Prima di parlare dei discorsi, l’articolo descrive Obama e Hollande che passeggiano assieme e stringono le mani con la folla. Un uomo, in particolare, ha trattenuto Obama un po’ più a lungo degli altri e gli ha detto qualcosa all’orecchio. Verso la fine, l’articolo rivela che si trattava di un veterano americano del D-Day. Dickey gli ha chiesto cosa aveva detto al presidente e lui ha risposto: “L’ho ringraziato per averci tenuto fuori dalla guerra.”

Tranne: Gli attacchi continui con i droni che uccidono innocenti in tutto il Medio Oriente e in Africa da quando Obama è stato eletto. L’invio di ulteriori 30.000 soldati in Afganistan (ai tempi del premio Nobel per la pace). L’azione Nato in Libia presumibilmente per aiutare la popolazione a liberarsi di un dittatore (mentre il governo americano ha appoggiato e continua ad appoggiare dittature per conto proprio). La presenza in tutto il pianeta di basi militari e truppe americane che hanno come unico scopo la difesa degli intrighi e dello sfruttamento delle risorse economiche a vantaggio della plutocrazia corporativa. La quasi invasione della Siria per, ancora una volta, presumibilmente aiutare la popolazione a liberarsi di un dittatore. E poi: l’intensificazione della presenza militare nel Golfo Persico attorno all’Iran, un aumento delle forze nel tentativo di stringere la Cina, e finalmente la promessa di un miliardo di dollari per rafforzare la presenza Nato attorno all’Ucraina.

Se qualcuno fa caso a tutto il fervore militarista dell’amministrazione Obama, le parole del veterano gli appariranno fuorvianti. Eppure questo genere di ignoranza è tutto intorno a noi, soprattutto tra i liberal del partito democratico (non che i repubblicani siano perdonati). Per molti di loro, Obama è un presidente che ama la pace e sta facendo tutto il possibile per far cessare le guerre e mettere a posto l’economia, non l’imbroglione guerrafondaio che fa una politica a favore delle élite monopolistiche rigurgitanti avidità. Ci sono liberal, come Michael Moore, che hanno criticato Obama ma poi l’hanno votato nel 2012 perché era il “migliore tra due mali”; come se in questa tirannia a due partiti potesse esserci un migliore.

Il semplice fatto che qualcuno del potere dica che stanno aiutando gli altri, non significa che quello che fanno si tramuti in un aiuto vero e proprio. Quelli che credono a tutto quello che dice una persona semplicemente perché l’hanno votata sono vittime di quegli avversari narcisistici che dicono qualunque cosa pur di aumentare il consenso e poi fare il contrario di quello che hanno fatto credere ai loro elettori.

Come disse Hitler, il dittatore totalitario e assassino di massa, “Fabbricate una grossa bugia, semplificatela, ripetetela continuamente, e alla fine ci crederanno.”

Traduzione di Enrico Sanna.

Before the speeches, the article talks about Obama and Hollande walking together and shaking hands with the crowd. But one man in particular held Obama’s hand a little longer than others and whispered something in his ear. By the end of the article, it is revealed that this man is an American veteran of the D-Day invasion. Dickey asked him what he whispered and the man responded, “I thanked him for keeping us out of war.”

Except for: the continuous drone strikes killing innocents throughout the Middle East and Africa since Obama took office. The 30,000 troop build-up in Afghanistan (around the time of his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance). The NATO actions taken in Libya to supposedly help the people get rid of a tyrant (while the U.S. government supported and continues to support tyrants of their own). The presence of U.S. military bases and troops around the globe to fight a force that only exists because of that presence to safeguard the manipulation and exploitation of economic resources for the corporate plutocracy. The near-invasion of Syria to, again, supposedly help the people get rid of a tyrant. With naval buildups in the Persian Gulf near Iran, a buildup of forces trying to surround China, and now a $1 billion pledge to strengthen NATO forces around Ukraine.

If anyone has truly been paying attention to the fervent militarism of the Obama administration, this comment made by the veteran seems quite confusing. Yet this type of ignorance is all around us, especially in regard to liberal Democrats (not that Republicans are excused). To many of them, Obama is a peace-loving president who is doing everything he can to end the wars and fix the economy, not the war-hungry deceiver whose policies favor greed-ridden, monopolistic elitists. There are some liberals, such as Michael Moore, who have criticized Obama, yet still voted for him in 2012 because he was the “better of two evils” – as if there is such a thing when it comes to the two-party tyranny.

Just because someone in power says they are doing this because it will help, does not mean it actually will. Those who believe everything a person says just because they voted for them fall victim to those narcissistic foes who will say anything in order to garner a large amount of support just to do the opposite of what they fooled their voters into believing they would.

As Hitler, the totalitarian mass murderer, once said, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

Translations for this article:

• Italian, L’Ignoranza Continua.

In Phoenix and most likely elsewhere, the VA health care system has been leaving veterans to die while awarding bonuses to those perpetrating the neglect. The VA has always been an awkward problem for the US government. Promising to care for veterans for the rest of their lives is a key recruiting point, but actually spending the money to provide that care does not pad Lockheed and Raytheon’s bottom lines as much as building ships that don’t sail and planes that don’t fly. But now, in our new age of access and transparency, keeping the dirty secrets of the VA has become nearly impossible.

But should we exert ourselves to “fix” the VA? Is it worth our time? No. The VA is a Potemkin village, a recruiting tool used to assure naïve young men and women that their damaged bodies and ravaged minds will be cared for after their time in uniform. The degree to which it can perform this function while simultaneously minimizing the amount of actual care provided is the true measure of the VA’s success, and why VA reform is doomed from the outset.

But those lessons we learned in boot camp aren’t completely worthless. While many veterans fall on hard times, others of our number do well for ourselves, and if we apply the “No One Left Behind” ethos to our civilian lives, we can perhaps someday dispense with the VA entirely while simultaneously forming a mutual aid network that could be a kernel for a future free society.

Numerous Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) already exist, but far too many are focused on lobbying the government for more aid for veterans. Rather than follow their lead, we should look to the great work being done at the Under the Hood Café, Coffee Strong and similar GI Coffeehouses around the country and world. These institutions serve as focal points for the wider community, bringing veterans and their families together, allowing them to lean on each other and benefit from each other’s strength. Expanding on this network and looking after one another in civilian life the way we did in uniform is the real path to fixing the problems we face.