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War
without end. Rape of Mother Earth by faceless corporations. Exploitation
of the poor. Subjugation of the masses. 9/11/01 marked the beginning of
a new era of profound fear and suffering for the human race. Contrary to
the Ministry of Truth of the United States government, the
terrorists are not the source of this misery. A malevolent
force has taken root in the United States. This force is rendering
damage terrorists can only fathom in a dream, and is actually
responsible for creating the terrorists. Psychological manipulation and
economic enslavement of Americans have enabled our government to
covertly inch the United States closer to tyranny with each passing day.
With an arsenal of weapons which include a complicit mainstream media
(i.e. Fox), an obscenely wealthy plutocracy (i.e. the Bush clan), and an
equally affluent consortium of monolithic corporations (i.e.
Halliburton)
at their disposal to extinguish individual freedom, the US
government becomes less of a government "of the people, by the
people, and for the people" with each passing day. While the
murder, mayhem and destruction perpetrated on 9/11 was wicked and
tragic, the spiritual subjugation of hundreds of millions of Americans is a
travesty with much broader implications. Our White House warns of the
dire consequences of "rogue nations" attaining nuclear
capabilities, but fails to acknowledge that the nation with the most
potent nuclear capabilities is governed by rogues.
Bush
spreads fear and loathing, not "freedom and liberty"
Much
of the rest of the world takes a very dim view of the United States. I
draw this conclusion based on opinion polls, numerous foreign media
publications, the existence of Hugo Chavez (and others like him who
dare to challenge the American regime), the hatred that has inspired
terrorist attacks here and abroad, and direct feedback I have received
from many citizens of other countries. It does not take much analysis to reach
the conclusion that people of other nations are justified in their antipathy
toward the Unites States. Our leadership is corrupt, imperialistic,
and morally reprehensible. Imagine living in another nation, under the menacing
shadow cast by a bullying nation which possesses a nuclear
arsenal large enough to destroy the world many times over, attempts to
force its form of government on other nations covertly and overtly,
clearly outlines its imperialistic designs for global domination through
The Project for the New American Century (http://www.newamericancentury.org/),
and which wields its immense military and economic might with a
profound spiritual emptiness, a narcissistic disregard for the
well-being of humanity, and a profound ignorance concerning other
nations and cultures.
Many
Americans find themselves captive to the invisible chains binding their
psyche, which is not an enviable position. However, people throughout
the rest of the world are subject to economic and military attacks orchestrated
by the twisted puppeteers Americans call leaders. Examples are
numerous, and include Iraq, My Lai, Dresden, Hirohsima/Nagasaki,
the Philippine-American War, the slaughter of Native Americans, and the
numerous ruthless dictators the United States government has installed
and supported in the interest of "defeating the Communist
threat".
Rotten at
the core
America's
leaders rule by propaganda and lies. Virtually every word which Scott
McClellan, George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld utter is a lie.
Propaganda of Orwellian proportions perpetually emanate from the
White House, channeled through enthusiastic cheerleaders masquerading as
journalists (i.e. Michelle Malkin). In his 1983 novel exploring the
essence of evil in humanity, People of the Lie, the Hope for
Healing Human Evil, Scott Peck could easily have been
describing the people who are governing America today when he stated
that evil is:
"The
exercise of political power-that is, the imposition of one's will upon
others by overt or covert coercion..."
Peck
asserted that human evil exists predominately in the seemingly ordinary,
benign people with whom we interact on a daily basis. Hitler was an
extreme example of one who was overtly evil. In a sense, people like
Hitler are less dangerous than those who engage in evil practices
in a disguised manner. Hitler's malevolence was blatant and
discernable. Peck's "people of the lie" are wolves in
sheep clothing. They live and work amongst us wearing the guise of
respectability and "goodness". Beneath their cloak of
benevolence, their obsession with attaining their definition of success
and preserving their positive image in the admiring eyes of others is
the root of their evil. It ensures that they will live in a
nearly perpetual state of distorted thinking and lies. A nearly insatiable
narcissistic need for the recognition and validation of others drives
them to act without empathy or compassion. "People of the lie"
aggressively act to harm those who get in their way or threaten their
image. As common wisdom indicates, lies compound themselves.
"People of the lie" engage in a vicious cycle of
committing iniquitous acts to further their goals of success followed by
weaving an intricate web of deceit to convince themselves and others how
good they are. Once they have "covered their tracks" and
sustained their image, they begin the cycle again.
Behold
a flesh and blood example
Karl
Rove, an incarnate example of those profiled in People
of the Lie recently reared the ugly head of his narcissism
when he remarked:
"Liberals
saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments
and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."
"[Conservatives]
saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."
Ironically,
it is Rove who desperately needs the therapy. Or perhaps it would
be more accurate to say that the world desperately needs for Karl Rove
to seek therapy. Rove, the architect of both of Bush's seizures of
the Oval Office, and a man with discrete yet incredibly powerful
influence within the Bush administration, is the principal person of the
lie amongst the many people of the lie who rule the United States.
Partisan politics and ideology are irrelevant. Some very sick and
dangerous people are at the helm of the most powerful nation in the
world, and Rove is at the nexus.
For
evidence of Rove's spiritual and intellectual illness, one needs to look
no further than his statements concerning 9/11. Creating false
dichotomies are typical rhetorical weapons used by people of the lie,
who are afflicted with a psychological illness known as narcissistic
personality disorder. With broad brush-strokes, Rove essentially
limited the response of 9/11 to two possibilities: invite the
enemy over for a tea party or launch a war. There are multiple
possibilities that exist beyond these two.
One
example would be to pursue justice against the responsible parties.
Someone needs to remind Mr. Rove that instead of capturing Osama Bin
Laden and impeaching President Bush for his negligence in allowing the
attacks to happen, our government launched a war against a sovereign
nation which had nothing to do with the attacks.
Another
possible response, which this highly narcissistic administration is
incapable of considering, would be for the United States to change its
imperialistic, domineering ways. In an evasion of
responsibility typical of those with a psychological malady, the
administration refuses to acknowledge that their behavior caused
the emergence of hatred and terrorism against the United States. By fighting
the war in Iraq, our government continues to exacerbate the problem
by creating a terrorist breeding ground and affording the terrorists a
chance for live training in urban combat. Besides creating terrorists,
the United States is inciting the wrath of the moderate Arab world
with our leaders' decision to continue the occupation of Iraq
indefinitely.
Who
gets the credit (or blame)?
Veils
of secrecy (an earmark of a tyranny) in the Bush administration prevent
public knowledge of just how much power Karl Rove wields in the White House. According to Whitehouse.gov, the official presidential website,
Rove carries the titles of Assistant to the President, Deputy Chief of
Staff, and Senior Advisor. I will not waste time speculating about his
level of influence, but Rove dose bear a majority of the responsibility
for the damage the Bush administration is inflicting on the world by
virtue of his successful efforts to infect the White House
with Bush. Rove is a genius of monumental proportions when it comes to
political strategy and winning elections. Without Karl Rove, there is
little possibility that George Bush would be sending the poor and middle
class to the horrors of a war based on lies, killing thousands of
innocent Iraqis, acting as Robin Hood's antithesis, raping the
environment, deepening the divisions amongst the American people on
social issues, spending the United States into bankruptcy, increasing
the hatred for America around the globe, and further destabilizing an
already chaotic world.
Besides
making the Bush debacle possible by orchestrating both highly dubious
presidential victories, Rove has provided Bush and the socially
conservative faction of the Republican Party with a broad-based strategy
to increase their strangle-hold on America. His multi-pronged attack
includes targeting groups which have traditionally been the largest
monetary contributors to the Democratic Party. Attacking trial lawyers
with tort reform was a hit on a significant source of Democratic
funding. It is no coincidence that under Bush, union membership and
power is at an all-time low. Offering strong support for Israel has been
a play to garner the support of the Jewish people, who are but 2%
of the US population but have historically provided 40% of the
Democratic campaign contributions. Bleeding the public coffers dry and
lowering the taxes on the wealthy are pages out of Rove's playbook which
have "necessitated" lowering federal subsidies of social
welfare programs, which Rove and his fellow social conservatives seek to
abolish.
Where
there's smoke, there's fire, and he will burn you
Rove's
history reflects a man who has struggled with applying the
basic principles of spiritual and mental health, such as honesty,
integrity, and taking responsibility for one's actions. Like the
hypocritical Bush and Cheney, he evaded service in Vietnam by staying in
school, but has been a huge proponent (and arguably one of the principal
architects) of the war in Iraq. In his early political career, he was a
strong supporter of Richard Nixon. As a leader of the College
Republicans, he was involved with Nixon's 1972 presidential campaign, from
which the Watergate scandal arose. His chief mentor, Don Segretti,
exercised successful smear campaigns against many Nixon-era politicians
and later went to federal prison for illegal campaign tactics. Rove's
career has been littered with direct and indirect involvement in a
string of unethical, dirty and sometimes illegal campaign tactics. While
his direct involvement has seldom been proven, unethical tactics
follow Karl Rove like a flock follows its shepherd.
In
the 1986 Texas gubernatorial race, Rove campaigned for Republican Bill
Clements against Democrat Mark White. Polls showed the election would
have been close, but at the eleventh hour, Karl Rove made an
unsubstantiated claim that his office had been bugged. White lost. In
the 1994 election, George W. Bush was running against popular incumbent
Anne Richards. A mysterious whisper campaign near Election Day
spread rumors throughout much of eastern Texas that Richards' staff was
dominated by lesbians. Bush won. In the 2000 presidential primary,
John McCain had a solid shot at winning the Republican nomination
until a smear campaign portrayed him as having been a
"stoolie" while a Vietcong prisoner of war, a homosexual,
the father of a black child out of wedlock (the reality is that he
and his wife adopted a black child), and that he was married to a drug
addict.
Perhaps
Rove's most heinous and cowardly political attack (for which he has
yet to be found guilty) was the leak of the identity of
CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame had the misfortune of being the
wife of Joseph Wilson, a US ambassador who challenged the Bush
administration's allegations that Saddam Hussein had attempted to buy
uranium from Niger. When someone threatens the falsely constructed
reality of a narcissistic personality disorder, that person becomes the
target of retribution at virtually any cost. Since Wilson represented a
threat to the success and image of his precious president, Rove
(allegedly) leaked the information about Plame to columnist
Robert Novak, who disclosed it in his July 14, 2003
column. Risking Ms. Plame's life by revealing her
identity as a member of the CIA in retaliation for Bush's lies and
image demonstrates the lack of empathy or conscience associated with a
narcissist. In September of 2003, the Justice Department
launched an investigation which, for unexplained reasons, has been slow
and inconclusive. Mr. Rove, as a subject of the investigation, does
have counsel.
Rove
has been implicated in his schemes on at least two occasions. Early in
his career, he stole letterhead from the campaign office of Illinois
Democrat Alan Dixon and printed invitations for "free beer, free
food, girls and a good time for nothing." He distributed them
to homeless shelters. The stunt embarrassed Dixon, but did not
cause him to lose the election. It was a rare occasion: Karl
Rove failed and was caught. In another rare instance in 1992,
according to Esquire magazine, Rove misfired again when George H W Bush
fired him from his campaign for leaking information to his favorite
columnist, Robert Novak. Getting caught twice with his hand in the
proverbial cookie jar further strengthens the likelihood that Rove had a
hand in many other reprehensible acts, particularly in light of the
Robert Novak connection.
Foreclosure
of Dr. King's Dream
While
the United States never fully realized the ideals envisioned by our
founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution,
Americans made great strides towards them through the course of history.
Tireless efforts by leaders and thinkers like Eugene Debs, Upton
Sinclair, FDR, Martin Luther King, Jr., and even the oft-maligned Jimmy
Carter brought Americans much closer to curing our social and political
ills during the Twentieth Century.
Finding
their roots in the Nixon era, and cementing them in the Reagan area,
social conservatives have utilized the undeniable talents of men like
Karl Rove to re-infect America with the diseases of imperialism
and economic subservience. According to Scott Peck, narcissists like
Karl Rove readily attain power because of their lack of empathy, their
desire to win at virtually any cost, and their obsession with
manipulating others into believing they are wonderful people.
Recognizing that he lacked the necessary personal charisma, Rove has
ingeniously fulfilled his narcissistic needs using George W. Bush as his
proxy.
More's
the pity for humanity. While high functioning, and obviously successful
by society's measures, Karl Rove shows many outward signs of
having the undiagnosed and untreated spiritual malady known as
narcissistic personality disorder. As American Progress Action
Fund suggested in a recent newsletter, and as I am
suggesting, it is Karl Rove who needs therapy. His ailment is causing
tremendous human suffering as he satiates his narcissistic desires by facilitating
the spread of tyranny in the most powerful nation in the world. Rove
has sown the seeds and tended the fields well as the cultivator of
humanity's blight, the Bush administration, social conservatism, and
tyranny. Thanks to his efforts, humanity is reaping a
bountiful harvest of pain and sorrow.
For
more on Scott Peck's novel and narcissistic personality disorder:
http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/traits.html
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-pe07.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ego/narcissism/
http://www.yuricareport.com/RevisitedBks/How%20to%20Detect%20Evil.htm
For
information about the struggle for social justice and human rights and
hope for humanity:
http://www.aclu.com/
http://www.amnesty.org/
http://www.worldwiderenaissance.com/mainstuff/mainportalpage.asp
?Level=Main
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