Sean and Sarah’s Paymasters

He surrendered his citizenship for a business opportunity. He did not become a citizen of the United States because of any lofty beliefs in the American system. He saw dollars to be made. He had proven his money-making system in Great Britain. Use the press to generate dissatisfaction in the government. Then report on the dissenters attempts of reformation. Use the resources of media to put forth innuendo and half-truths wrapped in good-sounding slogans and presented as truth. Hammer those who criticize with the wrath of the true believers. Impugn the motive of those who dare question. Tar those who do not follow in lock step with being “unpatriotic” and those who would destroy the dear homeland. A homeland he loves because of its ability to fill his coffers.

So he set up his dynasty. His new citizenship permitted him to buy television and radio outlets. His television network has 2 divisions. One broadcasts rank entertainment. The other is draped in the American flag. It loudly preaches return to the God of our forefathers, not his. His forefathers were sent to the land of his birth as prisoners to an island penal colony. His employees raise the praise of God and of the traditional family value. This is a proven winning combination. A failed German artist rose to power standing on “country, church and kitchen.” And millions of innocent ones died.

To add authenticity to his corporate version of truth, the message is parroted in the print media. One of his media properties used to be the most valued business organ in the United States. Once a prestigious “paper of record,” it is delivered each morning to the executive suites of America. This is a realm built behind the facade of “fair and balanced” and “we report, you decide.” It is a very seductive message. Who could ever question what one hears as news over the airwaves and confirmed in the morning newspaper. Especially, if one’s objective is to boost profits by demonizing your competitors as mouthpieces for those who destroy the nation and to remove God from His throne.

Sharing in his profits as  the second largest shareholder is an Arab and not just any Arab. He is an Arab whose family sets the policy of not allowing religious freedom and enforces this law through death penalties requiring public stoning or beheading. He is a ruling member in a family who sets the policy for the strict segregation of the sexes, where woman are chained into lives where they cannot be seen in public without they face covered, cannot dive a car, cannot be out of the home unless chaperoned by a male relative or husband. He is a Prince of the Saudi ruling family who hold values totally alien to the American way of life. He also rules in this Kingdom of “fair and balanced” as a large shareholder.

Yes, these 2 men set the policies and write the paychecks for Sean and the network’s newest analyst, Sarah. But I am sure that they don’t allow their paymasters’ opinions and their business methodology to interfere with their journalistic truth-telling. cAt least, not much.

Just One of My Musings . . . On Theater or Commitment

Time has slipped by. The furor has subsided. The media has turned to fresher meat. The “Rally to Restore Honor”” is over.

It was an event made for the media. The iconic steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The clean, crisp banners of red and white with Lincoln off-center at the bottom edge. Was it a Freudian slip that the color blue was minimized? Or was it a subliminal reference to the bold red and white flag of the Hitler Youth? Mr. Beck appears to have a fascination with that era. I felt ill just looking at a web site hawking 1936-1944 Deutch memorabilia to confirm that the Reich had such a flag.

It was a day when the American martyr of non-violence was hailed as a Republican and a proto-Tea Party member. An event where a white, faux middle class entertainer with estimated earnings of over $20 million a year and a governor who resigned her elected post to become an influence peddler declared themselves the new underprivileged class. Of course there was a representative of the family to lend credibility to the event. But was this a display of a commitment to the cause espoused from the speaker’s platform? Or was it stagecraft?

“THROUGHOUT history America has seen many great leaders and
noteworthy citizens change her course. It is through their personal virtues and
by their example that we can live as a free country. On August 28th, come
celebrate America by honoring our heroes, our heritage and our future.
Join the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin
and many more for this non-political event that pays tribute to America’s
service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s
founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.

Our freedom is possible only if we remain virtuous. Help us restore the values
that founded this great nation. Come join us on August 28th in our pledge to
restore honor at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.”
~ from the flyer included in the media talking point kit dated April 10, 2010.*

“5) What CAN’T I bring?
Please no helium balloons, pets, alcohol, fireworks, or glass containers. Please refrain from bringing signs (political or otherwise) as they may deter from the peaceful message we are bringing to Washington.” ~from the same document

Lofty words calling for a heartfelt response. A recitation of the highest and best of the American civilization. But isn’t one of the most valued American traditions to have the opportunity to display one’s thoughts and convictions via signage. Was this request made to maintain a “polished” presentation or made to eliminate sayings that might offend the organizers or detract from the overarching message of traditional American values? Is there another option for this request? Perhaps, the fear of the sentiments that may be displayed.

Commitment to a cause inflicts a high personal cost. Thomas Jefferson penned these words into the Declaration -words that reminded his fellow representative the true import of their signature:

“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

Stagecraft feigns commitment. The player faces danger but is protected by the stage master’s craft. The fire is real but confined. The swords clash with dulled blade and protected tip. The fall from a precipice is cushioned by a mattress. The accompanying words are brave, but hollow. The actor does not pay, but is paid. There is only a faux allegiance – the inconsistent duty of a hired shepard. On the Lincoln Memorial steps 48 years ago, a man stood boldly before a crowd that could have contained an assassin’s hand. That weekend, the proclamations were made by a man wearing a bullet-proof vest. He depended upon Kylar and not Jefferson’s “Divine Providence.” He was not willing to pay dedication’s price. He was the hireling receiving compensation for a day’s entertainment. Lofty words extolled by a master artist. A shadowed replica of courage. At an event made for the media and those easily swayed by an actor’s wiles.

After musing; Mr. Beck acknowledges that he wore the vest at the request of his wife. Would Abigail or Martha have made a similar request to their spouses? Would John Adams or George Washington have complied?

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The Great American Buyocracy

Buying influence isn’t new to the American political scene. Gathering together to protest or to support causes incubated the American Revolution. Lobbyists have been a part of the American political scene before the Constitution was ratified. The practice started as an individual acting in the behalf of a specific group with a specific need. It developed into “consideration” being tied to the effort. Gifts were attached to the petitioning. Gifts became graft. The excesses of lobbyists created a concern which needed to be addressed by legislation. Today, lobbying is regulated by the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Under this regulation, a “lobbyist” is legally defined and is required to disclose clients, “gifts” and issues. However, the Lobbying Disclosure Act exempts lobbying efforts conducted by grassroot and religious organization.

The influence of the Koch brothers and their affiliate foundations is getting press. Koch-controlled funds are being used to sway the California electorate to pass Proposition 23 which calls for the suspension of certain environmental greenhouse gas caps. The Church of the Latter Day Saints was instrumental in the defeat of California’s Proposition 8 concerning same sex marriage. On a national level, organizations such as “The American Christian Lobbyists Association” sponsor grassroot organizations to influence the defeat of legislation which may even tangentially address perceived threats to marriage, Roe v Wade sanctions and stem cell research. Their opposition ignores any of the proposed legislation’s greater benefit to the public at large. Hmm.. And grassroots and religious organization are exempted from regulation by the Lobbying Disclosure Act ? Interesting.

The American democratic process is being derailed by those who can garner funds to influence the system for their own gain. They operate in the shadows and across political boundaries of congressional districts. Using a web of interlocking organizations, they appear to have a larger base than they do – a mouse magnified to elephantine proportions in a fun house mirror.  These interests are  setting up a confrontation of David  (the local electorate concerned with local quality of life issues) with Goliath  (national well-funded groups espousing a political agenda.)  Yes, David won, but he didn’t have the Philistines running around his back distributing salt and bread to garner supporters who to keep David away from the field of combat or to sabotage steal his slingshot.

Oklahoma’s native son and humorist once said that America had the best political system that money could buy. In these turbulent days, the American Democracy is transforming into the American Buyocracy, where only those with funding feast on the fruits of freedom.

Building at the World Trade Center

Islamic Jihadists want to build a victory mosque at the site of the World Trade Center, where the ashes of the 3,000 American martyrs were spread on 9/11.

Decent American folk picket the site to stop this travesty. Conservative legal organizations take actions to delay or to stop building on the site. Pundits on radio and television decry the sacrilege of constructing a temple of hate on America’s most sacred ground. This is a cause based entirely constructed upon a calculated fallacy.

This fallacy has carefully designed to push the American hot button of fear on many different levels. There is the fear of the “other” – swarthy skinned with strange names. The fear of death by the most horrible means, a death by fire. The fear of the loss of control. The fear of uncertainty in a time of an uncertain economy and shaky financial health.

The “Islamic Jihadist” is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Born in Kuwait and a naturalized citizen, he has conducted workshops for the FBI and has worked for both Bill Clinton, a liberal Democrat, and George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, as a goodwill ambassador to predominately Islamic countries. He is a Sufi, the spiritual Islamic sect of poets Rumi and Hafez, a sect which values:
”surrender(ing) to God, in love, over and over; which involves embracing with love at each moment the content of one’s consciousness (one’s perceptions, thoughts, and feelings, as well as one’s sense of self) as gifts of God or, more precisely, as manifestations of God.”*

There is another Moslem lurking behind the scenes here, a gentleman who has not denounced his birth country. Al-Waleed bin Talal, a Saudi prince, is a large shareholder in The News Corporation, the holding corporation for Fox News. He profits handsomely from the revenue generated by the fear-mongering sensationalism hawked in the Wall Street Journal and through other Murdock-owned infotainment news organs. Then there is the second-tiers coat tail riders of Clear Channel pundits, inflaming politicians and fundamental Christianists who all benefit financially by confirming and by keeping alive the lie.

Long before the Prophet Mohammed, Christians have proclaimed their divinely bestowed military successes. The Emperor Constantine rode forth to victory under the cross and the cry “In this sign you shall conquer.” Faithful royalty celebrated their victories over heathen forces by erecting places of worship. Most of these churches and cathedrals were dedicated to “Our Lady of Victory” under one of her myriad personas. The victors have turned to dust in their cathedral burial chambers. The monuments to their military prowess remain.

During the days after a group of inhuman thugs destroyed of the World Trade Complex, the ash rained down. The only form remaining of those murdered were found in the posted pictures of the missing. Most of the missing were deemed as missing because of the cars left silently in suburban train stations and bus terminals. Any location south of 14th Street in Manhattan has been dusted by the remains of the victims. All potential building sites are sites made sacred. Yet, there has been no wholesale outcry for building moratoriums, only a building project by “those” people. Better keep the property a vacant eyesore , a memorial to the “Burlington Coat Factory,” than to become a vibrant part of the community who also lost fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers as they sat at their desks that September morning.

Finally, the one “fact” that can be dismissed through the use of the cartographer’s art. The building is not at the site of Ground Zero. The site is blocks away. In a crowded city scape, “close” or “in the vicinity of” includes many enterprises.

A lie is not in the words, or lack of words; it’s in the intention of the deceiver. ~ Unknown