Any of you follow Swami Beyondananda?

[RussBLib]

Kinda silly name, but the guy is pretty smart. And funny. Here is his latest "Notes from the Trail." (He's been touring lately)

Notes From the Trail
December 15, 2010
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Wikileaks and the REAL "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

By Steve Bhaerman

"Is Barack Obama just a Wolfowitz in Sheepowitz's clothing?"
-- Swami Beyondananda

Last week, the news was full of the fall-out from Wikileaks and the failure of Congress to repeal "Don't ask, don't tell." However, the REAL "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, the one that has been misguiding America's foreign affairs since the end of World War II, isn't even up for conversation.

The "Don't ask, don't tell" agreement I'm referring to is the one American citizens tacitly made at the onset of the Cold War: We the people promise not to ask the government what it is doing to "protect" us, and the government promises not to tell us. This tacit agreement has empowered a secret authority so secret that no one even knows what it costs. It should be obvious to anyone paying attention that it's the "dark forces" that thrive under the cover of darkness, and we have given these forces unchecked and unbalanced power. Or, as Lord Acton said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

So if we understand that regardless of who is in office, there is an absolutely corrupt power in charge behind the scenes, we should have no illusions about why Obama's foreign policy looks a lot like the foreign policy the Neocons brought forth during Bush II. The Obama Administration, indeed the entire Democratic Party establishment, is a Wolfowitz in Sheepowitz's clothing, a "kinder and gentler" face on the behemoth that represents the raw power of money and might makes right. To put it more bluntly, we have gone from the lowly criminal demanding, "Your money or your life!" to the highly-criminal who have upped the ante to "Your money AND your life."

As Swami has said, "Human nature abhors a moral vacuum," meaning that when religion ceased to be a unifying moral force in America, the immoral force of money and only money took its place. And we the people - consciously and unconsciously - have been enablers for the worldview that those who have the gold should rule. Whether you believe Wikileaks is an honest whistle-blower site, or that some of the information was intentionally leaked for some other purpose, these two inconvenient truths should be obvious:

1) The leaked memos reveal that world politics is largely a tug-of-war between opposing toxic forces, and that most of the United States' foreign policy is to protect its empire, regardless of the impact on anyone or anything else.
2) We the American people have until now been intentionally deceived about our foreign policy, and more importantly we have deceived ourselves.

As part of the more important yet less talked about, "don't ask, don't tell," most Americans have been able to rationalize away our bad doings because we are the "good guys." To discover otherwise is not a cause for cynicism, apathy or resignation but rather as a cause for a transpartisan upwising - waking up, wising up and joining together beyond ideological barriers, just as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton did when our republic was founded. The bottom line is, there is no blame here. We the people of America have the exact governance we deserve. If you believe we deserve better, please join us now and in the New Year as we promote government of, by and for the people where the government does our bidding, not the bidding of the highest bidder.

You can find out more here http://transpartisan.us/ and if you so choose, make a donation here, http://transpartisan.us/?page_id=123

http://www.wakeuplaughing.com

[ananda]

1. A transpartisan upwising...

The biwds awe flying and the bells are winging in twanspowt
and waptuwe.

[Hestia]

2. Yes, he is great. He releases his State of Union next month. Excellent posts - I like his way with

words.

[niyad]

3. absolutely adore him, and he is just as funny in person