haters of democracy

Amy Goodman interviewed Noam Chomsky today, and among other things they talked about the similarities and differences between the newly-published Wikileaks cache of documents and the Pentagon Papers, which Chomsky had a hand in publishing 40 years ago.

What they both reveal, according to Chomsky, is the internal workings of governments -- and not just our own -- motivated by a profound fear and hatred of democracy.

"The Brookings Institute just a few months ago released extensive polls of what Arabs think about Iran," Chomsky said, citing concrete documentary evidence to back up his claims rather than just using the rhetorical talking points of a propagandist. "The results are rather striking. They show the Arab opinion holds that the major threat in the region is Israel -- that’s 80. The second major threat is the United States -- that’s 77. Iran is listed as a threat by 10%."

So why is it, then, that when our government tells us "The Arabs think this," or even when they try to cover up that a certain royal family wants us to bomb the Iranians, the picture is so radically different from the one painted by the Brookings poll? Chomsky says it's because we're only told what Arab dictators are saying and thinking, not the Arab people.

In attempting to conceal their own violent tendencies, dictatorships all over the world reveal their true estimation of who really matters and their profound contempt for the governing capacities of ordinary people.

"With regard to nuclear weapons," Chomsky continues, "rather remarkably, a majority -- in fact, 57 (percent of Arabs) – say that the region (it) would have a positive effect in the region if Iran had nuclear weapons. (My edits.) Now, these are not small numbers. 80, 77, say the U.S. and Israel are the major threat. 10 say Iran is the major threat. This may not be reported in the newspapers here -- it is in England -- but it’s certainly familiar to the Israeli and U.S. governments, and to the ambassadors. But there is not a word about it anywhere. What that reveals is the profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership and the Israeli political leadership. These things aren’t even to be mentioned. This seeps its way all through the diplomatic service."

The entire interview is at Alternet, and I found it via Susie Madrak.

Julian Assange will not be free to advocate for democracy much longer. He's got the dictators of the earth aroused, and will soon be either assassinated or nabbed on some trumped-up charge and shunted off to some obscure and secret corner of the American gulag. What I find puzzling is that this will be cheered not just by the American government but by a significant number of its citizens subjects, who exhibit the same fear and disgust for democracy as their dictatorial rulers. These are people who have swallowed so much bullshit emanating from the boob tube that they've forgotten what real democracy tastes like.

Welcome to the Soviet Union of America, comrades! The good news is it won't be around that long. We just have a few items of business we have to take care of in Afghanistan, and then...