January 30, 2008
by Paul Kemp

There was so much code-language used last night, I need a cryptographer to cut through the BS!  But after studying their ways for fifty years, I feel up to the task.
 
The 2008 State of the Union Address is a nationally televised theater production, with all the well-fed generals and bureacrats getting their exercise by rising to applaud(rather unenthusiastically on the part of Democrats like Pelosi, but rising nevertheless) every major dollop of spending promised to those on the federal chow line.
 
At first, Bush looks tentative and wary, but when he sees the audience is falling for his lies, he begins to swagger a little behind the podium and occasionally crack one of his trademarked smart-ass grins. 
 
It is all choreographed to give the appearance that all these "respectable" people in their uniforms and suits-and-ties are in agreement that we are making progress in Iraq, so we dare not stop now.  It must be true, right, if so many fine Americans are in agreement?  How could that many people be willing to lie in public for TV audiences?  (Have you ever seen what paid extras will do on a movie set to make an illusion appear real?)
 
There's a lot of money to be made if you play along and earn the privilege of being in that audience.  Dubya is preaching to the choir here.  You can be sure that Cindy Sheehan and tens of thousands like her are not represented here tonight.
 
It is worth noting that all the camera angles show only the Republican side of the House Chamber.  There are no dissenting voices allowed in this made-for-TV piece of fiction.

OF COURSE, the bureacrats and lobbyists for the Military-Industrial complex and the Department of Education applaud when new spending on their favorite projects are announced!
 
Behind the scenes, there are always elements of our government who make a lie out of all the fine rhetoric and uplifting imagery.  The CIA and the NSA never sleep.  While Bush talks about our initiatives to help foreign nations gain their freedom, the CIA is working covertly to make sure the voters of Iraq and Pakistan and Palestine make the right choices.  The people of the Third World  know from experience how futile it is to vote for anyone not CIA-approved.
 
Permit me to do a litle kibbitzing in the style of Mystery Science Theater here.
 
Bush spoke about "wedding guests in blood-soaked finery staggering from a hotel in Jordan, Afghans and Iraqis blown up in mosques and markets, and trains in London and Madrid ripped apart by bombs."  He neglected to mention the wedding party we killed, claiming they were an al-Qaeda gathering in the desert of Iraq.  He neglected to mention all the Iraqis and Afghans we killed to save them from terrorism. 
 
It's not only a fact that Bush lies, but he lies by the truths he doesn't mention.
 
Here's a good one: "We are engaged in the defining ideological struggle of the 21st century. The terrorists oppose every principle of humanity and decency that we hold dear."  No mention is made of the massive killing of Iraqi children - 500,000 deaths admitted by our Secretary of State Madeleine Albright - killed by U.S. bombing of their water-purification facilities in the years before our 2003 invasion of Iraq.  No, we never participate in terrorism against defenseless civilians! 

Not us!  We're the Good Guys!

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Talking about our successes in Afghanistan, Bush rips off this whopper: "Thanks to the courage of these military and civilian personnel, a nation that was once a safe haven for Al Qaeda is now a young democracy where boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope. These successes must continue, so we are adding 3,200 Marines to our forces in Afghanistan, where they will fight the terrorists and train the Afghan Army and police." 
 
Translation: We're doing so well in Afghanistan, we need 3200 more Marines to protect the shipments of Afghan heroin, which have captured 94% of the world market!
 
How does massive cultivation and processing of opium take place in an occupied country unless a lot of people in high places are being paid to look the other way?  And you can bet that opium crop is not being grown by the Taliban, as they would like us to believe. 
 
Talking about "The Surge":  "Those (Iraqis) who had worried that America was preparing to abandon them instead saw tens of thousands of American forces flowing into their country.
 
They saw our forces moving into neighborhoods, clearing out the terrorists, and staying behind to ensure the enemy did not return."
 
Oh Happy Day!  The American liberators are willing to stay!  Thank you, Allah!  (Strangely, all the reports I have read from Iraq show that about 80% of the people there want us to leave.  Including Prime Minister Al-Maliki.)
 
"When we met last year, many said containing the violence was impossible. A year later, high profile terrorist attacks are down, civilian deaths are down, and sectarian killings are down."  WHAT BUSH DOESN'T SAY: When the Sunnis have driven all the Shia out of their neighborhoods, and vice versa, OF COURSE the sectarian killings are down!  Ethnic Cleansing Mission Accomplished!  Nobody (without a militia) is left to kill!  Conservative estimates of one million middle class Iraqis have left the country.  That's a real success.  Fewer educated people to oppose our imposed plans for your oil production, etc.
 
Okay, here comes the Commercial for the Arms Manufacturers.  Let's see if our astute readers can find it buried in this forklift load of patriotic horse-puckey:
 
"This progress is a credit to the valor of our troops and the brilliance of their commanders. This evening, I want to speak directly to our men and women on the front lines. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen: In the past year, you have done everything we have asked of you, and more. Our nation is grateful for your courage. We are proud of your accomplishments. And tonight in this hallowed chamber, with the American people as our witness, we make you a solemn pledge: In the fight ahead, you will have all you need to protect our nation. And I ask the Congress to meet its responsibilities to these brave men and women by fully funding our troops."
 
Of course, the cameras cut to a close-up of the rows of top brass of the Air Force, Army, and Marines all rising - this time enthusiastically - at the mention of plenty of funding for all their wish lists of new programs and weapons.  And all the potential of kick-backs, graft, and future employment as "marketing consultants" that entails!
 
That was the highlight of the speach.  The orgasm of promised spending.  With a few tidbits thrown in about subsidized day care for the children of our soldiers doing their grim job that is necessary to keep our Empire pumping out profits for America's one major remaining export industry, the State of the Union 2008 winds down to a close.
 
When are the majority of American voters going to wake up and see this farce for what it is?  Spread the word, brothers and sisters.  Unless we rise up and support the one Presidential candidate who opposes the continued sacrifice of our young soldiers for the profits of the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex, our suffering has only begun.

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Paul Kemp awoke to the realities of American politics as a Conscientious Objector and war resister during the Vietnam era.  He is an entrepreneur and writer who lives in the Pacific Northwest. He welcomes feedback through his website, www.defending-your-retirement.com/

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