Living the Matrix -- Can You Believe It?

By Vincent L. Guarisco
Information Clearing House, 08/16/04
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6756.htm


"Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear-kept us in a
continuous stampede of patriotic fervor-with the cry of grave
national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home
or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we
did not blindly rally behind it ..."
~~General Douglas MacArthur, 1957


Ever since we fell into this dark, gloomy abyss shortly after the
thievish 2000 (s)election, many of us felt stranded -- forced to live in
fear and confusion above the transitory rabbit hole. More times than
not, I felt I was locked in an alternate universe -- playing out the
movie character "Neal" like in the 1999 cyber-thriller, "The Matrix."

The last four years have been surreal. A dreadful and draining
experience -- one hell of a hawkish, bloody four-year "Nebuchadnezzar"
ride! However, Americans have an amazing resilience for truth and
compassion. You can fool them once, twice -- even more -- but once they
realize their freedom, their democracy, is in danger, they become an
irresistable force.

In case you haven't noticed, many of our misinformed, behavior-modified
citizens have already wised-up. And, every day, countless more are
choking down Morpheus' symbolic, mystic "red pill" serum to receive
their long-overdue wake-up call. It hasn't been easy. Contradicting a
complicit White House-controlled news media -- fighting off a virtual
hornet's nest of stinging right-wing pundits who soar from corporate
hives to serve their masters has not been an easy task. And it surely
hasn't been a walk in the park for those who refused to give up; who are
still exposing state-sponsored lies and fake, politically generated
terror alerts designed to keep us obedient -- cowering in fear.

The light at the end of the tunnel is a result of Internet patriots
devoted to uncovering the truth, and exposing the shameful performance
of corporate mainstream media. The Internet -- and the many grassroots
organizations, the critical peace and environmental movements that have
furthered public awareness and influenced civil action has brought us to
where we are today.

Because we were attacked on multiple fronts -- not the least of which
was the omnipresent Attorney General John Ashcroft -- that is where we
still struggle. Immediately after the Sept. 11 attack, Ashcroft, in a
blatant attempt to stop a backlash of dissent and protest, went before
the Congress and threatened, "To those who scare peace-loving people
with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid
terrorists."

But, this is America, and Ashcroft could neither silence nor prevent
citizens from exercising their civil liberties and patriotic
disobedience. I am proud of each individual who continues to protest --
to march for freedom -- in the streets. Even those who continue to speak
out as they are herded into barbed-wire "First Amendment" pens
surrounded by helmeted, jack-booted troops are a thing of beauty.

Americans are not idiots. Many of them thank the global megaphone
ramblings of our presidential village idiot for their wake-up call. How
long did he think his, "Yer either with us, or yer with the terrorists"
mantra repeated ad infinitim from atop his teleprompter soapbox would
play in Peoria -- while American citizens were returning from the
killing fields in wheelchairs and coffins?

It's amazing how quickly the neo-cons managed to turn the entire world
upside down. It hasn't been that long ago when the world gazed upon the
United States with admiration, astonishment and respect. However, thanks
to boy George and his cabinet of corrupt "Vulcans," anti-Americanism now
runs rampant across the globe.

Our foreign friends who have been beaten into submission should know
that Americans understand the meaning of blackmail and coercion, and
most appreciate the price paid by those who declined to participate in
Bush's falsely propagated preemptive war. Most of us feel comfortable in
giving our word that, after our own regime change in November 2004, we
will do everything in our power to correct acts of revenge imposed upon
"old Europe" by our tainted US Supreme Court-appointed rulers. We will
attempt to reverse the damage inflicted on the world.

You might even say we are "born again" -- the umbilical cord of
aggression has been cut. No more acceptance of fear and deception of all
for the selfish gain of the few. More Americans every day wake up to the
fact that the War in Iraq was only the first of many scheduled death
marches planned for us by the crude and powerful Project for a New
American Century (PNAC) boys. This must be, and will be, stopped.

History books are full of past examples of how other fascist rulers have
ruthlessly attempted -- and failed -- to conquer all of the world's
natural resources through global war for profit. If only the PNAC cartel
had boned-up on history's little lessons before they blueprinted this
nightmare, perhaps in doing so they could have saved themselves and us
the trouble of having to do it now. History has proved, time and again,
that crusades such as those advocated by Bush's "brain," Karl Rove, and
his national security advisor Condi Rice are always doomed to failure.

So many lives destroyed. So much misery inflicted. So many people
displaced and suffering. I guess the best lesson to learn from all of
this is best described by one of those who has paid the ultimate price
for his actions -- Nazi leader, Hermann Goering, who said at the
Nuremberg Trials before he was sentenced to death:

"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a
farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it
is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people
don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter
in Germany. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of the
country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to
drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist
dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship ... Voice or
no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the
leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being
attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger."

The Chinese have a saying as well: "The journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step.Well,wehavealreadytakenthatfirstcrucialstep.
Furthermore, we have accelerated past a brisk walk and are now up and
running! Getting rid of Bush is only the starting point of a long
journey that still lies ahead but, in the end, our destination is a calm
place where peace, love and happiness of life unites and strengthens us
all.

And, when we arrive, family members and friends of our brave will no
longer have to hold their breath worrying if their loved ones have died
on the killing fields of Iraq or elsewhere. We must have a strong
military in order to remain safe, but we must ensure that those who do
choose to serve in the military are not foolishly sent into harm's way
for any one man's selfish interior motives. We must return to a
democracy where war is the "people's choice" and is considered the
action of last resort, not a fascist fallacy of those who choose to
sacrifice our citizens for selfish gain.

Should we make the unfortunate choice of going to war, then I demand
that those who do die should as a minimum, be given a true hero's
welcome when returned home. Not quietly sneaked back in to Dover Air
Force Base in the dead of night with a White House-mandated media
blackout serving as a nerve block to prevent the public from putting a
real face of death on war.

The healing has begun. All the signs are there. Maybe it's a quaint and
subtle poem that speaks to us in our dreams, or perhaps it's an almost
daunting song played outside your window on a calm summer night. Can you
hear it? It's floating right now in the breeze like a winding,
whispering love song through the trees, softly singing -- as gently as
the wind in the following poem which I wrote for my fellow Americans who
never stand still.

Listen to the Wind

Do most of you remember how to "stand still"? You have to listen to the
wind Chief, You have to stop and listen to the trees. We need a creed to
believe, not Wars to disbelieve. Our music should be dreaming while
awake, Not a bloodlust of beating drums to embrace. Take me back to the
"dreaming tree" where free thought runs like mountain streams. I want us
to be the stars that sing with poets dancing. Sometimes in dreams I have
visions of silence. Our nation learning to listen. Listening to the wind
without tribulations of fear, For fear is a powerful motive to sway
action. A real leader will walk softly with grace, A real leader won't
need to shake the big stick, He will simply understand how to listen to
our needs and deliver softly. Can you hear the solders cry? You know
they may not be coming back home, Feel the sky, smell the sea, Stop and
listen to the wind. May the wings of peace forever find the four corners
flow. This is my dream song that takes me to the edge; that heals my
soul. Consider these words a new theater for your imagination, A
considerably different breeze from the repertory mind control theater. I
dream a motion to keep things whole, I look into your eyes for love and
stillness at the speed of light.. Only to be found in the wind.

*Vincent L Guarisco is a freelance writer from Bullhead City, Arizona, a
contributing writer for many web sites, and a lifetime founding member
of the Alliance of Atomic Veterans. Replies welcomed at:
vincespainting1@hotmail.com