Philip A. Farruggio -- World News Trust
June 30, 2015
In 1935 author Sinclair Lewis wrote "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Amazing how he could see ahead 80 years!
With another July 4th around the corner, replete with the usual fireworks, barbeques and beer, perhaps it is time for us to ponder the direction our Amerikan Empire has taken. Let's just focus on the 15 years of this the 21st century, ok? The presidential election of 2000 revealed (blatantly to the world outside of our borders) just how devious this Military Industrial Empire can be.
The movers and shakers of our Two-Party "One-Party" syndicate (and that is what they are) decided that it would be much better for their greedy and exploitive interests to have Junior Bush and his puppeteer, Darth Cheney, in office. Al Gore would have been ok to them, having done his apprenticeship under their stooge "Smirking Bill," but maybe the Bush/Cheney gang could get more done and quicker. So, they fixed the election and got that gang the power they needed to do the "dirty deeds." And boy, they sure did!
The folks in the 9/11 Truth movement love the flag and are as patriotic, more so in fact than those who follow the empire's "company line." One fine attribute of that group is that it is made up of conservatives, ultra conservative libertarians, progressives, socialists etc. All they focus on is what really happened on 9/11 and of course afterwards... when the police/ surveillance state went wild.
To love one's country and its flag is NOT exclusive to the right-wing or neo liberal crew. It is NOT exclusive to the phony hypocrites within the Republican and Democratic parties... they who serve the empire so well. We who care about this great nation follow the words of Ben Franklin to a tee: "Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy." Thus, we stood (and many still stand) out in public against the warmongers within this empire who destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, and now wish to do the same with Syria and maybe Russia(no, that would be too dangerous, as Russia has the NUKES, and you don't **** around with that!).
Ah, now we come to that great standard bearer Ole Time Religion. Before I go into discourse on the religion of my roots, let's look at a few others. You cannot believe how many Muslims I have spoken to who think that the zealots and fanatical Islamists do not have a clue as to what the Koran teaches. They have nothing in common with people who preach killing infidels and establishing Islamic states etc.
Jewish folks I speak to feel the same way about the arrogant fanatical orthodox Jewish groups... people who really think that non-Jews are 2nd class and not worthy of the same rights that Jews enjoy in Israel... especially Arabs. Sadly, they look upon the Palestinians as the Nazis did to their ancestors: subhuman bottom feeders!
Of course, the "crème de la crème" of fanatical religious thinking has to be reserved for my good old Christian warriors who see the planet as a battleground for their "good" vs. everyone else's "evil." They forget that the man I personally admire, he who carried the Christ Spirit for all to share, was referred to as The Prince of Peace. How many moments in actual New Testament scripture does one need to read about what Jesus of Nazareth preached: "Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
When a wealthy young man asked to follow him, Jesus said "If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.' As far as pre-emptive wars and drone missile attacks, whereupon "collateral damage" becomes a way of life, Jesus said "In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brothers, ye have done it unto me."
This writer realizes it is not cogent in the realm of political discourse and dissent to share one's belief in the almighty, or in the faith of a universe outside of this crap we call reality. A very wise man once told me when I asked him "Is there a God?" that the universe or God is simply Love. Thus, logic would dictate that if one believes that, then what follows is "Anything not of love cannot be of God."
Jackie DeShannon put it best in the Bacharach & David 60s song: "What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it's the only thing there is much too little of... What the world needs now is love sweet love, no, not just for some but for everyone."
Waving flags and wearing religious icons while saluting war and empire is not gonna do it folks.
PA Farruggio
June 30th 2015
(Philip A Farruggio is son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC, longshoremen. He is a free ance 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 percent. Philip can be reached at