(abridged) ...Torture...is also a metaphor of the shock doctrine's underlying logic. Torture...is a set of techniques designed to put prisoners into a state of deep disorientation in order to ...create violent ruptures in their ability to make sense of the world. ...The goal is "softening-up" ...prisoners are so regressed that they can no longer think rationally or protect their own interests.
(unabridged)
The shock doctrine mimics this process precisely, attempting to achieve on a mass scale what torture does one on one in the interrogation cell. The clearest example was the shock of September 11, which, for millions of people exploded "the world that is familiar" and opened up a period of deep disorientation and regression that the Bush administration expertly exploited.
We helped create this reality. Now it's our job to deconstruct it.
We figured that singing "God Bless America" on the Captal steps was no big deal. But is it was a very big deal. As the first words uttered after our collective shock treatment, God Bless America was the renunciation of all our former beliefs. In song we signaled our regression -- the shock treatment was a success -- our status was now a infantile "blank slate." The song blessed our marriage and the Corporate New Deal -- and it was a blessing for the new Homeland Security/military/industrial complex. Private security companies are now another arm of government (the one held behind its back where no one can see).
Our leaders' zombie-like fecklessness in defending the Constitution can be traced back these moments, and it's this social engineering that has Congress regressed to the point of being unable to deal with impeaching the criminals.
"I don‘t know what genius political consultant has advised the Democratic leadership that it‘s a bad idea to spend hours of prime time on the floor of Congress reminding the country that Mr. Eleven-percent approval rating is a bad guy of whom they disprove and whom they would like to see held accountable. It‘s supposed to be Politics 101 that you associate yourself with good things and that you are seen to frequently and rabidly denounce bad things." -- Rachel Maddow on Countdown November 6, 2007
We're waking up from our long national nightmare. We're "saying no" to co-creating the Republican version of reality. Impeachment is the next step in regaining our consciousness as a functioning democracy. There's much more at stake than winning the legal battle impeachment presents. We must get our identity back in order that we may someday get our country back.
(unabridged)
The shock doctrine mimics this process precisely, attempting to achieve on a mass scale what torture does one on one in the interrogation cell. The clearest example was the shock of September 11, which, for millions of people exploded "the world that is familiar" and opened up a period of deep disorientation and regression that the Bush administration expertly exploited.
We helped create this reality. Now it's our job to deconstruct it.
We figured that singing "God Bless America" on the Captal steps was no big deal. But is it was a very big deal. As the first words uttered after our collective shock treatment, God Bless America was the renunciation of all our former beliefs. In song we signaled our regression -- the shock treatment was a success -- our status was now a infantile "blank slate." The song blessed our marriage and the Corporate New Deal -- and it was a blessing for the new Homeland Security/military/industrial complex. Private security companies are now another arm of government (the one held behind its back where no one can see).
"I don‘t know what genius political consultant has advised the Democratic leadership that it‘s a bad idea to spend hours of prime time on the floor of Congress reminding the country that Mr. Eleven-percent approval rating is a bad guy of whom they disprove and whom they would like to see held accountable. It‘s supposed to be Politics 101 that you associate yourself with good things and that you are seen to frequently and rabidly denounce bad things." -- Rachel Maddow on Countdown November 6, 2007
We're waking up from our long national nightmare. We're "saying no" to co-creating the Republican version of reality. Impeachment is the next step in regaining our consciousness as a functioning democracy. There's much more at stake than winning the legal battle impeachment presents. We must get our identity back in order that we may someday get our country back.
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