"MANIPULATION, PROPAGANDA, LIES, SLAVE AND MASTER"
By Ron Ewart

Have you seen the movie "Flags of Our Fathers"? If you haven't, you should. It is a brutally graphic and a glaring portrayal of overt government propaganda and using and abusing our brave fighting men for the government's own ends. Here is the pictorial representation that precipitated the whole "Flags" event during World War II on Iwo Jima.

The Iwo Jima Image: People by their very nature, are emotional and for that fact, they can be easily manipulated by appealing to that emotion. images can be emotionally powerful as was this one. The more emotional the image, the greater the emotional impact and the more powerful it is. And so it was that this raising of the flag on Iwo Jima IMAGE became a powerful government propaganda tool and the remaining survivors who lifted the flag aloft on that Pacific atoll became mostly unwilling pawns in that propaganda (manufactured heroes) to raise money through war bonds to support the war effort. Some folks say, that the end justifies the means. But lying, hype and propaganda for whatever cause, can never be justified or rationalized, even in war. A free people deserve better. If we can be manipulated, we are nothing more than sheep (slaves) and the manipulators our shepherd (Lord and Master).

Let me explain with a short story from a Bing Crosby movie; "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court".

In this scene the lead character, Bing Crosby, is about to be burned at the stake for transgressions against the realm, he pulls out his trusty almanac and sure enough, on that very day at the very hour a full eclipse of the Sun is about to commence (only in Hollywierd). So he tells the witnesses to the “burning” that if they do not immediately cease and desist, he will extinguish the Sun forever. The un-enlightened people of King Arthur's Court are not wise to the ways of the Sun, Moon and Earth and thus believe the "nave" when he cons them. In the "eyes" of the King Arthur subject, the "Yankee" has power over the Sun, therefore it is reasoned he must have power over their lives as well. At this point he could have gotten them to do anything because they did not recognize the lie (propaganda) that Bing was feeding them.

Too many people react to propaganda from any source in the same manner. (i.e. social programs, environmental extremism, global warming, the myth of suburban sprawl, etc.) Some folks actually believe every word they read in the newspaper or news magazines.

For far too long government and the news media that aides and abets the government and lobbyists, have been manipulating the American people because the government doesn't believe the American people are smart enough to respond appropriately to the truth. Or maybe government is more concerned that the people WILL respond "appropriately" to the truth and not as the government had hoped. In fact, the government, unions, corporations and powerful special interest and lobby groups routinely provide misinformation, omissions of material facts and outright lies to dupe the public. Political campaigns are rife with these omissions, misinformation and lies. They appeal to the weakness of our emotions, instead of challenging our intellect with a foundation of truth. Unfortunately, much of the public falls right into the trap and worse, will make no demands on government, or these other groups, to clean up their act.

Every day the "triangle conspiracy" of government, special interest groups (lobbyists) and the print and electronic media, feed the people of America with distortions, omissions, half truths, mis-information and outright lies to further their own ends. Every day, those "with their eyes closed", hang on every word as if it were gospel.

We teach our children to be strong so that they will survive. But we also need to teach them to recognize a sham, or a con, or a lie coming out of the "triangle conspiracy". Our government policies are long on compassion (socialism) and environmental extremism, no matter what the cost, but very short on teaching survival and individual strength, or upholding constitutional individual rights. If our children don't learn the survival lesson, if we are not prosperous as a free Nation, if we will not defend our freedoms, we won't be around to afford compassion.

We, as an entire country, are in grave danger of losing the strength, vitality, endurance, creativity, honesty, integrity, morality and ingenuity that have made us great. We are on the brink of sapping the last remaining energy from those people in our land that have made us strong, creative and vital; the landowner, the entrepreneur, the innovator, the risk taker. It is my firm belief that the reasons for this shift are self-serving, maybe even criminal. Liberal government legislation (socialism and radical environmentalism) has been established, not for good, altruistic, fundamental reasons, but solely to control the people and to remain in power by buying the votes of naive, uninformed citizens with our money.

There are some that think all is lost and that the inexorable slide towards mediocrity and hopelessness through socialism and environmental extremism has gone so far that we might as well just throw up our hands and quit. But if we quit, the resulting chaos will not be in anyone's best interest, especially not for freedom, liberty and property rights.

I do not subscribe to this notion that all is lost and firmly believe that those with courage, those with conscience and those with purpose can enlighten a large enough segment of our society to seek freedom rather than enslavement. Those with the will can and must make the sacrifices. However, if we linger too long, the changes that have been and are about to be wrought on this country by the liberal segment of this society and their socialist and radical environmental agenda, could very well be our un-doing as a free peoples.

The question is, are we sheep or are we shepherd? Will WE THE PEOPLE chart our own destiny to freedom, or let the "Triangle Conspiracy" chart it for us to enslavement? Are we slave or freeman? The hard, cold truth is, you are a slave unless you defend freedom with everything you've got and right now, each and every one of us is a slave to government.

As you look in the mirror in the morning getting ready for work or other routines, think freedom. When you are all at the dinner table in the evening with your family, talk freedom. The foundation for freedom has already been laid out for us. That foundation lies in our Constitution. Those very same foundations are under a vicious attack by socialists, radical environmentalists and the one-world-order crowd and if our freedoms are not defended, we will lose them forever.

The "enemy" has infiltrated our schools and colleges and they have and are, brainwashing your children. If you do not question what your children are learning, they will be the next socialist, radical environmentalist, or government bureaucrat. The "Triangle Conspiracy" has taken over the executive, legislative, judicial and bureaucratic branches of government. They are everywhere and they will win unless we challenge them. America's constitutional freedom is the power for good and prosperity in a world filled with avarice, oppression, corruption and evil. If we let it die, the World will descend into chaos and evil will have won.

Daniel Webster said: "Miracles do not cluster. Hold on to the Constitution of the United States of America and the Republic for which it stands -- what has happened once in six thousand years may never happen again. Hold on to your Constitution, for if the American Constitution shall fail there will be anarchy throughout the world."

Do you know why your freedom is in jeopardy? Because the other side's propaganda, distortions and lies have been very effective and way too many naive citizens have bought into them. Through propaganda, distortions and lies they have convinced many Americans that socialism, radical environmentalism and government control of everything, is "motherhood, apple pie and Chevrolet".. That became abundantly clear on November 7th, 2006.