As I mentioned at the beginning of yesterday’s Blog, on weekends I
like to watch Bill Moyers Journal and NOW on PBS.
As usual, Bill Moyers’ program (4 January 2008) was
thought-provoking. His guests were Kathleen Hall Jamieson, co-author
with Brooks Jackson of the book “Unspun: Finding Facts in a World of
Disinformation”; and two presidential hopefuls, Ron Paul, the
Libertarian running as a Republican, and Dennis Kucinich, who is a
Democrat.
The fact that Dennis Kucinich, a former mayor of Cleveland, six-term
member of Congress, and progressive champion was excluded from speaking
in the Iowa caucus by the sponsor, the Des Moines Register; and was also
excluded in a New Hampshire debate by ABC, tells you something about the
self-serving arrogance and power of the media. As Kucinich said:
“Disney, which owns ABC, has had executives contributing to some of the
candidates in this race. It's a very serious matter here.”
During the program this statement by Ron Paul, which he had
previously made on “Meet the Press,” was replayed:
“We’re not moving toward Hitler-type fascism, but we're moving
toward a softer fascism. Loss of civil liberties, corporations running
the show, big government in bed with big business. So you have the
military industrial complex, you have the medical industrial complex,
you have the financial industry, you have the communications industry.
They go to Washington and spend hundreds of millions of dollars.
That's where the control is. I call that a soft form of fascism,
something that is very dangerous.”
Please notice that Ron Paul said nothing at all about the huge,
powerful meat and dairy industries! Could it be that he is beholden to
them in some way?
Also worth repeating are these words by Ron Paul during his
conversation with Bill Moyers:
“Now we're living in an age today in this post-9/11 atmosphere
where our civil liberties are being undermined constantly. All in the
name of safety and security we're supposed to give up our rights for
our privacy? We're allowed now to accept the idea of secret prisons
and secret renditions, and the loss of habeas corpus. This is very,
very dangerous. And I don't want to get to the point where it's hard
to reverse. Matter of fact, right now it's getting more difficult
everyday to reverse this trend, because the American people seem to so
often say, ‘You know I want to be-- I can't be free, if I'm not safe.
So, I want my government to make me safe.’ And they're willing to give
up their liberties. And I'm convinced that you never have to give up
liberties to be safe. I think you're less safe when you give up your
liberties.”
When Bill Moyers asked Ron Paul if our two party system had run its
course, Ron Paul answered:
“Well, it's meaningless. And I think you know, we send boys over
there to promote democracy in Iraq. But we don't really have democracy
here because, you know, if you're in a third party-- if you're in the
Green Party, or Libertarian Party, you don't get any credibility. You
can't get on debates. You can't get on the ballots hardly at all. And
it's very, very difficult. And the two parties are the same. You don't
really have a democratic choice here. So yes, I think we have a long
way to go to set good standards here.”
When only those who are controlled by corporate contributions qualify
to run for office, everyone loses in the end. I think that freedom is
being hijacked (just as Christianity has been hijacked) by dribs and
drabs, so that people don’t notice what is happening – until it’s too
late. And in the process, millions of humans and billions of nonhumans
suffer.
For my previous Blog about Bill Moyers Journal, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/heart/blog-20070506.html
