Animal Farm, as in, “All animals are equal – but some are more equal than others.” The reference, to George Orwell’s mocking novel about totalitarian government (particularly Communist style), was made by the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu.
The current US government clearly believes that ordinary humans don’t deserve freedom or justice unless top government officials happen to want them to have it. In other words those with power are far “more equal” than the rest of us.
These quotes are from an article in The Independent (thanks to CommonDreams.org).
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has launched a passionate attack on President George Bush … Dr Sentamu, the Church of England’s second in command, urged the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to take legal action against the US … “Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay should be shut immediately because prisoners there are being tortured.“
… a senior High Court judge, Mr Justice Collins, stated that American actions over Guantanamo’s Camp Delta do not “appear to coincide with that of most civilised nations” … Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for its closure, after similar appeals by Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, and the UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
Some of us may not want to hear from “foreigners” about our behavior. But we need to. You know, others can often describe your situation with much more clarity than you can yourself, since you are so closely involved. Besides, there are many, many in this country who agree wholeheartedly with this description.
“The American Government is breaking international law,” [Dr. Sentamu] told The Independent. “The main building block of a democratic society is that everyone is equal before the law, innocent until proved otherwise, and has the right to legal representation. If the guilt of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay is beyond doubt, why are the Americans afraid to bring them to trial?“
Why should the American government feel any obligation to obey international law? They don’t even feel any obligation to obey American law. But there is a problem. How can we hope to export “democracy” to Iraq or Iran if we refuse to honor what is truly “the main building block of a democratic society” on our own turf?
“To hold someone for up to four years without charge clearly indicates a society that is heading towards George Orwell’s Animal Farm.”
… Sir Menzies Campbell, the acting Liberal Democrat leader, said: “This is not an anomaly which needs to be sorted sooner or later. This is an outrage that needs to be sorted out now.”
The word “all” in the Pledge of Allegiance – “freedom and justice for all” – really means “all that Bush / Rumsfeld want to give freedom &/or justice to.” We’re already at Animal Farm.
Personally, I think we’re going end up more like Orwell’s 1984. The situation with Animal Farm was quite different. In that case, a bunch of oppressed and slightly stupid animals were incited to overthrow their masters by a bunch of clever manipulative pigs who intended to continue that oppression, just in a different guise. The pigs were part of the former ‘proletariat’ however. In this case, however, it’s a war of the existing elites against the American people (with ‘terrorism’ as the reason) to protect their ‘way of life’ (by diminishing ours). The clever manipulative pigs are still out there but they’ll readily ‘switch’ sides if they see sentiment swing the other way.
Yea, is this the part where the pigs start walking on 2 legs even though “two legs bad, four legs good”?