{"id":25942,"date":"2013-02-05T18:23:26","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T17:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/Truthdig\/~3\/V256rUAZLhM\/"},"modified":"2013-02-05T18:23:26","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T17:23:26","slug":"the-american-lockdown-state-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/the-american-lockdown-state-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The American Lockdown State"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The American Lockdown State<\/h2>\n
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Posted on Feb\u00a05,\u00a02013<\/h6>\n\n\n\n\n
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By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch<\/strong><\/p>\n

This piece first appeared at TomDispatch<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Consider Inauguration Day, more than two weeks gone and already part of our distant past. \u00a0In its wake, President Obama was\u00a0hailed<\/a>\u00a0(or\u00a0reviled<\/a>) for his \u201cliberal\u201d\u00a0second inaugural address<\/a>. On that day everything from his invocation of women\u2019s rights (\u201cSeneca Falls\u201d), the civil rights movement (\u201cSelma\u201d), and the gay rights movement (\u201cStonewall\u201d) to his wife\u2019s\u00a0new bangs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Beyonc\u00c3\u00a9\u2019s lip-syncing<\/a>\u00a0was fodder for the media extravaganza. The president was even\u00a0praised<\/a>\u00a0(or\u00a0reviled<\/a>) for what he took pains not to bring up: the budget deficit. Was anything, in fact, not grist for the media mill, the hordes of talking heads, and the chattering classes?<\/p>\n

One subject, at least, got remarkably little attention during the inaugural blitz and, when mentioned, certainly struck few as odd or worth dwelling on. Yet nothing better caught our changing American world. Washington, after all, was in a lockdown mode unmatched by any inauguration from another era\u2013not even Lincoln\u2019s second inaugural in the midst of the Civil War, or Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s during World War II, or John F. Kennedy\u2019s at the height of the Cold War.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how NBC Nightly News\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0some of the security arrangements as the day approached:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201c[T]he airspace above Washington\u2026 [will be] a virtual no-fly zone for 30 miles in all directions from the U.S. capital. Six miles of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers will be shut down, with 150 blocks of downtown Washington closed to traffic, partly out of concern for car or truck bombs\u2026 with counter-snipers on top of buildings around the capital and along the parade route\u2026 [and] detectors monitoring the air for toxins\u2026 At the ready near the capital, thousands of doses of antidotes in case of a chemical or biological attack\u2026 All this security will cost about $120 million dollars for hundreds of federal agents, thousands of local police, and national guardsmen from 25 states.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Consider just the money. It\u2019s common knowledge that, until the\u00a0recent deal<\/a>\u00a0over the renewal of the George W. Bush tax cuts for all but the richest of Americans, taxes had not been raised\u00a0since<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0read-my-lips-no-new-taxes<\/a>\u00a0era of his father. That\u2019s typical of the way we haven\u2019t yet assimilated the new world we find ourselves in. After all, shouldn\u2019t that $120 million in taxpayer money spent on \u201csafety\u201d and \u201csecurity\u201d for a single event in Washington be considered part of an ongoing Osama bin Laden tax?<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s time to face the facts: this isn\u2019t your grandfather\u2019s America. Once, prospective Americans landed in a New World. This time around, a new world\u2019s landed on us.<\/p>\n

Making Fantasy Into Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bin Laden, of course, is\u00a0long dead<\/a>, but his was the 9\/11 spark that, in the hands of George W. Bush and his top officials, helped turn this country into a lockdown state and first set significant portions of the Greater Middle East\u00a0aflame<\/a>. In that sense, bin Laden has been thriving in Washington ever since and no commando raid in Pakistan or elsewhere has a chance of doing him in.<\/p>\n

Since the al-Qaeda leader was aware of the relative powerlessness of his organization and its hundreds or, in its heyday, perhaps thousands of active followers, his urge was to defeat the U.S. by\u00a0provoking<\/a>\u00a0its leaders into treasury-draining wars in the Greater Middle East. In his world, it\u00a0was thought<\/a>\u00a0that such a set of involvements\u2013and the \u201chomeland\u201d security down payments that went with them\u2013could\u00a0bleed<\/a>\u00a0the richest, most powerful nation on the planet dry. In this, he and his associates, imitators, and wannabes were reasonably canny. The bin Laden tax, including that $120 million for Inauguration Day, has proved heavy indeed.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he\u2013and 9\/11 as it entered the American psyche\u2013helped facilitate the locking down of this society in ways that should unnerve us all. The resulting United States of Fear<\/a> has since engaged in two disastrous more-than-trillion dollar<\/a> wars and a \u201cGlobal War on Terror\u201d that shows no sign of ending in our lifetime. (See Yemen<\/a>, Pakistan, and Mali<\/a>.) It has also funded the supersized<\/a> growth of a labyrinthine intelligence bureaucracy<\/a>; that post-9\/11 creation, the Department of Homeland Security<\/a>; and, of course, the Pentagon and the U.S. military, including the special operations forces<\/a>, an ever-expanding secret military elite cocooned within it.<\/p>\n

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The American Lockdown State<\/h2>\n
\n\"Email Email<\/span>    \"Print Print<\/a>    \"Share Share<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Posted on Feb 5, 2013<\/h6>\n\n\n\n\n
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Live4Soccer(L4S)<\/a> (CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch<\/strong><\/p>\n

This piece first appeared at TomDispatch<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Consider Inauguration Day, more than two weeks gone and already part of our distant past.  In its wake, President Obama was hailed<\/a> (or reviled<\/a>) for his “liberal” second inaugural address<\/a>.  On that day everything from his invocation of women’s rights (“Seneca Falls”), the civil rights movement (“Selma”), and the gay rights movement (“Stonewall”) to his wife’s new bangs<\/a> and Beyoncé’s lip-syncing<\/a> was fodder for the media extravaganza.  The president was even praised<\/a> (or reviled<\/a>) for what he took pains not to bring up: the budget deficit.  Was anything, in fact, not grist for the media mill, the hordes of talking heads, and the chattering classes?<\/p>\n

One subject, at least, got remarkably little attention during the inaugural blitz and, when mentioned, certainly struck few as odd or worth dwelling on.  Yet nothing better caught our changing American world.  Washington, after all, was in a lockdown mode unmatched by any inauguration from another era—not even Lincoln’s second inaugural in the midst of the Civil War, or Franklin Roosevelt’s during World War II, or John F. Kennedy’s at the height of the Cold War.<\/p>\n

Here’s how NBC Nightly News described<\/a> some of the security arrangements as the day approached:<\/p>\n

\n

“[T]he airspace above Washington… [will be] a virtual no-fly zone for 30 miles in all directions from the U.S. capital.  Six miles of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers will be shut down, with 150 blocks of downtown Washington closed to traffic, partly out of concern for car or truck bombs… with counter-snipers on top of buildings around the capital and along the parade route… [and] detectors monitoring the air for toxins… At the ready near the capital, thousands of doses of antidotes in case of a chemical or biological attack… All this security will cost about $120 million dollars for hundreds of federal agents, thousands of local police, and national guardsmen from 25 states.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Consider just the money.  It’s common knowledge that, until the recent deal<\/a> over the renewal of the George W. Bush tax cuts for all but the richest of Americans, taxes had not been raised since<\/a> the read-my-lips-no-new-taxes<\/a> era of his father.  That’s typical of the way we haven’t yet assimilated the new world we find ourselves in.  After all, shouldn’t that $120 million in taxpayer money spent on “safety” and “security” for a single event in Washington be considered part of an ongoing Osama bin Laden tax?<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s time to face the facts: this isn’t your grandfather’s America. Once, prospective Americans landed in a New World.  This time around, a new world’s landed on us.<\/p>\n

Making Fantasy Into Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bin Laden, of course, is long dead<\/a>, but his was the 9\/11 spark that, in the hands of George W. Bush and his top officials, helped turn this country into a lockdown state and first set significant portions of the Greater Middle East aflame<\/a>.  In that sense, bin Laden has been thriving in Washington ever since and no commando raid in Pakistan or elsewhere has a chance of doing him in.<\/p>\n

Since the al-Qaeda leader was aware of the relative powerlessness of his organization and its hundreds or, in its heyday, perhaps thousands of active followers, his urge was to defeat the U.S. by provoking<\/a> its leaders into treasury-draining wars in the Greater Middle East.  In his world, it was thought<\/a> that such a set of involvements—and the “homeland” security down payments that went with them—could bleed<\/a> the richest, most powerful nation on the planet dry.  In this, he and his associates, imitators, and wannabes were reasonably canny.  The bin Laden tax, including that $120 million for Inauguration Day, has proved heavy indeed.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he—and 9\/11 as it entered the American psyche—helped facilitate the locking down of this society in ways that should unnerve us all.  The resulting United States of Fear<\/a> has since engaged in two disastrous more-than-trillion dollar<\/a> wars and a “Global War on Terror” that shows no sign of ending in our lifetime. (See Yemen<\/a>, Pakistan, and Mali<\/a>.)  It has also funded the supersized<\/a> growth of a labyrinthine intelligence bureaucracy<\/a>; that post-9\/11 creation, the Department of Homeland Security<\/a>; and, of course, the Pentagon and the U.S. military, including the special operations forces<\/a>, an ever-expanding secret military elite cocooned within it.<\/p>\n

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