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Cowardice Is Destroying America

George Washington's picture




 

 

America was founded on courage.

For example, I've read a number of biographies of George Washington, who was actually a horrible general. Washington's early campaigns were disastrous, and the entire Revolutionary War was almost lost due to Washington's early miscalculations (for example, his first major battle was fought from a low, exposed position, so that the British forced a surrender by seizing the high ground).

But Washington was brave.  He always rode with his soldiers into battle at the front of the line, even when there were waves of incoming cannon balls being hurled in his direction.  (Because Washington was unusually tall for his day, that made him an easy target).  Washington's courage - and his willingness to consistently fight on the front lines with his men - was one of the main factors in the success of the American Revolution.

The courage of the men at Valley Forge was also a turning point in the war.  Slogging on through the dead of winter without shoes inspired a nation.

On the other hand, cowardice makes people stupid and docile.

Fear of Hurting the Big Banks Has Destroyed the Economy

The New York Times wrote in 2008:

“The rescue is being sold as a must-have emergency measure by an administration with a controversial record when it comes to asking Congress for special authority in time of duress.”***

 

Mr. Paulson has argued that the powers he seeks are necessary to chase away the wolf howling at the door: a potentially swift shredding of the American financial system. That would be catastrophic for everyone, he argues, not only banks, but also ordinary Americans who depend on their finances to buy homes and cars, and to pay for college.

 

Some are suspicious of Mr. Paulson’s characterizations, finding in his warnings and demands for extraordinary powers a parallel with the way the Bush administration gained authority for the war in Iraq. Then, the White House suggested that mushroom clouds could accompany Congress’s failure to act. This time, it is financial Armageddon supposedly on the doorstep.

 

“This is scare tactics to try to do something that’s in the private but not the public interest,” said Allan Meltzer, a former economic adviser to President Reagan, and an expert on monetary policy at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. “It’s terrible.”

Indeed, Congressmen Brad Sherman, Congressman Paul Kanjorski and Senator James Inhofe all say that the government used scare tactics by warning of martial law if Tarp wasn't passed:

In addition, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and others in government made it official policy not to prosecute (and see this) - or even to disclose Wall Street Fraud.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind quotes Geithner as saying:

The confidence in the system is so fragile still… a disclosure of a fraud… could result in a run, just like Lehman.

Former IMF economist Simon Johnson notes:

The main motivation behind the administration’s indulgence of serious criminality evidently is fear of the consequences of taking tough action on individual bankers.

The Obama administration is , and the government’s entire strategy now – as during the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are.

Wall Street fraud caused the Great Depression and the current financial crisis. Top economists and financial experts agree that the economy will never recover unless Wall Street fraud is prosecuted.

Because of the cowardice of the government and the people to get tough and throw Wall Street fraud-mongers in jail (or  even to shut off the spigot of never-ending bailouts), our economy has been destroyed.

Fear of Terror Has Destroyed Our Liberties

Sociologists say that fear of terrorism makes people blindly accept false justifications for war.

That is why false flag terrorism - which governments around the world admit that they carry out - has been so effective for 2,000 plus years in allowing government leaders to convince the people that we should go to war.

Government officials say that 9/11 was a state-sponsored attack.  Some say that it was Iran, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Israel or other countries which backed the attack.

9/11 was - at the least - criminal incompetence and then obstruction of justice, and blowback for U.S. support of Al Qaeda over many decades.  At worst, it was false flag terror by the U.S.

Whatever it was, our failure to be brave enough to look without blinking has ruined our country.

Specifically, top economists say that endless war bankrupts a nation.

For example, Nobel prize winning economist Joe Stiglitz says that the $3-5 trillion spent on the Iraq war alone has been very bad for the American economy. See this, this and this.

The endless wars have also been a main component of America’s soaring debt:

TAX CUTS DEBT The Failure to Investigate 9/11 Has Bankrupted America

And huge debts exert a very real drag on the economy.

We wouldn’t have launched the war against Iraq – or the endless panoply of wars throughout the Middle East and North America – if 9/11 had actually been in investigated.

The police state also started in 2001.  Specifically, on 9/11, Vice President Dick Cheney initiated Continuity of Government Plans that ended America’s constitutional form of government (at least for some undetermined period of time.)   On that same day, a national state of emergency was declared … and that state of emergency has continuously been in effect up until today.

It is beyond dispute that 9/11 was entirely foreseeable, but – due to the extreme negligence and incompetence or lack of caring of the Bush administration (remember, I’m not getting into any other theories in this post) it wasn’t stopped.  Even the chair of the 9/11 Commission said that the attack was preventable.

If there had been a real 9/11 investigation, the government's  criminal incompetence (or worse) and idiotic policies of backing Al Qaeda would have come to light.   And Americans would have learned that terrorism can largely be prevented if the military and intelligence officers are simply allowed to do their job.

Americans would have learned through any real 9/11 investigation that Cheney’s negligence and mucking around in what should have been the generals’ jobs was partly responsible for allowing 9/11 to happen (Cheney was in charge of all of America’s counter-terrorism exercises, activities and responses on 9/11. See this Department of State announcement and this CNN article.   He messed up.).

In other words, a real 9/11 investigation would have shown Americans that 9/11 should of, could of, and would have been stopped – and that America can protect itself against future terrorist attacks – simply by playing goalie well in our country.

And Americans – instead of being scared into immobility – would have been mad at our government for dropping the ball. And we would have demanded accountability and effective service from our elected officials.  (Indeed, experts have repeatedly demonstrated that fear of terror makes people stupid … and makes them willing to accept a loss of liberty and other abuses they would never otherwise accept.)

Instead - as the 9/11 Commission itself states - there was criminal obstruction of justice and a whitewash of the investigation. See this, this, this, this, and this.

The Road Not Taken

Americans were led to believe that Al Qaeda was going to get us unless we took the fight to the Middle East and North Africa.  The administration pretended that Saddam Hussein had a hand in 9/11 – one of the main justifications for that war.

Had a real 9/11 investigation been conducted before we launched the Iraq war, it would have taken away one of the two main rationales for that war. (The FBI was also instructed to blame the anthrax attacks on Al Qaeda, and high-level government officials pointed towards Iraq as the source of the anthrax, even though there was absolutely no basis for those claims. But that’s another story.)

Dan Rather was right when he wrote:

We have been so afraid; so hell bent on destroying enemies … both foreign and domestic … we have hurt ourselves and our democracy.

Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser also told the Senate in 2007 that the war on terror is so overblown that it is “a mythical historical narrative”.

And as I noted in 2008:

Former deputy national intelligence officer for transnational threats, a 23-year senior CIA analyst, who “drafted or was involved in many of the government’s most senior assessments of the threats facing our country [and who] devoted years to understanding and combating the jihadist threat”, writes today in the Washington Post that the neocons have whipped us into an irrational fear of the terrorism. In reality, “Osama bin Laden and his disciples are small men and secondary threats whose shadows are made large by our fears” and our leaders.

This is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. The BBC produced a documentary called The Power of Nightmares in 2005 that showed that politicians were greatly exaggerating the terrorist threat for political ends.

And unfortunately, many in government have intentionally whipped up fear in the American public for their own political purposes. For example, FBI agents and CIA intelligence officials, constitutional law expert professor Jonathan Turley, Time Magazine, Keith Olbermann and the Washington Post have all said that U.S. government officials “were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in which the American people would give them more power”.

And former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge admits that he was pressured to raise terror alerts to help Bush win reelection. Fear sells.

And because 9/11 was never really investigated, the government – instead of doing the things which could actually make us safer – are doing things which increase the risk of terrorism.

As such, the threats from terrorism form even more of a “justification” for a suspension of our Constitutional rights.

The failure to investigate 9/11 has bankrupted America financially and morally, and has allowed us to stand idly by while our liberty has been destroyed.

What Do Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Spiritual Leaders Say About Fear?

Fear is not a Christian value.  Indeed, real men (and women) - and all real Christians - stand up to tyrants.

Courage is being scared ... but facing things anyway.

Let's take 9/11 as an example.  Numerous mental health experts - including the following list - say that fear of questioning the government's cartoonish "we couldn't have foreseen this or done anything to protect the homeland" version of 9/11 is an unhealthy, fear-based delusion which has led to an authoritarian regime in the U.S.:

  • Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, as well as Radiology, at Duke University Medical Center D. Lawrence Burk, Jr., MD
  • Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Rutgers University Barry R. Komisaruk
  • Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine and Distinguished Professor of Global Health in the College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Michael D. Knox
  • Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Laura Schafer
  • Professor Emeritus, Psychology and Neuroscience, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Michael Gabriel
  • Former Chief Mental Health Coordinator and Director of Manpower Development and Training, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and Lecturer in Psychology, Boston University Herbert Hoffman
  • Professor of Psychology, University of Chicago and Northwestern University Jack Sawyer
  • Professor Emeritus of Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies Ralph Metzner
  • Professor Emeritus, Psychology, University of Marburg Gert Sommer
  • Professor of Psychology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Ralph Hood
  • Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College. Former Major, U.S. Army Medical Corps, Vietnam Veteran 7 years service, Jon Bjornson, MD
  • Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nebraska and licensed Psychologist Ronald Feintech

In other words, ministers, priests, psychiatrists, psychologists, trauma experts, sociologists and other mental health experts say that failure to stand up and face our deepest fears is destroying us as individuals ... and as a nation.

 

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Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:26 | 2798927 Bartanist
Bartanist's picture

Full spectrum control buddy, full spectrum control. People are overwhelmed by the forces of evil aligned against them. People are subject to propaganda that tug at their primitive emotional responses. People are overwhelmed by their desire to fit in and be a part of the herd. Leaders who would help are isolated and eliminated. All anyone feels they can do is control themselves in the face of pervasive evil.

... and what of the evil ones? Most are delusional and believe their self-centered actions are normal, rational and not sociopathic. One must step back and look at onesself, our species and our culture to realize just how insane it is... and that is very painful. We avoid pain.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:22 | 2798920 Azannoth
Azannoth's picture

I've got 1 word for you and 1 word only - Pussification

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 16:30 | 2799154 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

I wholeheartedly support your right to form your own community of steel-ballsax, and invite the whip-weilding babes in bikinis at your link to join you.

get busy!  and get teh fuck!

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 16:39 | 2799177 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

When you choose to be a victim of your own selfdefeating nature, you fail to have the vision to even participate in real revolution. One that benefits all equally.

         ~  Gully Foyle

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 17:18 | 2799258 Azannoth
Azannoth's picture

This quote contradicts it self through and back 10 times over, another in a line of quotes that 'sounds cool and profound' to the uninitiated by mixing a bunch of words that mean something on their own but don't belong in the same sentence with each other

Besides I don't take advice from Feminists, male or female alike, so you get the fcuk(or whatever pleases you most)

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:15 | 2798903 edt
edt's picture

Your debt chart's a hoot. Tax cuts, of course, represent only a loss... not like they encourage economic activity which is in fact taxed, or anything, or boost GDP, which lowers the debt burden. I suspect your blue segment needs to be all joined up in one- 'recovery measures'?

Meanwhile,.. It wasn't 'courage' that led Clinton to do nothing but fire blanks against Islamic extremism in the 90's, or work within his 'no fly zone' in Iraq, as opposed of course to the cowardice which led Bush to take on the two wars in the Islamic world... It wasn't lack of courage that stopped action against corruption as the economic crisis hit- it was venality and networking. Gvt picked winners and losers according to where their friends were, never mind where the bodies were buried (or maybe their 'firends' were exactly the ones who knew where the bodies were buried...) Let's face it, the same Feds that let Wall Street off the hook went hell for leather against Conrad Black. They want you to think they lacked courage- lack of courage isn't indictable- in fact they had vested interests. They rather like a good witch hunt, they just won't shop their chums, their familiars or their accomplices.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:12 | 2798896 Gringo Viejo
Gringo Viejo's picture

I'm reminded of the scene in Lawrence of Arabia where sitting around the campfire at night, Lawrence's arab guide asks him "What kind of people are the English?" Lawrence replies "They are a fat people, a silly people."

History rhymes.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:47 | 2798976 JR
JR's picture

A Lesson From Lawrence of Arabia

2002 Boaz Rauchwerger

In light of the continuing conflict in the Middle East, and the fact that I was born in Israel, I'd like to share my view of most of the Arab world. Take away the extremists and the terrorists, who are in the minority, and you'll find some of the most hospitable, loyal, supportive, peaceful, genuine people anywhere.

How do I know? I have some very close friends who are Arabs. I trust them explicitly. They feel that they and we (the Jews) are cousins from biblical times. And that we were meant to work together and to thrive together.

In our stressful world, there are some valuable lessons we can learn from the Arabs. T.E. Lawrence, the British soldier and author of World War I fame, inspired the movie "Lawrence of Arabia." He became famous for his exploits as British Military liaison to the Arab Revolt. He, and others from the British Empire, learned much from the Arabs in the desert. Many of these Arabs were wandering shepherds that were more prone to peace than to war.

Lawrence and other foreigners, who lived with the Arabs in the desert...became familiar with their religion and their belief in Mohammed.

As the story is told (by R.V.C. Bodley) i n Dale Carnegie's book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: the Arabs taught these foreigners how to conquer worry. They believed that every word that Mohammed wrote in the Koran is the divine revelation of Allah. That's why they take life so calmly and don't usually get upset when things go wrong. That doesn't mean that, in the face of disaster, they don't respond.

A foreigner (Bodley) lived through a horrible desert windstorm. The heat from the wind was unbearable. Although he was nearly driven mad, the Arabs did not complain. He simply said, "Machtoob," IT IS WRITTEN.

Immediately after the storm, they took action. They slaughtered all the lambs, because they knew they would die anyway. They hoped to save the mother sheep. After the lambs were slaughtered, the flocks were driven southward to water. This was all done calmly, without worry or complaining or mourning over their losses. The tribal chief said, "It is not too bad. We might have lost everything. But, praise God, we have 40% of our sheep left to make a new start."

On another occasion, when this foreigner was riding in a car across the desert with some Arabs, a tire blew out. The driver forgot to fix the spare. So there they were with only three tires. The foreigner got upset and started fuming. He asked the Arabs what they were going to do. They reminded him that getting excited wouldn't help. The blown out tire, they said, was the will of Allah and nothing could be done about it. So, they started on, crawling along on the rim of a wheel.

Soon the car ran out of gas. The chief merely remarked, "Machtoob." And, there again, instead of shouting at the driver for not filling the tank with enough gas, everyone remained calm and they all walked to their destination, singing as they went. ...

The opposite of worry is the happy acceptance of the inevitable. That will help tremendously in settling our nerves. When challenges occur, let us accept the inevitable and make the best of the situation.

http://lithyem.net/articles/power_6-17-02.php

 

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 15:02 | 2799003 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

"Soon the car ran out of gas...The opposite of worry is the happy acceptance of the inevitable...instead of shouting at the driver for not filling the tank with enough gas, everyone remained calm and they all walked to their destination, singing as they went..."

And then the day turned to night, and because no one brought blankets, having trusted the driver who forgot gas, they all froze to death in the desert night.

Running out of gas wasn't inevitable, but the next time, it's probably just as likely to happen, since no one gave a shit the first time, or simply failed to speak up and admonish the idiot for endangering them all.

Sheesh...when I wrote http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-09-15/cowardice-destroying-ame..., I sure as hell didn't expect to find a perfect example of it right here in a single blog post.

THAT is exactly the kind of cowardice that gets people killed and wreaks havoc and destruction. Silence when anything but silence is warranted.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 15:43 | 2799081 JR
JR's picture

Thank you for your response, but I think you may have cowardice and power mixed up.

I find this philosophy, in the example, admirable discipline which takes power. But some might not and some would look for a character flaw in this philosophy on which to base a hatred of a people. And for those who would do that, they have been instrumental in identifying the Arab people as targets.

Yes, a people dismissed as waste, wasted humans, “cowards,” and, thus, enemies of Israel and the United States where nothing can be done about them except extermination.

By the way, this was only a simple anecdote.  Bodley lived with the Arabs seven years. But your post has made a singled episode of self control the subject of vitriolic hatred. Is it any wonder that the attitudes of the fringes on their side and the side you represent are now at war with each other?

 

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 16:18 | 2799124 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

"Thank you for your response, but I think you may have cowardice and power mixed up."

Really? It's an act of brutal and oppressive power to tell your hired driver he's a dumbass for not brinking gas on a long trip thru the desert? Hell, why not just reward him so he does it the next time too? I feel terrible now. Just recently, some idiots at one of those fast lube kind of spots drained the old oil and forgot to replace it. Engine ruined in about five minutes. I actually insisted they replace my engine (they did.) How oppressive of me.

Vitriolic hatred? Sheesh dude. I think you're taking yourself and your post (and mine perhaps) just a wee bit too seriously. It must be due to the reality varation between this universe and the one you've stumbled into.

I hate to break this to you, but my defense of the act of speaking up when people do irresponsible and idiotic things, has nothing to do with "Arabs" one way or the other. And okay, your parable was intended to make a point about "accepting the inevitable." Maybe a better context for that would be on a blog where relatives of dying cancer patients are chatting, rather than on a blog where the entire subject of discussion is how cowardice destroys. Or you might try a blog devoted to Zen Buddhism in Dutch Coffee Houses (try De Rokerij in Leidseplein. Perfectly gezellig.)

We have another blogger here, LetThemEatRand, whose entire worldview is framed by his hatred for Ayn Rand and her followers (to him, that means just about everyone here), after having read one book about her (he has read nothing by her.) There's another here "AnAnonymous", who cannot frame any point without branding whatever he's ranting about "Americanism." He read a book too.

So I guess you're the guy for whom everyone is either an Arab-lover or Arab-hater, and nothing more is relevant, even if they are posting the daily weather report. What book did you read? Oh, you saw a movie, "Lawrence of Arabia". Do you not see the irony in what you took from that? Lawrence succeeded because he spoke up and acted on it, while the cowards were content to just leave the status quo intact.

Note that you were unable to deal with my post except by perfectly contradicting the entire point you intended in your original post! Good job! You're flailing but at least you're acting a little more like you have some sack. Welcome to Fight Club.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 20:29 | 2799541 JR
JR's picture

I’ll take under advisement your main suggestions as to where my presence would be more appropriate.

But in the meantime, I’d just like to comment that the last few days with America at war and with so many millions of people around the world upset with America, I have listened endlessly to brave people on the radio explain what they would do to those people who don’t like us.

And I particularly remember one young man suggesting that America should be like it was in WWI and WWII and stop pussyfooting around with those Arab enemies. His meaning was that we should go in with a military force and conquer and occupy like the days of old; perhaps 700,000 to 800,000 ground troops moved into Iran, Syria… take your choice, with accompanying fire power that only the American military machine can provide. And, our hero, could then sit back and watch the reports on television as America fought WWIII just like George Patton would have done.

Now, that’s bravery and there’s no cowardice in that statement. Of course, like the people on this blog, he didn’t identify himself so I can only guess that he himself is extremely brave.

So, perhaps you’ll forgive me if you thought my description of a parable about Arabs, their philosophy and my admiration for it missed the lesson of cowardice that you picked up on. And you’ll forgive me if you thought I was referring to Arabs since the episode and the phillosphy was about Arabs.

May I also add that this tough talk I’ve been hearing this week is the kind of talk that got us into an inappropriate war in Iraq and a quagmire in Afghanistan and created devastation and enemies throughout the Middle East.

If you want an example of bravery, the Tylers, IMO,  are brave.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son.

--Rudyard Kipling

 

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 22:23 | 2799743 Element
Element's picture

 

 

"conquer and occupy like the days of old; perhaps 700,000 to 800,000 ground troops moved into Iran, Syria… take your choice, with accompanying fire power that only the American military machine can provide."

 

They tried the old 700,000 trick in Vietnam plus all the concentrated US heavy firepower that they could squeeze into one small area, and lost over 50,000 dead and I don't remember how many wounded.  And Washington and the Pentagon got it's arse handed to them by a cadre of provincial rice farmers ("terrorists" in today's vernacular, but they were called "guerillas" by the MSM back then).

Much worse would happen in the Middle East, and almost immediately, as big chunks of the global oil supply goes away overnight, and the US and NATO are in industrial shutdown a couple of months later.

The old WWII recipe leads to a much more damaging situations almost immediately.  It's why everyone knew at the end of WWII that WWIII would be immeasurably worse than WWII.

If the Pentagon assessed a 2.5 million man Army was militarily necessary, viable and useable in three simultaneous theatres, it would have it.  The only countries today with really large Armies are ones that are in fear of invasion and occupation, or they are maintaining this as a retaliatory option in the event that they are attacked.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 03:00 | 2800031 Clashfan
Clashfan's picture

But was the purpose in VN to win? Hardly. Sometimes war itself is the purpose.

Did someone say heroin? That, too.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 22:59 | 2799804 JR
JR's picture

An honest response, Element, from which we all can learn -- a summation that every man, woman and student should read. Thank you.

 

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 03:29 | 2800046 Element
Element's picture

You're welcome

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 22:56 | 2799797 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

The American military is capable of taking over the entire world  in a way unprecedented in history [full disclosure -- I am American, but do not advocate same] but for nuclear weapons.   If there were no such thing as nukes, America could effectively own any country it wanted just as the British did in the 1700's.  But it is not the 1700's.   The relevant theaters of operation are shrinking.  It doesn't matter much the level of conventional superiority we have if a country can hit the red button and take out ________ [name base or city].  The fundamental paradigm of warfare has changed.  This is why we spend so much fiat money running around the world bullying the few remaining countries who don't have nukes.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 22:12 | 2799605 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

The irony of course is that all war except true self-defense is cowardice.  Americans have been conditioned to be afraid of muslims, terrorists, commies, chinese, Iran, anyone with a turban, people with beards (except Bernanke, of whom we actually should be very afraid), people who live in countries with goats (except ours, because our goats are not muslim), etc.  So we spend trillions each year arming ourselves to the teeth and putting complete pussies like Cheney into office.  Cheney of course never served a day in the military and his only experience with combat was shooting a friend in the face while "hunting" birds that were being released from cages for easy slaughter.  The man is the very definition of chicken hawk.  The last President we had who served in anything approaching combat was Bush, Sr., who wisely avoided a war with Iraq even though he had every excuse, and it cost him the election.   George Washington was strongly against the maintenance of standing armies.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 13:31 | 2800740 geno-econ
geno-econ's picture

Are you suggesting Cheney and Bush be strapped onto a Drone missle to express courage ? Not a bad idea. Using Drones is a new weapon for cowards.  Imagine how you would feel if a foreign nation was hovering drones over your home ?  Middle East uprisings although rooted in religion ,are also about respect for sovereignty, culture and of course oil which trumps all other considerations.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 05:33 | 2800133 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

Good job LTER. And you said it all without even framing it with some bullshit about Ayn Rand. Maybe someday when you look back with a more objective view, you'll see that your good buddy, the Nobel Peace Prize winning PRESIDENT Barack Obama, meets the definition of chicken hawk at least as well as VICE President Cheney. My guess is that once he's reselected, the kid gloves will come off. His new motto will probably be, "If you want to fix an economy, you've got to break some windows."

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 17:08 | 2799243 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

You sure have a high opinion of yourself.  Bravo for penning the most long-winded, self-righteous post of the day.  

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 18:31 | 2799374 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

Awww...are you still smarting over this:

Ayn Rand had some great stuff. A lot of libertarian-minded people were influenced by her ideas, directly or indirectly. But she viewed the world as all black and white. She frequently said exactly that, and explicitly condemned those who found or looked for the gray. In her view, everything and everyone was either good or evil. The characters in her novels are mostly caricatures, mere walking incarnations of black or white. She admitted the same. It had the positive effect of making her "point" clear as day, and she made some great points. Unfortunately for her and those around her, this spilled over into her personal life and it created great misery for her and for them.

LTER (LetThemEatRand) views the world in exactly the same manner. Exactly. The only difference is, her black is his white, and vice versa. No doubt LTER rants about Rand with everyone around him, whether at home,work, standing in line at the grocery store...and has driven people away or driven them to think he's batshit crazy. I can just see him on lunch break at work, and a coworker mentions his daughter is taking tap dancing for a role in the high school musical, and LTER injects, "Ayn Rand once said that tap dancing is superior to all other forms of dance. So tap dancing is evil." (Ayn Rand did actually write that all dance forms are inferior to tap dancing. Heh.)

LTER, as a result of his obsession with Ayn Rand, learned that many libertarian-minded people were influenced by Rand. He discovered that zh readers tend to be libertarian-minded. So he came here, chose the moniker he did, as a way to sort of lay a spider web to ensnare a few people now and then in order to vent his anger and hatred at those he views as black/evil (that is, at most anyone here, even if they've never heard of Ayn Rand.) It's like if I read a book about Saul Alinsky written by Bill O'Reilly, then spent every moment of my life on Huff Po, accusing anyone who said anything that even hinted of modern liberalism, of being a fascist communist silver pony-tail hell bent on destroying America in order to hand the world over to a globalist socialist Caliphate. LTER is a troll, but not a common troll. A common troll has a much wider arsenal. And knows he's a troll.

There's an old saying, "You become what you hate." LTER is a fine example. In most every way that truly matters, especially with regard to the black and white manner he views the world, he is a mirror image of Ayn Rand.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 19:51 | 2799483 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

I must have really gotten to you.  Don't worry, though, I'm sure many here will give you thumbs up and tell you everything is going to be okay.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 10:21 | 2800156 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

"I must have really gotten to you."

Just proved my point (your whole purpose in being here is to "get to people", especially if you think they've even heard of your arch nemesis, Ayn Rand. LMAO)

"Don't worry, you'll probably get lots of thumbs up."

LTER, your obsession with "thumbs up" and "+1s" is almost as hilarious as your obsession with Ayn Rand.

 

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 16:04 | 2801123 RockyRacoon
RockyRacoon's picture

I read all of Rand's works -- as an early 20s fanatic would.  I found her to be very nice scenery on the way to my destination.  Too many stopped at the scenic overlook and never proceeded on their way.   Her philosophy is only a part of the tapestry of understanding, not a final product.   Those who end their pursuit of knowledge and understanding at her doorstep remain undeveloped intellectually.   Just my view.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 17:50 | 2801371 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

RockyRacoon, I agree totally, and very well stated.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 16:49 | 2799195 akak
akak's picture

What a great post!

I admire your contempt and impatience with the very sort of cowardice and inaction that is the topic of the article here.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 18:34 | 2799379 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

LOL! Impatience? It took a while to write those! Heh. Contempt? Certainly.

I often enjoy your posts akak.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:37 | 2798958 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

Tafas: You are not fat?
T.E. Lawrence: No. I'm different.

 

Viva la differance, non?

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 18:48 | 2799407 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

Mad dogs and Englishmen...

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 02:43 | 2800026 Clashfan
Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:26 | 2798926 edt
edt's picture

Lawrence was a cheeky f*ing beggar. (in the film version;-)

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:10 | 2798891 Gadfly
Gadfly's picture

Speaking of cowardice, Global Research has posted an article from your blog, changed the title and conclusion, and falsely attributed it to you.  Just sent the following email.  

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky,
President and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
Editor of
GlobalResearch.ca
Dear Mr. Chossudovsky   On the homepage of your website the following articles appears: 9/11: The Mysterious Collapse of WTC Building 7 was Not An Inside Job, By Washingon's Blog,September 14, 2012.   I’ve been to Washington’s Blog. This is NOT the article that appears on that site, nor are the facts or conclusions the same, and yet you attribute this trash to Washington’s Blog.   This is an outrageous act and despicable conduct, and the article on your website should be taken down immediately, or attributed to the shill and tool who wrote it.     Signed,   A concerned citizen.
Sat, 09/15/2012 - 15:00 | 2799006 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Thank you for your concern. I did, in fact, write that piece. in fact, I plan on posting it at zero hedge.

It is your duty to point out any shortcomings, inaccuracies, or erroneous conclusions contained within the post. Indeed, the intention and purpose behind all of my posts is to begin conversations, not to end any conversations.

In all sincerity, I will be very grateful if you point out the shortcomings of the post. I will be very disappointed, on the other hand, if you criticize the post as a limited hangout, without spending 10 minutes to document what the truth actually is.

Just as with the financial crisis, I write different pieces for different audiences. some pieces directly say that our economy is a Ponzi scheme run by criminals to loot our money. other pieces, written for a wider audience who is not as educated, simply point out that current economic theories are incorrect. In other words, I write different essays depending on how open I believe people are.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 15:56 | 2799099 edt
edt's picture

'written for a wider audience who is not as educated' Ummm. Time for an edit, perhaps?

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 07:16 | 2800173 edt
edt's picture

Look, I appreciate that nit-picking is unpopular (rightly so), but the hubris behind GW's comment about 'less educated' seemed to warrant it, for once. The grand schemes he promotes prohibit reasoned response, but the arrogance behind them (though well-intentioned, maybe) leads me to suspect the old 'argument weak, shout loud' syndrome. Clearly GW has his defenders (ahem), so I shouldn't think he'll mind my little flea-bite of scepticism, as I too must bear the cross of my negative rating ;-)

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 19:27 | 2799451 knukles
knukles's picture

Is your preference toward edits in any way reflected in your name "edt" or is that a coincidence?

Just curious...

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 19:23 | 2799439 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

Jesus H Christ. What, he needs to edit it again just for you because you take offense at a simple, true statement? Should he have written, "who is not as educated about current monetary shenanigans as many here who follow that closely?" Would that satisfy you? Because that's what he said, whether YOU realize it or not.

Where the fuck do all these idiots come from who have nothing whatsoever to add to a discussion except sophistry/word games? Sheesh. The articles here are blatantly clear, usually very well written, spot on most of the time, and touch very close to home for probably every reader. So why the fuck can't a few dozen or so morons find SOME insight worth stating rather than post idiotic word games to prove to their half-retarded 14-year old girlfriend sitting on their lap how brilliant they are?

Wait...what? Girlfriend?

Another great article GW. A shame you had to bother to tell some dumbass that a good writer always considers his audience. Maybe next time, just for him, you can have a team of lawyers draft it for his approval.

Very diplomatic of you not to just come right out and tell Gadfly he's a coward for not just coming right out and saying it, especially given the subject of the article.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 07:19 | 2800175 edt
edt's picture

What do you mean, edit again? He did so before and still missed that nit??

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 21:53 | 2799678 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

A reluctant plus 1 from your fight club friend LTER.   It is reluctant because you could have made your point more effectively if you had stopped at the first paragraph and saved us from your rambling pop culture personal attacks on the poster who disagrees with you.

Sun, 09/16/2012 - 06:29 | 2800153 NewWorldOrange
NewWorldOrange's picture

"A reluctant plus 1 from your fight club friend LTER."

Oh, a "+1". Gee, thanks. Those little arrows are so important to me. LMAO

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:10 | 2798888 sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

The principal two reasons:  an almost completely infantilized population, which has great difficulty in comprehending simple arithmetic.

The cause?  Sesame Street viewing, too much TV viewing, too much fructose on the brain, too much peripheral radiation killing neurons, etc., etc.?

Or, alternatively, the machinations by the Rockefeller, Koch, Du Pont, Mellon, et al., families.

Today, few if any American citizens realize that JPMorgan Chase is a Rockefeller-Morgan entity, or that AT&T is a Morgan-Rockefeller entity, or that the Du Pont family once owned General Motors (and probably still does), or that BP -- last time we checked -- was 50% owned by the British gov't with the remaining 50% split among the Rockefeller, Mellon and Rothschild families.

David Rockefeller was valued at $30 billion back in 1960, today he's supposed to be worth between $2 billion to $3 billion --- which means that family simply sheltered their wealth in foundations, trusts, offshore trusts, unregistered trusts, etc., to hide their wealth and ownership, which is SOP for the super-rich today.

Blissful ignorance, thy name is America.

Suggested reading:

Battling Wall Street:  The Kennedy presidency, by Donald Gibson

Thy Will Be Done, by Gerard Colby with Charlotte Dennett

Brothers: the Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, by David Talbot

JFK and the Unspeakable, by James Douglass

Family of Secrets, by Russ Baker

A Terrible Mistake, by H.P. Albarelli

Who Shot Bobby? by Shane O'Sullivan

Wall Street Capitalism:  The Theory of the Bondholding Class, by E. Ray Canterbery

Treasure Islands, by Nicholas Shaxson

Extreme Money, by Satyajit Das

Into the Buzzsaw, edited by Kristina Borjesson

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 18:43 | 2799398 Clashfan
Clashfan's picture

Thanks for that list. It will give me yet another reason to burden our little town's lovely librarian. :)

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 15:29 | 2799063 pashley1411
pashley1411's picture

Infantile, yes, but I think the conspiracy thing is overwrought and too complicated.

One can't ignore that infantilization comes from the feminization of the electorate and the institutions of communication; media, universities, government.   

Feminzation counsels to one's fears, avoids risk, and seeks short-term stability.  

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 16:16 | 2799126 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

does it also "counsel" to hide behind "feminized" avatars when posting?

you're making this stuff up as you go, lol. . .

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 15:19 | 2799040 CH1
CH1's picture

Blissful ignorance, thy name is America.

True words.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 14:01 | 2798870 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Brad Sherman. I've seen advertisements for him. I guess I'll vote for him.

Here is what actually happened. Life got easy for the intellectual because of the Government handouts. Life in general is 90% identical for everyone that has enough money to eat. For the intellectual though they must have information to process. As long as they have musical instruments, paints to do artworks, mud to make sculptures, food to eat, women to infatuate and a freakin Internet to process you'll here no complaints from them. They are in hog heaven in today's globalist central bankster run economy. So why bother, they are not stupid you know.

It may be a while before you see the first books on democracy through referendum and the open source closed banking system. You know the meaningful literature necessary for a demigod to pick up and run with--to bring about necessary social change.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 16:11 | 2799118 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

I remember Brad Sherman's speech, which at the time I respected.

in the years following, I've also read of his allegiance to Israel, which obviously makes me question his intentions initially. . .

from the Berman-Sherman race for attention:

As the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Berman is seen by many in the pro-Israel community as better positioned than Sherman — the senior  Democrat on its terrorism subcommittee — to advance legislation.

Sherman  says give him time.

“Yes, Howard did a lot more for the U.S.-Israel relationship in the 1980s,” he said. “I wasn’t here!”

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/calif_voters_facing_solomonic...

http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/house-chairman-brad-sherman-calls-on-uc-ir...

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 21:43 | 2799663 CompassionateFascist
CompassionateFascist's picture

Partly, it's lack of courage. Mostly, it's bad speling.

Sat, 09/15/2012 - 13:53 | 2798847 falak pema
falak pema's picture

Not everybody seems to agree with what courage means.

According to some Big Ben made the most courageous decision in the history of economic capitalism this week :

Historical Impact: Fed Decision et al - Business Insider

The world may one day look back and conclude the first half of September was either a turning point for the global economy, or the final nail in the coffin of the doctrine of central bank omnipotence.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/historical-impact-fed-decision-german-court-decision-omt-chinese-stimulus-2012-9#ixzz26YtZrpBv

Now that is either courage or sheer desperation of  'The Desperados' type!

That film was iconic about what courage meant in the name of friendship. 

Les desperados (1943) - IMDb

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