Word of the day: Tyranny

"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty."
-- Plato

tyr an ny [tir-uh-nee]
noun, plural -nies.
1. arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.
2. the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler.
3. a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.
4. oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler.
5. undue severity or harshness.
6. a tyrannical act or proceeding.


"There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their roughness and spirit of defiance."
-- Walt Whitman

In the course of 24 hours, I've changed my tune. Or rather, I've allowed myself to accept the possibility that criminal acts committed by our government reach levels none of us can comprehend or are willing to accept.

We're a nation of sheep. We're lemmings. We run off the cliff, chasing whatever tidbits the evening news throws us about Iraq, gas prices, Britney Spears' baby -- you name it. We want to believe what we're fed because it's easier than thinking for ourselves. We're excessive, whether it's food, skyscrapers or cars. Bigger is better. More is better. Whatever is better -- that's our goal. We know better, we must lead the way.

Why wouldn't we want to believe that two airliners could take down the World Trade Center? Why wouldn't we want to believe the jet fuel could melt steel beams and cause the towers to collapse? Why wouldn't we want to believe that Muslim extremists were to blame for the single deadliest attack on American soil?

Because it's easier than accepting the possibility that someone other than Muslim extremists were responsible for the murders of our own citizens.

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
-- James Madison

I've never accepted the reasons why we went to war in Iraq. My joke to my friends was that Dubya was cleaning up daddy's mess -- the same mess that Bush Sr. knew he didn't stand a chance fixing. We're over there for the oil and the money. But I never wanted to believe that what we were told after 9-11 wasn't true.

Somewhere along the line, my inner journalist got turned off. You know, the part that says "trust, but verify"? I remember watching the news five years ago, seeing the reports from the people saying they heard explosions. And yet, when they showed pictures of the suspected terrorists, all talk of bombs disappeared. There weren't bombs. There were hateful men who wanted to be martyred who flew planes into the towers so they could get their virgins in the ever after.

So why the change of heart? At the recommendation of a friend, I watched a little movie called "Loose Change." It's not the kind of movie you'll see in the theater. It's low-budget, but it's got a mission. I don't accept it as the whole truth, but it puts things together about 9-11 that the mainstream media won't touch.

There are too many coincidences for it to be made up. There are too many pieces to the puzzle, too many things that make sense. Why? Greed. Power. Excess. It's the American way.

"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."
-- C. S. Lewis

I'll take one example from the film, one that stuck with me. When American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, experts said it hit five light poles, bounced off the lawn and then hit the building. Footage from the scene shows light poles that look like they were knocked over and absolutely no marks on the grass! Really. The pictures don't lie. Don't give me shit about photo manipulation; those images were too widely distributed for that to fly. And the plane disintegrated. Poof. Very little debris. No bodies. Where the fuck did they go? That's a great question.

So, if for a moment, you believe that the American government set 9-11 in motion, there are a few more things to consider. The events of 9-11 led us to... war in Iraq. No, there wasn't a link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam, but Dubya was itchin for a fight there. Let's not forget: We're the country that helped Saddam to power because we needed the Iraqis to help us fight Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. With the war in Iraq, there are tremendous opportunities for American companies to help rebuild the country's infrastructure and provide security.

Still more companies benefit by an increased military build up. It allows the government to dump all kinds of undocumented money into a war that was started under false pretense.

And let's not forget the oil. The oil that's about $66/barrel right now. The oil that makes the gas that around the nation is about $2.64/gallon. And yet in Idaho, we're still paying $2.93/gallon. Fuck that. Seriously.

Someone is profiting from this. And it sure as hell isn't anyone who needs the money. We've got vets with post-traumatic stress disorder. We've got vets with missing limbs. We've got families missing mothers, fathers, sons, daughters. Why? Because we sent them to fight a war in the desert that was started because our government thought it could make some money. And that we'd be dumb enough to go along with it. For five years, a lot of us have. But that has to stop.

And it has to stop now.

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Get your hands on "Loose Change." I've got it on DVD and I'll burn you a copy and get you one. Just let me know. Watch it. And then tell me that it doesn't make sense.

Loose Change on Google Video
The 911Research Companion
Building 7's collapse
Scholars for 9/11 truth
9-11 alternative news
Pentagon Research

Am I crazy? Some of you might think so. At the very least, you should open yourself up to the possibility that we've been lied to and manipulated. I don't like that. Not one bit. I've got some strong convictions and I stand firm in my beliefs. I've never done anything about it. But not this time. There's too much at stake. Too much as been lost.

I'll get off the soap box for now.