OK, this might sound crazy, but bear with me here...

[ScooterKen]

Do you all remember that old episode of "Star Trek" (the original series) when Kirk finds that planet with the two factions that are at war, but instead of actually waging war, they have this elaborate computer that calculates who lives and who dies, and then sends, like, an email to people telling them they need to report to the disintegration chambers? And then Kirk destroys the machine so that people have to face the horror of war instead of just being placated by numbers?

OK, I know that was fake, but what Gene Roddenbury was saying was that War is so horrific and terrible, that if you have to face it, and see it, and feel it, and hear it - you will do ANYYHING to make it stop, including make peace. But if you make war "abstract", if you reduce it to just "numbers", then the public will accept it because its been trivialized.

Well....

Right now, on the news, all we see are numbers.
"5 US soldiers killed in Iraq."
"40 Iraqis killed in car bomb."
etc.

There are no images of dead people.
There are no images of dead soldiers coming home in coffins.
There are no images of combat, violence, or torture.

If these images were put on TV, every single American would get into their car, drive to D.C., drag Bush out of the White House, haul him down to Capitol Hill, and Impeach his ass on the spot.

The American people have to be shown what is going on. We can't just accept numbers and statistics and one-liners on the deaths that are going on in Iraq. We need a venue to show all of the horrific and terrible consequences of this so-called "war". Because until people really see the truth, they will simply allow our men & women in the service to keep "reporting to the disintegration chamber"...

[don954]

1. you are exactly right, and its the entire reason that Bush has banned

picts of all the above.

[tavalon]

33. Another fine Brand Democrat logo

Thanks!

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Yep.

[leftstreet]

3. The "Katrina Syndrome"

That's pretty much why BushCo's numbers started tanking after the hurricane. The Corporate Media let viewers see human suffering (Convention Center, Superdome, etc).

[hunter]

29. What Katrina Syndrome?

So far as I've heard the Gulf Coast is still trashed, thousands and thousands of people have no jobs, no permanent homes, and there are many uncounted dead, but you don't see that in the daily news.

Everything is all right, the Christmas shopping season is going well, so have a nice day!

[Demoiselle]

4. No, it doesn't sound crazy.

The reality of death in Viet Nam came to us on our television sets every night on the news...in the days when reporters like Dan Rather were right there, not as "embed" cheerleaders but honest to god eye witnesses to the blood and horror.
Our friends Cheney, Wolfie, Bush et al have never seen combat.

[SittingBull]

5. Same pattern

on Rummies Abu Ghuraib torture scandal. Not the torturing concerns him, but the leaking of the pictures.

[Orrex]

8. That's Necon 101

"The disclosure of an atrocity is far worse than the atrocity itself."

Consider how this tactic is employed in issues of:

Racism
Homophobia
Class warfare
Republican scandals
Environmental crises
Torture

and assorted other war crimes.

[Canuckistanian]

30. Exactly.

"It's not the crime, but the coverup."

Rummy should remember the Reagan years...

[waiting for hope]

6. Not to digress

be hasn't the Star Trek series over the years been a great reflection of the times? I wish that they put out another one (Enterprise really sucked in my opinion) - I wonder how they would portray our current situations....

Edited for wording

[ScooterKen]

7. The West Wing is doing a good job

Dontcha think?
:D

[waiting for hope]

9. Sorry....

Haven't gotten into watching it - I should now, my republican parents refuse to watch it now so it's probably been really good. Sometimes though after hearing/seeing all the reality that is the present, a little sci-fi for me is good entertainment. SG-1 is on my hot list now....

[liberal N proud]

11. OH Yeah, There are so many times they have used current events

to drive a story line, only they give answerers that make more sense than real life.

I watch West Wing thinking of how it once might have been, how it should be and how it should be again someday.

[ScooterKen]

12. Matt Santos (D) ideas on Health Care rock!

He actually (the writers actually) came up with a great way to do national health care.

I can't believe a TV show solved this, and I can't believe a real Senator isn't picking up the idea and running with it in real life.

[liberal N proud]

14. The drug companies would stop paying the Senator if he did

We will never see an actual national health care program in this country because the drug companies and insurance companies all keep Congress payed off.

[AuntiBush]

39. Sickening, isn't it.

Good "sad" point. While the truth hurts, the reality is more painful.

[moriverrat]

45. Makes a person wonder about the 17th amendment

Multinational corruption surely is worse than state-based corruption.

[AuntiBush]

36. It Sure Is!

Started tuning-in just recently. Amazingly on-track with what's going on. Duers should tune-in now & then. It's a learning experience.

So ScooterKen, just how do we get the media to show these images on TV?

Rita Cosby is stuck on Aruba-Stupid. Not lacking sympathy for a gal gone missing, but millions are missing across the nation. It's like she's paid to keep viewers in a trance.

The minute she comes on (after Keith), I quick grab the remote. And, got the tube off now & did so last night. It's becoming a good habit.

Internet is where I get my news now, and certain movies ready to premier like the one with Geo Clooney in it, Tim Robbins, etc. Even Comedians are telling the truth, even if they have to do it through jokes.

Sad days here in America.

[Richard D]

10. You are spot-on

[JuniperLea]

13. Out of sight, out of mind

n/t

[w8liftinglady]

15. I agree with you,too...(long)

When my son was in Iraq,I followed the news a lot closer than I should have....and I can't tell you one time I saw any battle footage(he was there three times).I have yet to see an injured soldier on the major news channels(except the after-effects-usually a story about how the wounded soldier wants to get back to the front)My boyfriend was a medic in Viet Nam,and he related how graphically horrific these injuries are that the soldiers are suffering.Now,these soldiers are coming home,and civilians have no concept of the horror they have witnessed.PTSD has skyrocketed,because there is no recognition of how these soldiers have suffered,and what they,as very young men,have witnessed and been ordered to do.Add to that,the fact that the Bush Adm. has cut funding for PTSD treatment,and the VA is reviewing about 70,000 cases to see if they are "For real".

[Greyhound]

16. Right on all counts. Gene was very concerned with the direction this

country was taking in the 60's and has continued down the same path since the end of WWII. He was right we are wrong.
That is why they never let the sheeple see the reality of war.

[Peace Patriot]

17. I don't think the American people need pix to be against the war.

They've been against the war since before the invasion (58% opposed, Feb. '03). That stat way higher now, 70% or more. (Also, 63% opposed to torture "under any circumstances"--May '04.)

And I don't think they need pix to oppose Bush. They voted to oust him in 2004, and got Diebolded. (And they oppose every major Bush policy, foreign and domestic, way up in the 60% to 70% range, and have for two years--according to the issue polls; and of course, Bush's approval polls--so low before the election that Zogby said he couldn't win--have completely tanked.)

But they may need pix to DO something more about it, because I think they're feeling very disempowered and depressed and aren't very aware of how they have been disenfranchised.

I think it's unrealistic to expect mobs with pitchforks charging at the White House, or a storming of the Bastille. I know you meant that as an exaggeration, but still, even metaphorically--say, tens of thousands of letters and phone calls to Bush's "pod people" in Congress, demanding impeachment; it would fall on deaf ears, and we all know that. Congress is about as representative of what most Americans feel as Bush is. We are not represented in Washington DC in anything like the numbers that we, the majority, are entitled to. Further, the war profiteering corporate news monopolies are also way out of step with the American people, and blackhole most dissent (--and helped keep Bush in office, by doctoring their exit polls, on election night, to confirm the results of Bush's buds at Diebold and ES&S).

So, what do you do? You could put 50,000 or 100,000 people in the streets--demanding impeachment--and they will be near completely ignored. If it got up to a million, there might be a little flurry of action--a few more troops pulled out (replaced by bombers), or whatever.

We are nearly completely without power to change our nation's course. We, the people, the sovereigns in this republic (theoretically), had no say in going to war, and have no say in ending the war, in deployment of US military forces, and in the policy and the big military budgets that foster war.

So, you could show people the pix--say, organize a protest march of 10,000 people, each one holding a blown up photo of another horror in Iraq (maybe we could get the pix from Al Jazeera?), and it would be a great protest, no question about it. But will it result in impeachment, or in an end to this war, or an end to the massive US military presence in the Middle East? Hard to say what might happen. But I think it might just result in another little tweak to the military/industrial-complex system that feeds on war. They'll make it less visible. They'll pull back to Kuwait and bide their time. And when we're not looking, bang they go, into Syria. And, once we're THERE, how to force them to get out?

I think the problem is NOT that the pix are not shown--that is just another aspect of the entire ILLUSION that the war profiteering corporate news monopolies create--but that the will of the people is not being done, and has not been done for some time, on any issue-- war, torture, outsourcing of jobs, health care, environmental protection, you name it.

If you show a war photo to a poor mother who is struggling to put food on the table, or even to a middle class person, who is doing all right--what have you done? You've made them even more horrified and depressed than they already are. What can THEY do to impeach Bush? Nothing really. If they write letters or make phone calls, and even if they march, they are ignored--or it results in only cosmetic change (such as we are seeing now, with both Murtha's and Bush's withdrawal ideas--with Murtha, a pullback to Kuwait or Qatar, where we sit like a tiger waiting to pounce again; and with Bush, kill and torture more Iraqis, and when the Kurdish and Shia oil is secure, make like a chicken, and turn THEM loose on the Sunnis).

I'm not saying, don't do it (as I said, I think it would be a great protest). I'm just saying, what should we expect from it? It might educate a few who are still ignorant of the facts. But what is it supposed to motivate the already convinced (most Americans) to do? It's a good idea for its own sake--the photos are the truth--but will it move a corrupt and entrenched DC establishment?

Long term, it might add to momentum for change. Short term, I doubt it will have the effect that you desire--immediate accountability (impeachment).

I've thought a lot about this. My participation in antiwar protests goes back to 1967--when we had a real press corps. And I am staggered and appalled by what this regime has done in Iraq. I have concluded that the best thing that I can do is to expose the corruption of Bushite corporations now owning and controlling our election system (with 'TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount capability), and work to get it changed--which is finally happening, in fits and starts, but is gaining momentum. Transparent elections are our chief mechanism for change. They are fundamental. Without them, we do not have a democracy.

My thought, we have to start there--by recovering our right to vote, and restoring transparent elections.

If the war had been put to a vote, in Feb. 2003, the American people would have voted it down. About half of that 58% who opposed it, were outright against the war under any circumstances. The other half would only agree if it were a UN peacekeeping mission--an action with world consensus--not pre-emptive war by Bush. (Most people didn't trust him, even then.)

Bush was opposed by major allies and virtually the whole world. He had to struggle to cobble together his absurd "coalition." When the UN refused to back his war--after Powell's speech--and it became clear that most other countries wanted to give the UN inspectors more time, and saw no imminent threat, I think if we could have had a vote in the US at that moment (the weeks before the invasion), it would have lost, maybe even bigger than by 58%.

I think the American people are actually pretty well informed and much savvier than people give them credit for. And our population is full of veterans who have known war up close. And I am absolutely certain that most Americans consider war a last resort, not a first resort. They DON'T WANT war. They are NOT a war-like people. They want peace! So, if there was any hope of a diplomatic solution, they would have jumped at it, and rejected precipitous action. The polls clearly show this.

But I think that they feel that their government is just this monster--this Godzilla--that is way out of their control. And they don't know what the hell to do about it. They are stymied. They don't know what's wrong. All they know is that they don't recognize their country (--that is, the IMPRESSION of it they are given by the corporate news monopolies, which has succeeded in making the progressive majority feel isolated and alone.)

That's why I'm focused on election reform. Give these people an honest, transparent election, and they WILL change things.

[w8liftinglady]

18. while I agree with you in principle...

I still believe that the majority of Americans have no concept of how destructive this war has been to our troops and the Iraqis.Our collective investment in this war is a yellow ribbon magnet on "our" Suburban.When my son was in Iraq,especially his third deployment,I would get so pissed at the platitudes..."Thank him for his service".
This from the Neocons at my gym whose own children were safe.They would comment on how much better off the Iraqis were.When a soldier from my little town of Red Oak was killed in Iraq,it brought an inch article in our local paper-the PTA bake sale got more press.If we are to get a majority of people Really opposed to the war-mad enough to get out and vote about it,it will take some tragic,dramatic images,stories from veterans that have been suppressed,factual,irrefutable stories about the corruption and deceit.We tried playing nice and it didn't work.The enemy is too smart and immoral for that anymore.

[AuntiBush]

38. You Said it in a Big Nut Shell!

"they feel that their government is just this monster--this Godzilla--that is way out of their control. And they don't know what the hell to do about it. They are stymied."

Can't repeat this enough: Everywhere I go, everyone I bang into (mostly folks I do not know from Adam) hate what's going on. It really bothers them, so much so they feel the need to just start talking to strangers about it, like myself.

They feel there is "nothing" they can do about it. They detest Republican corruption & Bush&CO so much, and all are a variant of folks - many you'd never think for a moment felt as such (looks are deceiving).

So you're right. The people know their govt is an "out of control monster" but do not know what to do about it. Some have said they believe the Democrats "won't let this/that happen, & will fix-it."

Keep telling them the Dem's are not in control. Then they feel even more doomed. And all repeat the same thing, as well: "Never in my lifetime did I ever think it would be this bad, not like this."

There you have it. All age groups, sexes, from Republican, Independent, Libertarians, Green, Democrats & those that don't vote any longer - they all know in some strange way. Strange, because most are not even on the Internet & some watch Faux, yet they can see through it all.

We're not as stupid as some might suggest, rather stymied.

[lovelaureng]

19. Bingo!

I think we have a winner! :thumbsup:

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. That's exactly right. People seeing coffins coming home from Vietnam,

Vietnam protests on TV and Vietnam soldier's funerals on TV helped to put an end to the war. The cabal KNOWS that. THAT is why we are spoon fed what they want us to know...in bits and pieces.

[bonito]

21. Great post! kick and recommended. n/t

[bonito]

22. Kick n/t.

[Vidar]

23. Great analogy & episode. Thanks for posting.

[Solomon]

24. Damn Good Post. Damn good.

It's good. Very good.

[rucky]

25. and insurgents are like tribbles.

sorry. i can't have a star trek discussion without mentioning tribbles.

[Ilsa]

26. I remember that episode! Excellent post.

Some of the old ST stories were fabulous and timeless. Little is needed to consider their lessons even now, 35 years later.

Great post.

[FreedomAngel82]

27. Oh of course!

[Sam_Lowry]

28. Right the &^%& on! Kick!

You've nailed it ScooterKen.

This is the primary strategy of the neocons. They know that as long as the war is abstract, it can continue. European nations still have many people living in them who remember what war really is, and that was evident in their opposition. But here in the US, we haven't seen that on our soil since the Civil War. So we hear that a town has been bombed, but we aren't desperately digging through the remains of our neighbors house, trying to find their daughter. We don't live on 2 hours of electricity and running water a day. When I go to the mall, I don't worry about being kidnapped. I don't look for unattended vehicles. I don't pass through checkpoints manned with soldiers, who don't speak my language, and with very itchy trigger fingers.
There are many web sites out there with Iraqi bloggers, telling the story from the eyewitness perspective. And there are many sites that show photos of the handiwork of war. But how to get those voices and images into mainstream American's minds, I do not know.

:kick:

[Usrename]

31. On the nose -

Also remember the Swarzcopf doctrine: "We don't do body counts".

Very effective for the Katrina aftermath. First time they used it on Americans. Using war tactics on American patriots.

[Nothing Without Hope]

35. I agree - the body counts from the hurricanes are clearly deliberate

underestimates.

[Broken_Hero]

32. Very good post, but...and but...

if I remember my star trek right, Kirk really didn't care what the warrring factions where doing, until the hot piece of ass, that he was eyeballing, got picked to die, and Kirk and Spock beat ass...so, do we need a hot piece of ass, to stop this war? maybe?...:)

In all seriousness, you are correct. Your post was insightful, and right on target. Nominated, of course.

[FlaGranny]

41. Well, you do understand the prime directive -

Kirk used to TRY to follow it, but sometimes he got involved and just HAD to do something. :-)

[Broken_Hero]

49. oh...:) Kirk had other priorities than a nice piece of action?...:)

since when?...Just kidding!...:)

[Nothing Without Hope]

34. Yes, I remember that episode and I agree with you. K & R.

"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."
-William Tecumseh Sherman, Union General in the American Civil War (1820-1891)

[suegeo]

37. Ritual sacrifice, some people enjoy killing

I disagree with your statement: If these images were put on TV, every single American would get into their car, drive to D.C., drag Bush out of the White House, haul him down to Capitol Hill, and Impeach his ass on the spot.

I don't think most Americans would do that. Most (OK, some) Americans scare the shit out of me. A bloodthristy, revenge seeking lot.

Psychologically, war does something to some people. Some survivors enjoy the heightened sense of being alive.

Also, why are violent video games and violent movies and TV shows popular with some people? They've been conditioned to see violence and not react.

Whoever shocked and awed us in Sept. 2001 was (still is) messing with our heads. They study human behavior, people dedicate their lives to psych ops. They knew that would whip us up into a frenzy, and that we would be willing to allow the klling of anything the TV told us was the enemy. Also, they understood the group psychology of rally around the furher after the Reichstag fire.

So, I think some Americans are still in shock and they don't really understand how they are being manipulated into supporting the Bush Junta. Plus some are just deranged Republicans whose brains have been washed by Rush L. and the smelly boys of talk radio and tv "news".

[druidity33]

51. agree and disagree...

i liken it to people protesting abortion and holding up giant posters of aborted fetuses... it's shock value. And in the end it desensitizes us. That being said, the absolute and utter lack of compassionate reporting is astounding. I can't remember the last time i heard an estimate for the Iraqi death toll... As a photographer i recognise the importance of imagery in the evolution of consciousness in a people... maybe the right photographs to portray the utter cruelty of it all have not surfaced.... maybe video game and TV violence has robbed the masses of their human empathy... maybe that all most people know of the war is from TV, Newsmedia, and gov't... no real connection to it. Either way, i don't need to see any more pictures of war to know it is unconscionable and worth fighting to end. Peace out.

[FlaGranny]

40. Smart fella

- that Roddenbury. Star Trek was one of the most moral programs ever to land on the TV screen.

[SmokingJacket]

42. Not crazy at all.

Artists can be visionaries. That's *exactly* what Buscho is trying to do.

I wish Gene Roddenbury was president right now!

[kansasblue]

43. Destroy the machine, ScooterKen!

[lostnfound]

44. Flyers, stickers, banners, signs with photos. Leave them in public places.

It's a problem that the grassroots can help solve.

[Hissyspit]

46. I was thinking of that episode just the other day, in much the same way.

Endless war. Bush said 'peace' today or yesterday, when, of course, he meant war.

[TheUnspeakable]

47. Free Showtime weekend-WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

As long as we're talking sci-fi, there is a movie on Showtime tonight by Joe Dante where dead soldiers from the 'current" war rise out of their graves on election day to vote the "current" president out of office. There's also an "Ann Coulter" like character and a "KKKarl Rove" like one, and a "Fox-like" news station. It sounds awesome. There was another thread about this that I kicked, but there is no interest. Read this article-it sounds GREAT! Showtime supposedly is having a promotion this weekend and just about anyone with cable/satellite can get it.

(snip)In an election year, dead veterans of the current conflict crawl out of their graves and stagger single-mindedly to voting booths so they can eject the president who sent them to fight a war sold on "horseshit and elbow grease."
The dizzying high point of Showtime's new Masters of Horror series, the hour-long Homecoming (which premieres December 2) is easily one of the most important political films of the Bush II era. With its only slightly caricatured right-wingers, the film nails the casual fraudulence and contortionist rhetoric that are the signatures of the Bush-Cheney administration. Its dutiful hero, presidential consultant David Murch (Jon Tenney), reports to a Karl Rove–like guru named Kurt Rand (Robert Picardo) and engages in kinky power fucks with attack-bitch pundit Jane Cleaver (Thea Gill), a blonde, leggy Ann Coulter proxy with a "No Sex for All" tank top and "BSH BABE" license plates. Murch's glib, duplicitous condescension is apparently what triggers the zombie uprising: Confronting an angry mother of a dead soldier on a news talk show, he tells this Cindy Sheehan figure, "If I had one wish . . . I would wish for your son to come back," so he could assure the country of the importance of the war. The boy does return, along with legions of fallen combatants, and they all beg to differ.
<http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0548,lim,70455,20.html>

[understandinglife]

48. Welcome to DU. Excellent post. I suggest you email it to ...

Paul Krugman (krugman at nytimes dot com).

Recommend.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

52. Here's a photo, currently on the TruthOut site, that should be on the ...

.... front page of every American paper, tomorrow; and, should have been on all the broadcast programs today ....



December 2, 2005 | American deaths in Iraq continue to grow. A roadside bomb killed 10 Marines and wounded 11 more while they were on a foot patrol near Fallujah, the Marine Corps said Friday. This represents the deadliest attack on American troops in nearly four months. (Photo: Z / Indymedia)


Peace.

[BigBearJohn]

50. Amazing how real war becomes when your best friend comes home with no arms