....[T]he language of patriotism and appeal to the Founding
Fathers and the constitution must not be allowed to be
appropriated by the political right wing in contemporary
America....
You may have heard something about the release today of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA torture (pdf). See also here.
Professor Juan Cole is a historian at the University of Michigan, some of whose writings you may have seen from me in the past. He has a most interesting background. This new article has some of the fascinating background to our American heritage. I am interested in maintaining some of our heritage, and he seems to be interested in that also.
"Why the Founding Fathers thought banning Torture Foundational to the US Constitution," by Juan Cole, December 9, 2014.
I urge you to read his historical review and brush up on what it is to be an American.
The article starts:
What does torture have to do with American Jewish Zionists? A lot! You may recall the study that was published in a scholarly journal a few years ago by a professor at a reputable university in Israel. The study detailed four stages in the evolution in Israel of complete social acceptance of torture over a period of 25 years under the influence of what are fairly called Jewish Israeli extremists starting around 1975 as I recall. And American Jewish Zionists as a group work hard to stay in synch with Israeli society and governance. In fact they frequently explain that any quibble with the Israeli government is antisemitism, meaning hostility to all Jews. We know that we can oppose things our government does without hating all Americans, and Jews and Christians both can oppose things the Israeli government does, without hating all Jews. I know that I have already pointed this out a few times, but because we are under such heavy influence from Zionists both Jewish and Christian this needs to be pointed out every time in the context of opposition to American soldiers and contractors stooping to the use of torture after our forefathers went through so much with their own history in coming to decisions as to a new framework for America, a framework that purposely excluded the use of torture.
love,
Larry
You may have heard something about the release today of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA torture (pdf). See also here.
Professor Juan Cole is a historian at the University of Michigan, some of whose writings you may have seen from me in the past. He has a most interesting background. This new article has some of the fascinating background to our American heritage. I am interested in maintaining some of our heritage, and he seems to be interested in that also.
"Why the Founding Fathers thought banning Torture Foundational to the US Constitution," by Juan Cole, December 9, 2014.
I urge you to read his historical review and brush up on what it is to be an American.
The article starts:
"I have argued many times that the language of patriotism and appeal to the Founding Fathers and the constitution must not be allowed to be appropriated by the political right wing in contemporary America, since for the most part right wing principles (privileging religion, exaltation of ‘whiteness’ over universal humanity, and preference for property rights over human rights) are diametrically opposed to the Enlightenment and Deist values of most of the framers of the Unites States.From other writings over the past few years I think it is clear that Prof. Cole would include in the "current right wing in America" some very powerful American Jewish Zionists. Note that American Jewish Zionists include only about one-third of American Jews. Many American Jews oppose both American right-wing policies and Israel's policies and heavy influence in America. But some of the ones who are Zionists have a lot of money and are influential in the world banking industry, in war profiteering industries, throughout the professions, and in American politics. A direct poll of Congresspeople a few years ago showed the Zionist organization American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to be the most influential lobby in Congress second only to the AARP, Inc., the old people's lobby.
"We will likely hear these false appeals to an imaginary history a great deal with the release of the Senate report on CIA torture......"
What does torture have to do with American Jewish Zionists? A lot! You may recall the study that was published in a scholarly journal a few years ago by a professor at a reputable university in Israel. The study detailed four stages in the evolution in Israel of complete social acceptance of torture over a period of 25 years under the influence of what are fairly called Jewish Israeli extremists starting around 1975 as I recall. And American Jewish Zionists as a group work hard to stay in synch with Israeli society and governance. In fact they frequently explain that any quibble with the Israeli government is antisemitism, meaning hostility to all Jews. We know that we can oppose things our government does without hating all Americans, and Jews and Christians both can oppose things the Israeli government does, without hating all Jews. I know that I have already pointed this out a few times, but because we are under such heavy influence from Zionists both Jewish and Christian this needs to be pointed out every time in the context of opposition to American soldiers and contractors stooping to the use of torture after our forefathers went through so much with their own history in coming to decisions as to a new framework for America, a framework that purposely excluded the use of torture.
love,
Larry
