It's Our Fault. No American is Innocent (rant)

[ludwigb]

It's our fault. It may well seem like there are no winners in this war, but there certainly are. Who are they? American defense and military contracting companies--the kind of companies that your brother, your father, your cousin may work for. The kind of companies that the GOP and their media backers represent. War wouldn't be war without profits. Deep down, everybody knows it--the reasons we are in Iraq are quite simple, even if the warmakers really believe their own lies. Yet very few Americans who understand the truth are prepared to do anything about it.

I am not one of those very few. Sure, I vote the right way, I sign the right petitions, I volunteer in the lead-up to elections, I do what I can to explain the issues to the people who trust me. Yet in the larger scheme of things I do nothing. While the numbers of Iraqi dead slipped into the hundreds of thousands, I worried about the same bullshit I worry about now--paying off my credit cards, getting a new car. All the while wasting countless productive hours watching TV, chatting and otherwise surfing online, and smoking dope.

Every one of us who is educated enough to understand what is going on, but failed to act, has to face the guilt--the shame of being American. We can either hide from that shame, as I have done, or we can face it. No American liberalism can exist in this country unless we liberals are prepared to face the truth without equivocation. Being the chance we want in the world means living with integrity, and more than anything else that requires responsibility.

I feel guilty. I'm not saying everybody should. But it's safe to say a lot of people ought to. Yet guilt is useless if we don't draw rational conclusions from it.

[annabanana]

1. Good rant.

If you believe in the concept of America... That it is of/by and for the people, then you must take responsibility when she goes off the rails.

We work against it and rail against it because it is our duty.

When you travel abroad, that queasy feeling is because you haven't been able to stop the disaster that is this administration and the corporate interest it is beholden to. And You. Know. It.

[EnviroBat]

2. In the larger scheme of things...

What can any of us do. I mean, sure, we'd all like to take to the streets to, raise hell, to effect change. But we're all in the exact position that the powers that be want us in. We've got mortgages, and credit card payments. When I talk to my friends about this, they pretty much tell me the same thing. They don't want to lose their homes, and jobs, for showing public defiance in the face of what has become a real national emergency in my opinion. This is why I get so frustrated, I feel trapped, censored, and oftentimes crippled. I don't know if this is part of "the larger scheme of things" you were referring to, but I feel as though our collective anger and frustration is still falling on deaf ears.

[mmonk]

3. Nope.

I didn't vote for anyone that supported this and my mere presence in this country does not make me guilty.

[mdmc]

13. I disagree

but then again, I voted for Kerry / Edwards (both didn't take to the streets, didn't join the anti-war protests).

[rhett o rick]

15. That's what the German people said in 1944. We must all share the guilt. nm

[Solly Mack]

4. The world will ask about Americans the exact same question

the world is still asking about Germans.

"Why?" (why didn't they stop him?)

[bdamomma]

5. exactly, we must unite.

[HughBeaumont]

7. Because the military and police would blood-dust us if we tried to.

Seriously. Let's all collectively try to remove him from office. Watch what happens. You'll see just EXACTLY which caste they're assigned to protect. He who hath all the gold maketh all the rules.

[lectrobyte]

6. Damn straight. We all are to blame. Everyone seems like as long

as they get their piece of the pie, everything is fine. Look at the outcry whenever the pentagon even hints at closing a military base in some state. Look at how the big budget defense items make sure that spiffy new weapons system is divided up amongst contractors in key states. And it never occurs to anyone that if that defense budget were cut, and the money saved were use to fund education, or alternate energy sources, or even just handed out to people on the street corner, we'd all be better off than we are today.

Yeah, I got those bumper stickers on my car, wrote some letters to my representative, do a lot of stuff online, but maybe a 100 people marching down a street somewhere would be better than 1000 people posting on DU or reading daily kos.

[MindPilot]

8. Blame the victim?

Short of an armed takeover of the whitehouse which is pretty much guaranteed to meet with minimal success, what more can any of us do?

I was one of the millions around the world protesting this war before it even started. Voting, writing, protesting, calling, writing and calling some more, I've done it all. I refuse to minimize my efforts because they were not successful.

The fact that this administration has gotten itself mired in an untenable situation is not my problem, not my responsibility to fix and not my job to provide a solution.

Sorry, but there ain't no guilt on me.

[rhett o rick]

16. Rationalization is the key to happiness. Are you happy? nm

[MindPilot]

28. No, I'm not, and that's the difference between rationalization

and rational thought.

I hope you understand that by taking responsibility for Iraq, you're making it the Democrat's' problem which will of course guarantee a rethug victory in '08.

[rhett o rick]

37. Let me see if i can follow your "rational" thinking. Because a republica

was president when we went to war, democrats have no responsibility. Please tell me when i go off-track. If I remember correctly, many democrats, including the top 2008 democratic presidential candidate, voted to give GWB UN-f********-restricted power to wage war. I believe that many of them used your "rational" thinking to rationalize that GWB will get blamed for the disaster and no one will hold them accountable or hold them responsible. And you, I assume you have done all that you can to end this war. You've spent thousands of dollars to support "end the war" candidates and you've spent hundreds of hours going door to door or whatever to get the word out. We, as Americans, are all responsible for what happens at the hands of OUR government.

[AliceWonderland]

35. I don't know, I don't feel like much of a victim living in the United States

At least, not compared to many places in the world that lack basic resources.

And, it seems to me that the very foundation of the American political system is that one does have a responsibility to "fix" a situation where power is consolidated and corrupt.

[Az]

9. The fact that he can still get out of the White House still amazes me

Where are the countless outraged surrounding the WH? Why is traffic not utterly immobilized in DC due to the crowds of enraged citizens? I can only blame the media and its zombification effect on the public. Everyone is so numbed out in their personal bliss cages that they can't trouble themself to do anything other than rant a bit.

[cassiepriam]

10. I agree. We all have to share some degree of the blame. Like Germans did.

[devilgrrl]

11. Oh yeah? Bollocks!!!!

I've never supported these assholes and knew they were evil from the get-go. How is it MY fault?

[Az]

18. Why are you on a computer instead of throwing your body into the cogs of the system

It is our shared comlpacency that brings us all our guilt. There are some that have given their all to stop this monstrosity. But the bulk of us here (including myself) are mostly muttering instead of doing.

Why can George go anywhere and not be hounded by countless protestors? Why is the White House not ringed by layer upon layer of people condemning his actions?


All that must happen for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

[ludwigb]

22. Absolutely right

Your post, and particularly your last sentence, are absolutely correct.

Part of the problem, I think, is that Americans are our brothers and sisters, our family. This is our nation. We don't want to face the truth because we don't want to admit that our nation is sinning--that it is involved in evil actions. We don't want to face that about ourselves.

Consider how even Democratic politicians against the war refuse to argue what they know to be true--the war is not merely useless and merely makes our security situation worse, the war is evil and immoral. Instead they hold to the illusion, believed by so many Americans, that the war is being fought for noble ends. Granted, our military and its leaders may have had noble intentions, but who can really believe, at this point, after so much death and waste, benefiting only the pockets of war profiteers, that the ends of this war are noble? Hence even war opponents refuse to own up to the whole truth, and the real implication--that we must take to the streets and organize to end this war and change the foreign policy culture propagated by our nation.

We do nothing, torn by our refusal to own up to the evil around us.

[devilgrrl]

29. I certainly hope you state your feelings with everyone else that shares my opinion...

because really I resent being singled out.

[Az]

33. Not meant to single you out

This is a failing all of us have. We are all complaicent. Standing up to power demands much of people.

The point is more to motivate everyone to do more than to castigate you for not having done enough. Bush is still in office and people are still dying because of it. More needs to be done. I need to do more. Skinner needs to do more. You need to do more. More until that bastard is out of office.

Nixon complained that it was like being under siege during Vietnam due to all the protestors outside the WH. Why is George so unaware that people really don't like him in comparison?

More needs to be done.

[devilgrrl]

34. Fine.

eom

[ludwigb]

20. Yeah

I've been and to some extent remain a student of German history, and the reality of this analogy is very disturbing to me. Few Americans, reading history, are prepared to forgive the mid-level professionals who sat back and watched their nation descend into fascism. No doubt, America's depravity pales in comparison to Nazi Germany, but the moral imperative to fight is just as strong, if not stronger since we live in a nation with a right to free speech and assembly.

[cassiepriam]

23. Our depravity does not pale in comparison to Germany.

Bush has killed almost a million Iraqis outright.
And he shows no signs of stopping.

He has wounded and tortured untold numbers, and destroyed the country of Iraq.
With the depleted uranium the damage to the people of that country could go on for generations. The psychological trauma certainly will.

And inflamed the whole Mideast, humiliated America in the world.

How are we any different from Germany?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

12. You Can Have Your Guilt, As I Feel None. I'm Also Not Ashamed To Be An American.

And no, we aren't all to blame. You are free to speak for yourself, but don't cast your guilt onto others by declaring them to blame as well.

No, I'm not to blame. In fact, you are not to blame either. If you choose to believe you are well then, whatever. You're entitled.

[The2ndWheel]

14. We all benefit from empire and war

There wouldn't be an America without them. If not for the mass killing of nature and people who stood in the way of progress, we wouldn't have anything that we have.

Nothing comes for free though. I'd trade it all to go back and start over without the killing this time, but we can't go back, and like you said, we can't do much anyway. We have to keep up, even though nobody can.

[Bucky]

24. We certainly do benefit from the policies and historical accidents that make the US strong & wealthy

The fact that we are here in this country may not make us at fault for the war, but it did make us responsible for stopping it. If we failed to stop it, we failed in our jobs as citizens to keep America on the right side of history. The blood shed, if shed against our choices, is still shed to make our own lives softer, and so the blood is still on our hands. Our responsibility to clean up the mess is not diminished simply because we tried (and failed) to stop the war. The government is still our pit bull and you don't get out of paying back the guy he bites, no matter how many times you tell the judge, "I don't know HOW Fido got off his leash"

[The2ndWheel]

25. We still go to work and pay taxes

Outside of not doing that, and stopping the machine, there isn't anything we as citizens can do. Calling people in Congress does nothing. Protesting with signs does even less. We either turn the machine off, or it keeps running. Obviously we need someone to start that, but who's going to follow? We have kids to feed.

[Bucky]

39. You have touched on the soul of the Social Contract that Rousseau & Hobbes describe

We are contracted partners with the US government. If you can't wait to "renoegotiate" the contract through the normal democratic means (and I admit the waiting is torturous and the negotiations uncertain), there certainly are other governments in the world to take up citizenship status with. None of us in this country are without choices--we're only without painless ones.

[rhett o rick]

17. Hey, I feel no guilt. I do my part, I watch the Daily Show.

"sarcasm"

[Tin Man]

19. Sorry, but your title is wrong... Guilt is for the guilty, and frankly, I ain't among them.

To the best of my abilities, I work with the public interest in mind.

Sorry if I haven't been able to tranform our country, and this planet, into Utopia just yet - but I ain't the least bit guilty about my efforts to that end.

[progressivebydesign]

21. I know it's heartfelt, but I disagree. I am not guilty.

The perps are guilty. What you're describing is our daily activities. The stuff of life. Are we to chain ourselves to something and refuse food to stop them? It doesn't work. Resistence to these acts comes in large, but subtle, ways.. and that changes public perceptions. I have no shame about this. I am not a member of the PNAC, nor am I related to Bush, nor working for Fox News.

[YOY]

26. Sorry

I have a family to support. I CANNOT and COULDN'T just take to the streets...perhaps that is merely just how our system is setup by the powers that be.

I feel no goddamn guilt whatsoever. Actually I feel vindicated by being one of the Americans who openly and vocally disagreed with his own country's policies without being an apologist.

[GeorgeGist]

27. You are free to feel guilty ...

if you are. But I'm not.

[specimenfred1984]

30. USA is guilty of letting these crooks have power

and we'll be even more guilty if we let them go yet again, like Ford let Rummy and Cheney have power. Watching that guy get praised as being a "healer" when he perpetuated the Nixonian frauds and helped lead us to the criminal regime we have today was a disgusting abuse of the public.

We need to jail every single Bush co-conspirator and make all their crime public knowledge.

[rinsd]

31. The concept of collective guilt is the same as collective punishment

Both are bullshit.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

32. So what should you have done differently, and are you now doing it?

If there is nothing you should have done differently then you have no cause to feel guilt.

If there is some way you should have behaved differently and you haven't changed it, then waving your guilt around is moderately contemptible - confession is no substitute for atonement.

Guilt is something you should feel for your own actions, and nothing else.

[maxsolomon]

36. is this not the same fault that "moderate arabs" are guilty of?

"why haven't they stopped the extremists?" is a refrain i've heard a lot from the RW MSM. its the same argumet OBL makes when he justifies 9/11 by saying that we pay taxes to the war machine that kills palestinian babies or dares to step an infidel foot in SA, so we're responsible. fuck him, fuck Bill O'reilly & fuck collective guilt.

you can't stop the extremists until they fuck up & lose their enablers - i.e. joe mccarthy. and * has fucked up. but Power is insulated from the masses in mulitple ways in every "democratic" country - it won't stop because of a poll or because people exercise their right to protest. except in the case of spontaneous revolutions like in the ukraine or the philipines, they just tolerate it, like * has done.

it takes time for Power to be brought to heel. look how hard & long americans had to fight to stop vietnam - and it didn't end until 1975! gerald goddamn ford!

the facts are that millions of 'murkins DID try to stop this war. but they were clearly the minority at the time, and without a unified front or powerful advocates - few senators came along - they wimped out on the IWR. how many would it have taken to make * change his tiny mind? 10% of the populace out in the streets at once? that's 30 million people. i bet you * wouldn't have given a shit. 25%? 50%? 75%? 100%? maybe 100%. but that would mean Laura, the twins, dick cheney's giant balls, & all the neocons, too, not just Francis Fuckyomama.

myself, i'm a cynic. i knew that there was no way on god's green earth that * would be stopped once the IWR was passed. protests were pointless, and the not-clever chanting is frankly embarassing. so sure, go ahead & feel guilt if you supported this fiasco, but not because you failed to stop it. you aren't the decider.

or tony blair. tony blair could have stopped *.

[Raine]

38. I don't feel guilty

because I am not.