Tags
American politics, Endless war, National insecurity, Syrian Refugee Crisis, The Assault on Reason by Al Gore, USA 2016 Presidential Campaign, World domination
Trump Rally – Alabama – 2015
Photo Credit: Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images
Quest for dominance
calcifies the soul of man
& perverts reason.
Haiku by Rosaliene Bacchus
Of late, I’m having difficulty in focusing my thoughts about life in these United States of America. In addition to following the news on our 2016 presidential campaign, I’m also in tune with the chaos and human misery resulting from our unending wars in the Middle East and North Africa.
The rants from the front-runners of our Republican presidential candidates are disturbing and dangerous. Where is reason in the face of bigotry?
The living conditions of unwanted Syrian and other refugees, fleeing from our bombs and those of our allies in their homelands, wound the heart and soul. Where is reason to resolve this humanitarian crisis of our times?
While our elected representatives pursue a foreign policy of world domination – they call it a War on Terror – Americans live in national insecurity. With our politics of fear, hatred, and violence, we strengthen our enemies and grow their followers. Where is reason to say NO to this endless war?
Fed with daily doses of fear, hatred, and disinformation, we are fast losing our capacity for logical, rational, and analytical thought. Doped on ignorance, we become blind to the real threats to our well-being and survival as a species on this planet.
In his Introduction of The Assault on Reason, published in 2007, former American Vice President Al Gore notes (p.2): “Faith in the power of reason—the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence available, instead of raw power—was and remains the central premise of American democracy. This premise is now under assault.”
Sad to say, the power of reason remains under assault.
Three Worlds One Vision 
Reblogged this on Guyanese Online.
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Thanks for the reblog, Cyril. Have a great week 🙂
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Rose
Some important decisions on world peace by a Timid UN is at the heart
of problem. UN has failed our world
as a peace keeping organisation.
Google UN members/constitution
for more info.
Unless the UN goes through a reformation in its thinking /leadership
it is not fit for purpose
, obsolete, past its sell by date
be disbanded.
Sorry point my finger in UN direction
“Your fault”….
It’s 2016 not 1916.
My take
Lord Kamtan in Andalusia espania
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Kamtan, I agree with you that we need a stronger UN. In its current state, it better suits the purpose of the powers that be. Under a President Trump, it would probably be disbanded.
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Winston Churchill said it a long time and ago and it is valid, today:
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
On another note – President Obama said it best, and in an understandable way:
Obama would say privately that the first
task of an American President post-Bush
international arena is “Don’t do stupid shit!”
c
Clinton said “Don’t do stupid shit!”
is NOT an organizing principle.
c
Obama was angry – The Iraq invasion,
Obama believed, should have taught
Democratic interventionists like Clinton,
who had voted for its authorization, the
dangers of doing stupid shit.
c
Clinton later apologized.
c
Obama would argue that “Dropping bombs
on someone to prove that you are willing
to drop bombs on someone is just about
the worst reason to use force.”
c
Obama believes that the Washington
foreign-policy establishment makes a
fetish of credibility – particularly the
sort of credibility purchased with force.
The preservation of credibility led to Vietnam,
Obama argued.
[some of the foregoing during discussions of the Assad “red line”]
c
The Obama Doctrine
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
c
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Clyde, thanks for sharing the link to “The Obama Doctrine.” Being leader of the world’s most powerful nation requires a whole host of skills. “Not doing stupid shit” is, to my mind, a valid prerequisite for the post. The current Republican front-runner for the position is already talking and inciting “stupid shit.” Imagine an America and a volatile world with him running the show!
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Trump not unlike Boris Johnson (London mayor) is a maverick politician……stupid and dangerous.
UN is nothing but a “talk shop” probably best disbanded.
History teaches fools
The “league of nations” was created to “divide the spoils of war”….
USA UK France and Russia the benefactors.
The most stupid american president and his lap dog Tony Blair ignored the UNs security council
and invaded Iraq the rest is history.
Can go on and on but not wishing to repeat myself as an Antiwar activist think have covered the
subject in my remarks.
Solution included…..disband UN or reform it.
Que sera
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Thank you for this post Rosalienne. I am stunned (and in near disbelief) by the level of outright hate and violence that Donald Trump and his campaign bring forth. . . truly Machiavellian, or even “Hitler-esque.” To counter such an absurd sign these Trump people hold, It reminds me what my wife once leaned over and whispered to me upon hearing such an exclusive view (in a church no less)… “Jesus would weep.”
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I share your wife’s view, Bruce: “Jesus would weep.”
Thanks for dropping by 🙂
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If there is one truism that can be totally relied on, it’s that history repeats itself. All empires implode, most of them through violence brought on by oppression of the conquered and the growing inability to keep the home crowd happy, usually due to massive greed and corruption of the empire’s leadership and military. I think that pretty much takes care of the good ol’ USA.
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Sha’tara
Couldn’t have said it better….
USA 2016….and beyond.
Kamtan
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Sad but true, Sha’Tara. To make matters worse, instead of learning from history, we try to rewrite it.
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A friend recently told me about recent research on Trump supporters. The 3 most common characteristics they share are 1) not finishing high school 2) living in trailer parks and 3) identifying “American” as their ethnicity.
I think their response to Trump could be predicted based on their educational level.
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Dr. Bramhall, I haven’t read about this research. Reports I’ve seen indicate that these are people who believe that the government is against them and only favor the One Percent. Others are white supremacists who long for a return to the days of Jim Crow.
The quality, level, and type of education we receive does influence our lives and worldview. But formal education is only a part of the knowledge we accumulate during our lifetime.
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Dr. Bramhall, I’ve just read the following interview on the Moyers & Company blog about Trump’s voters. Interesting.
[W]hat our research is telling us is that Donald Trump has been able to convert what many pundits had been talking about as “values voters” in previous elections, white evangelical Protestants, conservative Catholic, white Catholic, voters, into what I’ve dubbed “nostalgia voters.” And what I mean by that is voters that are harkening back to a mythical golden age when working class wages paid a living wage, when conservative Christian values were more at the center of American culture.
~ Robert P. Jones in interview with Gail Ablow, “So, Who Are Donald Trump’s Voters?” March 12, 2016
http://billmoyers.com/story/so-who-are-donald-trumps-voters/
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I wish I could disagree with your premise, Rosaliene. We live in a discouraging time.
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Dr. Stein, it gets more discouraging with each DT win 😦
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What raz Ma taz crap eminates
from USA 🇺🇸 Politricks !
US voters deserve either a lunatic
or wicked witch as their future CIC
It will most likely be the broom rider
probably one of the most corrupt leaders on the planet.
Whoever follows Obama will disappoint
the people who voted them in.
We have had a ‘White house’
followed by a ‘black house’ now
we will have a ‘pink house’
Putin is hoping it’s the lunatic
and not the wicked witch…she
has ‘balls’ and the ‘gaul’ to use
them.😈
Brits will remain in EU on 23rd June
broom rider will be upstaged by
the Iron Lady merkel and Putin
nuts will be crushed.
The visionary
Kamtan
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Kamtan, your vision leaves me speechless 😦
Your references to Hillary Clinton as “the wicked witch” and her possible presidency as “the pink house” are sexist and offensive.
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It may offend but political correctness or politeness is not
one of my atributes…
pink house can be female house
if it reads better.
Was White House or black house not racially offensive?
Admit am a chauvinist but am
also a feminist sympathiser.
Repeat
It is never my intention to offend
and as I have please accept
my apology.
Sorry
Kamtan
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Your apology is accepted, Kamtan.
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Love your haiku.
As they say, with some things there is no rhyme or reason. In this case there is very calculated reason on both sides!
Dwight
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Thanks, Dwight. Coming from you, it’s a great compliment that you love my haiku.
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Oh, don’t sell yourself short…You are equally as good as I am.
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