Poor Pol Pot. He just can’t get any respect. Despite a solid resume as a crazed, brutal dictator responsible for killing approximately 1.7 million of his own people, his name never comes up when the caretakers of American empire set their sights on an enemy du jour. The same goes for Josef Stalin, Chairman Mao,…
Hypocrisy. It is the mother’s milk of imperialism. Whether it is in the service of “civilizing” barbarians, converting “heathens,” or, in its most recent incarnation, extending the reach of “democracy,” the bottom line of imperialism has always been the bottom line. The bottom line of the infamous “White Man’s Burden” borne by the once-ubiquitous British…
Let’s say you own an auto-glass repair shop. Doesn’t it make a lot of financial sense to periodically hire a few thugs armed with baseball bats to go out and surreptitiously break a few windshields? It’s Marketing 101. If you want to sell your product, you’ve gotta create a need. That simple analogy may be…
Timing is everything. For the embattled national security state, the fortuitous timing of “pre-9/11-like” chatter portending a large-scale, “potential” terror threat was downright impeccable. Warnings were given and embassies closed. Terrifying terror thwarted. The media dutifully regurgitated and the conversation changed. Justifications made. Mission accomplished? Frankly, when it comes to justifying the national security state,…
“Why?” It is the most important question a journalist can ask. The “who, what, when and where” set the stage, but any actor will tell you that the motivation—the “why”—is what truly brings a character to life and makes them comprehensible. The motivation is, in fact, the whole point of the story. In the case…