William Hanna: The Reality of America’s “Superpower Democrazy”

 

 

“We have the best government that money can buy.” Mark Twain

 

Genuine democracy — a system of government by representatives elected by all eligible citizens of a state — is only possible through an active and knowledgable electorate so that those who are uninformed or do not vote are deserving of the rotten and corrupt government they get. The 36.4% (83 million) voter turnout in the recent U.S. midterm elections — the most expensive yet with a spend of $3.7 billion or almost $45 per vote — was the lowest since World War II when in 1942 most Americans were preoccupied with more pressing requirements and only only 33.9% of them exercised their right to vote in accordance with the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution:

 

 

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

 

 

Even that 2014 voter statistic is misleading because turnout is calculated as a proportion of registered voters instead of those who are actually entitled to vote from a population of 317 million. Census numbers show that there are more than 70 million U.S. citizens who are entitled to vote but are still not registered to do so. This apparent lack of American voter interest and responsibility leaves the system open to political corruption with economic and social exploitation that denies human rights and justice to tens of millions of Americans including African Americans who are systematically hampered by a dysfunctional educational apparatus and obstacles to voter registration while also being denied economic opportunities and basic civil and human rights that result with incarceration in brutal prison-industrial-complexes by out of control racist and militarised police forces with backing from an unjust judicial system.

 

 

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

 

 

Judicial injustice in this gun-crazy — 1.7 million kids live in homes with unlocked guns — police state can take many forms including Civil Forfeiture laws which give police the unchecked authority to seize items they suspect of being linked to a crime with no recourse for most individuals who are unable to afford a lawyer to fight such unreasonable and unjust forfeiture. When property has been seized — even when no link to a crime has been established — it is extremely rare for the owners to get it back, and even then only after years of legal wrangling. Civil Forfeiture is yet another nail in the coffin of American democracy which U.S. TV political satirist John Oliver, has described as being “really legalised robbery by law enforcement.”

 

 

Evidence of this sad superpower state of affairs is cited in a new study from Princeton and Northwestern Universities which concluded that American democracy no longer exists. Researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page — Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002 — contend that that during the past few decades America’s political system has been slowly but surely transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy where wealthy elites exercise most power. The study, which will be taught at those universities, asserts that “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10769041/The-US-is-an-oligarchy-study-concludes.html)

 

 

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they can do this is by not voting.”

 

 

The disproportionate influence over Congress by special interest groups — especially by the Zionist  American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)  — was yet again recently demonstrated in an article by Connie Bruck in the New Yorker magazine about Jewish Lobby reactions when freshman El Paso Democrat Rep. Beto O’Rourke cast one of only eight votes in Congress against special funding — another $225 million in addition to more than $3.6 billion per year in various forms of aid that Israel gets from the U.S. — for Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defence system during the recent Gaza war. The reactions included a mass emailing that labeled O’Rourke as “an anti-Israel congressman” and the denunciation of his vote as “shameful.” Critical local press coverage included a public comment by one of his own Jewish donors to the El Paso Times that in voting as he did, O’Rourke “chooses to side with the rocket launchers and terror tunnel builders” of Hamas.

 

 

The unleashing of such wrathful Jewish community hysteria was despite the fact that O’Rourke had no previous record of criticising or voting against Israel and his opposition in this instance was simply due to his reluctance to rush through the large appropriation without a more considered debate in October following the return of congressmen from the summer recess. AIPAC nonetheless had ensured that Congressional leaders forced the vote onto the legislative schedule resulting in an overwhelming majority of 395 representatives for with only eight against — not an unusual result for pro-Israel legislation especially for military assistance at a time of war (if the unprovoked and deliberate genocide of a virtually unarmed and helpless Palestinian people can be called a “war”).

 

 

El Paso’s population of 862,000 is 70% Hispanic with an estimated 4,000 Jewish community whose  El Paso Jewish federation sent out an alert to members with O’Rourke’s contact information urging that action should be taken and a suggested sample letter. With a substantial number of Jews on his donor list, O’Rourke immediately sought damage control with the explanation that as he was one of the last to vote in the roll call, when it was already clear the bill was cruising toward passage, he consequently felt free to cast a vote on principle [but should he not have done that anyway?] knowing it would not impact on the final outcome. In keeping with its usual modus operandi, AIPAC quickly followed the stick with the carrot so that in the spring, or sooner, O’Rourke will join a group of other lawmakers on the annual junket (pilgrimage) to Israel arranged by an AIPAC-affiliated organisation. Unfortunately, the 578,000 or more Hispanic majority have no extravagant junkets with which to compete for Beto O’Rourke’s congressional attention.

 

 

“Every time we do something you tell me Americans will do this and will do that. I want to tell you something very clear, don’t worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it.” 

Ariel Sharon, October 2001

 

 

Even those Americans wishing to be knowledgable and active participants in their democracy are disadvantaged by the fact that only six corporations — consolidated from some 50 companies back in 1983 — now control 90% of the media in America and purvey the illusion of choice. 

 

 

“In America, the criminally insane rule and the rest of us, or the vast majority of the rest of us, either do not care, do not know, or are distracted and properly brainwashed into acquiescence.”

 

 

This consolidation of media outlets has consistently disseminated disinformation promoting the war agendas of the very institutions of power that keep them in business. Deceptive media reports have repeatedly advocated war agenda policies that have sent Western nations headlong into illegitimate, illegal, and immoral wars in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria with Iran being the next Israeli-instigated target.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“ . . . 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 . . . ”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address 1961

 

 

It was the pernicious programming of people as happened following the tragic events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks when the media provoked fear, paranoia, and outrage that the brainwashed American people willingly surrendered their freedoms by allowing Congress to pass the Patriot Act and create the Department of Homeland [Fatherland?] Security that led to the NSA spying on all Americans with the recording of their phone calls, webcam videos, mobile device texts and financial transactions without warrants and in contravention of the law. Another consequence of the orchestrated media hysteria following 9/11 was the U.S. Border Patrol’s growth from only 9,000 border agents to the current 46,000 with an annual budget of $12.4 billion. It is therefore no surprise that results of a just released poll by Pew Research shows that Americans are now more paranoid of electronic surveillance than ever before with 80% of adults saying Americans should be concerned about the government’s monitoring of phone calls and internet communications and only 18% disagreeing. 

 

 

While Americans are deliberately deprived of the true facts by the mainstream media, their elected representatives on Capitol Hill continue with barefaced impunity to place the Interests of the Zionist Apartheid state of Israel above and beyond those of their own country and people. Mark Twain’s quote was true then and is even truer now as witnessed by several events starting with the Republican Jewish Conference in Las Vegas in late March of this year where hopefuls for the 2016 presidential campaign such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Governor Chris Christie, Governor John Kasich, and Governor Scott Walker turned up to court big spenders including Jewish casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who in the 2012 election spent $100 million of which $20 million was wasted on the losing Republican primary candidate Newt “and I think that we’ve invented the Palestinian people” Gingrich.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“ . . . Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favourite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests . . . ”

President George Washington’s Farewell Address 1796

 

 

A few days later at the beginning of April, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down limits on individual campaign contributions, ruling that federal caps on combined donations to candidates, parties and political action committees are an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. In other words, the very rich like Adelson — who to date had donated some $180 million to the Birthright Israel Foundation that makes available a 10-day Birthright Israel educational trip to every Jewish young adult — and the Kock brothers (sons of Fred C. Kock, founder of Kock industries, the second largest privately held company in the U.S.) can go shopping for political candidates over whom they will subsequently have complete control. 

 

 

Of the nine Supreme Court Justices three are Jewish while none are Christian Protestant (the largest religious group in the US) or Muslim (Muslim-Americans are about equal in number to Jewish-Americans) which again suggests that money can buy disproportionate representation. While it is rare for sitting Supreme Court justices to serve on boards — with most resigning from such board memberships to at least give the appearance of nonpartisanship — Justice Stephen C. Breyer is an active serving member on the International Advisory Board of the Israel Democracy Institute which conducts policy research of uncompromising quality on issues critical to the future of Israeli democracy — not U.S. democracy

 

 

Just a few days ago two of the most notorious Jewish war-mongering billionaire power brokers in America made a joint appearance before a new group calling itself the Israeli American Council (IAC). Media mogul Haim Saban, 70, a major sugar daddy to Hillary Clinton (a potential presidential candidate), criticised President Obama’s dealings with Iran by stating “we’ve shown too many carrots and a very small stick” and fantasised about bombing Iran. Sheldon Adelson, 81, who spent $400 million supporting various Republican presidential candidates in 2014 — with nothing as yet to show for it, told IAC that “Everyone in this room — whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat or Independent . . . when it comes to Israel, we’re on the same side.” Adelson, not content with just owning American politicians, also plans to buy the already Israel-biased New York Times even though it is not for sale. When asked how this would be achieved, Adelson replied “There’s only one way to buy it — Money.” It was also generally agreed that President Obama has not done enough to protect Israel [help annihilate the Palestinian people].

 

 

“Pointing fingers at the world for its indifference to the genocide of the Jews, while busy using the Holocaust for political gains at the expense of the Palestinians, Zionists have a lot to hide about their indifference, even collaboration, with the Nazis and the Fascists, as their fellow Jews were being sent to concentration camps. It seems that this finger-pointing by the Zionists is nothing more than a smoke screen to hide their dark past of allowing other Jews to die, while the Zionists were lobbying to rob Palestinians of their country.” Two highly recommended books on the topic are Zionism in the Age of the Dictators by Lenni Brenner and The Seventh Million by Tom Segev; (both authors are Jews).

 

 

While Abraham Lincoln may have said “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth,” the fact remains that such exemplary governance, if it ever actually existed in the United States, has certainly now perished with half of Americans living below or near the poverty line and a record 47 million of them — 13 million more than when the President Obama assumed office — receiving food stamps. Census figures released in September 2013 reveal that in any given month, some 1.7 million households are living on  a cash income of less than $2 per person per day, with the prevalence of the kind of deep poverty commonly associated with developing nations increasing in the U.S. since the mid-1990s; One out of seven people in the U.S. are living in poverty; Almost one out of sixteen people in the U.S. are living in deep poverty; Racial and ethnic minorities, women, children, and families headed by single women are particularly vulnerable to poverty and deep poverty; Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to be poor, and to be in poverty and deep poverty; Children represent more than one-third of the people living in poverty and deep poverty; Poverty is a women’s issue with female-headed families being more likely to be poor; and over one-fourth of adults with a disability live in poverty.

 

 

Despite so much poverty and social injustice the U.S. military budget is $756.4 billion for the year 2015. This includes $495.6 billion for the base budget of the Department of Defence(DOD); $85.4 billion for Overseas Contingency Funds for the wind-down of the War in Afghanistan; $175.4 billion for defence-related agencies and functions including the Veterans Administration ($65.3 billion), the State Department ($42.6 billion), Homeland Security ($38.2 billion), FBI and Cybersecurity in the Department of Justice ($17.6 billion), and the National Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy ($11.7 billion).

 

 

That means that military spending is the second largest Federal government expenditure after Social Security ($896 billion). Though military spending has dropped thanks to sequestration and the end of the War in Iraq in 2011, it is still greater than Medicare ($529 billion), Medicaid ($331 billion), or the interest payment on the debt ($251 billion). It is also more than the three next largest departments combined: Health and Human Services ($73.1 billion), Education ($68.6 billion) and Housing and Urban Development ($32.6 billion). If all military spending were somehow safely eliminated, there would be a budget surplus of $174.8 billion, instead of a $564 billion deficit.

 

 

With the launch of the latest U.S.-led war in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State (IS), the United States has now engaged in aggressive military action in at least 13 countries in the Greater Middle East since 1980 during which time every American president — egged on by AIPAC on behalf of Israel — has invaded, occupied, bombed, or gone to war in at least one country in the region. Such illegal invasions, socially destructive occupations, barbaric bombing operations, extrajudicial drone assassinations, and war crime cruise missile attacks, have become part of a permanent U.S. infrastructure for disastrous wars in the Middle East which require access to and the use of an unprecedented number of military bases. The Middle East bases occupy a region with the world’s largest concentration of oil and natural gas reserves that are considered to be the most geopolitically important on the planet. Since 1980, the U.S. military has gradually garrisoned the Greater Middle East in a manner matched only by the Cold War garrisoning of Western Europe or, in terms of numbers, by the bases built to wage past wars of interference in Korea and Vietnam.

 

 

“We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the world — bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are whores for power and oil with hate and fear in our hearts.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) American journalist and author.

 

 

Not content with financing its own unnecessary and illegal global military aggression, the U.S.  each day provides Israel with $8.5 million in military aid while giving the Palestinians zero dollars in military aid. Yet despite this overwhelming provision of military aid to Israel that defies any comparison, Israeli-inspired Western propaganda in the mainstream media will have us believe that it is the Israelis — and not the blockaded Palestinian victims of ethnic cleansing — who are in need of  “defend themselves.”

 

 

“Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts provided to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct U.S. economic and military assistance since 1976 and the largest total recipient since World War ll. Total direct U.S. aid to Israel amounts to well over $140 billion in 2003 dollars. Israel receives about $3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America’s entire foreign aid budget. In per capita terms, the United States gives each Israeli a direct subsidy worth about $500 per year. This largesse is especially striking when one realises that Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to South Korea or Spain.”

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

 

 

The decline of U.S. moral authority, respect for justice, and the loss of democratic principles unfortunately impacts not only on the United States of America, but also on the rest of the world. Every time the U.S. sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. This American malady is not a new phenomenon, but one that was diagnosed and warned against back in the mid-sixties by a true American patriot, as opposed to the lowlifes that now “represent” the American people:

 

 

“. . . America is now at that historical point at which a great nation is in danger of losing its perspective on what exactly is within the realm of its power and what is beyond it. Other great nations, reaching this critical juncture, have aspired to too much, and by overextension of effort have declined and then fallen . . .

 

 

“If America has a service to perform in the world and I believe it has it is in large part the service of its own example. In our excessive involvement in the affairs of other countries, we are not only living off our assets and denying our own people the proper enjoyment of their resources; we are also denying the world the example of a free society enjoying its freedom to the fullest. This is regrettable indeed for a nation that aspires to teach democracy to other nations, because, as Burke said, “Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.”

 

 

“There are many respects in which America, if it can bring itself to act with the magnanimity and the empathy appropriate to its size and power, can be an intelligent example to the world. We have the opportunity to set an example of generous understanding in our relations with China, of practical cooperation for peace in our relations with Russia, of reliable and respectful partnership in our relations with Western Europe, of material helpfulness without moral presumption in our relations with the developing nations, of abstention from the temptations of hegemony in our relations with Latin America, and of the all-around advantages of minding one’s own business in our relations with everybody. Most of all, we have the opportunity to serve as an example of democracy to the world by the way in which we run our own society; America, in the words of John Quincy Adams, should be ‘the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all’ but ‘the champion and vindicator only of her own.’ 

 

    

“If we can bring ourselves so to act, we will have overcome the dangers of the arrogance of power. It will involve, no doubt, the loss of certain glories, but that seems a price worth paying for the probable rewards, which are the happiness of America and the peace of the world.”

Senator William J. Fulbright, The Arrogance of Power, Random House, 1966.

 

 

Illustrations by (http://www.deesillustration.com/index.asp)

 

 

William Hanna is a freelance writer with a recently published book the Hiramic Brotherhood of the Third Temple. Sample chapter, other articles, and contact details at: (http://www.hiramicbrotherhood.com/)