerful impact on the American people, and Rove hopes to ride it to
victory in 2008.
Just a Reminder, there is the cost of
the Iraqi War. On
Then
there is the Death Toll of Iraq (http://icasualties.org/oif/) (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/)
Bush and
Blair might have done well to read a Russian report that talked to forced
democracy and the repercussions. (http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/8/588.html)
But then
again when you’re a Christian, you believe no matter how much you’ve screwed
up, only god can judge you. Of course
there is that shame and guilt thing, but when you’re as well insulated as Bush
and Blair from the outside world, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done
wrong if there is no real accountability for your actions.
According to this article, (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/10/opinion/edpabst.php#),
Secular Britain was shocked last weekend when Prime Minister Tony Blair said
that God would be his judge over the war in
In the
name of good versus evil, people are being killed, imprisoned and tortured with
impunity. For almost three centuries Christianity avoided capture by the logic
of the state, and was able to form human beings into a community that
transcended class, race and geography. This tradition was eclipsed in A.D. 325,
when
This dubious historical legacy was further compromised
when, in the so-called wars of religion of the 16th century, European princes
competed for power. Notions of race and nation were deployed alongside religion
to formulate political identities that were ethnically and culturally
exclusive.
Paradoxically, by privatizing religion, secular
settlements produced religious fundamentalism. Confined to the personal sphere,
religion is deprived of civic engagement that would mitigate fanaticism and
foster moderation, and faith answers to no authority other than subjective
inner conscience.
Indeed, this is why Blair thinks the invasion of
Hence,
convinced of their own self-righteousness, Blair and Bush are blind to the
reality of their actions. With religious zeal, they pursue their shared project
to make Western hegemony irreversible. Blair and Bush seek to create a brave
new world in the image of their faith, a vision that just happens to be
irreconcilable with Christianity.
War on
Christmas
Who can
forget Fox News sycophant, Bill O’ Reilly, and the way he trumpeted the “War on
Christmas”. (http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jack_cla_051216_bill_o_reilly_s_war_.htm)
O’ Reilly
demanded that Christians around the
Yet
another Fox News sycophant, John Gibson, wrote a book, entitled “War on
Christmas”. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175827,00.html)
But according to this
The latest alleged perfidy is the failure of the White House Christmas card to mention Christmas, instead expressing "best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness" and featuring a verse from Psalms. William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, calls this evidence that the administration has "capitulated to the worst elements in our culture." I call it a recognition, especially welcome at a time of sectarian violence, that not all the 1.4 million folks on the Christmas list are Christian.
This has reached its most imposition-of-Sharia-law-like level of intolerance in the campaign to cow stores into saying Christmas. O'Reilly, escalating his "Christmas Under Siege" campaign, has posted a list of naughty and nice retailers. The American Family Association goes further, calling for a boycott of stores -- it's targeted Target -- that fail to use the word Christmas in their advertising or in-store promotions. "Target doesn't want to offend a small minority who oppose Christmas," says AFA's chairman, Donald Wildmon. "But they don't mind offending Christians who celebrate the birth of Christ."
O’Reilly, Gibson, and all the other fox news sycophants out there sure proved their point didn’t they? They even got the other Christocrats so revved up that the GOP in congress presented resolution 579 to save Christmas. It was at this point that Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) responded with this poem: (http://www.patriotdaily.com/bm/poli/agenda/rep-dingells-poetic-respo.shtml)
'Twas
the week before Christmas and all through the House,
no bills were passed `bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near.
Katrina kids were all
nestled snug in motel beds,
while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In
and nuclear weapons are being built in
Gas prices shot up,
consumer confidence fell.
Americans feared we were in a fast track to ..... well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily,
a fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly.
We will pretend
Christmas is under attack,
hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger,
Wake up Congress, they're in no danger.
This time of year, we
see Christmas everywhere we go,
From churches to homes to schools and, yes, even Costco.
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy
when this is the season to unite us with joy.
At Christmastime,
we're taught to unite.
We don't need a made-up reason to fight.
So on O'Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter and those
right-wing blogs.
You should sit back and relax, have a few egg nogs.
'Tis
the holiday season; enjoy it a pinch.
With all our real problems, do we really need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues, I say with delight,
a Merry Christmas to all, and to Bill O'Reilly, happy holidays.
Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas."
The War on Easter
Just picture it, the tomb in which the
mythical creature Jesus Christ was supposed to be laid to rest after the
crucifixion, and the rock covering the entrance being thrown aside, with Jesus
coming out of the tomb with guns a blazing, and shots being fired back and
forth like an old western movie.
Actually all you had to do was watch the Colbert Report on Comedy
Central the other night to see that visual come to life. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a
long time.
Obviously Jesus isn’t fucking around
anymore, and he’s going to kick some secular ass!
Fox is again "fighting for
the rights the Christian Majority" with another faux menace: The War on
Easter. Undoubtedly, the "Spring Bunny" will cause the downfall of
The Republic. (http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002601.htm)
According to Hughes for
Colbert put it succinctly when he said, “The
war on Easter is far worse than the War on Christmas, b/c at least with
Christmas we use Santa and the elves to sell other products, but with Easter
all we have is the products themselves to sell, like the Easter bunny, so it’s
much harder to defend.”
As for further evidence the War on Easter has
started, we look to
A toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a
sign with the words "Happy Easter" were removed from the lobby of the
City Council offices, because of concerns they might offend non-Christians.
A council secretary had put up the
decorations. They were not bought with city money.
But City Council member Dave Thune says
removing the decorations went too far, and he wonders why they can't celebrate
spring with "bunnies and fake grass."
The following is an
email I sent to Tyrone Terrill:
Mr. Tyrone Terrill:
I'm responding to a story written today
in which you had the Easter Bunny thrown out b/c you were thinking of
"non-Christians". At first I thought, this must be a ha-ha
funny joke, then as it turned out, it was a oh, ohhh, ohhhh no! kind of joke. Are you trying to feed Fox News stories?
Are you on their payroll??..."War on Christmas" now "War on
Easter". It's odd that it would come from you, Mr. Terrill, a
Christian who admires Martin Luther King Jr., and one that stands up to
ignorance.
With all due respect...this is a very
ignorant act on your part.
First of all, the Easter bunny is a pagan
symbol.
Second of all, you're just another
Christian trying to stir up trouble. How do I know you're a Christian...
According to an article written last
June, 2005 by Katherine Kersten (http://www.startribune.com/dynamic/story.php?template=print_a&story=5447399):
"On Saturday, Terrill's home church
--
The war on Christianity
From a transcript of March, 29, 2006 MSNBC show Hardball with Chris Matthews:
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12079685/)
(Chris) MATTHEWS: So you want to identify with Rick
Scarborough's, Reverend Rick Scarborough's claim that the reason Tom DeLay is
in trouble with the courts, with the Democrats, with the media, is because he's
a Christian. Are you going to identify with that argument?
(Tony) PERKINS: I would not say that in total.
MATTHEWS: But he did.
PERKINS: I'm just saying that I think that that has made him a
target.
MATTHEWS: It has?
PERKINS: I think it has.
MATTHEWS: His religion?
PERKINS: The fact that he has been so out front on many of these
issues. Now in terms of his legal problems or what he's facing today,
those stand on their own. But I think that clearly anyone who stands up
and identifies with the evangelical community if a very pronounced way as he
has.
Did I miss
something? This would seem to be an odd time to declare
Christianity under siege. A Christian conservative president has just nominated
two Supreme Court justices who take an expansive view of religious rights, and
religious conservatives are ascendant in a Republican Party that controls both
chambers of Congress. Nevertheless
according to a
In fact, the Texas
Republican fell from power because he is a Christian.
That, at least, is the
view of Rick Scarborough, convener of a conference this week called "The
War on Christians."
Gary Bauer, a Christian
activist and former presidential candidate, argued in a speech that the
"War on Christians" in
And why are they
confused? Because American Christians are attacked by "elites" who
think
The agenda was similarly
ominous, with forums on the threats from
Apparently
it only gets worse for the Christians. According
to this article, (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/3/28/214939/827),
Last
weekend 25,000 youth descended on
A sinister enemy marches across our land leaving in its path the
ravished hearts and minds of
Last weekend's event had strong military overtones as in this
slogan on a T-shirt: Christi's Righteously Equipped Warriors. "I attended
the Battlecry event," wrote Debra Hubert of the
War Resister's League in an email to me, "and witnessed its military
metaphors, completely ignoring Jesus' prohibition of violence. I saw Navy Seals
pumping up nationalism and the wars in the middle east."
As reported
in The San Francisco Chronicle
Military metaphors abound in Luce's descriptions of the
struggle. He tells young people of how "an enemy has launched a brutal
attack on them." At a pre-Battle Cry rally Friday afternoon on the steps
of City Hall, Luce told his mostly teenage audience that "terrorists of a
different kind" -- advertisers -- were targeting them and that they were
"caught in the middle of the battle."
"Are you ready to go to battle for your generation?" he asked, and
the young people roared "yes!" and some waved triangular red flags
flown from long, medieval-looking poles.
It seems in times of
perceived threats and perceived troubles, the Christian community needs to go
back to its roots, and declare WAR! Why?
Because that’s what they’ve always done. As evidenced in this article, (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/3/29/142025/638),
War imagery in Christianity isn't new- in fact, it
is as old as the faith itself. When Christians were being persecuted in ancient
When
Christians came into power in
When the
pendulum swung back to the spiritual realm, war imagery (http://www.battlefocused.com/spiritual-warfare/)
was often used to keep the believer safe from demonic influence, and scripture
outfitting the believer with the tools needed to overcome temptation or
possession was often cited in many sermons that had the devil on the run. This
kind of 'spiritual warfare' (http://www.spirithome.com/spirwarf.html)
is part and parcel of many Christian sects, and rarely goes beyond them.
But things
have changed again- for the worse. The war imagery pendulum is swinging back
from the spiritual realm to the real world, a place that should be of concern
to moderate Christians and non-religious people alike. Instead of the Christian
version of 'jihad' or 'struggle' against the internal adversaries of spiritual
practice, the struggle has been moved to the outside world and its perceived
adversaries- all nonbelievers- including fellow Christians. The constant and
urgent message is this: Christians are being attacked (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/10/2/102405.shtml).
There is a war against Christianity (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/dean/?adate=3/22/2006#1385273).
Christians must go on the offensive and fight back." This message is
constant and unrelenting. In spite the fact that they are currently in power,
there is still a war against them going on, and battles to be fought against a
nebulous and often changing enemy. That enemy is now 'the flesh, Satan, and the
world'.
Of course
what all this boils down to is fear mongering (http://www.catholicleague.org/04press_releases/quarter3/040924_rnc.htm)
Fear of losing control (power), fear of poverty (greed), and fear of death
(religion). Bottom
Line, without fear being produced by the war machine to occupy the hearts and
minds of Christians everywhere, what would the Christians do with their spare
time? They definitely shouldn’t
have more time to become better educated and less ignorant about the real world
around them, nor should they use that time to improve their own lifestyles or
others for that matter. I would say that
Christian leaders and Houdini have something very interesting in common. They’re both excellent at the art of
deception and diversion.
Closing
Hymn: Onward Christian Soldiers!