Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
"The utter failure of nearly all our religious institutions — whose texts are unequivocal about murder — to address the essence of war has rendered them useless. These institutions have little or nothing to say in wartime because the god they worship is a false god, one that promises victory to those who obey the law and believe in the manifest destiny of the nation." Chris Hedges

“To question the legitimacy of the governors is to question the legitimacy of the government — and to question the legitimacy of the government is to invite reconsideration of the legitimacy of government itself.”
Thomas L. Knapp

“It is the war system, itself, that must be confronted and ended, lest it destroy all semblance of humanity. Those who have chosen to devote themselves to the planning and carrying out of programs designed for no other purpose than the mass slaughter of millions of fellow humans experience psychic costs that no amount of militaristic strutting or patriotic blather can suppress. It is not in the nature of any species to consciously destroy itself.


Individuals have a spiritual and emotional nature that is absent from institutions. Institutions are, at best, tools driven entirely by linear, mechanistic, and materialistic considerations. They are abstractions which, like computer games, are purely the product of thought. They operate on the basis of compulsion, not compassion; what is nonmaterial is immaterial; they have become ends in themselves, while individuals are but transient beings who can be conditioned into serving as fungible resources to be exploited for collective ends. "Liberty" is a condition valued by individuals, but it is a form of entropy – energy unavailable for productive purposes – to the institutional order.”
Butler Shaffer


“We live in a police state, a tyranny of genuinely grotesque dimensions, but because it has developed gradually over more than a century, we have gradually grown accustomed to its outrages and to its moronic and insulting requirements, each accompanied by criminal sanctions that amount to death threats, should we continue to resist.”
Robert Higgs

“Democracy as practiced in America today is nothing more than a mob heist where the victims are voted on using a elaborate ceremony characteristic of all superstitious, barbaric undertakings, every ballot lovingly counted to decide who will be this year‘s sacrificial victim – which sap will take a shovel to the back of his head.”
C.J.Maloney

“All power and control lies in the hands of the few who claim to represent us. They are collectively the autocratic federal government. Life’s lessons tell us that those who have the power make the rules. Any who believe that these rules will benefit life, liberty and property are fools, and are doomed to the inevitable and disastrous repeat of history.”
Gary D. Barnett

***********************************************************

From the Darkness:
“We're going to have a very long-term commitment to Afghanistan's future. This is not just one year.
'This is going to be for decades. We're going to help them get to a state.”
Sir Nigel Sheinwald, British ambassador to Washington.

“The time has come for both Democrats and Republicans to take a deep breath and recognize the reality of what happened after Sept. 11, 2001. The question is not the sincerity or the patriotism of those who were dealing with the aftermath of Sept. 11. The country was frightened, and political leaders were trying to respond as best they could. Judgments were made. Some of them were wrong. But that should not taint those public servants who did their duty pursuant to the legal guidance provided. The last election made clear that the public wanted to move in a new direction.”
Leon Panetta, excusing the previous administration’s crimes.

"While so many [Americans] were reaching for the quick buck, they were heading out on patrol."
Barry Obama, referring to US soldier boys. [I guess being a peaceful, productive member of society is not as worthy as being obedient killers for the state.]

“We are living in such a dangerous time that we need to control things.”
Majeed H. Jasim, Iraq’s director of the State Company for Internet Services, commenting on the government requiring dozens of Internet cafes to register with the government or be closed.

"I hope it comes out of the stimulus program and doesn't add to the debt."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaking of the Cash for Clunkers extension. [No this expenditure won’t add to the debt. This money comes from the Stimulus Fairy.]

"Normal citizens just do not act that way."
House majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, describing town hall opponents of the Obama Helath plan.

"You weren't conquered by Israel; you were liberated."
Israeli Foreign Mnister Aviqdoe Liebermann, speaking to the residents of Ghajar, who have been occupied by the Israeli military since its 2006 invasion of Lebanon.