Witnessing the Failure of Democracy from Abroad

I recently wrote a guest column to the Winston-Salem Journal that, although it will never get published, speaks truth against the hegemony of the US government and the idiotic complacency of the citizens of the United States. Here is that article, titled “Witnessing the Failure of Democracy from Abroad.”

What is it that is causing what may very well be one of the greatest experiments in democracy, the United States of America, to fail? Why do our leaders get away with what they choose, regardless input from citizens they are obligated to represent?
It isn’t greed, lies, oil, or bigotry, it’s the most uninformed, most complacent and naïve population America has ever seen, refusing to stand up against their government.
The result of the labor protests in France was that French president Jacques Chirac stopped passage of the labor law, acknowledging the power of his citizens. Governments should work this way; leaders should fear the power of the people. The people did what was right and what was absolutely necessary.
People protesting immigration reforms are largely illegal immigrants, so the USA doesn’t particularly have to listen to them as we are currently attempting to remove them.
The people protesting the war are those families who have lost family members or other loved ones in the war, the ones who truly are aware of what is happening overseas with our military personnel who continue to risk life and limb to fight for what so many thought was right, but are quickly realizing is disgustingly wrong. Cindy Sheehan, a woman who has given up so much of her time and her life to promote her cause and to see that the war in the Middle East is ended gets arrested during the State of the Union, at the UN, and is labeled by congressional representatives as crazy and out of touch.
George Bush presently has troops inside of Iran, around the border of Iran, and likely has Israeli (American) troops ready as well for an invasion of Iran that will turn this war into what so many professionals, intellectuals, and people close to the source have already called a second Vietnam. The difference this time around will be Bush’s drive to use of nuclear weapons. How ironic that he wants to use nuclear weapons in a country that is trying to develop nuclear power, but only as a source of energy rather than as a source of intimidation and murder.
It is sickening and horrifying that American citizens, the same people who continue to shout about America being the greatest nation in the world, are the same people ignoring real news and reality instead of paying attention to the propaganda and lies of our federal government. The world’s greatest democracy isn’t the USA, it’s France, England, Spain, and Canada, as citizens in these countries stand on their own and protest what they feel is wrong; threatening labor laws, continued troop support in an illegal war, ethnic liberation for a group suffering for years under an oppressive government, achievement of an unimaginable level of self-sufficiency and civil and liberal freedoms, and in the case of Iraq, a country that sees its rights and sovereignty being blatantly disrespected and ignored in the pursuit of geography hegemony by a xenophobic and myopic president.
I wonder why the youth, the people who are truly being affected by this, not only directly but also indirectly, are refusing to speak out and stand up. Why do artists not use their creativity and power to speak out and protest in a beautiful form what is so devastatingly ugly in this world? What happened to music that protested war and the oppressors, seeking civil liberties and rights for all people rather than glorifying violence and drug use?
I have books detailing dictatorial horrors in Paraguay and one 600-page book detailing 21 years of military dictatorship in Brazil, all while I witness the failure of the world’s greatest democracy from abroad and the destruction of theories, writings, and intellect of so many people who sought to make the USA a great idea and a great country.
We are witnessing crime in the name of spreading democracy. “Democracy” once represented an idea full of hope, pride, power and strength. Stripped of this idea, democracy is nothing but a symbol for corruption, greed, lies and hatred. It is time to destroy this symbol and return it to its original meaning, the idea of life, liberty, and happiness.


I had a lot more to write, believe me (as those of you who know me will easily find believable), but they limited to me only 700 words. Look for it in the paper and tell me if it gets published. I’ll be surprised if it does.
Some of this is a little bit outdated, as is usual with things regarding current politics and the current state of the world, as recently George Bush (whom I will never again refer to as President) stated, in regards to the many one-, two-, three-, and four-star generals calling for the ousting and trial of Donald Rumsfeld, that “[he] is the decider” and that “what [he] decides” is that “Don Rumsfeld should remain as Secretary of Defense.”
My issue with this is that Bush is not the “decider” the people are the decider, but unfortunately the people have clearly given up this option that so many people throughout history and even today would have loved to have. I am so disgusted with Americans who have not stood up and made their voices heard. The last thing America needs is more of this authoritarian dictator running our country. It’s time to give it back to the people to whom it belongs.
What do you expect with so many people are purposefully blind to the hegemonic and imperialist conquest of the US government? Every American should lash out against Bush for saying something as blatantly authoritarian as that, but no one will because I guarantee at least 75% of Americans do not even know he said it. People should be laughing at this C-average failure of a president. Presidential and American government historians are already calling Bush the worst president ever. Worse than Cleveland? Worse than Johnson? Worse than Reagan? I can’t say that I disagree.
I guess I can’t really expect much else out of an American public or the country itself have conceded power and rule to the executive branch instead of reclaiming what is rightfully theirs. When the majority of the American public is absolutely retarded it lets me know how unfortunate majority rule/majority wins can be.
A lot of this I’m writing in regards to a recent newsletter I received from Progressive Democrats of America (whose link you can find to the right of this text [and does anyone else find Progressive Democrats to be kind of redundant]). It mentioned a woman in Ohio who has quit her job to run for congress. She, much like me, believes it’s time to take back control of the government and to get it out of the hands of evil lobbyists and interests groups with lots of money. She, much like me, believes it’s time to give the country back to the middle-class and lower-class (the former of which is quickly diminishing in size, and the latter of which is rapidly growing) rather than the top 1% of America’s money.
The progressives spoke out in the 30s and 40s, then again in the 70s, in 1992, and the time is quickly approaching for us to speak out again. I hope we can do it in November of this year and in November of 2008. Luckily she’s getting support from lots of grassroots campaigns and from a big organization such as PDA.
So at least I know two people have let/are letting their voices be heard, and when I get back, the blind masses can expect to hear even more of it. My time of hoping others get involved is over because it’s obvious to me now, especially since I have been out of the country, that no one is going to do anything at all except live vicariously while the whole world dies.
After our nuclear strike on Iran


Treason is punishable by death and so is violation of International Law and the Geneva Conventions. I’m no lawyer and definitely not an expert regarding International Law of the Geneva Conventions, although I certainly know more than most about it, but I believe the entire Bush administration and all the people who vote for his idiocy in congress and the senate, along with everyone who still supports him in any way should be tried and convicted on counts of treason against the US Constitution and the USA as a country, and the administration as a whole should be convicted for violation of International Law and Geneva Conventions. Their punishment? You need only to look up a few lines and down a few feet.
And if you’re looking for those responsible for all of the murder, death, greed, hatred, lies, and hegemonic, myopic, and xenophobic imperialistic colonialism that this government has committed, you need only look in a mirror to see the face of guilt and the face of the responsibility for the shadow of death that looms over our entire country.