Apr 09
23
Is Obama Creating a new Dark Age.
The term “Dark Ages” was
originally intended to denote the entire period between the end of the Roman
Empire and the Renaissance
period.
Our history is full of injustices that we look upon in our
history books with some surprise – but how could the people have allowed that
to happen?
History lists many such “Dark Periods”, although usually,
the real gory details of Torture, and Pillage are conveniently omitted.
Torture can take many forms, for example, to Galileo, the
Popes retort to his statement:
“But the earth is round your holy eminence”….
Round? Round? What Heresy!, you are lucky Master Galileo
that we are in a good mood today, but speak no more such heretic thoughts, for
surely you will be damned eternally.”
It must have been a torture after the years of study and
calculation to be dismissed so casually by the most important man on earth.
As it was for the actors, actresses and Newsmen of the
McCarthy era.
Verbatim from Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism
During the post–World War II era of McCarthyism, many
thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist
sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and
questioning before government or private-industry
panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such
suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry,
educators and union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite
inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a
person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly
exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their
careers, and even imprisonment. Most of these punishments came about through
trial verdicts later overturned,[1] laws that would
be declared unconstitutional,[2] dismissals for
reasons later declared illegal[3] or actionable,[4] or extra-legal procedures that would come into
general disrepute.
History has shown us that all that were so prosecuted were
in fact innocent of any wrong-doing, they did however provided a convenient smokescreen
for the introduction of the all important “filtering” of the new medium of the
day – Television.
The Army-McCarthy
hearings of spring 1954 have been called “the first great made-for-TV
political spectacle,” and under hot TV lights in a jammed Senate caucus
room this Washington miniseries hit its boiling point 50 years
ago. McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican, chaired the Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations. His ferocious inquiries, while popular with an
anxious public, were denounced by critics as a communist witch hunt. His taste
for smearing the targets of his anti-communist campaign, whether guilty or not,
spawned the term “McCarthyism.”
Every new medium has had proponents and opponents. With most
opposition arising from the lack of understanding of the business model for the
new technology.
President Obama’s most recent appointments to the Justice
Department demonstrate a similar lack of understanding ‘
America’s
Justice Department now looks like the phone list for the RIAA with five of the
appointments coming from the RIAA henchmen listing.
The obvious emphasis that the Obama administration is
placing on File Sharing combined with repeated calls to “filter” internet
content does not bode well for freedom of speech and expression.
With fines increased by Obama to $150,000 it would appear
that Obama is counting on the large number of cases currently being filed by
the RIAA to recoup much of the excesses of the previous Governments darlings
the Financial sector.
Last week I blogged (tongue in cheek) about voters,
consumers being sheep for the fleecing.
At the time, I noted that the article was tongue in cheek.
Now I’m not so sure.
The McCarthy years were used to “Dob in” whomever you didn’t
like. If they were “In the Industry” they soon weren’t.
I guess the upcoming McCarthyist File Sharing Era, where
file sharers are and will be accused of illicit files (including child
pornography), copyrighted materials, stolen intellectual property, including
that memo on your hard-disk from the company that you worked for three years
ago and forgot about.
And woe and betide with plenty of subsequent hellfire and
brimstone to anyone that has purchased any IT product made in China,
Brazil. India
or Mexico. Your
property will be taken from you and disposed of with no right of appeal.
(Unless you happen to have with you a notarized copy of the Patent filed with
the USPTO and a Certificate issued by a US Trade Intellectual Property
organisation verifying the authenticity of the product you are carrying – AND that
might not even be enough – if the customs agent has had a bad day.)
I wonder if President Obama has been too quick to jump into
bed with the voter nominated No 1 Pubic
Enemy.
Like Senator McCarthy, the President also has a vigilant public,
unfortunately – unlike the limited Television public of the day (less than six
million television sets), the Internet doesn’t
“finish broadcasting at 11:00 pm.
The Internet is 24 hour access, worldwide by 1.5+ billion
people to Blogs, Twitter, Digg with every word that is written being scrapped
by the majors for “official” regurgitation.
Actually many consider the McCarthy years as the true beginning
of the Big Four in the music business.
Worthy of some thought isn’t it.
There is a Hungarian saying, “Take care of the horse on the
way up to the top of the hill, and it will carry you down the other side.”
President Obama, I respectfully suggest that your horse isn’t
at the top of the hill yet and the way you are flogging it, I don’t think it
will make it.
BTW – whatever did happen to that Senator from Wisconsin,
the McCarthy fellow?
Click here to read –> 50
years ago, Joe McCarthy was discredited — and TV showed the world
References
[1] For example, Yates v. United States (1957) and Watkins v. United States (1957): Fried
(1997), pp. 205, 207.
[2] For example, California's
“Levering Oath” law, declared unconstitutional in 1967: Fried (1997),
p. 124.
[3] For example, Slochower v. Board of Education (1956):
Fried (1997), p. 203.
[4] For example, Faulk vs. AWARE Inc., et al. (1956): Fried
(1997), p. 197.
Coming Apart – An Informal History Of America
In The 1960's