Axis of Logic
Finding Clarity in the 21st Century Mediaplex

Critical Analysis
The Great Stirrer
By Mankh (Walter E. Harris III), Axis of Logic
Axis of Logic
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2017


People are coming out of the endangered woodwork. While the smooth rhetoric of the late-night comedy-talk-shows-hopping, drone-bombing, war-mongering, Nobel Peace Prize winner (who did some good stuff too) failed to rouse such ire, not so for the Great Stirrer, President Donald J. Trump.

In 2016, the prospect of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) aka black snake helped galvanize the phenomenal gatherings of 300-plus Native Nations and allies at Standing Rock. As the first week of President Trump in office has shown, the dormant (caught up in legal paperwork) snake has reared its venomous head; yet paperwork, court matters, and people power [1] signal that the Great Stirrer may have to learn to lose and that politicians (though they try) can't always make up all the rules – though they try danged hard, as the following verbal shell games indicate.

Doublespeak is not new to the lingo spewing forth from the theo-fascist from day-one government aka the “Great Experiment,” a phrase which perhaps foreshadowed science's penchant for torturing mice in order to test and sell products to humans. As for theo-fascism, see: the Doctrine of Christian Discovery & Domination, The Declaration of Independence, Manifest Destiny, and other official con-jobs.

Exhibit A, from The Declaration of so-called Independence; (had the Original Inhabitants been respected and included in the process it might have been The Declaration of Interdependence):
“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” [2]
Part of that bit of revolutionary hypocrisy is that Native Peoples have great respect for elders and future generations, and have celebrated various forms of sexual identity and gender variance long before there was a United States or an LGBTQ movement.

Here's a more recent mind-bending doozie:
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
In this era of twisted Orwellian phraseology – recent additions, “post-truth” and “alternative facts” – that quote is from the mastermind of the Junior-partner Bush era, Karl Rove. Yet even “Bush’s brain” was nothing much new.

"The foundation of a great Empire is laid, and I please myself with a persuasion, that Providence will not leave its work imperfect." - George Washington - Letter to Chevalier de la Luzerne, August 1,
1786 [3]

Also, to help explain the political penchant for American exceptionalism while simultaneously ignoring the happiness of rivers, trees, buffalo, air, and so forth:
"The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment for promoting human happiness." - George Washington, January 9, 1790 [4]
While we’re at it, here's another infamous mind-bender, from former Secretary of Defense and wannabe Zen master, Donald Rumsfeld:
“Now what is the message there? The message is that there are no "knowns." There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know. So when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together, and we then say well that's basically what we see as the situation, that is really only the known knowns and the known unknowns. And each year, we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns. It sounds like a riddle. It isn't a riddle. It is a very serious, important matter. There's another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist. And yet almost always, when we make our threat assessments, when we look at the world, we end up basing it on the first two pieces of that puzzle, rather than all three.” [5]
Whoa, dude, cue the Jimi Hendrix:
“Purple Haze all in my brain,
lately things don't seem the same,
actin' funny but I don't know why
'scuse me while I kiss the sky.”
Political doublespeaks are meant to distract us; they are exceptionalist elitist attempts to mess with our minds. If all we do is emotionally react to the Great Stirrer (not to mention corporate media), we will only create more chaos and division. And consider that President Trump is, in some instances, admirably trying to change the system (for examples, peaceful relations with Russia, defeating ISIS, and putting more Americans to work), yet he is still a reflection of an Empire entrenched system with approximately 1000 military bases worldwide.

Twitter karma
A civil servant, a techie, and a NY cabbie walk into a bar... Wait, have you heard this one? I don’t think so because it's rare to see such typically off-the-radar groups in the news, but check-out the following headlines:
“Civil Servants Unofficial Twitter Resistance” [6]

“Tech leaders condemn Trump's immigrant ban” [7]

“NYC Taxi Drivers Stage Airport Strike to Protest Trump's "Inhumane & Cruel" Executive Order” [8]
While stopping the so-called Muslim immigration ban would be a democratic thing, it's important to remember that the roots of the current Islamophobia go back to Bush-era stoked fear, post- 9-11-2001. Also worth noting:
“... the Democratic Party, which established the legal framework Trump is using for his executive orders. The Democrats provided the necessary votes for the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which was signed by President Bill Clinton, and for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was supported by then-senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden and Charles Schumer.

“As president, Obama deported 2.5 million immigrants and placed travel restrictions on immigrants from the seven countries listed in Trump’s executive order. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer cited Obama’s action as legal authority for the Trump Muslim ban. The Obama administration either bombed, invaded or imposed brutal sanctions against all seven countries listed.” [9]
While the Great Stirrer is Tweeting like mad (at least it's an entertaining change of pace from scripted corporate news), the People have the social media power to Tweet back ― similarly the Standing Rock water-protectors have been able and continue to video/photo/report directly about the ongoing violent actions from the corporate-state in response to their prayerful and peaceful stand protecting the sacred waters.

Love him, hate him, have mixed feelings, or just don't care, but perhaps this metaphorical strip of red plastic of a man has been sent here to help stir a mighty fine cup of wake-up and smell the coffee, of which – it is essential to remember – a key ingredient is clean water.



NOTES:
1.“Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe: President Trump can't 'steamroll' over treaties” & "Disappointed but Not Defeated: Battle Over Oil Pipelines Continues” & “5 Ways Indian Country Can Resist Trump’s Chaos" & “Following Trump's "Utterly Alarming" DAPL Order Would Violate Law, Tribe Warns

2. “The Declaration of Independence—Except for ‘Indian Savages’

3. “George Washington Quotes Just after the Revolutionary War

4. “The Great Experiment: George Washington and the American Republic

5. Donald Rumsfeld  

6. See here.

7. See here.

8. See here.

9. “Trump Defies Mass Protests Against Anti-Immigrant Measures



Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet on Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer, he is a small press publisher and Turtle Islander. His recent books include “Musings With The Golden Sparrow” and “Drive-thru Theofascism & The Hero's Journey.”

You can contact him via his literary website.


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