Good article MJ. Most people forget that POTUS Clinton ramped up Echelon and Carnivore more than any president in history, and didn't bother with a silly Patriot Act or Congress to do it.
On Jun 14, 9:13 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Even Bill Clinton Knows It's Over!by Butler ShafferThe men the American > people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they > detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.-- H.L. Mencken > Bill Clinton -- the examplar of truth in modern America -- has proposed the > establishment of a government "ministry of truth" -- to be run by either the > United States government or the United Nations -- that would supervise the > content of the Internet, requiring individuals and websites to conform to > agency factual standards. Such a proposal is consistent with Hillary > Clinton’s long-standing interest in establishing a government "gatekeeper" > for the Internet; one that would prevent justanyonefrom putting their > opinions out into the world. > Apart from the obvious 1st Amendment/fascist/1984Orwellian/marketplace of > ideas implications of such an offering -- a discussion which, I trust, needs > no explication onthiswebsite -- I am partially encouraged by Clinton’s > suggestion. It demonstrates just how desperately and feverishly the political > Establishment must go in futilely trying to resist its own demise. Like the > erstwhile USSR, the American Empire is in a terminal condition; some of its > constituents actively considering secession and/or nullification alternatives > to national (and even international) hegemony. It is not surprising, > therefore, that Bill would propose a similar state-run system of mind-control > with which Soviet officials sought refuge from the irresistible forces of > change. > The Internet is the most familiar expression of the decentralized nature of > our modern world. Technological innovation has opened up the fourth stage in > the "information revolution" that began when human beings > inventedlanguage.Gutenberg’s subsequent invention -- whose technology greatly > expanded mankind’s capacities for exchanging ideas and information with one > another and, in the process, upset the prevailing political order -- was a > miniscule advance when compared to the Internet and its derivative > technologies. > At all times, and in all places, those who desire to control the lives and > property of their neighbors have been beset by the destabilizing character of > open communication. Information -- which Gregory Bateson defined as > "differences that matter" -- has long had a liberating influence. This is why > the farmers of the Constitution began the "Bill of Rights" with the 1st > Amendment, embracing all then-known forms of communication. But the > corporate-state owners of America cannot abide instability. They are firmly > entrenched in maintaining the status quo, a condition synonymous with the > nature of institutions. When an organization has become an end-in-itself > (i.e., an institution) liberty becomes a form of entropy to be repressed. > This is why no tyrannical regime has ever tolerated the liberty of > individuals to speak and act as they choose. Individual liberty -- > facilitated by the openness of the Internet and other technologies -- is what > the owners most fear, because it vitalizes human energies to pursue an > ever-changing multiplicity of ends. Younger generations can distinguish the > cornucopia of options available on the Internet from the suffocating > atmosphere of the institutional order and, in so doing, are attracted to > less-structured social systems that weaken state power. > If Bill Clinton was truly desirous of enhancing the pursuit of truth, he > might propose dismantling the agencies and practices of the nation-state that > not only help to perpetuate the lies upon which the established order is > dependent, but restrain those who would speak the truth. The Internet draws > its energies from an awareness, by so many millions of people, that the > corporate-state power structure is underlain by a labyrinth of lies, deceit, > contradictions, and the generation of self-serving conflicts among people. > Those who frequent the Internet for news, policy analyses, and opinions not > to be found in the Establishment-owned and run mainstream media, do so out of > the same skeptical sense expressed by the late George Carlin who declared: "I > never believe anything the government tells me." > Bill could begin his campaignnotby attacking the most fruitful system > presently in operation for the pursuit of truth and understanding, but by > going after his master’s mechanisms of control. Wouldn’t truth be enhanced by > the state ceasing the practice of classifying the record of its deeds as > "secrets" to be kept from the American people? Wouldn’t his attack on such > practices allow him to regain some semblance of the credibility he lost when > he looked straight into the eyes of the TV camera and assured us that he "did > not have sex with that woman"? Why doesn’t this man rise to the defense of > Private Bradley Manning -- who sits in a prison awaiting a trial he will > probably never have -- for allegedly helping to make public documents that > Clinton’s cronies preferred to keep from the rest of us? He might also > undertake a "Fair Play for Julian Assange Committee" -- "leftists" love > hiding behind the word "fair" -- for using the Internet to help the world > develop a more "truthful" base for understanding the lies that inhere in the > machinations of realpolitik. After all, isn’t Wikileaks but one of the many > Internet users who are doing what Bill says he would like to see done, > namely, pursuing truth through countervailing systems of inquiry? > Perhaps Bill could turn his attentions to such agencies as the FCC, by > proposing its termination. Hillary was correct: the Internetdoesallow anyone > to put his or her ideas out into world, but the FCC was created -- and has > been maintained -- for the purpose of keeping broadcast technology safely > within the hands of those who do the Establishment’s bidding. Again, so much > of the energy enjoyed by the Internet arises from a growing popular > insistence that the "Newspeak" regularly presented by the mainstream media be > challenged. As Noam Chomsky reminds us, it is not the purpose of the > mainstream media to question the corporate-state arrangement. That task has > fallen to the Internet, a system the Clintons -- and their masters -- want so > much to destroy. > Bill might also be inclined to go after the mainstream newspapers, by > fostering legislation requiring them to provide alternative factual reporting > and editorials. Nor would he be expected to keep the churches free of the > reaches of his "Ministry of Truth." What about a requirement that pulpits be > opened to those of differing religious/anti-religious persuasions? Such a > "ministry" would take on a whole new meaning, would it not? And can we count > on Bill to support Ron Paul’s efforts to open up, to audit, the secrets of > the Federal Reserve and, in the process, inject "truth" into our > understanding of the nature of this agency? > I can imagine the parrots of the mainstream media chirping their support for > Clinton’s efforts to destroy the autonomous and spontaneous nature of the > Internet. After all, with viewers and subscribers to the established media in > sharp decline, they would find it in their self-interest to eliminate a > competition they have neither the talent nor the disposition to emulate. I > can imagine the cable channels’ assortment of on-camera David Dullards and > Amelia Airheads endorsing Bill’s proposal with the plea "how else are we > going to maintain a free society?" > Bill might even go so far as to offer up a motto for his Ministry of Truth. > Borrowed from Mark Twain, these words might be inscribed on its seal: "Truth > is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize > it."http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer238.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
