Is Ignorance Bliss?

How many countries are we currently bombing?? Don't know? Can't name them? How come??

Courtesy: declineoftheempire.com

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - Never underestimate the power of media, for they can convince you that day is night and night is day, and as a matter of fact already have. A few recent examples illustrate how easy it is to make you believe something that is absolutely false. Go back to the run-up to the Iraq war.

The whole nation was convinced that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the security of the US, and most Americans believed that he had a hand in 9/11. Absolutely positively false! Practically the whole nation believed in the WMD nonsense, which was a pack of lies sold to us by corporate media. We bought into it and those who wanted war got their wish while a million innocent people died. Not only were we lied to, but war crimes were committed and we were then convinced not to punish those who lied to us and caused the loss of a million lives. "Let's not look back, let's look forward." You bought that? Clinton lied about having sex in the White house and was impeached, but those who lied to us and caused a million deaths were never prosecuted. If you refuse to pay a parking ticket you will be arrested, but lying to a nation with millions of deaths resulting is not punishable?

Do you believe Iran has nuclear weapons and is a threat to the security of the US? Probably, because a recent Gallop poll reveled 99% of Americans think Iran with its nuclear weapons program is a threat to the security of the US. Guess what, Iran has no nuclear weapons program. No one has produced one shred of evidence to suggest they do, yet once again we all feel threatened and are willing to go to war again over non-existent WMD. Why is this? You are once again being fed false information by corporate media just as you were in the early 90's by the same corporate media and you are buying into it.

Do you know anything about Bradley Manning? Contrast your knowledge of Bradley Manning with the infamous Olympic "Blade Runner", Oscar Pistorius. Why don't you know much at all about Manning? Most believe young Bradley Manning is a bad guy. Why is that?? Do you know exactly what he did? He turned over evidence of war crimes and government corruption to a publishing organization that believes in transparency in government. For that he is facing 37 years of jail to a possible life sentence. Bradley Manning was offered money for his files, but in a taped conversation said he was never interested in money; he was simply doing what was morally right in exposing to our citizens the war crimes and the corruption that he came across. Is he a bad guy?? We need many more like him, but you most likely believe he is evil. Why is that? He has now been imprisoned and tortured by his own government for over 1000 days and has not yet had a trial by jury. Do you still believe in the Constitution and the right to a speedy trial by a jury??

Do you know the President of the US has claimed the right to assassinate US citizens? Do you know those slated for assassination will not get a trial, nor will anyone give a reason why they will be assassinated? Does that make sense? The President claims the right to kill Americans, but will not say who is on his kill list, nor will he give any reason or reasons for so doing. According to the President, all of this must be a big "secret". Do you really buy into that, and why are you not informed on this entire matter?

We are victims of a corporate media that keeps us in the dark on the important issues of the day and overloads us with nonsense. This is all by design. The Roman government placated the angry population of the empire with "gladiatorial games", while the present corporate media distracts you with sports and TV reality shows, both of which we are all experts on. It's time to ignore corporate media and focus on sources other than corporate media.

Don't believe me? How about a test? How many countries are we currently bombing?? Don't know? Can't name them? How come??

Salem-News.com Writer Joe Clifford, lives in historic Jamestown, Rhode Island, and has contributed a number of articles relating to foreign policy to newspapers in the Rhode Island area for years.

He graduated from Providence College where he earned an undergraduate and graduate degree. After a lengthy career as a high school teacher he turned to the study of US foreign policy, and then to writing, as a means of expressing an alternative perspective. His reading and research on foreign policy is broad and extensive, especially as the policy relates to the Middle East. His interest in foreign policy was inspired by the American misadventure in Vietnam. You can write to Joe at this address: jc21131@gmail.com