THE STAR-SPANGLED ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
It pays to either ignore or praise the murderous foreign policy of the USA
Across Europe, if you are at all in the public eye, it is impossible to criticize the foreign policy of the USA without being looked at as a reckless outlier at the very least, and almost certainly you will be called the most pejorative of names that may well lose you your career.
The USA, or to be more precise its elites and their foreign policy, must be treated as a communal sacred cow, allowed to make its usual mess which is thereafter immediately ignored, or greeted only by wry smiles of resignation.
Perhaps a shrug will be seen… at most.
The nation that has in recent years caused mass slaughter in the Middle East based upon obvious lies must always be preserved in geopolitical cotton wool and most importantly, devotedly portrayed as the world’s ultimate force for good.
What kind of willful madness is this?
It is simply impossible to speak about or report upon the activities of the USA in anything but neutral to positive terms if you are at all a mainstream opinion leader with access to TV or radio. If you do raise your head above the parapet and voice even the mildest criticism about U.S. foreign policy you can expect several predictable consequences.
1. You are looked at as a useful idiot, as a strange case, perhaps an agent of Russia, China, Syria or Iran.
2. You’ll become a target, noted at CIA, Langley and U.S. embassies as a potential trouble source and candidate for a smear campaign.
3. You will find that invitations to discussions, debates, think tanks or trade conferences suddenly begin to dry up.
4. You will gradually realize that opportunities for you to express your views are increasingly no longer available.
5. You may even be branded a fascist, a communist, hapless dupe, or worse, if not to your face but at the very least by word of mouth.
6. You will find the worst of those situations arrive in ever clearer form if you resist the pressure to remain silent and persist in expressing your views.
At this point you become a de facto enemy of the state and some sex crime accusation may well be arranged to blacken your name. There need be no basis to it. It must merely sound bad enough to get widespread exposure and blacken your name and eliminate your potential influence.
In the land of the free, home of the brave there is no true liberty to be critical of the powers-that-be. Not if you value your job and wish to continue making a living. You can say what you like... but be ready for the consequences.
The attacks awaiting those seen as virtual traitors and foreign agents and the pitfalls made ready for their future footsteps are many and used regularly to smear, trip up and denigrate, to shred reputations, deny inclusion and send to virtual professional exile.
The prevailing conditions against such rebels mimic those seen when a nation is at war. If you know what’s good for you, you watch your step and keep your mouth shut. You don’t rock the boat, you keep your head down and keep taking the money. You stop thinking so much and start obeying the rules of the existing zeitgeist.
You ignore enormous star-spangled beast standing right behind you breathing its hot exhaust fumes onto your neck, U.S. foreign policy.
Never, ever turn around.
The extremely large blood-stained, star-spangled elephant right there in the room with you should never be looked upon. It’s eyesight is very sharp, its hearing extremely acute and its memory exceedingly long. Those tusks just out of sight have been sharpened to needle points and those enormous feet and legs are perfect for crushing those it deems its enemies.
It is ever important to be mindful of the ways you benefit from being blind and in all the ways your life and that of your family could be made miserable... as you are speedily ejected from the elite gravy train.
Is it worth it to speak out? This is the calculation made by those in media who have managed to retain at least some part of the conscience they once perhaps believed would help them make the world a better place. The calculation will come down to self versus the greater good... and self normally wins... or you are delivered into virtual exile.
The star-spangled elephant in the room with mainstream western journalists takes no prisoners, it requires an abiding, unseen and unswerving loyalty. It is, always there watching, always ready to crush those who dare to report on its murderously malign presence.