I wrote most of this in 2008 as a forest fire bore down on our home. With my dog under one arm and the hard-drive under the other, we escaped.
Bear with this old fart, this post remains relevant.
For me, the American Coup began on a day in November 1963. For America it began on VE Day in 1945.
Once I was young and full of myself, and naïve. Time and circumstances led me to the coffee shops of Oakland and Berkeley where people seemed to sit around, sipping for hours at a single cup of black coffee, read a book and talk about it. Beatniks of the 50's. At times the conversation was unintelligible, at other times it was stimulating. Mostly, I just listened. And I did not care about the fat lady reading poetry in an over-bearing voice.
Whether I met anyone famous or not seems to have slipped by my ability to recollect, yet, I came away with the seeds independent thought firmly planted. All of this began to sprout as I fought the battle back at home, became disowned and ran away by joining the Army. By the time I was a civilian again, Eisenhower had led us into a recession and I was miles from being that youth who joined the military fracas. Ike left us all a message and a warning about the Military Industrial Complex when he waved goodbye, handing the problems of southeast Asia and his little noticed warning to the next President.
Ike’s message, " . . . this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."
What good is a military without war? To perpetuate the principles of the Military Industrial Complex we need war, continuous war. Of course a military is necessary, especially in a world political environment created by the U.S. since WWII. Somehow policy-makers now see themselves as the World’s policeman. Arrogance!
We should have listened to Eisenhower because it foretold of the coming coup, the savagery of Conservatism and Corporate greed; the destruction of the Constitution.
From where I stood, America and Americans seemed to be fighting back, thus were the 60's. Television commentators now speak of a time when America seemed to be coming apart, perspective -- I thought America was getting back to its roots.
Along came Vietnam, a limited war fought because we forgot the lessons of Korea, and there were things about politicians making military decisions and a failure to seek victory and all of the time ignoring lessons taught to us by General W. T. Sherman on how to do the job and we did not remember. We never remember.
Then we murdered another Kennedy and a King, and the coup continued. And we elected Nixon. The electorate had its head up its ass. My neighbor is fond of shouting, "We get the government we deserve." Perhaps he has a point. And corporate America grew on a wartime budget, and no one remembered Eisenhower. Nobody ever remembers.
Then we elected an actor who was a profound failure as a Governor, who broke the law then told us so, almost daring someone to do something about it. The Imperial Presidency had arrived.
Gone were the flower children and their promise of Nirvana, gone was the notion of togetherness, instead we were under the thumb of imported oil, cheesy cars and secret meetings in the name of National Security. Invade Grenada, can't lose. Victory; we beat the holy crap out of Grenada, Granola or whatever it was; then we named an airport after this mentally addled crook.
Clinton slipped in there somehow. They couldn't shoot him so they investigated everything including the inside of his shorts. Clinton couldn't get a judge appointed, but who cared? Americans didn't.
The Coup could not stand to have anything interfering with the trend toward -- toward what? It wasn't democracy. Bush! Congress was getting it's balls cut off, the courts were being stacked with extreme rightists. Greed! Personal wealth. No governance. No help. A stolen election by any measure -- the coup was complete.
Conservatives found solace in ideology and they stopped thinking for themselves. Ideology has a way of doing that. Along comes a Democrat who is black, has a Muslim name and by most measures, stood no chance of winning the general election. But the right-wing, still steeped in ideology, had no message. A man name Obama was elected, then he beat the mindless opposition again. Tactics change and the fight continues, seemingly without end. Americans are forgotten. Starve the poor, feed the wealthy. Build a bigger military because the Military Industrial Complex demands it.
Because nobody remembered that we suffered a coup.
Kootie J
Give Peace a Chance