In Response to a German's point of view on Islam

A Mother's point of view on corporate fanatics running our government.

Once upon a time, our government was of the People, by the People, and for the People. Then the railway profiteers, fondly know as the "Railroad Barons," or "Robber Barons," found ever more creative ways to bilk the government, the settlers, the investors, and the indigenous people out of all their assets. Many ruined families lay in their wake.

The Robber Barons got a Supreme Court decision, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad in 1886, to give "personhood" under the 14th Amendment to corporations in order to have legal standing in court and be taxed. I read that Supreme Court ruling several times. It was not, in fact, the ruling itself that gave "personhood" to corporations, but, rather, an entry in the court reporter's headnotes on the case. Since that time, the mega corporations have exploited that single court reporter's note, and layers of statutes have built upon it.

We now have a government of extremist ideologues who believe that windfall energy profits and war profiteering are of higher value than the People. Having preplanned their wars and boldly posted their manifesto on the website of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) in 1998, corporate extremists rigged the 2000 election to put their man in office. They tried to create a threat big enough to install martial law with the distribution of anthrax through the mail to Congress, but it wasn't enough. They blamed it on Muslim extremists until the strain of anthrax was traced to a government lab in Maryland.

The neo-con corporate extremists contracted with their Saudi friends to finance a bunch of Saudis, and a few more from Pakistan, and fly hijacked planes into the WTC and the Pentagon on 9/11/01. They planted explosives in the WTC towers in order to destroy the entire buildings, and then cleaned up the evidence before the forensic investigators could piece things together.

Conveniently, Cheney was safely in a bunker at the time, Bush was in Florida, and the Strategic Defense Command was on exercises in Canada. I realized this truth when I saw the look on W's face when they told him what had occurred. The look said to me, "I didn't expect it to happen like this," as if he had been expecting it all along.

Our CEO President, who avoided his own military service to our country, transformed himself into the Commander and Chief, and ordered a war on Afghanistan, even though the hijackers were Saudi and Pakistani. We moved our troops into Afghanistan just in time to guard the areas where the Central Asian oil and gas pipeline was proposed to cross the country. In less than a year, our President ordered the preplanned invasion of Iraq, and made the Saudis and Pakistanis our best allies in the region. Saudi Arabia is a kingdom where capital punishment by beheading is still state sanctioned and rape victims are stoned to death. Pakistan was run by a repressive dictator, Musharraf. Something was clearly wrong with this picture.

Why do freedom-loving Americans become allies with repressive dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan while vilifying democratically elected leaders like Hugo Chavez, Avo Morales, Mohammed Mossadegh, Jacobo Arbenz, Salvador Allende, Ho Chi Minh, Jose Valasco, Patrice Lamumba, Juan Bosch, Joao Goulart, Sukarno, Juan Torres, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and Daniel Ortega?

Why do freedom-loving Americans tolerate the corporate contamination of our air, soil, and water for private profit? How many people in the world have died as a direct result and indirect result of corporate pollution? Why do we sit passively and let it happen? Why haven't the corporate polluters who are ruining our American way of life been brought to task for the damage they have wrought to Americans, the American environment, and the rest of the people in the world? How many have died from Global Climate Change? How many more will die?

Then came the NSA information gathering operation that rivals the œberefficient census data Hitler gathered with the help of IBM. I wonder if IBM currently assists the NSA with data processing? The information gathering began in 2001 before 9/11. Pretty soon, the corporatist government began gathering intelligence on Peace activists within the USA. The Peace activists remained silent and allowed the secret domestic spy program to continue.

A month after 9/11 came the Patriot Act, which eroded the Bill of Rights and legalized the NSA spy program. By 2005, after holding thousands of enemy combatants in detention for half a decade without charges, the Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush, that even non-Americans must have their day in court. In response, the Democratic led Congress passed legislation that stripped enemy combatants of the rights awarded to them by the Supreme Court as well as laws that have been on the books since King Henry II (1133-1189), with an amendment to a defense spending bill which removed the right of habeas corpus from anyone designated by the President as an enemy combatant. Soon, Peace activists were being accused of being enemy combatants.

The extremists kill whomever gets in their way: Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon, Paul Wellstone (the only Senator the voted against the resolution to go to war with Iraq). They killed (or disappeared) Ken Lay before he could be sentenced. They killed our delegate to the 2004 Democratic convention by driving him off one of our steep mountain roads.

The neo-con corporate extremists that now lead our government have used the tragedy of 9/11 perform the hugest transfer of wealth in history from the US Treasury to Halliburton, Bechtel, KRB, Blackwater, and more. At the same time, they have destabilized the Middle East and turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists. We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that the wars are to spread Freedom and Democracy to subjugated peoples. Instead, they have perfected Orwellian Doublespeak and spread state sponsored terror in the name of Freedom and Democracy just like the medieval Crusaders did in the name of Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Our American way of life is in jeopardy. Our free elections are tainted by partisan voting machine manufacturers who boast victory for their candidates no matter which way the People vote. The checks and balances between the three houses of government are destroyed. The public can no longer visit their executive in the White House, and the executive branch creates secret policies in secret meetings. Our President holds himself and his cabal of cronies above the law and prohibits his cronies from appearing before Congress even when subpoenaed. No habeas corpus, no checks and balances, no right to assembly freely and dissent, Peace activists being accused of being enemy combatants, courageous dissenters being mysteriously killed without any investigation. What has happened to our American way of life? The freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Oh, now don't get me going about the pursuit of happiness!

Before the advent of the neo-cons, America was the richest country on Earth, had the largest middle-class, had thriving trade unions, a large manufacturing base, the finest schools, and was the breadbasket of the world. The neo-cons have stripped this country of all its wealth and left a battered nation in its wake, worse than the 19th century Robber Barons.

"...we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life." We must all pass this message on to everyone we know wake them up to take action and peacefully remove the corporations from the US government and return it to the benefit of the People. Let's get the Supreme Court to overturn Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad and all subsequent statutes. We must reverse every law enacted by this illegitimate fanatical President who says he is carrying out God's will in order to save our nation. Let's see if we can reverse the damage done by the neo-con corporate extremists before it is too late.

My sister wrote to me:
Dr. Emanuel Tanay is a well known and well respected psychiatrist.

A German's point of view on Islam.

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. 'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything, I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. The fact is that fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor killing. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority," the "silent majority," is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet Stalin was responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering number of people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War ll was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of millions Chinese and Filipino civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this message on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.

Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
2980 Provincial St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-997-0256
(Although Dr. Tanay's name is on this post, he actually is not the author.)

19th Century Robber Barons Paved the Way

I just finished reading Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow by Dee Brown. It was a painstaking report of how the frontier was settled by the railroads. It began with a few honest visionaries who failed to get enough backers to fund a railroad project. Then big business got involved. They wrapped the railroads in the American flag and made it a patriotic duty. They convinced Congress of the necessity of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific oceans, which then passed legislation that granted cash money and tens of thousands of acres of land for every mile of track that was laid. The corporate profiteers laid track on the longest routes possible to reap ever more money and land from Congress. Congress took federally granted lands from the Native Americans and transferred it to the railroad companies without notifying the tribes. Then they sent Civil War generals Sherman and Sheridan to wipe out the Indians that were blocking the railroad from entering tribal lands.

The railroad companies then subdivided the land grants and sold them for a huge profit. There was more profit in subdividing the land than in the RR itself. The railroad companies gave Congress doubly inflated estimates of the cost of building the railroads bilking the Treasury of huge amounts of grants. A couple of railroad companies even set up shell holding corporations to siphon off the biggest profits. They additionally sold stocks and bonds in the railroads; if your town didn't buy RR bonds, then the tracks didn't come your way.

Once the Native Americans were crushed and the land grants were subdivided, the RR companies sent solicitors all over Europe to bring whole communities to their dream of new hope in America. Europeans would give their life savings to the RR companies for the lots in the prairies and mountains of the west and get 3-year mortgages on their houses. Just like the sub-prime mortgage debacle of today, most of the European immigrants ended up broken and penniless. The railroads effectively ruined the lives of generations of settlers as well as generations of Native Americans from whom the land was stolen.

After all the tracks were all laid, and the immigrants were settled in the subdivided lots, then the RR monopolies charged enormous fees from farmers to transport their produce to markets. The high transportation fees made farming a money losing endeavor.

The Supreme Court ruled twice within 15 years against the railroad companies taking federally appropriated tribal lands. Yet, Congress ignored the Supreme Court. Many members of Congress were also involved in the RR profiteering. The railroads of the 19th century were akin to the war profiteers and oil companies of the 21st century. Both sets of profiteers own Congress on both sides of the aisle. Even our esteemed president Abraham Lincoln reaped profits from railroad land speculation. Don't forget, it was Democrat John Kerry who amassed the largest profits of anyone in Congress from his investments in Iraq.

In addition, a Supreme Court ruling in 1886, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, gave "personhood" under the 14th Amendment to the RR corporations in order to have legal standing in court and be taxed. I read that Supreme Court ruling several times. It was not, in fact, the ruling itself that gave "personhood" to corporations, but, rather, the railroad barons got human rights for corporations inserted in the court reporter's headnotes on the case. Since that time, the mega corporations have exploited that single court reporter's note, and layers of statutes have built upon it.

After all the profits were tidily secured in the private pockets of about 70 RR barons, the house of cards fell and the railroads went bankrupt. RR stocks and bonds became worthless. Tracks were left unused. Towns were laid waste without the RR to connect them to markets. The profiteers anticipated the fall and sold their stocks and bonds at a profit before the prices plummeted. It took two decades for the American public to notice the monumental rip off. Congressional investigations exposed the fraud, but they didn't want to go too deep into the details, since too many members of Congress had an embarrassing history of involvement.

One of the lessons I learned from this story was that the neo-cons have a longer history in America than the massive mid-20th century post-war immigration that I know about. Another lesson I learned is that corporate profiteers like Jay Gould, Durant, and Henry Villner can get ever more creative to invent ways to separate innocent victims from their money. Very Rovian. The third lesson was that fascists care nothing for the sanctity of life; they kill not only the enemies, but also kill their women, children and elders. Sherman and Sheridan killed whole villages of undefended Native peoples on tribal lands tantamount to genocide. Warriors would leave their villages undefended because they couldn't imagine that unarmed innocents would become targets. Nowadays, state-sponsored terrorism like the occupation of Iraq doesn't hesitate to kill everyone whether they are insurgents or not. What Che Guevara taught us was that protecting the innocents and only fighting the armed warriors wins the popular sentiment to your side. Batista killed anyone, which led to his defeat by the popular revolution.

Myanmar Military Junta does a New Orleans

Many people in the world have been wondering why the military junta in Myanmar refused to accept foreign aid to its cyclone and monsoon victims. The answer is simple. They were following the lead of the most powerful neo-cons on the planet. George Bush showed them how to celebrate birthday parties and play guitar while the impoverished masses perished in New Orleans. Such a disaster is a golden opportunity for corporatists to make profits. Once the flood waters receded, the rif-raf will be either dead or in shelters far away, and the prime real estate will be free for corporate development with no-bid contracts. Remember, lobbyists for the Myanmar military junta have been helping run McCain's campaign. The Myanmar military junta doesn't have the hubris to call themselves neo-cons; they are old cons.