Several years ago back when Chimpy Bush was still despoiling the Oval Office, there was a notorious incident in which Time magazine ran a cover story overseas about an upswing in violence in Afghanistan while the domestic U.S. cover featured celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. At the time, many who were against the America's wars took it as proof that the mainstream media was trying to suppress bad news about one of America's ill-advised overseas military misadventures.
As you can see by the image above, Time has gone ahead and done it again with its December 5th issue. While the overseas cover stories are about the resurgence in violence in Egypt, the domestic cover story is an utterly frivolous piece about anxiety. This time, however, there doesn't seem to be any pro-war agenda as the Egyptian story does not involve American imperialism. In fact, if you look closely at each cover you'll notice that the Egypt story and the anxiety story each appear in both the domestic and overseas editions. The difference is merely in the chosen cover art. So the agenda now seems to be avoiding placing an unpleasant image on the cover that would keep people from buying the magazine.
If what I suspect is true, we really have become a nation not of sheep like so many doomers like to say, but of ostriches, determined to bury our heads in the sands and ignore unpleasant realities at all costs. The problem with ignoring reality, of course, is that sooner or later it will show up at your doorstep anyway in very bad mood, ready to forcibly demonstrate to you the the folly of your ways.
Seen this?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8917077/Prepare-for-riots-in-euro-collapse-Foreign-Office-warns.html
@Gail - yep, I saw that. Scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteThought you would enjoy the following I just wrote. In a way, it has to do with being a nation of ostriches.
John
With freedom and prosperity firmly planted in Iraq, the U.S. military is about to remove all of its troops, all of its contractors, including private security forces, and it's going to close and mothball all fourteen of the permanent bases it built there since 9-11.
Great job boys and gals. Another win for the Gipper.
The end of the war brings with it the opportunity to contemplate just how the United States will continue to maintain control of the world's cheap oil reserves.
Allow me a suggestion:
Black Ops.
That's right, covert operations. What are my reasons?
1. Black Ops are fast and sick. Remember how sick it was when they got Bin Laden? Quick and dirty, no boring investigations? Imagine knocking off a bunch of other anti-American terrorists, like maybe five a year. Sweeeeet!
2. Black Ops are the closest thing to Wild West movies, back before laws, and city-slickers. The Wild West is what made America great. Let's bring back some of that spirit, if for no other reason than to help pump us up, and feel good about ourselves again.
3. Black Ops don't require congressional approval, or a lot of effort to sell the public. Look at all of the extra work Bush, Cheney, and Powell had to do to make up stuff to get approval to start the war in Iraq. I say we would've gotten the same results if we had just done Black Ops from the start. And we would have saved a ton of taxpayer money.
4. Once the United States makes Black Ops its official foreign policy, it will have a huge pool from which to draw of young people already well trained to do the real thing through their daily diligent practice of the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops."
So what am I missing?
Black Ops are clearly the best choice going forward to keep our way of life going strong. If you agree, please join me in writing your Senators and Representative in Congress to request they support legislation to make Black Ops the official United States Foreign Policy.
Thanks for your time,
A Concerned Citizen Who Believes in the Amurican Way of Life, and Wants to Preserve It
@John Anderson - that was great, thanks for posting it!
ReplyDelete