Government Semantics And Stupid Americans

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By Timothy V. Gatto


The words bandied about by the government and the U.S. media surely must give those of us that can still think for ourselves a great deal of pause. It appears that just about everyone that opposes U.S. intervention in any country becomes an “ insurgent”. Those that actually attack our troops in foreign countries automatically become “terrorists” . It doesn't matter what pretext we storm into a country with U.S. troops with, those that oppose us are automatically dumped in the same category.

This is a deliberate attempt by the U.S. government, with mainstream media help, to frame the conflicts we find ourselves in. Just like in a debate we frame our ideas and opinions to score points with the judges and to back our opponents into a tightly weaved box. Our government does the same thing with describing those that differ with them. Rome described all peoples that didn't belong to the Roman Empire as “barbarians”. America seems to have learned this lesson well. It worked so well for Rome, many people to this day believe that these civilizations, even those that were well advanced, were barbarians. Language is that powerful.

There is another mantra that is bandied about in this country and that is the phrase that “Our soldiers are fighting overseas for our freedom”. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. The fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with our freedoms. In fact, the exact opposite is true. As we prosecute this contrived “War on terror” we see our freedoms under The Bill of Rights constantly under attack and are eroding before our very eyes. In the name of “fighting the war on terror” we see our e-mails and telephones subject to governmental examination in violation of the First Amendment.

Americans had hoped that Obama would have rescinded many of the more oppressive laws that the Bush administration had put in place. Unfortunately this didn't turn out to be the case. The Obama administration is in the process of reconvening the Military Commission trials and holding “enemy combatants” in violation of the Geneva Convention as “enemy combatants” even though many of these folks were sold to American forces for a bounty by their countrymen to the U.S. and have no ties to those that attack our forces.

This “War on terror” is a huge scam. It seems that when the polls start showing that the American people are beginning to tire of paying over a trillion dollars a year for defense, and while they tire of seeing American soldiers come back in body bags, there is another “Terrorist” plot uncovered in America. I sincerely have my doubts on the veracity of these so-called “attacks”. It seems to me that they are always a fortuitous thing for the administration as to when they surface. Call me paranoid but how many times have these plots arrived right on time?

I don't want to ring any alarm bells here, but I believe that since I saw it with my own eyes I should report it. Months ago I read an article with photographs of modular prison cells on a train somewhere in Utah. I have no idea what these prison cells are going to be used for and I don't want to speculate. What I saw in Mauldin, South Carolina yesterday alarmed me however. There on a railroad siding was about fifty of these “modular prison cells” on flatbeds.

I'd just like to end this by saying that it is probably in your best interests to understand how the media and the government uses semantics and how they describe things. These are age old ways of influencing the population to support military adventures from time immemorial. Read between the lines and think for yourselves. There can't be millions of “terrorists” that spawned in the last five years. “Insurgents” more than likely are people that want foreign troops out of their country. We were “insurgents” in the Revolutionary War. Many of us did not wear uniforms either. The Continental Army could barely afford uniforms. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan don't have a “uniform” budget, so I guess this means that they are not covered by the Geneva Conventions. What a sham!

Tim's book "Complicity to Contempt" and his new novel "Kimchee Days" at all online bookstores.