THE?FIRST?MOVIE I recall seeing was Walking Hills with Randolph Scott. This is a dim distant memory and may not be true. We’re talking the 1949-1950 era.
Endless cowboy movies, novels and comics thereafter made me a worshipper of the great American people. It is true that “America is the only country which went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between”.
But somewhere in there we could always rely on Americans being the good guys. Some American always stood tall against injustice, would never kill an unarmed man, would never cross into another country’s territory in pursuit of a criminal. The American respected sovereignty and human life.
Of course, I was young, naïve, foolish and living in a fantasy world. Reality hit much later when a guy from the US naval base used to tell me how in Vietnam they would come up the river and, as the women and children ran out of their huts, blast them to bits with those bombs that explode to rip up human flesh.
The invasion of Iraq on obviously false grounds was the turning point for me. While I have great respect for the many decent Americans who are always willing to help, I have gone from disgust to hatred for the leaders and big power manipulators who run that country and much of the world in pursuit of money and power.
Nor am I alone. America’s reputation so plummeted under George Bush that I have seen US tourists here unwilling to admit where they come from.
Barack Hussein Obama, first black president of America, carried on his shoulders the hope of many that he would change all that and return America to some semblance of respectability. Sad to say, he has not only failed; he has taken America to new lows of depravity.
His use of drones, the ultimate coward’s weapon, to kill people, including many civilians, in other countries without their government’s foreknowledge or approval has recruited many to the enemy’s side. His bullying tactics to exert pressure on weaker countries wins him no friends. And his lame excuse that “everybody does it” falls flat as an excuse for spying on friendly countries.
How can a man of his supposed intelligence think that the world can accept American hypocrisy in blockading Cuba for its lack of democracy while being bosom friends with the Saudi family who control a whole nation? Or that he has the right to dictate to Africa its stance on homosexuality?
America seems unable to grasp that its military might is winning no wars. They had to retreat ignominiously from Vietnam and abandon it to the communists. They have left Iraq in a total mess and are on track to do likewise in Afghanistan where they are now trying to hold talks with the Taliban. Oh wait, they did win the war in Grenada. Big deal!
Now we come to those amazing revelations about the American CIA’s secret programmes. And whatever their motives or whether you like them or not, we have to be grateful to those insiders willing to expose the nastiness that’s going on.
International spying may not affect you or me, but the CIA took over where the Nazi scientists left off in trying to find drugs which could control people’s minds. LSD was given to unwitting human guinea pigs on a large scale.
Who is to say they aren’t doing the same with the genetically modified crops they insist on getting the world hooked on to?
Mr Obama, for God’s sake, be a man in the time you have remaining. Nelson Mandela, another first black president, stood for what is right and will go down as one of history’s greatest men. While under your control another July 4 will see the blood-spattered banner waving over a sadly corrupt nation. Steer yourself.
Apologies to readers for being so glum today. I have on assignment with the goats the young, beautiful swimming star Alexis Jordan. Day one, I showed her how to stimulate the breasts. Day two, she showed me where her tattoos are located. Could it be I’ve gone to heaven? Is this a dream? And finally, how long can a man my age hold in his stomach without doing himself grievous bodily harm?
• Richard Hoad is a farmer and social commentator. Email porkhoad @gmail.com.
