Who is the REAL enemy?

[IdaBriggs]

Poll question: Who is the REAL enemy?

It is hard to pick just one, but let's try. Please vote, and if so moved, explain your pick. Enjoy!

[niyad]

1. how does one say, "all of the above EXCEPT for terrorists"?

[bryant69]

5. Terrorists aren't our enemies?

Hmmmmmmm

That's an interesting response.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[AntiCoup2K4]

10. Fictional terrorists certainly aren't.

And the idea of "Al Qaeda" being a "worldwide terraist network" is about as credible as a fat guy in a red suit flying around the world in a sleigh and managing to hit every chimney on the planet in one night.

[bryant69]

12. Hmmmmm

I guess than we are completely safe from terrorism; because the only terrorists that could possibly exist are those that the United States Government hires, right?

It must be comforting to live in a world of such black and white certainty. I can't quite manage it myself.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Solon]

36. That is not what he said...

Look, the way that Al Queda is protrayed in the media, as some type of Islamic Mafia, is simply false. At most, Bin Laden and his closest associates, numbering probably a dozen men or so, are the real Al Queda, and most of what they do is fund or give their blessing for what other groups do. Many of those groups are or were given Bin Laden's blessings and money, but he in no way controls them, at most he may advise them, but it would be impossible for him to control a worldwide organization as is protrayed in the media. In this sense, I don't worry at all about some "sleeper cell" that is waiting for a call from Bin Laden or another leader, simply because that will never happen. There are no sleeper cells of Al Queda, because that isn't even what they do, there may be other groups that Bin Laden knows about and gives money to, but they work alone, that way they don't get caught. That's the whole point after all, to not get caught, and having any type of centralized communication or hierachy will guarantee that you would get caught.

Look at how many times Al Queda's or Bin Laden's #2's and #3's have been either almost caught, or almost killed, and you know that something smells. Do I think Al Queda is in Iraq? Absolutely NOT, there is no reason for them to be there, they may provide financial aid, and volunteers from other nations probably do come into play here, but why would they need to go themselves at all? Who really needs that type of exposure, all Iraq is is a propoganda coup for Bin Laden's belief that the United States is interefering too much with Middle East affairs. Bush gave Bin Laden legitimacy with his beliefs regarding the US, and now his support grows.

[niyad]

15. we are in far more danger from the rest of the list than from (mostly)

imaginary "bogeymen", whose numbers are inflated by the fear-mongers to frighten us into accepting the destruction of our constitution and the creation of the fascist police state under which we are currently living.

if you cannot see that, I feel intensely sorry for you. oh, by the way, how do you feel about our very own home-grown white boy terrorists like mcveigh and nichols?

[bryant69]

18. Ah.

I believe in foreign terrorists so I must be ok with McVeigh and Nichols? Is that what you are asking?

Or are you asking, you are afraid of Muslim Terrorists because you are a bigot and a racist, but if you stopped to think you'd see that White Christians are far scarier?

Something like that?

It is nice to belong to a community where different viewpoints can be expressed. Or, perhaps I should say, it would be nice.

Bryant

[ZapaPaine]

19. The Terraist Myth

Found a very interesting take on ICH about the "terra" and "enemy" myth. This guy tells it like it is and doesn't hold back. Makes you wonder what in the world these creeps have in store for us.

The Making of the Enemy

Manuel Valenzuela

The coming years, like those of the present and the past, will see the continued spewing of fictionalized propaganda designed to manipulate the fears, hatreds, xenophobia and nationalistic tendencies of the population. The level of control over the masses and power over the nation in the years after 9/11 by corporatists intent on hijacking the country became, to them, a rousing success, thanks to the intense levels of fear and hatred engendered by the horrific events of that day. In the span of a few infamous days the corporatists had unleashed massive psychological warfare upon us, its effects still lingering in the minds of millions. Suddenly, those in power had become the puppeteers of the citizenry, free to manage us as they saw fit, our fragile and damaged psychologies traumatized, our thinking, human minds replaced by our more primitive, mammalian instincts and behaviors. An entire nation had succumbed, thanks to television, to images and emotions no people had ever witnessed, repeated over and over and over again. The making of America’s new enemy had begun.

The manufacture, marketing and dissemination of bogeymen enemies, both real and fictional, for a long time endemic in American society, has always worked to perfection, becoming the inertia used to control the population. It becomes the energy needed to maintain America’s permanent wartime economy. The creation of unseen bogeymen into supernatural evildoers fits the perfect mold of how the American citizenry has been brainwashed over the years through the use of Hollywood movies and television, with the constant themes of good versus evil, of fantasy and sensationalism, and of course the always needed happy ending, where the good guy always triumphs over the villain.



If the Arab/Persian can be demonized to be hated and feared by a population brainwashed by the hypnotizing glare of television, the nation will be much easier to militarize, the people’s children will be much easier to enlist as cannon fodder and the internal policies of the nation will be much easier to control and manipulate.

The sustained viability of the nation’s militarization – and some would say the ongoing embezzlement of the people’s treasure – desired by corporatists in power depends on the Arab and Persian and Muslim people remaining, in the conscious of the masses, forever an enemy, always a demon, their reputation strong enough to make of them a most potent adversary, capable of hijacking airplanes, destroying skyscrapers and threatening to strike fear amongst the population, as always hating our way of life. What better scapegoat than the Arab/Persian population if one wants to conquer the resources of the Middle East and Central Asia? What greater marketing ploy could be manufactured to make enemies of the same people whose resources you desire?


Can't wait for part two!!

Read the rest: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11340.htm

[bryant69]

21. Spelling terrorist like that

"Terraist" is a way of reminding anybody who disagrees with your analysis of international terrorism is probably a hick or a rube or a racist, right?

Bryant

[ZapaPaine]

22. You mean that's not how to spell the term for evildoers?? n/t

[bryant69]

24. Ah. A well reasoned response.

Which I suppose is intended to suggest that because I actually think that maybe we should be concerned with foreign terrorism, I must be on Bush's side.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[under_snow_in_NY]

25. I would say it this way, either ignorant, naive, or maybe even

sadly blinded by your own hate. If you think that everyone but terrorists are our enemy, you are
probably no part of the solution. This admin. sucks, is he the enemy, probably not but the terrorists
sure are, what the hell happened for you to get that warped point of view. I don't care how you're
going to try and spin your statement but you're carrying their water. Do you realize the ignorance of that statement. They want a lot of us dead, no matter what letter is in front of your name (D) or (R).

[ZapaPaine]

27. oh boy, pop that bubble

Perhaps you are made ignorant, naive or maybe even sadly blinded by your own fear or the damaged psychology left behind from 9/11. Naive to me means still believing WTC was brought down by airplanes. Ignorant to me means still believing Bush that there are vast quantities of evildoers and armies of fundamentalist Muslims wanting to harm us, especially in Iraq. Blinded to me means not seeing outside the box by actually thinking for yourself. If some Muslims want a lot of us dead it sure isn't because of what our nation has done to them over the years, right?? Or what we have done in Iraq and Afghanistan? Certainly there are more people that hate us now than before 9/11. Think cause and effect.

[under_snow_in_NY]

29. I never mentioned Muslims by the way, You did.

So you work that out with yourself. I don't fear terrorists or attacks, nor is my physce damaged by 9/11. I just feel that people who want to destroy our country are more dangerous than Bush. I don't like him or his cohorts but I don't feel that they are the biggest threat sorry.

[under_snow_in_NY]

32. No longer around to talk about your assumptions about Muslims

[ZapaPaine]

34. I smell manure

Talk about sparing us the bullshit. You say that terrorists want to "destroy our country" and "want a lot of us dead." What terrorists are you referring to, then, if not the dreaded ones from the Middle East? Terrorists from the North Pole, those cute little elves armed with candy canes, with the power to destroy the wealthiest nation in the world? Who is marketed by Bush and the corporate media as the evildoers with the power and ability to destroy our way of life, our country, wanting a lot of us dead? Could those bogeymen hail from the Middle East? Just possibly? Or perhaps you were referring to the gerriatric terrorists from Denture Manor? They sure can destroy our country!! And they can definately kill a lot of us.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Bush is the worst

because not only can he take away our rights, he is doing it right now with his spying and lying.

[texastoast]

3. Bush is just the puppet for the corporations

If it weren't Bush, corporations would be buying someone else. The real enemy is the whoredom of our system. Until the system is changed, only the names will change.

[Coastie for Truth]

14. But Bush's handlers

have latched onto the fundies -- across all denominations and sects.

[texastoast]

16. Not for long

If the current politicians don't deliver a "Christian nation," the fundie money will go elsewhere. Whores, one and all. Jesus would throw them far from the temple, and it is up to the citizens to throw the "Christian" politicians far from the capitol.

Bunch of nutjobs. Ptooie.

[indepat]

4. The real enemy is the enemy within, those who emasculate our Constitution

while on a partisan witch-hunt and act in a manner contrary to our founding principles such a "promote the general welfare."

[Democrats_win]

6. Yep, corporations/rich, they were here then and they´ll be here after bush

They were behind Nixon, Reagan, bu$h. We can go back centuries and see them trying to harm or enslave the people with every breath they take.

Now, they´re going to leave us with a massive debt.

[Jamison]

7. The corporafascists.

Money can buy anyone/anything.

[justabob]

9. christofascists nt

[TahitiNut]

20. Naww. They're just tools. Brownshirts and cannon fodder.

They're happy to be fleeced for the mere chance to wear a "Gott Mit Uns" beltbuckle.

[PassingFair]

8. Repuglicans.

Because none of the other groups can act on their own. They must be supported.
Hitler didn't act alone.
It takes supporters.

[porphyrian]

11. The cop out answer, and more.

There is no number one, except for arbitrary assignment and opinion. All of these are the "enemy," if we must make this into a militant metaphor. The real problem lies not with these people, however, but with the ideas they propagate; militarism, constant fear, corporatism, ignorance, apathy, elitism, classism and racism, to name a few. The battle of the 21st Century is a meme war, and we are merely the carriers.

[Coastie for Truth]

13. Need to separate cause, effect, facilitator/enabler

"Money Hungry Corporations Run By Greedy Short Sighted Scum!" would be manageable if we had a Justice Department that actually prosecuted Anti-Trust Law violations, environmental violations, securities law violations, and white collar crimes -- and enforced Sarbanes-Oxley. But "Bush & His Buddies -- Corrupt, Incompetent, Treasonous TRAITORS who HATE AMERICA!" have totally sold out to:

1. "Money Hungry Corporations Run By Greedy Short Sighted Scum!" and

2. "Religious Zealots of ALL Stripes who are out to CONTROL US ALL!"

As to the

3. Republicans -- Despicable fawning lackeys of a corrupt regime who sell their souls to the highest bidder!,

4. Spineless Democrats who don't stand up for TRUE American values (like the CONSTITUTION), and

5. Right Wing Media like Fox News, Rush, Hannity & Coulter who are obviously Devil Spawn paid to melt the brains of Decent People!

The are an EFFECT and not a CAUSE or ENABLER or FACILITATOR

[w8liftinglady]

17. The carlyle group,PNAC

they are the root to all this evil(IMHO)

[Greyhound]

33. And yet they are both (along with Halliburton, boots&coots, etc)

a product of the very corporatists that the founders tried so hard to protect us from (back then they were simply the families that controlled the banking industry).

[IrateCitizen]

23. A culture based on acquisitiveness

All of the things listed as poll choices are products of our culture. And, as a culture that has a primarily Western European heritage, our culture is one of acquisitiveness. It's the darker side of the Enlightenment that we're dealing with.

In a culture that expounds the doctrine of individual rights and meritocracy, the result ends up being that the individual should be free to do whatever makes him or her happy. And the definition of happiness is left up to the individual. Any attempt to regulate said happiness is seen as an attempt to deny freedom.

This is a society based on individual rights, to the detriment of collective responsibilities. Therefore, every single thing you listed above is just a symptom of the much deeper malady.

[under_snow_in_NY]

26. How can this poll be rationalized..

I don't like Bush or his admin. but putting him above terrorists, please, spare me the bullshit.
Allow me to open the door for you while you step into irrelevance. Bush is not good for this
country, neither is HFCS, but does that mean fake sugar is more dangerous than terrorists. That
by the way have no problem killing people who have nothing to do with their little fundie causes.
Give me a break, if this gets me banned than so be it. This is no "community" I want to be a part
of.

[cire4]

30. Quite easily, actually....

Some think that Bush has done more damage to America and the rest of the world than terrorists are even capable of doing....

He has killed possibly tens of thousands of innocent civilians and shown little remorse for it.

He has tortured and abused countless prisoners of war and has been seemingly indifferent to it.

His actions have contributed to the creation of thousands of new terrorists; Thus, endangering America for the next 50 years.

He cuts health care, education, and social security on the home front to fund his corporate buddies operaing in the "war" on the other side of the world.

There's no telling what future environmental debalcles his policies have subjected us to.

Need I mention the national debt? We owe the Chinese communists alot of money...

What about the drug war? Many Latin American farmers have their crops and livelihoods destroyed every year by DEA spraying. And we wonder why socialism is back on the upswing in South America...

I could go on and on...I may not agree that Bush is a bigger enemy than the terrorists, but it sure as hell can be rationally argued...And many intelligent people outside of America wholeheartedly agree with it.

[under_snow_in_NY]

31. Well like I was saying, I don't like him and don't think that he is

good for the country either, but the biggest enemy. Doesn't do it for me, sorry.

[ZapaPaine]

35. Snow job

How many innocent consumers do Bush's corporatist friends kill every year with their products? Perhaps hundreds of thousands? Per year. With Bush's protection and support. How many people died in 9/11? You don't have to be a rocket scientist or be living in a cabin under snow in NY to figure out the math. Hundreds of thousands die prematurely each year due to aspartame, prescription pills, defects in products,lack of healthcare, tobacco, pollution, etc.. I could go on and on and on. How about depleted uranium, and how many Iraq vets will die in the next years? Terrorists more dangerous than Bush and the corporatists? Pull you head out of the snow.

[sweetheart]

28. the real enemy is ignorance

We are one people,
one one planet
with one human goodwill
to take care of all our
children, and all our elderly,
and our planet for the
benefit of ourselves and
our descendents. It does
not matter what sex, nation,
religion or race you are,
you have the gift, the light,
as god champions awakening.

[hyphenate]

37. Too many to choose from!

They're pretty much ALL despicable!

[IdaBriggs]

38. Some good answers -- kick for more input! nt

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

39. Other. Premature Human Evolution.

Humans are still premature in their evolutionary progress. We are just getting acquainted with the whole concept of self awareness. So far, this little foray into consciousness has been a disaster, but I am convinced that in another million years or so we would've evolved to the point of mastering consciousness that intelligence reigns and selfishness, greed and evil tendancies are eradicated.

And no, this isn't insane rambling. If I am wrong in a million years from now I will gladly step up to the pedestal and admit my misguided notion. But I think I'm right on this one :)

[sandnsea]

40. The media

None of the rest can function without the aid of the media whores.