The Jay-Blog

Hijacking Catastrophe

Last night, I joined some friends to see a compelling documentary, Hijacking Catastrophe. We wish it were named something less derisive, like American Destiny, because this is a straight-up documentary -- no shenanigans like Michael Moore cooks up. In fact, this one's narrated by Julian Bond, the first time I've seen him since he gave an empassioned speech to a group of us in San Francisco's Chinatown in the mid-70s.

Some of the story was familiar.

This man is not a cowboy.
He is from a rich family in Connecticut.
The "Aw, shucks," down-on-the-ranch persona is make-believe.

This man was never in the military.
None of the men on this page served in the military.

This man is a puppet.
The guys below are the puppeteers.

Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld spent the Clinton years hanging out together at this think tank, Project for a New American Century, cooking up radical plans for America to rule the world by force. They thought it would take a long time to convince the American people to go along with making bankrupting investments in defense, breaking international agreements, adopting a pre-emptive strike policy, suspending the Bill of Rights, giving tax breaks to the privileged few, and stomping Iraq as a signal that America now dominates the world, and everybody else better stay in line.

9/11 was good news/bad news for these characters. Too bad thousands of people had to die and all, but the upside was that the emotions following 9/11 provided cover for the Adminstration to wheel in the policies of the New American Century. The Patriot Act coerced cilvil liberties and found a ready enforcer in this religious zealot:

John Ashcroft

The movie... Movie? Yes, this is a movie review. ... tells the tale very convincingly, with great appearances by Norman Mailer, Noam Chomsky, and a band of iintellectuals who are incredulous that most of America is buying the bullshit being spread by these spin doctors.

Many years ago, social psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments on persuasion and the social construction of meaning. A group of twelve people were handed a card upon which several lines were drawn.

The first ten people examined the card and declared that the lines were the same length. (They were shills). The next-to-the-last person looked warily at the card; 70% of the time, that person announced that the lines were indeed, all the same length.

Seventy percent of the American populace thinks Iraq had something to do with bombing the World Trade Center. Incredibly,the New American Century website is now claiming, "9-11 Commission Confirms Iraq-al Qaeda Ties." Doesn't anyone read the newspapers these days? Cheney is still claiming that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Hey, citizens, see these lines? They are all the same length and God is on our side and W is our great leader and father figure. By the way, we're at war. Proof? Guards at the airport are frisking the citizenry. Every now and again, the country is put on High Alert because unknown terrorists are going to strike somewhere, some time. Uh - huh.

If anyone reading this has a few hundred grand laying around to help disseminate this message, why not put it into staging rec-room screenings of Hijacking Catstrophe followed by reflective discussion. Maybe invite Democrats who are in on the scheme, and a Republican or two who are not. Are these lines straight? Is Cheney crooked?

You can buy Hijacking Catastrophe for $20 from .MEF.Tv Just do it. Invite some friends over for a screening. Discuss what you see. Act accordingly.

Posted by Jay Cross at July 27, 2004 11:16 PM | TrackBack