Some American politicians occasionally remind us that the US should not try to be the world’s policeman; but after having listened to that save-our-blood-and-treasure cry, a sort of pretend-excuse aired time and time again for decades, I’m thoroughly convinced that it is just the occasional fake outcry; that imperialism reigns uniformly supreme in good old US of A throughout our monolithic, bipartite government and, unfortunately, the lion’s share of our politically-sedated population. It would be difficult to dispute Americans don’t relish the feeling of world dominance just as citizens of past empires have from time immemorial.
Puppets-like we are instigated by a shameless corporate media to negatively label, even hate, anyone and everyone who dare proclaim the emperor is not wearing any clothes. And patriotic whistleblowers, Edward Snowden unveiling NSA’s questionable behavior two years ago, just like Smedley Butler had eighty years before, become simply traitors; martyrdom-recipients of our mob-centric public scorn.
Back in 1933, Smedley Butler, a then retired major general from the Marines, and twice recipient of the Medal of Honor, wrote a book, War is a Racket, exposing a plot – a coup d’état against FDR’s administration by business leaders and military brass – listing well-known military operations [claiming to be about “protecting democracy”] as nothing but tools for furthering the business interests of US banks and corporations. Two decades later, President Eisenhower warned us of this undemocratic and politically toxic internal enemy: American-style fascism, properly tagged as “the industrial-military complex.”
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