General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Chris Hedges: The Ghoulish Face of Empire [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)I love Chris Hedges. He can preach to me all day, any day.
That said.....
Who was blinded by hubris? The Pentagon? Blackwater? Halliburton? Bechtel? Manufacturers of fighter planes, construction materials, uniforms, tanks, weapons, etc.?
Dick Halliburton Cheney? Preston Bush's grandson, who thought his Daddy had missed out on exploiting the political capitol gained by Desert Storm? (Family scores: another reason to avoid political families, IMO.) Were they blinded by hubris?
Were those who run the media, that shilled for Bushco, to help them convince the masses that invading Iraq was a matter of our own survival, as well as honor and something all decent people around the globe owed the 911 victims?
The ones who actually had the power to get us into war and the means to propagandize the masses--were they really focusing on things like hubris (or American exceptionalism, or religion or freedom or democracy or justice for the 911 victims)? Or were things like that the things the masses were supposed to focus on while the DC magicians were getting what they wanted from us?
American exceptionalism, like bread and circus, is a great tool for manipulating the masses. But hubris alone doesn't pay for your kids' boarding schools, let alone make those big donation to the schools and unversities.
Power is good, too, but, if you ain't pre-natally lucky enough to be Preston's grandbaby, you even need to get money to buy power. So, we're right back to money.
Ignore the misdirection of the magic show. Keep it simple. Follow the money. From the tax on tea (and other other imports and exports) to Nixon and Rebozo to Enron and Halliburton, it's usually very good exceptional American political advice, and probably every other country, too.