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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: Gun Propaganda and the Health Care Reform Illusion I'm getting very upset by what I've been seeing since this health care issue has come to the fore. I'm becoming really angry by how much my intelligence has been insulted. I'm beginning to feel like the man who has to explain to his friends that Criss Angel is not really defying the laws of physics. He's in the business of creating illusions. He does not really float above buildings, pull ladies in half, climb through closed, solid windows without breaking the glass, walk on water, or do any of the things one might see him do. These are illusions. They are parlor tricks. They are elaborate, complicated, well designed, well executed, likely expensive illusions, but they are nothing but illusions nonetheless. The power elite are also in the business of creating illusions. They use their politicians and the mass media to try to create a perception of reality they would like us to see. The illusions they create are elaborate, complicated, well designed, well executed and likely expensive, but they are illusions nonetheless. The difference between the illusions the power elite create and those of Criss Angel is that Mr. Angel creates his illusions strictly for entertainment purposes, the power elite are creating theirs so that they can control mass consciousness and hence make it easier to control the population in general. The problem for them is that many people are beginning to realize exactly what's been happening. One of the ways to create a good illusion is to get the audience to look over there while something is happening over here. Another is to keep things hidden and produce them when you want them seen. Still another way is to make the audience believe something isn't what it appears to be, or that something is what it doesn't appear to be. Or any combination of these things can help produce a good illusion. Of course, if the audience looks where the action is and detects the slight of hand, or if they see the hidden element before it is produced, or if they are not convinced that something is or is not something else, then the illusion is ruined. There was a man in New Hampshire recently who came to a protest against the proposed health care legislation open carrying a gun. His name was Mr. William Kostric. He was also carrying a sign that read "It is time to water the tree of liberty." This protest was near where Mr. Barack Obama was having a town hall meeting. What's wrong with that? We have a God given right of self defense, don't we? The second amendment of our nation's constitution still applies, right? Holding a sign at a protest is legal, so no big deal, right? Open carrying in New Hampshire is legal, so no big deal, right? Wrong. The media jumped all over it. They made it a big deal. Many of the news organizations immediately freaked out at the sight of a citizen open carrying a gun to such an event. When I first heard the news I got the impression that someone had brought a gun into the venue where Mr. Obama was speaking and was waving it around in a threatening manner, at least that's what it seemed judging by how big of a deal they were making of it. As the reports came in I began to wonder what kind of nut would do such a thing. Then I began to get the details of the situation, that it was in New Hampshire, that it was on private property, that the man wasn't in the venue with Mr. Obama, and I began to realize that, as usual, the media was making a bigger deal out of a situation than they should. Finally, I got to watch the interview Mr. Kostric did with Chris Matthews on Hardball. Mr. William Kostric, a man I met at this year's Liberty Forum who struck me as about as average a guy as there is, held up very well under the heavy handed questioning of Chris Matthews. I don't know that anyone else could have done a better job and I doubt I would have held up so well. He remained very calm and thoughtful even as Chris Matthews did his best to inject anger and emotion into the debate. As my brother observed about Mr. Kostric's appearance on the show, he made Chris Matthews look reactionary and bizarre. In his attempt to get Mr. Kostric to lose control, Chris Matthews was unable to maintain control of his own emotions. Judging from his questions, it seems to me Chris Matthews was trying to maintain the illusions that had already been set up. The illusion is that people who carry guns are crazy, emotionally unstable, fringe, violent or anything other than mainstream. There's also an illusion as to the dangers of guns. While I wouldn't say that Mr. Kostric shattered those illusions with his interview, I would suggest that perhaps he opened the eyes of some more thoughtful people who may have seen him. Perhaps some of the viewers may have caught a glimpse of something hidden under the cloth of the mainstream media propaganda and perhaps for them the illusion is not quite as spellbinding anymore. Perhaps now some people may understand that the talking heads on television can and should ask more pertinent questions of newsworthy people in these situations rather than trying to demonize them. It seems to me that perhaps the wrong questions are being asked as these situations arise. As Mr. Kostric wisely pointed out on the Chris Matthews' television program, the question shouldn't be why would he wear a gun to the rally, the question should be why weren't more people wearing their guns to the rally. Indeed, if people don't exercise their rights then those rights will likely atrophy and perhaps die. Chris Matthews pointed out the history of presidents, guns and violence in an effort to shame Mr. Kostric for exercising his God given right, but he neglected to mention that this was a history of men who would conceal weapons and did not want attention drawn to themselves for fear their intent would be discovered. Mr. Kostric made the observation that a gun is a defensive tool. It is not a show of force as Chris Matthews would have you believe, but a warning that one is willing to defend himself should trouble arise. Indeed, if Mr. Obama feels so threatened when he goes out in public to address the American people, perhaps he should take some personal responsibility for his own safety and self defense and start wearing a gun himself. After all, he has the God given right to self defense as does any other human being. The media wishes to maintain the illusion that it is covering news in a fair and objective manner when in fact it is trying to manipulate opinions the establishment wants you to hold. They have to walk a fine line to keep the trust of their audiences, maintain or improve ratings, and keep the power elite that finance them happy and their agenda hidden. The Internet and sites like Youtube have more or less corralled mainstream media's attempt to completely control the information we receive. This could be the reason we are hearing stories of ACORN and SEIU activists showing up in busloads at these town hall meetings. The Democrats are without a doubt and with verifiable evidence doing exactly what they were accusing the Republicans of doing at the recent tea parties. Even worse, these people have been caught on video threatening and actually beating some of those who are against the proposed health care legislation backed by the Obama administration, something the tea partiers were never even accused of. They've admitted that they were paid. Do these people think we're stupid? Do they think we'd actually listen to hired thugs? Do they believe we'd pay more attention to masses of mindlessly chanting, similarly dressed people that have obviously been paid over average men and women who have taken time off work to try to get their voices heard? I don't know the answers to the above questions. It certainly would seem that the political elite do, in fact, believe these things and were hoping they could get away with creating an illusion that there was more support for the proposed health care legislation than there was opposition to it. I have to wonder, however. Even though I don't seem to have a lot of respect for politicians and their media cronies in my writings, I never thought they'd be so blatantly open about their corruption. At least, not without a reason. There is another illusion in this country that many, many people believe. Quite a percentage of the inhabitants of this land called America believe there is actually a difference between a Republican politician and a Democrat politician. They still think that there are partisan battles taking place. It is therefore easy for some to believe that Republicans (conservatives) are against free health care for those who can't afford it and Democrats (liberals) are for providing free health care for everyone and making the rich pay for it. This situation certainly does help keep that illusion alive. Perhaps this health care debate is academic. Perhaps most politicians holding federal office couldn't care less about whether or not this particular bit of health care legislation is passed. After all, many of the common folk that are protesting this proposed legislation likely identify with neither party, while some identify with Republicans and others with Democrats. I'm certain you could find people of all political stripes standing against the health care legislation just as I'm sure you could find people of all political stripes standing for it. I think numerically the majority is against this particular proposed legislation. I believe that perhaps most people have come to realize that such a program would be too costly, would likely bankrupt the nation (as if it isn't already), and that it puts too much control of our personal health care into the hands of bureaucrats. Many people are angry at insurance companies and don't trust them, myself included, and yet they trust the government even less. In fact, I would venture a guess that most people want government completely out of their lives, and so they certainly don't want them nosing around in their personal health care business. I really don't believe that any of this theater is about health care. It seems to me that it's about control. It's about power. It's about making everyone dependent upon government and so ensnaring them in a trap that makes the common class slavish to the power elite political class. As long as the illusions that politicians care are maintained, than they can manipulate the masses, divert attention away from their previous follies and create conflict amongst different groups that they define. People are beginning to see through their illusions, however. They are catching glimpses of the hidden. The old tricks that were at one time so effective at mesmerizing aren't working as well as they once did. People are beginning to walk away from the shell game the politicians and the power elite are playing. They are spotting the slight of hand. The masses want their independence, their power, and their money back. No illusion, no matter how well thought out, elaborate or expensive, will change that.
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#1. To: christine (#0)
Chrissy was being a real provocateur. Kostric made him look like an idiot. It's rare when a guest can turn the tables on a political savage like Matthews.
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