Imagine an Occupied America

One of the reasons I love Ron Paul so much is his aversion to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. I have reposted an article that he wrote... scroll down for it. I've said it so many times before -- there is no valid reason for the U.S. to be in Iraq. No matter what "story" they tell us through the media, none of them are sufficient for the occupation and murder of Iraqi and Afghan people. None!

I am not a supporter of the war in Iraq. I believe that 9/11 was an "allowed" tragedy that forced America into a war, similar to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I think that the government colluded with the international bankers to orchestrate everything. Most say HOGWASH but I have studied the evidence on both sides of the spectrum. If you follow the money trail, it leads directly to the collusion I just mentioned. Under those pretenses, the undeclared war being waged in the Middle East is not at all for the "freedoms" and "liberties" of Americans. THAT is HOGWASH!

* * * * * * * * * * Imagine an Occupied America
By Ron Paul


Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of "keeping us safe" or "promoting democracy" or "protecting their strategic interests."

Imagine that they operated outside of U.S. law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up checkpoints on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers' attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, 10 more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe-straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment toward us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of reevaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn't stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. Fifty thousand troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade, and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy will change eventually, as Rome's did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.

Comfortable Complacency

Tuesday, 10 February 2009


Husband and I were driving south along Kamehameha Highway, at a comfortable cruising speed of 38mph. At the Waikane Valley Road bus stop, there were several men dressed in camouflage fatigues, rifles in ready position, posted on the side of the road. One man paced the expanse of the highway with his rifle in the ready position while three others stood with rifles drawn. There was a large camouflaged truck that, according to my husband, appeared to be a Marine Truck.

Fear instantly gripped my heart, as I ran down a few worst-case scenarios regarding martial law and the need for the U.S. Federal Government/ Military to take over the State highway. Waiahole, a rural area of O'ahu, is far from an urban war zone, is not a disaster area, and is not currently being threatened by foreign powers... unless, of course, Water-Rights Activists are the new terrorists. In which case, there are many in Waiahole. And if they are the new terrorist, when does the average citizen with an opinion that is anti-big-federal-government (such as myself), become a terrorist?

In my utter disgust in what I witnessed, armed military men, I immediately called 911 to report what I witnessed.

"911. Police, Ambulance, or Fire?" the operator spoke.

"Police please," I replied.

"Your call is very important. You will be routed to the next available operator."
"Your call is very important. You will be routed to the next available operator."
"Your call is very important. You will be routed to the next available operator."
and on and on, the recording played.

"Emergency. How can I help you?" said the operator.

"Yes. I'm driving through Waiahole. Directly across the poi factory, there are men with guns, dressed in camouflage."

"Guns? Hand guns or rifles?"

"Rifles. There are several of them with their weapons brandished. One man is pacing back and forth. The others are standing with their weapons."

"Is it SWAT?" the operator responds.

"No. They're dressed in camouflage."

"Do they look like Army men?" the operator asks.

I quip, "Possibly."

"I will forward this information to my supervisor and we will check into it. Thank you for calling," then she hangs up.

I wonder, at what point does a normal citizen become engaged in the process of keeping the "people" free. It seems that the average citizen has become so thoroughly indoctrinated with the pro-government message that has been crammed into our mushy brains via public schooling that we forget about the basic right to freedom. We are, as children of a master creator, entitled to the free will to move about the world without intervention from outside forces. In a perfect world, that would be the ideal. However, we do not live in a perfect world. Thus, government was created to secure our common law rights. As Thomas Jefferson simply put it,

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

The government derives its powers from the governed. We, the people, are a mightier force than the government if we are united in the same cause of preserving liberty. Each of us have the responsibility of becoming fully educated on what we are entitled to. Yet, Americans have fallen into a "comfortable complacency" which is a nicer way of saying IGNORANT! United, with a common goal, we are far greater than those that rule us.

Yes, the Hip Hop generation is powerful. Tupac fans were united in our admiration for the late, great rapper and his influential, lyrical wisdom. So powerful was Tupac's message that before being ousted from her seat in the House of Representatives, Cynthia McKinney began crafting a bill for the government to release the files on Tupac Shakur. This is the same Cynthia McKinney that was the Green party nominee for President of the United States. The government recognized Tupac's ability to move the crowd and that is a threat to the powers that be. On the flip, it is evident that the power of the people could overcome tyranny. All we need is a unifier. Tupac was THAT!

After I witnessed the "martial-law-like" incident, I continued on into downtown to handle some personal business. On the streets, as we walked the pavement, husband and I ran into a young man with a shirt that read: HAWAIIAN INSURGENT. I wish I took a picture of it. I should have turned back and chased him down. I feel the message he announced on his shirt. The occupation of Hawai'i, as well as the occupation of Iraq have similarities. The casualty of war=the host culture of the land. That is altogether a blog for another day. However, I see a generation of young people wanting the injustices to stop. Whether it's the hip hop heads or young Hawaiians, we are totally empowered to bring about change in a morally decaying world. We are endowed by our Creator, our God, to preserve and pursue liberty at all costs.

Let's do this!



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