The current war provides an incredible amount of testimony substantiating the time honored maxim that in war
the first casualty is truth.  The degree to which the American people are being buried in an avalanche of lies,
distortions, and half-truths via television alone is nothing short of breath-taking.  One need only turn on CNN, the Fox
news channel and other 24 hour propaganda media to see an unending stream of prevarications pouring from talking
heads in a steady aura of toxic ideological fumes.  With the amount of cheerleading that emanates from government
agents disguised as "reporters" and "consultants," one can't help but wonder why they are not given pom-poms before
appearing on the air.  In times like these one can't help but recall that poignant comment made by Marx long ago:
Words were invented to hide reality.  Some descriptions of that which appears on their own programs is so blatantly at
odds with what appears on the screen that one is led to conclude the propagandists are saying, "Are you going to
believe my words or your lying eyes."  The interpretations and ?explanations? of what was occurring during the
transmission of Al-Jazzera?s pictures of thousands of soldiers and civilians looking for one or more imperialist pilots
downed in the Euphrates River at Bagdad is a good example.  One commentator was so bizarre as to actually claim it
was all staged.  How utterly pathetic that this garbage actually reaches millions of homes.
         But even more pronounced than the direct lies millions are being fed is the horrendous amount of information
that does not get aired because censorship is almost total.  Actual fighting, frontline footage, dead bodies, screaming
wounded, blood pouring in abundance, brutalities, etc. are essentially non-existent on the tube.  In times like these one
can easily understand and identify with the plight of the millions of Germans who opposed Hitler from the outset but
had their voices and views systematically expunged from all sources of mass exposure.  As I have noted repeatedly
the number of parallels that can be drawn between what is happening now and what occurred in the 1930's and 40's is
undeniable and startling.
          Moreover, one can't help but notice the number of times anti-war demonstrators are either directly or
indirectly attacked for being unpatriotic or un-American.  They are told that if they don't support the American
government and the war, then they should at least support the troops.  That was the common refrain during the
Vietnam War era and is no more valid now than it was then.  To that I say:  Oh Really!  Then let me ask you this.  What
would you have told thousands of Germans who opposed the Nazi invasions of other nations during WWII?  Would you
have told them:  Well, if you can't support Hitler and the war effort, you should at least support the troops, the
Wehrmacht.  My advice to the people of today would be the same as it would have been to the Germans opposed to
Hitler's program:  Oppose the war relentlessly and don't support any group perpetrating a horrendous injustice no
matter what the motive or patriotic veneer, be it innocent, intentional, misguided, or patriotically motivated.  How
could anyone possibly support the troops and not simultaneously support the war effort.  Pro-war critics are the
victims of a devious propaganda trick and badly in need of a reality check.  One's allegiance to that which is right,
good, decent, and just should always take precedence over one's allegiance to any cause or group perpetrating an
odious and/or oppressive program, especially one as appalling as war.

for the cause,

Klo