Patriotism: A Cruel Form of Terror

Many cynical people who think national borders are a mythological joke still resort to patriotic swaggering on the Fourth of July to demonstrate their commitment to their country. Tonight I will be joining friends to watch the city of San Francisco blow up fire works evoking countless bombs that have been dropped on people throughout the world. The bright lights and loud noises, the smoke and the crowds will ultimately remind me of the loud noises of crowd control devices and will probably make me cringe. I will think of these countries:

Afghanistan 1998, 2001-present Bosnia 1994, 1995 Cambodia 1969-70 China 1945-46, 1950-53 Congo 1964 Cuba 1959-1961 El Salvador 1980s Korea 1950-53 Guatemala 1954, 1960, 1967-69

Indonesia 1958 Laos 1964-73 Grenada 1983 Iraq 1991-present Iran 1987 Kuwait 1991 Lebanon 1983, 1984 Libya 1986 Nicaragua 1980s

Pakistan 2003, 2006 Panama 1989 Peru 1965 Somalia 1993, 2008 Sudan 1998 Vietnam 1961-73 Yemen 2002 Yugoslavia 1999

all bombed since World War II.

I will think of the 50 gunshots fired by the New York Police department at Sean Bell. I will think of the millions of people murdered by U.S. Imperialism.

The flickering lights, the screaming crowds, the throngs of patriots will remind me of every time the United States has used explosives and guns to murder and terrorize people around the world. What the U.S. calls Independence day is a day when hundreds of thousands of fireworks resurrect the despicable pride of patriots. Karmic retribution, what Chalmers Johnson refers to as Blowback, threatens the future of this country. Terrorism against the United States occurs because we have waged terror against billions throughout the world.

U.S. is Like Communism Without the Health Care

When Denver's finest goof in a uniform, Lt. Tony Lopez told the Denver Post that "We aren't living in a communist state," I'm sure he didn't think that anybody was stupid enough in the U.S. to think that we had health care, livable wages, workable strategies to end homelessness, support of the arts, education, culture and fair labor practices. Nope. Tony was referring to government surveillance--which, according to the same article, we have plenty of--at ridiculous rates. Tony--we aren't living in a communist state--we're living in a fascist state!

In our government's growing trends towards totalitarianism, in Colorado 181 so-called Terrorism Liaison Officers have been trained to determine that people like you and me are terrorists for suspicious activities such as:

Birdwatchers beware! Binocular and camera use are very suspicious.
Geeks watch out--measuring things, baking diagrams, very suspicious.
Don't get lost or confused and double back or drive evasively.
Taking notes--with no working public education system--obvious terroristic.
SUV drivers--fuel purchases--suspect.
Buying uniforms for BDSM? Shame on you.
Parked your car too long--clearly a menace!

These Terrorism Liaison Officers are law enforcement officers, paramedics, workers for Xcel energy, and the railroads. They span the public and private sector. What policies of accountability do they have in place?

According to the article, federal authorities currently define "suspicious activity" as "Observed behavior that may be indicative of intelligence-gathering or pre-operational planning related to terrorism, criminal, or other illicit intention."

In the past, people with dangerous opinions like "people who are destroying the earth are bad" were considered terrorists. Now, bad drivers are.

Lt. Tony Lopez--before you and your ilk drive us into immobility where leaving the house is considered suspicious, terroristic behavior, quit your job and join the millions of people struggling for a better world. Being a cop in an era when taking notes is considered terroristic is like being a totalitarian communist throwing artists into Gulags--except that in the U.S. we don't get any of the benefits of an egalitarian totalitarian society.

The Green Scare and White Supremacy

Last night I had an interesting conversation about the so-called Green Scare and the impact of The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Like so much recent legislation, AETA does an incredible job criminalizing those who work to defend the earth and its creatures. By criminalizing the defense of the earth, our land-base and its creatures, the Federal Government and AETA in particular aid in defending the death of millions of people and thousands of species. Furthermore, acts criminalizing the defense of the earth are complicit in structural white supremacy preventing people from dismantling the ecological weapons used to inflict environmental racism on communities of color.

Due to environmental racism, communities of color tend to be most affected by oppressive environmental policies. Places like Louisiana's Cancer Alley, the three super-fund sites near my residential Black and Latino neighborhood of Clayton, Navajo land brutally affected by uranium mining each exemplify ways Corporations informed by structural racism have created health hazards in communities of color and ultimately decreased the life-span of people of color. In 2007 The United Church of Christ put out a disturbing report called Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty: 1987-2007 that demonstrates the various ways communities of color are drastically impacted by toxic dumping.

As the Green Scare sweeps eco-activists, the racist criminal-industrial complex continues to target and detain Blacks and Latinos, ICE attacks immigrants, and the military attacks Arabs and Muslims, resistant forces against environmental destruction, imperialism, racism, and oppression should unite forces against the true criminals--the politicians and business people profiting from dozens of genocides executed through environmental, military, and economic aggression.

Prisoners rotting in Guantanamo Bay, victims of the Green Scare, people of color targeted and incarcerated because of their race should be uniting forces with each other and with academics, media, artists, and above ground activists who can demonstrate the connections between environmental destruction, white supremacy, and capitalism and prove once and for all if we want to survive as a species we must live sustainable lives and abolish racism and oppression.