Corporatism finds a new mistress. Is it just natural evolution that leads corporate interests to start new religions? This is not a serious story by any means, but it does raise the question of whether people's need to believe can be consciously harnessed in an overtly religious way by the corporate elite. You could certainly make the case that human spiritual impulse is already manipulated on an enormous scale, but let's look at the question from another angle. Will corporations soon create and brand and market new religions the way they do other products?
Media Whores Online is a good thing. The laxity of the USA's hyperexpensive media personalities and their slavish devotion to an increasingly narrow set of corporate owners deserves the kind of outrage that Media Whores Online is alone in dispensing. Without any analytical or critical instincts of their own, the rightfully named media whores dish out press releases as reportage and undigested spin as documentation. Compared to the desert of mainstream media, MWO is moisture.
If We the People aren't going to get facts, we have a right to get angry -- even (or especially) anonymously.
The president offered no new programs or ideas to repair the economy, although he did choose the literal center stage of the forum to announce that he would not release $5.1 billion in emergency spending requested by Congress to fight terrorism, saying he wanted to move toward a balanced budget as soon as possible. "We'll spend none of it," Mr. Bush said.
Another scenario, discounting the alleged alien voices on the cockpit recorder, is that the Bush administration knew nothing of the 9/11 attack per se in spite of having been one of its causes, directly or indirectly.
After an improvisational period the administration realized that the attacks represented one of the greatest image-enhacing bonanzas a president could receive. (Hence Clinton's chagrin, and Bush's giddy "trifecta" remarks.) Foreknowledge is an interesting theory worth pursuing, because one could argue that the only worldwide beneficiary of the attacks was the Bush II administration and its closest circle of friends and family (e.g., the Carlyle Group).
Couple this with an all-oil all-the-time policy (supported by the former CEOs of Halliburton and Enron who set US energy policy) and within days the administration set its sights on... Alaska! Within the week, however, it was clear that the oil opportunity was not in a domestic wildlife preserve after all, but in central Asia.
The conspiracy theories flourish not because of an innate American paranoia, but because so many signal aspects of the administration simply don't add up. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers carry Saudi passports, but the "axis of evil" revolves around Iraq. Cheney's June 1998 speech to the Cato Institute refers to operating in "places where, all things considered, one would not normally choose to go. But, we go where the business is [i.e., central Asia]." There are dozens more easily cited facts like these that reveal, if not a hidden conpiracy's agenda, at least an ability to rationalize self-serving behavior ex post facto. The administration's repeated denunciation of any criticism as "unpatriotic" is, well, un-American.
The scent of oil mixed with defense contracting hangs over the administration's every move. If we "follow the money," the profiteers of 9/11 will turn out to be none other than those directly connected to the Bush dynasty and its grudge match against Saddam Hussein. An administration's conflicts of interest have never been quite so flagrant (let's not even talk about Michael Powell, today's poster child of self-interest in a public position).
What's the mainstream media's responsibility in all this? Profit concerns force you to look away from the real causes and real effects of the machinery of power, because they're far less photogenic. Besides, you're owned by the same people you're supposedly reporting on. That's why it's important for you to marginalize people who think in ways that conflict with what you broadcast. We don't all believe in "alien voices"; there are plenty of unintelligible remarks already emanating from the White House that you seem to ignore.
Get Your War On consists of 13 pages (as of today) of brilliantly written comics created out of clip art by David Rees. Unbelievably hilarious and tragic. The link begins with page 13 -- work your way backwards. It's worth it.
Know Your Place! Shut Your Face! is a series of early twentieth century war propaganda posters ingeniously updated for our already sick and tired twenty-first century.
We would be worried about these extraordinary acts of evil if the guy weren't so gosh-darned compassionate. Thanks to Media Whores Online for the link.
If only the American public didn't have the attention span and mental capacity of a gnat, the unseemly connection between the administration's business cabal and its military mandate would ignite an outrage. Instead, the lead story will always be Jennifer Lopez's diet/dress/divorce or botox or a scathing expose of the latest athlete to flunk a drug test. Remind me: who owns the media?
It's August. Do you know what "work" is? According to USA Today, "People who objected to his [month-long] hiatus 'don't understand the definition of work,' Bush said last summer." Both he and Cheney will take the month off again in 2002, which staffers like Ari Fleischer insist should be considered "work" because Cheney will make at least a half-dozen "fundraising appearances" and W will "travel" to 12 cities to "raise money" for Republican candidates. That counts as "work," doesn't it? Isn't that what we expect from our "elected" officials?
