Italy has the Mafia- America has the Military Industrial Complex

There is a famous phrase in politics that says that when you want to understand why a politician does something, all you have to do is follow the money. As this is true in American politics, due to the influence of America in Italy after World War II, the same can also be said about Italian politics. While the two political systems are different in many respects, due to the influence of money in both political systems, the Italian and American political systems also hold some similar features. As the recent health care legislation in America and the reforming of the Italian judiciary system in Italy to fit the needs of its leader Silvio Berlusconi is proving, both political systems are more concerned about satisfying the powers that control them from above like the owners of capital and industry, than from below and the people they ask for votes at each election. As it is evident from a political class who is reluctant to offer its citizen’s universal health care, while continuingly supporting government expenditures on the military and war, indicates where the power is located in the American political system, the same template can also be applied to the Italian political system to help explain where some of the political power is in Italy. Just as the military industrial complex has a considerable amount of political power in America which is one of the main reasons for the decline in Americans standard of living and the diminished level of democracy in America, the political power of Cosa Nostra in Sicily has also played a similar and corrosive role in lowering the level of Italian democracy.

Once described as the Paris on the Mediterranean due to the eloquent buildings in the city center and the sophisticated lifestyle of the French Bourbon nobles who ruled the city, the modern city of Palermo, Sicily is now buried in a layer of mafia-controlled concrete facilitated by a class of corrupt political leaders. The destruction of the once magnificent citrus groves that surrounded the city to the concrete now covering them is a vivid display of how the mafia has evolved over the last 150 years. Just like the destruction of the American trolley car, the removal of thousands of miles of railroad tracks in America in favor of the bus and automobile industry gives a historical record of the power of the oil industry in America, the destruction of the citrus groves and the overuse of concrete in Palermo is a lasting testament to the power of the mafia in Sicily. Both of these examples demonstrate how the powers from above in Italy and America have colluded with political leaders to degrade the living standards of the people living in these countries in which they are supposed to represent.

Just like the political support of the oil and car industry was facilitated in America by national leaders like Robert McNamara from the Ford Motor Company who later became a member of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, national Christian Democratic party figures in Italy such as six time Prime Minister Amintore Fantini and Giulio Andreotti helped facilitate the power of the mafia in Sicily. In a similar manner in which mafia controlled local Sicilian political leaders like Vito Ciancimino and Salvo Lima, played a significant role in making the city of Palermo Sicily of today only a shadow of its once elegant past, American politicians in major cities went along with the wishes of the national leadership of McNamara and supported urban sprawl plans.

As American right wing political leaders endlessly debate and delay legislation that can improve the lives of average citizens, the quick passage of war funding for politically connected corporations in the defense and intelligence industries goes unopposed and given little coverage in the mass media. This proves that these politicians are more concerned about the powers that control them from above than from below.

In many respects, the collusion the mafia has had with political leaders betraying the average citizen in Sicily mirrors the way the American politician has betrayed the average American in favor for owners of capital, industry, and the military industrial complex in America.

Rome Food Summit and the self serving interests of the Food and Agricultural Organization

Which government action do you think keeps more people hungry and malnourished in the world: The lack of government funding for aid agencies like the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), or the agricultural trade policies of western governments like farm subsides? If you guessed the former rather than the latter, than you have been watching too much TV and not reading enough of Opinione.

As the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization holds yet another conference on world hunger in Rome Italy where it has its massive 3,000 employee headquarters, this one critical factor in the world hunger problem will most likely go unmentioned. Although Opinione has not been invited to attend the conference, with the United States as the largest donor nation to the 50-year-old agency with the mandate to address world hunger, it does not seem likely that the leaders of FAO will publicly make any controversial statements about their main sponsor and benefactor. Given the fact that the upper echelon of leaders at FAO make over 200,000 dollars a year and like all of the professional staff at FAO enjoy generous job perks such as more money for their children’s education and coupons for gasoline just to name a few, it is no wonder the leaders of the institution will not mention farm subsides.

Although many supporters of FAO will defend the organizations salary scale as a means to attract the best talent in the world, it is disturbing to see a leader like Jacques Diouf dressed in a thousand dollar suit holding a food summit in one of the richest countries in the world and asking world governments for more money. The resemblance of a rich white man from New York going to Appalachia asking for money cannot help come to mind.

Even the location of the Food Summit portrays the arrogant and self-serving aspect of the Food and Agricultural Organization. Instead of hosting the summit in a regional office where the attendees and prospective donors could have the chance to take a trip to a local project that FAO is doing in an African country, the summit was instead held in Rome, thousands of miles away from any FAO related project or a country facing the negative effects of high fuel prices and higher food prices which should also be remembered is caused in large part to a weakening dollar.

Just like the taboo subject of American and European farm subsides, the Food and Agricultural Organization leaders will undoubtedly also not mention the need to relocate the headquarters of FAO to an African country. Although Opinione has discussed this issue before, the leaders of governments around the world starting with the United States, which is the largest donor nation, should push FAO and other UN agencies to relocate out of high cost Euro zone capitals in order to get more value for their country’s contributions. How can any self respecting world leader look a hungry child in the eye during their photo ops when they know that implementing some of these proposals would do so much more to help them? While I often feel embarassed when a homeless person asks me for money and I only give them 20 or 30 cents of loose change I could spare, I honestly don't know how a manager at FAO or WFP can live with themselves knowing the amount of money they make.

Opinione is not alone in questioning the need for another summit on world hunger. Two leading and well-respected aid agencies, Oxfam and ActionAid, said on Nov. 12 that the summit may be a “waste of time and money,” and that “governments are at risk of throwing away a great chance” to reduce the number of hungry. Francisco Sarmento, ActionAid’s food rights coordinator, called the declaration “just a rehash of old platitudes.”

Just imagine if the food summit was held in Accra Ghana or Nairobi Kenya, offering an economic stimulus and wealth creation to the people living in Africa, instead of the already wealthy and well fed Italian people.

A look at China's High Speed Rail Infrastructure Investments

As Opinione constantly talks about the need to invest in high speed and light rail transporation systems, perhaps if more people saw pictures of some of the investments China has made in high speed rail, than more Americans would see the benefits of mass transporation.

China is investing over $300 billion in high-speed rail through 2020, in a bid to speed ahead of the rest of the world's train systems.China spent $44 billion last year -- up from $12 billion in 2004 -- on rail.

“I don’t think anything compares except maybe the growth of the U.S. rail network at the start of the 20th century,” John Scales, the transport coordinator for China at the World Bank recently told The Times.


The numbers alone are head-spinning: 16,000 miles of new track by 2020, requiring 117 million tons of concrete just to construct the buttresses on which the tracks will lie. Top speeds from Beijing to Shanghai will approach 220 miles an hour, halving the current travel time to four hours. This year China Railway Company plans to hire 20,000 young engineers.



Most of the new high-speed links will not be considerably faster than European trains. Thirty-five lines for trains traveling at 125 mph or more, measuring 6,800 miles in total, will be brought into service by 2012, officials say, with 4,350 more miles by 2020.

But the first phase will include five major routes – three running north to south, two east to west – with trains reaching 217 mph or 236 mph.

One of the world's biggest construction projects: a network of high-speed train lines - covering 10,000 miles (16,000 km) nationwide - that China is building. As far as the eye could see, there sat vast concrete support struts, one after another, exactly 246 ft. (75 m) apart.

Shanghai has China's first commercial magnetic-levitation train route, which can whisk you to the airport at a top speed of more than 265 m.p.h. (425 km/h). Magnets raise the entire train above the tracks.

America can learn something from China

In a recent news story by the Associated Press Americans worry about the cost of the proposed health care legislation,it was alarming at how there was no mention in the story of these same Americans worrying or questioning the trillion dollars wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least with health care Americans would have at least something to show for the government spending, as opposed to the having nothing to show for the trillions wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no end in sight. Until more Americans get their collective heads out of their asses and begin to question why the Pentagon, Wall Street, and K street all get help from Washington, while money for average Americans are questioned and scrutinized, the demise of the American economy and America’s demise as a world power will only continue unabated.

Although some people have questioned the impact and benefits of building mass rail networks in America on the previous posts that Opinione has written about on building mass rail and light rail projects in America, Opinione would like to ask these same critics what ideas they have to help American rebuild itself. What other substantial and viable projects or ideas do they have that can provide the economic stimulus and needed infrastructure investment that mass rail and light rail projects would provide? What other ideas do these critics of mass rail and light rail systems have for America to revitalize its industrial base with the creation of high speed and light rail systems and at the same time help the country become more energy independant? It is apparent to this political scientist that the decades long investment into producing things like smart bombs and unmanned aerial drones, is not doing anything but make a relatively few people rich who have stocks in those companies very wealthy.

Although many politicians like to claim that the $787 stimulus package is helping to put Americans back to work, it should be more widely known that only $144 billion of the $787 billion stimulus bill Congress passed earlier this year went to direct infrastructure spending. According to IHS Global Insight, an economic-consulting firm, U.S. spending on transportation infrastructure will actually decline overall in 2009 when state budgets are factored in - this at a time when the American Society of Civil Engineers contends that the U.S. should invest $1.6 trillion to upgrade its aging infrastructure over the next five years. If American leaders had the courage to put their country first instead of their own political careers, perhaps they would have spent the same amount of money as they did for Wall Street and spent 800 billion dollars on American infrastructure projects that would have created and sustained over two million new jobs for people on Main Street.

China on the other hand, invested $585 billion spread over two years on infrastructure projects that will help both their economy and the people living in their own country. This is stark contrast to America spending the same amount of money over a five year period in Afghanistan where the money spent in that country will not benefit the people living there or Americans.

Instead of investing in a mass rail network that would last 100 years, the American public is continuing to allow the Pentagon to spends hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons and military operations that only last a quarter of that time.

As the Chinese people and culture have been around for over five thousand years, they have seen many powers rise and fall. The world is now seeing the latest world power fall and another rise in its place.

Buying the (perpetual) War

Opinione discovered a powerful video by Bill Moyers of how the media in America allowed the Bush administration sell a war to the American people, without performing their role in a healthy democracy and asking the hard questions that should have been asked before the United States attacked another country.

The video is a powerful indictment against the mass media in America and gives a chilling example of how a government can manipulate and control a population with the media. The video is particularly disturbing when at the 1:50 mark, the President openly admits he is following a script. While that may be disturbing to some people in itself, the following laughter by the press corps is even more chilling.

Here is a small clip from the entire program, which can be watched here.

Blowback in America for Tolerating Perpetual War

Although Opinione doesn't like to tread into the American political domestic wedge issue of gun control and violence in America, as a blogger Mikeb32000 does that on a regular basis over on his blog, Opinione thought the following information posted on Tomdispatch.com was worth passing along. While opinione is not trying to make the shooter out to be a victim, just like other members of the academic community like Alfred McCoy, Chalmers Johnson, Andrew Bacevich and other members of the anti Imperialist School who are also retired members of the military,(like Opinione) the shooting at Fort Hood is another example of how the perpetual war and embrace of letting an All Volunteer Force be exploited while no other Americans are not asked to sacrifice anything, is taking its toll on the military and coming home to American Home Front.

Although the weapons of mass distraction media is keeping America distracted with other stories related to the shooting like the life story of the cop who shot Major Nidal Malik Hasan, Opinione doesn't think any on the major media outlets where a large percentage of Americans get their information, have reported on some of the facts that bloggers like TomDispatch and Alfred McCoy give in the books and articles that they have written. Instead of some corporate cable news airhead reading a teleprompter, these authors and members of the academic community do their own research and know all the sources of their information. As opposed to an airhead on a corporate news media news outlet, when asked a question off the script would not know how to answer it. Except to recite the latest media buzz word or message they have been told by their bosses to broadcast.

In honor of Veteran's Day in America, here is some information posted on Tomdispatch that puts the shooting at Fort Hood in more perspective. Opinione hopes you take the time to read the information and consider the effects that perpetual war is now having in America and soon on your own life.

Wars come home in strange, unnerving ways -- as Americans have just discovered at Fort Hood. Even before Major Nidal Malik Hasan went on his killing spree, that base, a major military embarkation point for our war zones, was already experiencing the after-effects of eight years of war and repeated tours of duty. The suicide rate at Fort Hood was soaring (with 10 on the base in 2009 alone). Divorce rates were on the rise, as were mental health problems, drug and alcohol use, domestic abuse (up 75% since 2001), and murders among war-zone returnees. Even violent crime in Killeen, the town that houses the base, was up 22% (though it was down, according to the New York Times, "in towns of similar size in other parts of the country"). In an era in which our last president urged Americans to support his Global War on Terror by shopping and visiting Disney World, it often seemed that, except for soldiers and their families, our wars abroad affected little in this country.

And yet for an imperial power past its prime, foreign wars, even ones fought thousands of miles from home, have a way of coming back to haunt. Alfred W. McCoy tends to be ahead of the curve in his writing. In the Vietnam era, he had to fight the CIA to get his book, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, published; in the Bush years, he was perhaps the first person to recognize that the photos from Abu Ghraib represented no anomaly but the product of a long history of CIA torture research -- and published a powerful book, A Question of Torture, on the subject.

His latest book, Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State, meets counterinsurgency, another topic direct from today's headlines, head on. It ends on these lines: "...a state, like the United States, that rules a foreign territory through political repression and pervasive policing soon finds many of those same coercive methods moving homeward to degrade its own democracy. Such are the costs of empire." In his latest TomDispatch post, McCoy lays out just how that impulse for repression and policing, so vividly and violently expressed abroad in these last years, is now quietly taking aim at us.

Italy has the least efficient justice system in Europe

Some men like Barack Obama and George W. Bush enter politics to pursue power and prestige, in Italy however, Silvio Berlusconi entered politics to protect his financial and Media Empire from being regulated and dismantled. As he has done his entire time in office, Silvio Berlusconi has enacted laws to protect his own interests first and the interests of his supporters and friends. Some of the more malevolent and self-indulgent legislation Silvio Berlusconi has passed include watering down and weakening the strong anti-Mafia legislation passed in the wake of the killing of the prominent anti-mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino and the repeated attempts to give himself immunity from criminal prosecution, effectively elevating himself above the law. So when it was recently announced that Silvio Berlusconi and his government was going to address some of the problems with the Italian judiciary system, it is obvious to anyone who has followed his time in power that his intentions were not fortuitous. Rather, the sudden interest by his government to reform the least efficient justice system in Europe was not inspired by the noble intentions of a public servant, but rather a private citizen using his control of a government to continue to serve his own interests at the expense of the weakening one of the most important institutions in a democracy.

There is no question the justice system in Italy needs attention. According to the World Bank, Italy has the least efficient justice system in Europe and one of the slowest judiciary systems in the world. This is not due to politically zealous judges, as Berlusconi always likes to say, but rather due to the decades long influence of the mafia on the Italian state and Italian politicians passing laws that benefit themselves such as allowing convicted criminals serving in the Parliament and remaining in Parliament to avoid criminal prosecution. These factors have weakened one of the most important institutions in a healthy democracy and have resulted in Italy being ranked as the 156th least efficient country in the world out of 181 countries.

Although most of the international press is reporting on the recent story of Berlusconi wanting to reform the judicial system in Italy, and how the issue is related to the recent decision of the Italian Supreme Court to over turn a law passed by the Berlusconi government giving him legal immunity while in office, not one international news agency has spoken about the political activism of Beppe Grillo and how it is related to the recent legal issues of Don Berlusconi. In addition to failing to report on the amount of convicted people still serving in the Italian Parliament or members of Parliament facing criminal charges, the international press is failing to discuss how Beppe Grillo and his efforts at organizing V1 day in 2007, tried to address the issue of people under investigation and indictment from serving in government and has spoken about this since 2005 on his blog.

With over 300,000 people attending the political rally in Bologna Italy on 7 September 2007, Beppe Grillo was able to gather over 300,000 signatures requesting the government hold a national referendum. In addition to barring people from serving in government who are convicted criminals, the people who signed the petition also wanted to impose term limits on politicians serving in office, and requesting that citizens be allowed to select their own candidates as opposed to having the political party selecting people who it wanted to be in Parliament. However, since depositing those signatures of Italian citizens to the Parliament on 15 December 2007, the Italian government has not acted on any of the three issues the supporters of the referendum requested.

Like any intelligent person, Beppe Grillo and his supporters who signed the petition realized that allowing members of Parliament who have been or were facing criminal charges is not only ethically wrong, but that it would present too much of a temptation for these politicians to pass laws that would benefit themselves. As Berlusconi is proving, the temptation is indeed too great.

For a man ever increasingly concerned about his legacy in Italian history, this latest action by Silvio Berlusconi will only solidify his legacy as an enemy of democracy.

NSC 68 and its role in American History

When historians in the future examine American history, many of them will undoubtedly agree that America was at its zenith of power during the five-year period immediately following the Second World War. Benefiting from a large and undamaged industrial base revitalized by fighting in the Second World War, America’s economy was also thriving from a post war demand in consumer goods. In addition to the economic prosperity the United States was experiencing, the country was the sole nuclear power in the world, and the country had expanded its military dominance and influence over the entire planet with the exception of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. However, even at its zenith of power, some men who were influenced by the temperament of James Forestall and his quick demand for action on over exaggerated threats to the United States, codified the earlier beliefs of Forrestal with the creation of a highly classified document known as NSC 68. This document would greatly shape United States foreign policy for the entire Cold War era and beyond and has become one of the most important documents in American history. However, looking at it from a historical perspective today, many of the arguments to support the rhetoric it used in the spring of 1950 and the need for increased military spending to meet possible military threats, held as much truth and validity as the claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in 2003 and the danger of allowing American forces to withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Although the United States was at its zenith of power, Paul Nitze and the authors of NSC 68 declared in the spring of 1950 that the United States was facing its “deepest peril” and the American system was “in greatest jeopardy than ever before in its history”. If someone did not know what country the report came from, some of the statements in the previously highly classified document might lend the reader to think that the document was describing the threat facing the Soviet Union in the spring of 1950, which was nearly flattened in World War II and was barley in the recovery phase when Nitze and the other authors of NSC 68 described the USSR as “already enjoying a clear preponderance of power”. These statements along with other interesting phrases used by Nitze and the other authors of NSC 68 that could be easily applied to the United States in the 21st century include the (Kremlin) “to impose its absolute authority over the rest of the world”, relying on “infiltration and intimidation”, backed up by “overwhelming military force”.

As the Obama administration is likely to escalate the military campaign in Afghanistan (it is not a war), another phrase, “Persistent crisis, conflict, and expansion”, from the previously highly classified document NSC 68 describing the foreign policy goals of the former Soviet Union, and could easily be applied to contemporary American foreign policy. Paul Nitze and the other authors of NSC 68 also wrote a phrase, which indisputably could be applied to the American Empire in the 21st century. “The Soviet Union actually possesses armed forces far in excess of those necessary to defend its national territory”. With the recent actions of the United States invading and occupying two countries by force, maintaining over 800 military bases around the world, and having yearly military expenditures that equal the next 20 countries in the world in military spending, the statement in NSC 68 warning against the perceived aggression of the former Soviet Union in 1950 appears to accurately describe America in the 21st century.

The precedents set forth in NSC 68 would continue to influence future American leaders who would and use its logic to justify using military force from Southeast Asia and the Vietnam conflict, to the Persian Gulf and the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Like the exaggerated threats in NSC 68 used to justify the goals of the authors of the report for more military spending, future American leaders would use the same trumpeted up evidence and false information to justify their own agendas, like Bush administration officials using false claims of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction in order to install a client government and further encircle Russia.

The character and temperment of James Forrestal - America's first Sec of Defense

In the book Limits of Power The End of American Exceptionalism written by Andrew Bacevich, a man retired from the institution of the military and now a member of the academic community with a Ph D in American history, the author writes about the current political crisis in America and explains how some influential men like James Forrestal and Paul Nitze played a role of influencing future leaders like Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz in American political culture. It is fascinating to see how the character and temperament of these two men would later influence future generations of political leaders and members of the national security state apparatus. While most Americans dislike the imperial and militaristic like policies that James Forrestal and Paul Nitze inspired in future political leaders like Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, having a good understanding of the character and moral fabric of these men, helps to paint a clearer picture on why American political leaders continue to embrace the use of military force and militarism in American foreign policy.

In the chapter, The Political Crisis, Bacevich explains how the old guard in Washington D.C. responsible for the national defense of the country up until the end of the Second World War, was dominated by Henry L. Stimson. Bacevich describes Stimson as an old money Presbyterian, a graduate of Phillips Academy, Yale and Harvard Law and the finest example of a successful Wall Street lawyer. Having established a fine reputation in the private sector, Stimson answered the call during World War I, served on active duty in France, and then later served as the governor general for the Philippines, four years as Secretary of State and two tours as the Secretary of War during World War II. As Stimson’s official biographer Elting Morison wrote in 1960, many of his admirers would describe Henry Stimson as representing “trust, truth, justice, virtue, the reign of law, and the call of duty”.

In contrast to the more honorable and virtuous characteristics of Henry Stimson, Andrew Bacevich cites the biographers Townsend Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley in describing the character of James Forrestal ,the man who would replace Henry Stimson at the War Department, to be lacking several of the more honorable characteristics that Stimson possessed.

Although coming from an Irish-Catholic immigrant family, Forrestal fought against the odds and attended Princeton University. However, Forrestal did not graduate from Princeton and he later dropped out before graduating and went to work on Wall Street. Forrestal’s personal life also reflected his chaotic career with his wife being described as a floozy and a drunk and Forrestal himself being described by the biographers Townsend Hoopes and Douglas Brinkley as being erratic, insecure, combative, a hard drinker, an inattentive father, and a compulsive womanizer. These descriptions of Forrestal differ starkly from the ones on wikipedia where Forrestal is described as a compulsive workaholic, skilled administrator, pugnacious, introspective, shy, philosophic, solitary, and emotionally insecure. Instead of the biographers Hoopes and Brinkley, the wikipedia author cites the Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 4: 1946-1950 and the American Council of Learned Societies, 1974. While Wikipedia has been proved suspect, the fact that Forrestal killed himself shortly after being forced to resign as Secretary of Defense in the Truman Administration, the biography by Hoopes and Brinkley appears to be more credible.

As opposed to the old guard temperament of Henry Stimson, who was not accustomed to overreaction, James Forrestal was quicker to demand action and over exaggerated threats to the United States. In his book, Limits of Power, Bacevich equates the quick reaction and use of force temperament of James Forestall to the “One Percent Doctrine” of Dick Cheney. For those not familiar with the “One Percent Doctrine”, it believes that if there is a one percent chance an enemy has a weapon of mass destruction or posses some other threat to the Unites States, than an American president needs to react with military force before that country may attack. As Bacevich writes, Forrestal believed that “even the slightest delay invites apocalyptic defeat”.

Although America was the only country in the world that possessed nuclear weapons and demonstrated that it was not afraid to use the weapon on civilians like it did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, James Forrestal set a dangerous precedent in American foreign policy when he over exaggerated the military threat the Soviet Union posed to the United States. Using terms like “Red Fascism”, and declaring that Stalin was dedicated to promoting world revolution, Forrestal set the precedent that waiting to respond to events would incur an unacceptable risk. Eight years and one trillion dollars later, it appears the American public still has not learned to identify people like Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz as being followers and believers of a foreign policy based on fear, aggression, and the quick reaction and use of force.

This background data on the character of the men who would have an influential role in developing American foreign policy in the post second world war era is critical to understanding contemporary American foreign policy. The character and temperament of James Forrestal offers some insight into why American leaders have been quick to listen to the advice of men like Dick Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney who exaggerate threats to the United States and promote the use of military force as a response.

Cold War relics that do more to threaten America’s national security than to protect it

The field of political science is an academic discipline that studies political power. When that field of study is trained on Washington D.C. and a political scientist wants to examine which institutions and organizations in the national government have the most power, the two most prominent institutions are the military and the national security state apparatus. As the American economy continues to limp out of its worse recession since the end of the Second World War, the political power of the these institutions is proving to be one of the key reasons why the American economy will continue to stagnate over the next decade and the national treasury will flirt with insolvency. Like any bureaucracy, the institutions of the military and the national security state apparatus pursue their own interests first to the detriment of the average hard working American that these institutions were created to protect. Although it seems to be an impossible task, the key to solving America’s economic and constitutional crisis lies in the American people reigning in the power of these institutions and demand that resources these institutions currently have, be redirected and spent on at helping Americans living in America, instead of pursuing the interests of ineffective and bloated government agencies.

Consuming over 900 billion dollars a year, the Pentagon and the related bureaucracies such as the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Energy (nuclear weapons) and the Department of Homeland Security definitively show that the institution of the military has the most power in the national government. Following the military, the second most powerful institution in Washing D.C. belongs to the national security state apparatus. Some of the more prominent and powerful bureaucracies in the national security state apparatus include the Central Intelligence Agency whose budget is estimated to be over 50 billion a year, and the National Security Agency. Although the Constitution of the United States requires that every government entity publish its expenditures, the Central Intelligence Agency since the beginning of the Cold War has ignored this requirement written in the United States Constitution. This a prominent example of how the institutions of militarism undermine democracy and the rule of law in the United States.

Although some supporters of a strong national defense will defend their viewpoint by arguing that the United States spends only 4 percent of its gross domestic product on national defense, which is in line with other developed countries in the world, this viewpoint is flawed in several ways. First, the size of the American economy and its GDP as compared to other countries allows supporters of a bloated military to use this argument. While this viewpoint of military industrial complex think tanks is true to a certain extent, the argument is flawed when taking into consideration that the United States in order to fund their national defense (power projection), the U.S. Treasury has to borrow money from other countries. Second is the fact most often ignored or played down by conservative think tank authors and fellows is that the percentage of GDP argument ignores the fact that the value of the U.S. dollar is weakened from all this borrowing and ultimately weakens both the hard (military) and soft (US dollar, world reserve currency) power of the United States.

In addition to the institutions of the military industrial complex undermining the power of the United States and the economic prosperity of most Americans, the misplaced and unethical actions of the national security state apparatus also take away a great deal of resources from the American public and impact the level of American democracy. Although many Americans are indoctrinated not to question the secret budget of the CIA, NSA and the other 14 alphabet soup intelligence agencies, the amount of misplaced government funding of these bureaucracies being spent in other countries does little to improve the American economy or provide jobs to average Americans.

Starting with the CIA involvement in over throwing a democratically elected government in Iran, which the Iranian people still have not forgotten or forgiven the United States and Britain for, the CIA has not had a very good track record and if it was a publicly traded company, would have long since gone out of business for failing to deliver a good product.

In this decade alone, the CIA has had a central role in the biggest intelligence failure the US has ever had. This follows its second biggest failure at not foreseeing the collapse of the Soviet Union, for which it was created by the United States to investigate and keep tabs on America’s main economic and military challenger in the post Second World War era. In addition to these pillars of failures, the CIA has recently in the last decade implemented a torture program; operated ghost prisons in countries such as Bulgaria; conducted kidnapping operations in countries such as Italy; and provided support for drug warlords in Afghanistan undermining the efforts of the US military and putting thousands of troops at risk.

The list could be made much longer, but at at this point a conclusion can be drawn that the Cold War relics of the CIA and and a over bloated military does more to threaten than protect America’s national security.

The power of the media to keep Americans naïve of the presence of militarism

The power of the media to shape public opinion should not be underestimated as it plays a dramatic role in the ever-increasing influence of militarism in American culture and society. This presence of militarism in American political culture is proving to be the most important contributing factor in America’s demise as the world’s sole superpower and America’s low ranking for democracy. While other countries such as the Czech Republic have benefited from the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, America over the last 20 years has seen a regression in its level of democracy and standard of living. Due to the unabated influence of militarism in America over the last 20 years, it has greatly contributed to Americans losing some of their civil liberties, weakened the national economy, and misplaced public priorities. Since the end of the Cold War, some countries such as Czech republic that were a part of the Warsaw Pact Alliance, which was created to answer the Western European military alliance NATO ,led by the United States, now have a level of democracy almost superior to America’s level of democracy. Although some critics would say those are radical statements, the data speaks for itself.

An analysis of the American media and its recent coverage or lack of coverage of the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War celebrations in Berlin Germany attest to how Americans have been kept in the dark about the presence of militarism in American culture. This has allowed two American Cold War bureaucracies, the CIA and NATO to remain in existence, contributing to the continual decline of America as the sole super power after its victory in the Cold War. Just as the military victory in Afghanistan is increasing proving, while the United States may have the won the battle, it may ultimately lose the war.

The power of the media to keep Americans naïve of the presence of militarism, was demonstrated when by the amount of coverage or lack of coverage to the 20th anniversary celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the end of the Cold War. While other NATO member countries celebrated the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War with commemorations and press coverage by the media, a free concert by the band U2 at the Branding burn Gate in Berlin Germany was the epic center of events commemorating the end of the Cold War. In contrast, most Americans were bombarded, (excuse the pun) with stories of a mass murder at a military installation in Texas. Ironically, it was the negative effect of the continued embrace of militarism in American culture and politics that allowed the press and the government to keep the focus off of the end of the Cold War celebrations in Berlin Germany.

The lack of coverage by the media in America of the 20th anniversary of the End of the Cold War, allows the national security state institutions like the CIA, NSA, and NATO to remain out of the attention of the American people. This lack of coverage in turn enables militarism to continue creeping into American culture. While this observation may sound radical to some people, what other reason could explain why the media in America failed to report on the 20th anniversary of the End of the Cold War and give it the attention it deserves. Could it perhaps be that the national security state apparatus which consists of Cold War institutions and organizations like the CIA and NATO created to fight an enemy that has been defeated for over 20 years are still in operation.

The Central Intelligence Agency is proving to cause more harm to America’s security than its mandate to protect America’s national interests. If the national interests on the other hand are to instill hatred and instability throughout the world, than the institution is doing an excellent job. Perhaps it is by accident or by design, but the more the CIA is examined in a critical light, the more it appears it subverts the security of the United States and gives a reason for American political leaders who are influenced by defense industry lobbyists to maintain high levels of defense spending.

This vicious cycle of complicity between government bureaucracies is also evident in the international system. While United Nations agencies such as FAO and WFP are in existence to fight world hunger and poverty alleviation, the western government practice of farm subsides and other non free market policies, undermines the ability of those agencies to be more successful.

As history will prove to the ultimate decider in this decision, it does appear however that future historians may reclassify the Cold War as a battle due to the fact that while America won the ideological battle between the Soviet Union, it ultimately lost the war to remain a superpower.
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An analysis of the news coverage of the mass murder at Fort Hood Texas

An analysis of the news coverage of the mass murder at Fort Hood Texas, indicate that the media is focusing on the individual actions of the shooter, instead of discussing the larger more important issue, such as the dangers imposed on a civil society by supporting a perpetual war. While the media has a right to report on the details of the individual like his past performance reports as an intern where he “required counseling and extra supervision”, the media also has a right to remain focused on the most important aspect of an issue, such as in this case, the repeated combat tours United States Army soldiers are having to complete. Occurring two days after an election that was portrayed in the American media as a GOP resurgence, perhaps the shooter, equating the GOP victory to President Bush’s starting the perpetual war in Iraq and Afghanistan, just didn't want to deploy to Afghanistan and a military campaign that most Americans now do not think is worth the effort.

In order to increase ratings and make the powers controlling American society happy such as a political establishment heavily influenced by the military industrial complex, some media outlets in America will be focusing on how the shooter is a Muslim. This approach by the media will not threaten to tarnish the image of the military and will further transmit the subliminal message of the dangers white Judeo-Christians in America face from Muslims and the need for a powerful military fighting the enemy in distant countries instead of in America. While lost in all of these kinds of reports and coverage by the 24/7 cable news outlets, is a discussion on the strain the members of the military are enduring while other Americans are not asked to sacrifice anything.

The news wire service the Associated Press is rapidly losing its credibility as a neutral source of news and information after the headline following the attack at Fort Hood quoted a United States Army spokesperson. The headline, Army: Suspect said `Allahu Akbar!' before shooting, if reported from another country, would be seen as biased and how the media was being used by the military in that country for propaganda purposes. Exploiting the high opinione most Americans have of the institution of the military in America, the headline by the Associated Press quoting the Army allows the military industrial complex to keep the message on the individual shooter, and keep the attention away from the continuous tours of duty service men like the shooter are forced to conduct. In addition to the amount of power the media is giving to the Army to frame the issue, the rush of the cable news outlets to get information before their competitors often results in bad and sometimes wrong information. Case in point is the report of the boy floating away in a homemade balloon, only to be discovered later never to have been in the balloon.

In contrast, the BBC used headlines such as US Major held after shooting and Gunmen was about to be sent to Afghanistan, report facts and not speculation or hearsay like the headline of the Associated Press headline claiming the shooter shouted God is Great in Arabic.

It is important for Americans to question how the news is reported and to stop relying on the weapons of mass distraction media outlets of the 24/7 cable news outlets and their brothers and sisters in the other corporate owned outlets like ABC, CBS, and CBS. Although the American public in some polls do not support the continued US military mission in Afghanistan and some respected members of the American Foreign Service do not believe the United States will succeed in Afghanistan, the media coverage of the shooting at a military installation in America is proving once again that the media in America is distracting Americans from the most important aspects of an issue.

Omertà - The conspiracy of silence

The word omerta in Italian refers to the silence the mafia imposes on people within its sphere of influence. One of the reasons the mafia clans of Cosa Nostra (Our Thing) and The Camorra have been able to become so powerful is its ability to discourage anyone who might have seen a crime committed by a mafia member (mafioso) to speak to the police or be a witness in court. In addition to intimidating people, omerta is also followed by a member of the mafia who becomes a made man, or a Man of Honor. During the initiation ritual, a man of honor will prick his finger and smear the blood on a burning image of a saint. As the paper is burning, a boss of a local cosca (family) will hold the inductee’s hands and as the paper is burning, the inductee will vow never to betray the organization, or his flesh will burn and turn into ashes like the burning piece of paper with the image of the saint. It is this powerful code of silence, which has helped the mafia, continue to thrive in Sicily and much of the southern part of Italy.

Interestingly the current meaning of omerta derives from the Italian word for humility, umulita- or in Sicilian dialect, umirita. The original meaning of the word was used by the Sicilian mafia members as a way to denote respect and devotion to the sect. Humility or umirita eventually evolved into omerta, which still means silence.

Due to the power of omerta, the power of the mafia in Sicily could never be proved. However, after Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino proved during the maxi trials against Cosa Nostra and their evidence withstood an extensive cross-examination in court, the power of Cosa Nostra could not be disputed.

Like the power of the mafia to induce omerta in its sphere of influence, Silvio Berlusconi also uses the same tactics as Cosa Nostra to intimidate and silence any of his critics. The silencing of the press by Berlusconi and his ability to have people removed from television like Daniele Luttazzi and Sabina Guzzanti proves he is no friend of democracy.

The following video was posted by Beppe Grillo this year and Opinione wanted to share this powerful video with you. The beginning of the video shows a reenactment of the bombing of Giovanni Falcone and then the actual footage of the aftermath. Immediately following that scene is also a reenactment of the killing Paolo Borsellino outside his mothers home in Palermo and then the actual aftermath. After the two bombing scenes, you will see Daniele Luttazzi interviewing Marco Travaglio along with Silvio Berlusconi embracing his friend and founder of his political party Forza Italia, Marcello Dell’Utri, who has since been convicted at the second level of collusion with Cosa Nostra in Sicily.

Isn't it good to know more about the types of governments American tax dollars related to the military industrial complex support.

An analysis of the 2009 election results

The media in the international and American press are portraying the recent Republican Party victories in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races as a reaction to the economic conditions in America and a referendum on President Obama. Although there is some validity to this view, analyzing the election returns from New Jersey, it appears the incumbent governor was more hurt by his elite standing in society and status as an incumbent than to the economic conditions in New Jersey. Although the Republican Party spin-doctors and pundits most likely have been instructed to frame their victory as a referendum against Obama, the results of the election indicate that incumbent republicans along with incumbent democrats know the recent election has to do with voter discontent and frustration against the status quo. The time has come for a national figure like Warren Buffet or a George Soros to fund a national third party movement. Until more American non-aligned voters embrace other political parties other than the duopoly status quo in Washington, just as the last year has shown with the latest democratically controlled congress, there will not be any significant improvement for the average hard working American.

Some people may think the venture capitalist businessman Mr. Warren Buffet, the "Oracle of Omaha" and one of the richest people in the world, might be a strange choice to fund a national political party. However, the recent announcement that his company Berkshire Hathaway investment company will buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), the second-largest railroad in America, for an estimated $34 billion, may be a clue that this man knows the secret to rebuilding America and putting millions of Americans back to work is with mass rail based transportation networks.

Even a member of the national republican party, Haley Barbour knows the importance of putting Americans back to work when he said that the reason the democratic candidates lost in New Jersey and Virginia was due to issues weighing on people’s minds such as jobs, transportation, taxes and spending,. Interesting that the leading republican who was once a member of the elite United States senate and is now the governor of Mississippi and the Republican Governors Association Chairman did not mention any social wedge issue like abortion, gun control, or gay marriage.

If a powerful man like a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates supported the creation of a third political party solely focused on the economic and constitutional woes the country was facing, there would be a serious shake up of the status quo in Washington DC and in every state across the county. A third political party needs to have a ten-point platform on what each candidate would agree to run on and these issues would have to be limited to financial and constitutional issues facing the country and not include any kind of controversial social or religious issue like abortion, gun control, and gay marriage. Those issues are the responsibility of the states and it is no area for a candidate running for congress with a third party.

Just as a leader of the Republican Party said himself, the four main issues voters care about are jobs, transportation, taxes, and spending. This is why it is essential that a third political party in America has a manifesto of the ten issues it will address if elected. Examples of some of the issues candidates from a third political party need to center their platform around include the creation of regional rail and light rail networks, this would easily address the issue of transportation. This essential platform issue would then easily overlap and help the candidates fulfill their next platform issue of creating 5 million new jobs in 5 years. Some other issues a third political party should have as a platform issue is a constitutional amendment to do away with the Electoral College, create an amendment to balance the budget, and to put America back on the gold standard. Due to the fact that is a public blog, no other more substantial issues will be discussed as to prevent agents of the duopoly system from taking these ideas and using them to their advantage.

The two party duopoly relies on each other to maintain the gridlock and blame game that has occurred over the last 150 years. A country as large and diverse as America surely has enough room for more than the two political parties. Perhaps with a more pluralistic representation in the political system, America could regain some of its dignity and core values that made it the great country it once was.

The Republican and Democratic parties in America have proven they are not capable of addressing the needs of average hard working American voter and it is time that the progressive and tea party segments of the American political system join forces to take their country back from the lobbyist-controlled members of congress.

Fiat to build cars in Mexico instead of America

A true indication as to how badly America has fallen from being the world’s most powerful economy is analyzing the recent purchase of Chrysler, America’s third largest automotive company, by the Italian automotive company Fiat SpA. Although several factors contributed to this decline such as the international macro economic variable of the decline of the US dollar and the internal macro economic variable of the business strategy of Chrysler pursuing the high profit SUV vehicle market, the ability of an Italian company purchasing an American company demonstrates how degraded the American dollar and value of some iconic American brand names in America have become. If the foreign ownership of an iconic American company was not bad enough the subsequent business decision of the new Italian managers to build the Fiat 500 subcompact car in Mexico is like rubbing salt in the proverbial wound. These actions by Fiat give further credence for more Americans to demand that US military bases be closed in Italy and other foreign countries and that money reinvested in America in order to offer more jobs to hard working Americans. With friends like Italy, American tax payers should demand that their money be spent in America for Americans.

With America trying to recover from its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the country needs all the direct foreign investment it can get to help its economy create manufacturing jobs. While other foreign car manufactures like Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, and Nissan have all built factories in the United States offering American workers a chance for employment, Fiat on the other hand is only concerned about gaining market share and increasing their profit. In addition to Fiat building cars in Mexican assembly plants, the management at Fiat has also taken a tough stance towards the union workforce in America and demanded concessions it would never dare to make in Italy. Knowing the work ethic and mentality of the Italian worker, the same demands made to the Chrysler workers in America would have sparked a national strike in Italy and dramatized a segment of the Italian population into being forced to work harder.

With the mafia clans of the Camorra, Nyhgretta, and Cosa Nostra controlling almost the entire Mezzogiorno area in Italy, there is practically zero foreign investment is this area. Even northern Italian companies like Fiat avoid the southern part of Italy due to the extra costs the mafia would enact on a company doing business in its territory. This is why the popular Fiat 500, is built in a plant in Poland, hundreds of miles away from the high labor cost area of northern Italy, and the mafia controlled southern part of their own country.

Just like the other countries that were defeated in the Second World War, Italy owes a great deal of its economic prosperity and ability to recover from the war, because of the American tax payer. Beginning with the well-known Marshall Plan, billions of dollars were pumped into the Italian economy directly after the war. After the Marshall Plan, the United States has continued pumping hundreds of billions of American taxpayer money into Italy over the last 60 years. A large percentage of the hundreds of billions of dollars went towards funding a constellation of military bases spanning the entire country along with several embassies, consulates, and United Nations agencies. The massive amount of resources invested in Italy by the American government vastly outnumbers the amount of money the Italian government has invested in America, making the decision to build cars in Mexico which otherwise could have been built in idle factories in America more disturbing.

The silence of American political leaders from the Midwestern states where there is a large concentration of automotive manufacturing is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Fiat ownership decision to build the Fiat 500 in Mexico. However, due to the influence of the military industrial complex on congressional leaders, do not expect to hear any calls from these political leaders to shut down some of the 45 military bases the United States has in Italy.

Government Funding of Newspapers in Italy

The political and cultural influence of Silvio Berlusconi and his relentless efforts to silence critics in the Italian media has resulted in Italy being ranked by the organization Reporters Without Borders as the 49th country in the world for freedom of information in 2009. This ranking is down from Italy’s previous ranking of 35th in the world for press freedom in 2007. Although part of the reason for the low ranking is due to the mafia death threats against Robert Saviano and his expose book on the Neapolitan mafia clan, the Camorra, the continual funding of Italian newspapers by the government also contributes to the new lower ranking Italy has for press freedom. As Beppe Grillo recently discussed on his blog, the state support to newspapers also distorts the free market and impedes on the ability of the press to perform its functionally role in a democracy to act as an independent check on the power of a government. The government funding of private newspapers in Italy prove that Berlusconi is not the free market executive he claims to be and is undermining one of the most important institutions in a free and vibrant democracy.

In spite the fact that many Italian newspapers have suffered a 40 percent decline in advertising revenue due to a majority of Italians getting their information from television and the recent recession, not one Italian newspaper has gone out of business. This is in stark contrast where in America, dozens of small newspapers like The Rocky Mountain News in Denver Colorado and King County Journal in Washington State have closed. In addition to the newspapers that have closed, according to one web site, there are several newspapers in major cities that are very near to closing. Some of these include, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tucson Citizen, San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Daily News, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Miami Herald.

In spite of the fact that the Italian government claims to have no money to fund more police or build anti-seismic houses for people that live in earthquake prone areas, the government of Italy always finds money to fund newspapers. The following newspapers in Italy followed by their political affiliation* are some of the largest recipients of public money in Italy.

Il Libero(PdL) € 7,794,367, Il Riformista (PDL) € 2,530,638, Il Foglio (PDL) € 3,745,345, La Padania (LN) € 4,028,363, L'Unità (PCI) € 6,377,209, Europa (PD) € 3,599,203, Il Secolo d'Italia (PDL) € 2,959,948, Il Campanile (PDL) € 1,150,919, Avvenire (UDC) € 6,174,758, Il Denaro (PDL) € 2,459,799 and L'Avanti (PSI) € 2,530,638. In addition to the political influence government funding has on newspapers in Italy, certain business interests are also taken care with the government funding such as the automotive industry and the magazines Euro and Motocross € 506,660, , Car Audio and FM € 290.400. Even the musical interests are taken care of Italy with the government funding the magazine Chitarre for € 273,126 and birdwatchers in Italy are helped with the Italian government giving the magazine Italia Ornitologica € 40,000. While the mysterious Adista publication gets € 117,000.

Although many of the workers now unemployed from American newspapers would have welcomed funding from the government in order for their papers to remain in business, the owners and employees at those companies also know, they would have lost all credibility with their readers if they took the government handout. Most Americans would recognize the government funding of a newspaper not to be far from the Soviet Union era Pravda newspaper or another state run government mouthpiece. Most Italians however are not as quick to accept a business to close down and would accept the money to protect their own interests. In the process, the level of democracy and quality of the freedom of the press has been compromised to the detriment to all.

• PdL – Il Popolo della Libertà ( The Peoples Freedom Party)
• PD – Partito Democratico ( Democratic Party)
• UDC- Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e di Centro (Unione of Christran Democrats)
• PCI – Partico Communista Italia (Italian Communist Party)
• LN – Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania (Northern League)

Challenging the power of the duopoly status quo in America

A recent news report by the Associated Press about the growth of third party candidates challenging the status quo of the duopoly entrenched power of the Republican and Democrat Parties echoes what Opinione wrote back on 23 July 2009. The news report comes as no surprise as Opinione discussed the potential blowback the duopoly was facing from the special perks and salary the members of congress enjoy. Although the story by the Associated Press reported on the growing frustration of American voters and how third party candidates can upset the status quo of the duopoly, the report did not explain some important issues. Most evident was the absence of reporting on the 93 percent re-election rate for both political parties and how these parties enact laws that protect them from serious challenges from other political parties. Unlike the news media which the Associated Press is a part of, Opinione will fill in the missing information the Associated Press omitted and explain how third and fourth political parties could be formed and supported to help average Americans get their interests taken care of in Washington, instead of the wealthy individuals and corporations which is the case today.

While the reporter alluded to the problems that third political party candidates face by writing…

“The lack of money, the institutional obstacles to a third party candidacy and a growing awareness among voters of the ideological differences between (the two Senatorial candidates in New Jersey)..”

the reporter and the editors at the Associated Press failed to elaborate on what some of the institutional obstacles are to non duopoly political party candidates. The reporter could have discussed the high percentage of incumbents getting re-elected due to their ability to get funding from lobbyists and people they help and the fact that other political parties are never allowed to participate in the national televised presidential debates. In very simple terms, the reporter could have added a sentence to the comments made by an associate director of Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute of Politics when the associate director explained some of the challenges third political party candidates face in America. Perhaps a sentence like, to confront the power of the duopoly political apparatus, a national third political party with a platform centered on removing the money from the system would be the best approach a third political party should take.

The reporter also missed an excellent opportunity to discuss the rating of the level of democracy in America compared to other countries in the world and the correlation this ranking has to the level of corruption in a government. This blog has discussed this correlation in the two posts, Democracy and Corruption- All Men are not created Equal, and American Independence in the New World Order. As discussed in one of the posts, the power of the two party system and the barriers they enact for other parties to form and challenge their duopoly of power, is one of reasons why countries like Japan, Malta, and Spain are considered to more democratic and pluralistic. In addition to the power of the two parties, the low voter participation of the electorate is another leading factor for the low ranking of America’s democracy.

This analysis of just one news report shows how the quality of the press also plays a factor in the difficulty any political movement will encounter when challenging the power of the duopoly status quo. The Internet however, like The Pirate Party in Sweden demonstrated, needs to be harnessed by political grass movements in order to challenge the long-standing relationship between the dominant media and the ruling elites in power and their benefactors.