Cognitive dissidence keeps me up

Cognitive dissidence keeps me up at night. On one side, my country preaches human rights and democracy. But at the same time, it sends Israel one ton "Biden Bombs" to blow up what is left of Gaza.

There is very little left. Two million refugees are huddled under makeshift tents, waiting for food that never comes. Yet our sweet land of liberty keeps sending billions in military aid to keep the Palestinian genocide going. What perverse monster could think of doing such a thing to other human beings? What government bureaucrat would carry out such murderous orders?

The ongoing extermination of two million Palestinians is Gaza isn't hidden very well. Skeletal children are holding out their metal pots for any little scrap of food. They have to drink contaminated water because the electricity is gone and the pipes all destroyed. School for these children is just a memory of long ago. There are no school buildings left, nor any colleges. Nothing but rubble as the Palestinian people prepare their children to die.

I don't want to be a citizen of a country that does that to millions. Our pro-Zionist Congressional representatives get hundreds of thousands from the insanely rich Israel Lobby. That just makes people like Pat Ryan nothing but hired killers. He has already gotten over $163,000 this year in Israeli bribes. (opensecrets.org)

"Let me ask you one question. Is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness, do you think that it could?" -Bob Dylan

Fred Nagel

Symbol of Palestinian Resistance

 

Watermelon is a cherished fruit in Palestine. It is also a symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation and repressions. After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel banned the Palestinian flag, as well as its colors of red, green, black and white. And in the 1980s, Israel shut down art galleries and arrested artists for displaying anything that represented Palestinian freedom. According to the popular story Israeli authorities warned artists that "Even if you do a watermelon, it will be confiscated." Hence even holding a slice of fresh watermelon outside became a statement of protest.

Watermelon has also become a reminder of "Pinkwashing," the attempt to use LGBTQ rights to cover up the racism of Israel's apartheid regime. Pinkwashing tries to sell Israel's occupation as somehow a paradise for gay rights, despite the fact that 5 million Palestinians live under a brutal yoke of oppression.

Now that Israel's harsh occupation has become a genocide, it is more important than ever that we as US citizens do whatever we can to save millions of Palestinians. Tens of thousands of children have been slaughtered. Many more are without food, water and shelter, a killing field that is funded and abetted by the United States government.

Is this what our country has become? Our politicians have all been paid off by the billionaires in the Israeli Lobby. Biden has gotten more money from the Israel Lobby than any other politician in Washington. Our own Pat Ryan is swimming in pro-Israel funds. Check out the massive amounts our two Senators rake in from Israel (opensecrets.org).

Our country could stop this slaughter if it wanted to. Instead we see the pro-Palestinian college encampments being brutalized by the police, ever eager to serve the ruling class. But there is resistance in the air. Our students are telling the nation to end its genocide of the Palestinian people. The rest of the world is demanding that the two pariah states of Israel and the United States be ostracized for their brutal crimes against humanity. Isn't it time we all took some responsibility for what our country is doing in our name?

mideastcrisis.org

Our murderous parent

My country is like a bad parent who never really changes his abusive habits. He sent me off to war in 1967, only to have all the lies come back to haunt him. He killed two million Vietnamese along with 58,000 US troops, and never even said he was sorry.

In the 1980s, he was training death squads in Central America, and arming them to commit atrocities in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. And after all that bloodletting, he never whispered a word of remorse.

The invasion of Iraq was another inexcusable moment for my American family. The invasion was all based on his lies about weapons of mass destruction, and again we murdered millions of innocent people. But our media hid most of the slaughter from us, and neither political party thought to condemn his obvious war crimes.

Now our parent is paying for and perpetuating the worst genocide of the 21st century. True to form, he never bothers to look at the torture, the starvation, the endless bombing of hospitals and schools in Gaza. The charnel house of his wars reminds us once again of how criminal our parent really is. And how dangerous. His wars abroad are based on carnage, and that is what our shameless parent is very good at. He sees some strategic goal in the eradication of the Palestinian people and there is nothing that can stop him. Not even the slaughter of 20,000 children.

Our murderous parent will one day destroy our American family.  

Fred Nagel

Now that we have hit 103,000, it might be time to change

This ClassWars Blog has followed Activist Radio guests for over a decade. Recently, I have used it to publish letters and articles that haven't been as closely linked to Activist Radio. That gives me more freedom, since linking to a specific guest each week had begun to feel restrictive. 

So I will continue to post my writings, and even include some graphics to spice things up. If you are a regular reader of this blog, I would love to hear what you think about the change. Just drop me an email.

Fred