Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
About 2 weeks ago, 10 Soviet-era tanks clanked-along the main thoroughfare in downtown Bangkok and stopped in front of the Presidential Palace. Once the palace had been completely surrounded it was stormed by a contingent of fully-armed Thai regulars who secured the grounds while the Thai generals looked on impassively. General Sonthi Tinsulanond took control of the country, with the tacit approval of the King, and quickly repealed the constitution, dismissed the parliament, and forbid any public demonstrations of support for the former regime. In less than an hour, the government of Prime Minister Thanskin Shinawatra was toppled in a perfectly executed, bloodless coup.
Are we there yet?
Would it really be that dreadful if a similar drama unfolded in Washington DC?
Imagine the Abrams tanks and Humvees trundling down Pennsylvania
Ave; knocking down the flimsy roadblocks and wrought-iron fencing, and
plopping down on the White House lawn waiting for a white flag to
emerge from a window in the Oval Office.
Would the American
people really cry out in rage if the presidential team was
“quick-stepped” to an armored vehicle and rushed off to a secure
location? Or, would they go about their business while taking a
collective sigh of relief knowing that our long national nightmare had
finally ended?
Whew! At least that’s over.
So far, the
transition in Thailand has been surprisingly smooth due in large part
to the fact that the former Prime Minister was widely reviled.
Sound familiar?
Dreaming
of a coup d’etat is an exercise in futility, but it does illustrate a
point. America will not return to what it once was. That may sound
pessimistic, but it is true none the less. The idea that democracy and
civil liberties will be (miraculously) restored if the Democrats take
the House and Senate is absurd. The Democrats have not promised to
revoke the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, or withdraw the
troops from Iraq. They are just as linked to the military-industrial,
free trading, elite establishment as their Siamese twin, the GOP;
albeit they put a better face on imperial stewardship.
The only
path back to personal liberty and the rule of law is by organizing a
nation-wide, labor-based movement that pits the interests of the
average working slob against their corporate rulers. Eventually, the
lefty web sites will lose their appeal unless they become a catalyst
for politicizing the American public and offering a constructive course
of action.
Sorry, there’s no quick fix. It took hundreds of
years before the indigenous people in Bolivia pulled together, blocked
the roads to the capital and shut the country down in a massive display
of non-violent civil disobedience. The history of the American labor
movement is a grim chronicle of the endless struggle against corporate
plutocrats and establishment elites. It won’t be any easier this time.
The
American middle class is being torn apart by the globalized economy and
by Bush’s plan to shift the nation’s wealth to his well-healed buddies.
We have a lot of catching up to do and we haven’t even joined the fight
yet. Many of us are still sitting on the sidelines, wringing our hands
and hoping the Democrats will lead us back to the “land of milk and
honey”.
It ain’t gonna happen.
We’re going to have to
split the new wood for ourselves. Politicizing the public is a long,
arduous and, yes, boring task. It’s particularly hard for a society
that suffers from media-induced Attention Deficit Disorder (ADT) and
who are unaccustomed to taking their lives in their own hands and
shaping the future. That’s what it’s going to take.
Fortunately,
we have the roadmap left to us by Jefferson, Franklin and Paine. It
just needs a little dusting off. The Bushies can keep the lapel pins.
We
have a mountain in front of us and it gets steeper every day Bush stays
in office. It’s time to organize and take at least one step in a
positive direction. No one is going to ride in on the back of an Abrams
tank and pull our bacon out of the fire. It’s up to us.
Writings 
About 2 weeks ago, 10 Soviet-era tanks clanked-along the main thoroughfare in downtown Bangkok and stopped in front of the Presidential Palace. Once the palace had been completely surrounded it was stormed by a contingent of fully-armed Thai regulars who secured the grounds while the Thai generals looked on impassively. General Sonthi Tinsulanond took control of the country, with the tacit approval of the King, and quickly repealed the constitution, dismissed the parliament, and forbid any public demonstrations of support for the former regime. In less than an hour, the government of Prime Minister Thanskin Shinawatra was toppled in a perfectly executed, bloodless coup.
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