July 12, 2007
by Keith Simerson

On 27 June 1988, Newsweek ran an article that contained a chilling account about Joseph Stalin and retold by Soviet novelist Chingiz Aitmatov in the following story:

"On one occasion, so it was narrated, Stalin called for a live chicken and proceeded to use it to make an unforgettable point before some of his henchmen. Forcefully clutching the chicken in one hand, with the other he began to systematically pluck out its feathers. As the chicken struggled in vain to escape, he continued with the painful denuding until the bird was completely stripped. 'Now you watch,' Stalin said as he placed the chicken on the floor and walked away with some bread crumbs in his hand. Incredibly the fear-crazed chicken hobbled toward him and clung to the legs of his trousers. Stalin threw a handful of grain to the bird and it began to follow him around the room. He turned to his dumbfounded colleagues and said quietly, 'This is the way to rule people. Did you see how that chicken followed me for food, even though I had caused it such torture? People are like that chicken. If you inflict inordinate pain on them they will follow you for food the rest of their lives."

Sort of leaves you with a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling don't it? That's quite possibly the most sadistically brutal view that one can have about their fellow man. Stalin then took that mentality on a diabolical journey that culminated with the extermination of around 15 million of his own countrymen. His rule was so ironclad and terror driven that several members of his own family committed suicide.

Yes, indeed ... debase your fellow man and cause them to struggle mightily and you have the necessary ingredients for a tyrannical rule.

Is there anything that could have saved the Russian people from Stalin's actions?

If only they had had a Constitution and a Bill of Rights like America. Then the Russian people would have been safe. Then they would have been protected because of the inner checks and balances that detect and thwart the potential of dictatorial rule.

Instead, millions were hauled off to government work camps where they could work under direct government supervision. After all, it was in their best interest.

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Remember Pierre Boulle's book, "The Bridge on the River Kwai"? While the book is fictional, Boulle, a World War II French Resistance fighter and POW himself, was also drawing references from actual experiences by French officers and the real life construction of two railroad bridges by allied forces prisoners of war that were to allow the Japanese Imperial Army increased mobility to further their aims. The book involves a British POW commander who must deal with the dilemma of keeping his men safe while keeping their integrity intact. But the colonel becomes so focused on building the best bridge possible to prove the superiority of British engineering, he seems to forget that it is aiding his country's enemy in becoming stronger. His own men begin thinking that he has gone insane.

In the end, the British colonel is inspecting his engineering marvel to see if it is train worthy when he realizes that the bridge has been rigged by a Special Forces unit for demolition. The colonel engages in hand to hand fighting with the "subversives" in the ranks and falls on the detonation lever just as a train passes over the bridge.

Appropriately, his last words were, "What have I done?"

War and the drive for absolute power sometimes can cause seemingly law abiding people and leaders to betray their higher ideals that they once held so dear for lesser achievements and rewards.

When the executive orders were signed by President Bush that gave him sole authority to impose martial law and suspend habeas corpus, thus giving him dictatorial power over the people, I have to ask why? Why does he need it? Why would Congress allow anyone to operate without the proper checks and balances that a democracy requires if it is to remain a democracy?

Why are our "elected" leaders so focused on issues that violate Constitutional laws?

Are they trying to convince us that our national security is so endangered by foreign threats that our Constitutional laws that made us the dominant world power that we are today needs to be ignored and overlooked so that we can remain dominant?

If you believe that, maybe I can convince you to build a bridge for me.

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Keith Simerson [send him email] is a self-employed foundryman and sculptor as well as an Air Force veteran in the security field.  See his website at www.stonereproductionworks.com, and his blog at www.goodnevilguy.blogspot.com.