by ruling autocrats. Though Chokri Belaid had only a modest political following, his assassination carried both intellectual and philosophical implications. His death represented more than the murder of one man, it was taken as a death threat to every citizen who dared oppose the government and/ or supported what Belaid stood for. “We are all Chokri Belaid,” chanted the thousands that took to the streets. It was a re-statement of Ben Franklin’s famous call for unity at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” But there the comparison to 1776 America stops. Tunisia’s Ennahda ruling party replaced the outgoing “moderate” prime minister with the former minister of the interior, Ali Larayedh, an uncompromising hard-line Islamist. Widely held responsible for turning a blind eye to violent Salafist attacks upon many aspects of Western ways, women’s rights and popular culture, his selection as prime minister augured an even harsher Islamist line. Under such circumstances, Tunisia will surely erupt in violence again; the economy will continue to contract; tourism, one of its main revenue streams, already hard hit by the unrest and uncertainty, will all but disappear; and unemployment, currently at 18 percent, will rise.
Publisher’s Note What applies to Tunisia applies to all people of all nations. Whether it’s radical Islamists imposing their religious beliefs upon everyone, radical bankers imposing austerity measures in conformity with their economic dogma, or radical politicians in so-called democracies depriving everyone of constitutional or personal rights in order to establish a fascistic doctrine, there is a common thread: a small power elite, intent upon imposing its will and maintaining its position against the will of the people. Money, religion, war – the issues are different but the motive is the same – many will be forced to pay for, pray for, and fight for what will satisfy the needs, greed and delusions of the few – unless the many, everywhere throughout the world, understand that they are all Chokri Belaid. But in 2013, particularly in “I don’t want to hear it” America, that message could not be delivered. Not only did the American people not know or care who or what Chokri Belaid was, even if the Tunisian news made the news, the message was beyond comprehension. The Presstitute media of Dumfukistan had more important “news” to communicate. On February 21, with the world descending into darkness and economies hurtling off fiscal cliffs, these were the top stories on CNN’s website:
The Trends Journal • Spring 2013
n Gunfire,
crash kill 3 in Las Vegas identified as disabled N.C. girl’s n 3 young sisters found dead in well n Plane in Georgia crash hit utility pole n Tebow cancels speech at Texas church n ‘A Different World’ actor dies n Skull
Gunfire, skull, 3 young sisters dead in a well – it works perfectly. With real news out of sight, and on a diet of junk food, junk news, and junk entertainment, people have lost their minds, spirit and soul. Even their basic survival instincts. Brainwashed and brain dead, the overwhelming majority – from the top one percent on down through the bottom 99 percent – of the general public have become too fearful to speak their minds and/or have been conditioned not to, regardless of the humiliations heaped upon them by the stupid and arrogant enforcers of their fascist, repressive, autocratic State.
Man or Mickey Mouse? The setting was Hol-
lywood perfect: A blond, blue-eyed, All-American Midwest family off to their perfect mid-winter Disney World vacation. But before they could fly the friendly skies, their three-year-old-daughter, suffering from spina bifida, aroused the suspicions of alert TSA protectors of das Amerikanische Homeland. This two-minute CNN video is a testament to the dramatic decline of a once-proud nation, founded upon a Declaration of Independence, to a cowering country pledging allegiance to a Declaration of Subservience. More than just epitomizing the futility, indignity and utter wastefulness of the squalid TSA pat-down, x-ray, takeoff-your-coat-and-shoes ritual that squanders billions and defies even a modicum of common sense, the CNN video is representative of the myriad indignities and humiliations imposed upon the public by elected politicians and the bureaucratic systems they create. Q. In what civilized nation would uniformed goons take away stuffed animals and grope a crippled, crying three-year-old girl in a wheelchair? A. Only in Dumfukistan. Q. In what civilized nation would a self-respecting father admit that he “didn’t know the rules” and therefore stood by while Homeland Security Gestapo patted down his little girl? A. Only in Dumfukistan. Q. In what civilized nation would a self-respecting father, having had his child molested and his family held up for 30 minutes by the Gestapo, describe this grotesque violation of their rights and their dignity as “not being worth it” just “so everybody feels a little bit better”?
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