Live By The Sword….

Op Ed Commentary |  

Channel surfing I caught a Hillary Clinton campaign stop in Iowa. Halfway into her Q & A she commented on our nation’s problem concerning violence. Of course, her conclusion was that we need stricter gun controls with better background checks and waiting periods…. Yet, what she and all of the phony ’empire embedded’ media failed to acknowledge (or perhaps even understand) is just why we are such a violent nation. The old saying is that ‘the rot travels from top down’. So it is with our country’s long history of pre-emptive violent attacks. Mrs. Clinton was front and center in the decision to use drone missiles to ‘seek and destroy’ enemies. Of course, the truth of the matter is that for every (so called) terrorist they kill, there are substantiated reports of multitudes of innocent bystanders destroyed by those ‘smart missiles’. As with the Bush Sr. and Jr. gangs’ Shock and Awe carpet bombing campaigns in both wars on Iraq, our country destroyed thousands of innocent lives and ruined the entire infrastructure of a sovereign nation… no matter how dastardly a gangster their leader was.

We are a nation obsessed with war! Between the commercials saluting our military, and the 7th inning stretches doing the same, or the countless tributes to our ‘brave warriors’ throughout the media… it’s too much already! How many men do I have to pass by wearing NYPD or FDNY baseball caps? How many N.Y. Stock exchange workers are wearing US flag patches on their shirt sleeves? How many license plates with Army, Marines, Navy or Air Force? How many banners on cars stating ‘Proud parent of a soldier’ must we see before we realize that the propaganda is too powerful? After all, are we legally ‘at war’? Oh, the Military Industrial Empire made sure of that when they had the Bush Jr. gang proclaim that we are in a ‘War on Terror’ that may have no end in sight… unless we kill all the fanatical Islamists out there. Problem is, the longer our nation continues violence and occupations in the Middle East, the more the fanatical Islamists can recruit from underneath the Amerikan jackboots on the necks of the non fanatics.

Psychologists will teach that when the father continually bullies his young son, odds are the son may grow up into a bully… and the cycle will continue. So it is with the violence here at home… especially with our young returning soldiers. Check out the studies already done and don’t take my word for it. Between the violent video games, the macho **** that song lyrics reflect against women, and of course the worship of ‘get even’ violence against those who oppose US policies abroad, we have what we now experience. Imagine, a new industry here is the ‘Boot Camp’ disciplinary fitness business to get young folks and even now adults into shape. Well, the theory is that if it works for our military recruits and it works for football teams, why not for fitness? Well, I was bullied by a maniac high school football coach who used excessive drills and humiliations to the upmost. Did it work? Who in the hell cares! It made many of my fellow teammates turn off to the whole concept. It sucks! Yet, on Sundays our churches are filled with ‘ followers ‘of Jesus Christ… duh, the Prince of Peace! How anyone can kneel down and pray to his or her ‘ Son of God ‘ and then go home and cheerlead for violent empire is beyond me.

Philip A Farruggio is son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC longshoremen. He is a free lance columnist (found on World News Trust, Nation of Change Blog, Truthout.org, TheSleuthJournal.com, The Intrepid Report , The Peoples Voice, Information Clearing house, Dandelion Salad, Activist Post, Dissident Voice and many other sites worldwide). Philip works as an environmental products sales rep and has been an activist leader since 2000. In 2010 he became a local spokesperson for the 25% Solution Movement to Save Our Cities by cutting military spending 25%. Philip can be reached at [email protected]