While I do have a blog coming up today, I believe we all should read this.
This article was originally posted in Senior Living magazine.
Some of the best comments I have on my site, IN SUPPORT OF our president, have come from Canada, and other foreign nations. (Go figure).
This man has it right. Please read on.
America - He's Your President for Goodness Sake!
By William Thomas
Posted: Friday, October 1st, 2010
There was a time not so long ago when Americans, regardless of their political stripes, rallied round their president. Once elected, the man who won the White House was no longer viewed as a republican or democrat, but the President of the United States. The oath of office was taken, the wagons were circled around the country’s borders and it was America versus the rest of the world with the president of all the people at the helm.
Suddenly President Barack Obama, with the potential to become an exceptional president has become the glaring exception to that unwritten, patriotic rule.
Four days before President Obama’s inauguration, before he officially took charge of the American government, Rush Limbaugh boasted publicly that he hoped the president would fail. Of course, when the president fails the country flounders. Wishing harm upon your country in order to further your own narrow political views is selfish, sinister and a tad treasonous as well.
Subsequently, during his State of the Union address, which is pretty much a pep rally for America, an unknown congressional representative from South Carolina, later identified as Joe Wilson, stopped the show when he called the President of the United States a liar. The president showed great restraint in ignoring this unprecedented insult and carried on with his speech. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was so stunned by the slur, she forgot to jump to her feet while clapping wildly, 30 or 40 times after that.
Last spring, President Obama took his wife Michelle to see a play in New York City and republicans attacked him over the cost of security for the excursion. The president can’t take his wife out to dinner and a show without being scrutinized by the political opposition? As history has proven, a president in a theatre without adequate security is a tragically bad idea.
Remember: “Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
At some point, the treatment of President Obama went from offensive to ugly and then to downright dangerous.
The health-care debate, which looked more like extreme fighting in a mud pit than a national dialogue, revealed a very vulgar side of America. President Obama’s face appeared on protest signs white-faced and blood-mouthed in a satanic clown image. In other tasteless portrayals, people who disagreed with his position distorted his face to look like Hitler complete with mustache and swastika.
Odd, that burning the flag makes Americans crazy, but depicting the president as a clown and a maniacal fascist is accepted as part of the new rude America.
Maligning the image of the leader of the free world is one thing, putting the president’s life in peril is quite another. More than once, men with guns were videotaped at the health-care rallies where the president spoke. Again, history shows that letting men with guns get within range of a president has not served America well in the past.
And still the “birthers” are out there claiming Barack Obama was not born in the United States, although public documentation proves otherwise. Hawaii is definitely part of the United States, but the Panama Canal Zone where his electoral opponent Senator John McCain was born? Nobody’s sure.
Last month, a 44-year-old woman in Buffalo was quite taken by President Obama when she met him in a chicken wing restaurant called Duff’s.
Did she say something about a pleasure and an honour to meet the man or utter encouraging words for the difficult job he is doing? No.
Quote: “You’re a hottie with a smokin’ little body.”
Lady, that was the President of the United States you were addressing, not one of the Jonas Brothers! He’s your president for goodness sakes, not the guy driving the Zamboni at “Monster Trucks On Ice.” Maybe next it’ll be, “Take Your President To A Topless Bar Day.”
In President Barack Obama, Americans have a charismatic leader with a good and honest heart. Unlike his predecessor, he’s a very intelligent leader. And unlike that president’s predecessor, he’s a highly moral man.
In President Obama, Americans have the real deal, the whole package and a leader that citizens of almost every country around the world look to with great envy. Given the opportunity, Canadians would trade our leader, hell, most of our leaders for Obama in a heartbeat.
What America has in Obama is a head of state with vitality and insight and youth. Think about it, Barack Obama is a young Nelson Mandela. Mandela was the face of change and charity for all of Africa but he was too old to make it happen. The great things Obama might do for America and the world could go on for decades after he’s out of office.
America, you know not what you have.
The man is being challenged unfairly, characterized with vulgarity and treated with the kind of deep disrespect to which no previous president was subjected. It’s like the day after electing the first black man to be president, thereby electrifying the world with hope and joy, Americans sobered up and decided the bad old days were better.
President Obama may fail but it will not be a Richard Nixon default fraught with larceny and lies. President Obama, given a fair chance, will surely succeed but his triumph will never come with a Bill Clinton caveat – “if only he’d got control of that zipper.”
Please. Give the man a fair, fighting chance. This incivility toward the leader who won over Americans and gave hope to billions of people around the world that their lives could be enhanced by his example, just naturally has to stop.
Believe me, when Americans drive by the White House and see a sign on the lawn that reads: “No shirt. No shoes. No service,” they’ll realize this new national rudeness has gone way, way too far.
I do believe you are correct Mr. Thomas.
Like yourself I cannot stand the disrespect that people have shown to President Obama! It is shameful, arrogant, and ignorant.
I thank you for taking the time to {try to} set the American people straight.
XOXO
Me
As I stated in previous posts re: HealthCare, "the rest of the world is laughing at us."
Or maybe they are just more wise than the average American...
Special thanks to Ronn at 'political souls' for bringing this article to my attention
wonderful post Anna and am going to shout it out :)
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank you much for passing it on!
XOXO
Me
Maybe one of the things the USA should _change_ is that attitude? "versus the rest of the world", *rolling my eyes*...
ReplyDeleteDid mr. Thomas need the health care debate to discover that the USA (like many other countries) have a vulgar side?!
ReplyDeleteRoll your eyes if you must, but I believe the line you refer to is how the president took office BEFORE Mr. Obama.
ReplyDelete("Before" being the key word in my sentence AND implied in the authors statement as well).
Even taken out of context the President of the United States is the most powerful man in the world.
XOXO
Me
"THE leader of the free world"?! ROFLMAO! Honestly I'm sick and tired of Americans "thinking" they own the monopoly of freedom in all the world...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteNo.
But many Americans obviously did.
ReplyDeletePardon me, whoever you are, but apparently you either got out of bed on the wrong side, or had a completely lousy Friday night. hehehe
Please take your sad song and dance elsewhere.
LMAO!!! How wrong you are! I had a wonderful night with an American :-D One of the Americans who are far from being mirrored by the USA elites and who are NOT so sensible when I tell my opinion on articles like that one you posted. Free speech, remember?
ReplyDeleteBye bye.
Goodbye then.
ReplyDeleteHoly Crap- AC must have spent the night with Rush Limbaugh!
if that's an american who isn't mirrored completely by the usa elites, it's clear why usa politics sucks... ROFLMAO!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso from Political souls comes this:
ReplyDeleteDear President of the World Barack ObamaI would like to extend to you a full and open-hearted welcome to India, and hope you have a lovely time here on your Imperial visit. Please note what a wonderful nation we are, with nice, free vistas for you to admire, broad roads and friendly people who don’t ask you any nasty questions. I truly, and without sarcasm, hope that you have a great time, Mr President.Before I get down to business, then, let me tell you just a bit about my antecedents. I believe that you are an American-born, legitimate election winner. I also believe that you are an intelligent man. I freely give you those points.I was a longtime opponent of your predecessor, whom I count as a war criminal, and the end of whose presidency I cheered as I thought things couldn’t, at least, get worse. Not that I altogether welcomed your advent, either; I remember writing an open letter to you back in November 2008 making some predictions about pitfalls you’d face and probably succumb to.Well, sir, may I offer my congratulations: you have not only succumbed to those pitfalls, you have handily exceeded my worst expectations. You have, if I may say so, out-Bushed Bush at his worst, and you didn’t have the excuse he had, of being too addled to know what he was doing.Dear President of the World Obama, I welcomed you here, and as a private person you are, of course, most welcome.But as the leader of the Empire, sir, you are not welcome at all.You are not welcome because, under your watch, the wars your predecessor deliberately and wantonly started are raging worse than ever. You are not welcome because you are complicit, as the so-called Commander-in-Chief of your Empire’s forces, in the war crimes those forces commit. You are not welcome because you are, ultimately, responsible for the actions of your juniors, because you have not reined them in.<br style="fon
Adieu
ReplyDeleteWOW....because we cherish our freedom and are willing to die defending it we're "elites"??? We DO have more personal freedoms than the vast majority of the rest of the planet.
ReplyDeleteThank you- and well stated too.
ReplyDeleteAnd because we are willing to state that we will concur with the author, we are wrong? Huh?!?
Yup. I'm confused...
Truth. Some people actually "get it".
XOXO
Me
Exactly what is "mirrored by the elites"?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI am unsure of that myself.
But I will add that US politics suck because st00pid people honestly believe they can reiterate intelligent and honest things.
XOXO
Me
I thought it was just me.....
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think about 70% of the dissatisfaction with Obama is that he failed to keep his promise to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What he should have done on his first day in office was call in all his Generals and say..."Listen guys, I'm the commander in chief...and as long as you shut the f*** up and do exactly what I say without question...you are my Generals. Here's how it is gonna go. We are leaving Iraq and Afghanistan in 72 hours. Order your people to grab whatever they can carry on their back and be out of the country in 48 hours. On hour 73, I'm ordering air strikes on everything that moves. Anyone left behind is on their own. So, if you wish to HAVE troops to command, I suggest you remove them from the place that is about to become a bombing range.
ReplyDeleteNaturally, I wouldn't really do it, but I'm pretty sure that they would understand My point that I wasn't interested in hearing any excuses...not even for a 1 day delay.
If he had kept his promise about the war...everything else would have just been shrugged off as complaints from whiny Republicans.
Thanks Sis.
ReplyDeleteoxox,
snotball
This video is not overly respectful but I still like it. It always makes me smile. When I saw this it was the first I had heard of Obama and it did want me to learn more about the then candidate. I know his campaign did not really like the video too much. I still find it amusing.
ReplyDeleteWatch it next time you are at the library Anne.
ReplyDeleteThe way we treat the things that SHOULD inspire respect is a sad statement of our society as a whole.
ReplyDeletethe flag
the President
our parents
our elderly
our children
our teachers
our soldiers
each other
the list is endless
Wishing Multiply had a Like button.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post Anna, how very true it is. I have more respect for an administration that is trying to build better a country for it's people. The Obama administration is trying to do that, we can read, we are not blind we see on the news the papers and the Internet what and how millions treat him, it does not look very good and sometimes I cringe with eye's shut thinking "How could they this is their President" a person who is trying to do things AT HOME for the American people. I personally think President Obama is probably the best President America has had in some time and hundreds and hundreds of millions of people across the globe feel the same way. I have seen the people living in the the way that should not be allowed or accepted by any civilized 1st world country in the western world http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326187/Las-Vegas-tunnel-people-How-1-000-people-live-shimmering-strip.html I have studied again and again the that facts of the people in the US and other countries that need help with homes, illnesses, education and more and how what seems to me some there in the US would allow what seems to me to be a Caste system in your very own society, shame on those who are blocking his moves for improvement, as Anna stated "Shame".
ReplyDeletePerhaps some of you people should look more how other countries are doing politically, they are going down the drain, look over the fences of your neighbouring countries around the world and have a look at how they are doing and and be grateful for what you actually have there and what he is trying to do because if you do not your country will indeed implode on itself and you would have done it to yourselves. Now is the time to support your President and what he is trying to do for you.
I have many American, Canadian and English friends living here, they will not be returning to what was their home they have made themselves Australians now and like us they are very proud of it also, granted not even we are perfect in every way, the way we treat our aboriginals is disgusting if one asks me, yes we have our faults but we discuss them in a public forum without the mockery. The only thing in this post that surprises me Anna is that you are reading Senior Living magazine...LMBO hehehe you're not there yet Anna
I hope I have said anything to offend or hurt anyone that as that was not my attention if so I do apologise
I am NOT a fan of Obama at all. But....I can respect the fact that he IS our President. I may not stand behind all that he does, but I will stand behind him and support him as the leader of our Nation. And hopefully, he will not commit any major blunders like some of our past Presidents have. (Hey....Clinton was an embarrassment...but I still liked the guy!)
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that other countries can see the "rudeness" factor of those that make up the United States. But we are not all that way. Many of us can agree to disagree and leave it at that.
This is a very interesting post in many ways. I'm trying to focus on a few points that are pertinent to me, and this is one of them, thank you, Lester.
ReplyDeleteCivilized people, however they may disagree with each other, on any issue~do NOT resort to mockery~and as seems to me, Americans [?] with accelerating vulgarity, obscenity and lies. From what I have seen, these things have come from the Teabaggers and Republicans who want to turn this country upside down~change the Constitution and make of it nothing but one big Wall Street. It also seemed to me that the Democrats weren't aggressive enough in this mid-term election, or, perhaps they didn't resort to the things I referred to above, that appear to appeal to a certain mentality. (I am being kind to use the word mentality.) Or, they weren't backed by the humongous amounts of money from corporations, by the wealthy who can easily afford a few million when it suits their purpose, when they not only want to stay wealthy, but to become even wealthier.
It's true that 'some' Americans are very rude and arrogant regarding other countries. I'd hope we wouldn't be stereotyped by this, as the person below apparently is.
Also, by saying we are the leader of the free world, in no way says that others are not also free.
There are beautiful countries in this world and I don't believe that it's even implied that we don't recognize this.
I'd be dishonest if I didn't say that I'm aware of increasing disrespect in all areas. Far worse than that, are hate crimes. Set a homeless man on fire. Murder a homosexual. Five cops with a man face down on the ground and a cop shoots him in the back. There's ugliness here. I can't 'pretend' there's not.
Getting back to the focus, I hope~we severely lost respect of the world during the two terms of Bush, (the first term illegal), and are regaining, slowly, that respect with Obama. If some of us don't respect this president, what does that say about US?
Good.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Clinton, if we were to be embarrassed by the sexual escapades of presidents, (do you remember Kennedy just as an example?) politicians, school teachers, next door neighbor~or even perhaps, ourselves, we'd be embarrassed all of the time.
Just think: In the twenty eight years (prior to Obama) we had twenty years of Republican administrations. Clinton was our reprieve. Whatever he did in the oval office or elsewhere was/is irrelevant. Reagen's marriage was a fairy tale, but look at his history.
http://wellhell2.multiply.com/journal/item/551/Ronald_Reagan_A_Great_Republican_President..The_Rest_Of_The_Story?replies_read=10
Thank you so much for your response lurchie, the world does not see America as rude and arrogant regarding other countries, well I certainly hope not anyway Australia respects our greatest allie as well as the rest of them OK so we poke fun at the New Zealanders but, hell why not we're like kids in a family anyway. We really do get on :-)
ReplyDeleteAs for the hate crimes. like "Setting a homeless man on fire, murder someone because of their sexuality and the over use of power aka ( Five cops with a man face down on the ground and a cop shoots him in the back.) That is all middle ages and people like that need to be punished so badly There's ugliness here as in all countries I can't 'pretend' there's not.
as you say (I am being kind to use the word mentality.) LOL " yes,
Yes true America may be or may have been stereotyped, "but not by all countries" in the western world I would say more by those countries "Rednecks" ( Individuals yep we all have them ) who do not have the time nor the intelligence to bother finding out more about the world we all live in a share; .
Yes from where I sit it is the I must and will agree it is the Teabaggers mainly and Republicans to a point who are dragging a great country down a path which is not a path for "the people" as a whole.
I fully understand how passionate American are about their politics and that is to be commended so much however making a mockery or fool out of a great man and his admin who is trying his move the country forward with new untried steps is a SHAME. I fully agree with you on this
Thank you lurchie keep well
More like he shit the bed this morning...
ReplyDeleteHis name is President Obama!! not Obama, great article Anna , thanks for sharing
ReplyDeletexoxoxoxoxox
Did so many of you forget how President Bush was treated? That was shameful. The costumed haters were stationed in front of the White House getting pics taken with tourists. Such partisan memories
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteYou are quite possibly correct-
Then again, had he pulled the troops out there would have been a flagrant outcry about that too.
ReplyDeletehehehe
Thanks for remembering!
ReplyDeleteThis, and you, are simply brilliant.
The list, sadly, does go on.
Mr. Lester-
ReplyDeleteYes, it is shameful
But to have you point this all out is wonderful to me.
I know you read a lot- (Probably even more than I do)! And from the words of others we learn so much.
Hopefully the rest of the world is slowly but surely learning from what the U.S. is going through.
You said, "I personally think President Obama is probably the best President America has had in some time and hundreds and hundreds of millions of people across the globe feel the same way."
I completely agree.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mr. Lester. All of them.
ReplyDeleteHad people judged President Clinton on his ability to do his job, no one would have been able to say he was an embarrassment. That is just keeping politics out of the bedroom.
I really could care less if he got a bj- or if he got some on her dress.
How many zillions did that cost us. (Better- Ask WHY we needed to know)?
1. She should have kept her mouth closed, and/or just swallowed.
2. He should have paid for the cleaning bill.
There. I just saved the taxpayers zillions of dollars...
As far as President Obama goes.
I see a man who is not afraid to work intelligently. THAT ethic alone should be enough for any American; as it seems to be for the rest of the world, (who also judge him).
Mr Lurchie;
ReplyDeleteYou have left a very personally intelligent comment above- I appreciate each of your words!
Most potent to me: "Set a homeless man on fire. Murder a homosexual. Five cops with a man face down on the ground and a cop shoots him in the back. There's ugliness here. I can't 'pretend' there's not."
We cannot pretend anything. If it happens in any of our cities and town, we cannot dismiss it as not happening to our neighbors, or ourselves.
For this also.
ReplyDeleteThere are too many babies and their mothers that suffer terribly- slowly starving to death, while we ship food overseas that might take care of our own too
These babies and their mamas are NOT free. Not in any way, shape, or form.
While we can recognize that there are many beautiful worlds "out there", we need to make our own beautiful as well.
A few years ago I was given a book about President Reagan.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and at that time was not 'into' the politics of it all.
Why would I have been?
I had a job, insurance; healthy intelligent adult children; and lively grandchildren. All was right with my world.
I read Mike's entry about Reagan- And have read much else about how Reagan had made some awful mistakes. What really clinched this for me, and continues to do so, is Ron Jr.'s account of his own disagreements with his father. He is a very intelligent man also.
For that, the Reagans were blessed.
Fairytale? Not sure any marriage is- But they were close.
I realize that your comment is directed at Lurchie-
ReplyDeleteBut I still have to ask what is up with that type of people?
They are highly UN-informed, or precariously protected- or numbed by that little world they live in, and yet they are PROUD of being stupid and lazy.
I will never understand that.
Talk about the definition of "underachiever"...
.
Bad.
ReplyDelete(And I shouldn't have giggled, but I did).
AHA!
ReplyDeleteYou have picked up on that too? Just another rudeness coming your way my friend!
We have a reporter around here that has refused to called him "President"- That reporter is still on the air, but not doing as many newscasts as he once did either.
ReplyDeleteI think we can both agree that the mental capacity, and IQ level, of these 2 men are not even close.
Have I forgotten anything about President Bush?
Probably.
But I have *not* forgotten that he severely restricted further stem cell research either...
Many of us have not forgotten much about President Bush despite our desperate attempts to. President Bush WAS shameful. Americans are not cattle.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed this, actually, I haven't been seeing any alerts from you lately.
ReplyDeleteI may not have used "President" when I referred to Obama, and I'll correct that. He deserves my respect. Not Reagen, Papa Bush or Baby Bush.
Sheila, to even compare Bush with President Obama is a travesty. I believe GWB will go down in history as the worst president we ever had. Don't forget, he wasn't elected by the people, he was elected by the Supreme Court. How should the people feel when they elected Al Gore and got this monster instead? His second term was won by fear and deceit. He invaded an innocent county, against international law. The years of carnage there will never be forgotten. He was indicted as a war criminal. He should have been impeached while our constitution still allowed it.
He should be 'treated' to a very small cell, with a very small hole through which to feed him the blood of hundreds of thousands for whom he was responsible.
The hypocrisy is overwhelming
ReplyDeleteWhose?
ReplyDeleteI agree, in part. I think it started long before Obama. The disrespect of Our Presidents started I think when they allowed themselves to be seen on TV. On Letterman or Leno, come on now, what were they thinking. The rude Politicians are our work, we keep voting them in. Expert Advisers etc. I don't remember asking them for their opinion. I respect the office regardless of which PARTY, that word in itself is a joke. It seems like many of them take it literally. Other countries do laugh at us and frankly I totally understand why. My Dad used to have a great saying about finger pointing etc., Never talk about someone else's mess until you clean up your own back yard. Maybe we should get this Country together before we take on the correction of the World. Don't see it happening though, The PARTIES can't play nice long enough to get anything done. Just my "opinion". God Bless You....
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThank you Sheila- But I do not understand your comment.
Could you please point out the hypocrisy to which you refer?
ReplyDeleteNo worries about missing it Lurchie;
My inbox shows me all unread comments anyway.
Your comment of where GWB should be would save the taxpayers much money.
Hmmm... Now you really have me thinking...
Sweetie;
ReplyDeleteI actually love to see the more 'human' side of the politicians. But that's just my own preference.
I do realize they all have a somewhat professional image to uphold.
You are correct that the rudeness is all a part of our own making somehow.
That we allow it to perpetuate is also our own fault, 'somehow'. (It really IS ok to be smarter than our elected reps in Congress etc). hehehe
However I don't think many would be smarter that President Obama. He is quite well taught, and has learned much in his 40-some years on this earth of ours.
You are correct that the word "PARTY" is a joke. Taken literally, at least some of us should be having fun.
?
I don't see that a lot.
XOXO
me
PS
May God bless YOU too. You are quite missed when you don't come around.
How is Miss Melanie?
If you think of a plan, let me in on it! We really ought to hoist him off to another country where he would be arrested.
ReplyDeleteFV, I apologise. I think I was too angry because of the result of the last election, as angry as I was at the result of the last election in my own country.
ReplyDeleteI have never said the opposite. Obama is the President of the USA and that makes him what you say (even if some say politicians don't decide much anymore nowadays). But to that I add that power MUST be criticized, especially if we are pro freedom and/or democracy. Am I wrong?
ReplyDeleteObama said he wanted to reinstablish the moral leadership of the USA (but, as an European, to me it's about to start to reinstablish at least a little of the moral integrity of the West). Now, I do know one person can do very little about a real change, but how can we do that if we don't allow an international court ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_and_the_International_Criminal_Court ) to judge the Western leaders who decided the recent attack (some of whom are/were part of the Obama adm)?
Considered my previous days' unpleasant behaviour, please, let me say that I do not consider vulgar people like Cheney, Bush jr, Rumsfeld etc. like a complete mirror of the USA.
ReplyDeleteThis is a comment I wrote in a friend of mine's blog in 360° yahoo:
(comment written in my Sister Selina 360 on November 8, 2007): I don't like at all what's happening; it seems there's a sort of trial against you American people and I don't like trials against one people (also coz of my Jew ancestors). IMHO that's happening partly coz of the Bush administration policy (it is said by American and nonAmerican people that it has not fought terrorism in the right way, that it has too interests in oil, that it's provoking nuclear weapons race and, shortly, that its policy is a betrayal of the American revolutions ideals). I can accept those critics against Bush politicy coz that's what democracy and freedom rules want; what I don't agree on is another thing. It seems that intelligence of the heart and intelligence of the mind - which you do have!- seem to have become rare and that therefore laziness is very common: one hears some things about a country and "thinks" those things are enough to judge and sentence that country's people; e.g. one hears Bush foreign policy is ugly and 'thinks' American people are ugly; one hears Italian 'politicians' suck and there's mob in Italy and 'think' we all Italian people suck and are mobsters. Well, one thinking like that does NOT think and offends his/her own intelligence; thinking is so difficult that most of us limit themeselves to judge. Any country's people are complex coz the human being is complex.
What do I try and do IRL? I try and follow rules that are the opposite of the bad rules followed by the Italian 'politicians'; and I'm very happy when I meet Italian people who try and do that too and can teach me how to do that better; "be the change you want to see in the world". And you and the other The Specials of mine coming from the USA ARE the change I want to see in the world (or at least in my own country) and help me be a better person and therefore make me infinitely happy. One last thing: if you meet an Italian one saying you American people are arrogant, send him/her to me; I'll take care of him/her *GRIN*.
Pardon me, but "very rude and arrogant" really sounds like an understatement to me in some cases.
ReplyDelete[ If you flip over the rock of American foreign policy of the past century, this is what crawls out…
invasions … bombings … overthrowing governments …
occupations … suppressing movements for social change …
assassinating political leaders … perverting elections …
manipulating labor unions … manufacturing "news" …
economic and political sanctions ... death squads …
torture … biological warfare … depleted uranium …
drug trafficking … mercenaries …
It's not a pretty picture.
It is enough to give imperialism a bad name.
Read the full details in:
Killing Hope: US Military and CIA
Interventions Since World War II.
by William Blum
"Far and away the best book on the topic."
Noam Chomsky
"I enjoyed it immensely."
Gore Vidal
"I bought several more copies to circulate to
friends with the hope of shedding new light
and understanding on their political outlooks."
Oliver Stone
"A very valuable book. The research and organization
are extremely impressive."
A. J. Langguth, author, former New York Times Bureau Chief
"A very useful piece of work, daunting in scope,
important."
Thomas Powers, author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
"Each chapter I read made me more and more angry."
Dr. Helen Caldicott, international leader of
the anti-nuclear and environmental movements
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. China - 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid?
2. Italy - 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style
3. Greece - 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state
4. The Philippines - 1940s and 1950s: America's oldest colony
5. Korea - 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be?
6. Albania - 1949-1953: The proper English spy
7. Eastern Europe - 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor
8. Germany - 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism
9. Iran - 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings
10. Guatemala - 1953-1954: While the world watched
11. Costa Rica - Mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally - Part 1
12. Syria - 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government
13. Middle East - 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America
14. Indonesia - 1957-1958: War and pornography
15. Western Europe - 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts
16. British Guiana - 1953-1964: The CIA's international labor mafia
17. Soviet Union - Late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing
18. Italy - 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal's orphans and techno-fascism
19. Vietnam - 1950-1973: The Hearts and Minds Circus
20. Cambodia - 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism
21. Laos - 1957-1973: L'Armée Clandestine
22. Haiti - 1959-1963: The Marines land, again
23. Guatemala - 1960: One good coup deserves another
24. France/Algeria - 1960s: L'état, c'est la CIA
25. Ecuador - 1960-1963: A text book of dirty tricks
26. The Congo - 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba
27. Brazil - 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads
28. Peru - 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle
29. Dominican Republic - 1960-1966: Saving democracy from communism by getting rid of democracy
30. Cuba - 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution
31. Indonesia - 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno … and 500,000 others
East Timor - 1975: And 200,000 more
32. Ghana - 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line
33. Uruguay - 1964-1970: Torture -- as American as apple pie
34. Chile - 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child's forehead
35. Greece - 1964-1974: "Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution," said
the Pr