Living in the shadow of shadow principles

Express Tribune

19 hours ago

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Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democratic Senator, when asked by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill about his view on the lethal operations of the US government against American citizens, said, "It is almost as if there are two laws in America and the American people would be extraordinarily surprised if they could see the difference between what they believe a law says and how it has actually been interpreted in secret".
I want to give a little perspective here. For centuries, the world of science and physics was dominated by Newton's gravitational principles. Yet, nobody could make sense of Mercury's movement around the sun, which moves in an elliptical path. Then came Einstein with his theory of gravity called the General Theory of Relativity, which predicted, explained and made sense of Mercury's movement. It was through the elliptical path of Mercury that Einstein confirmed his theory's accuracy. Once one understood Einstein's theory, Mercury's anomalous movement made all sense.
That is true for politics and power globally as well. Politicians and those in power repeat the nice sounding causes and goals, but their actions make absolutely no sense when compared to their rhetoric. It all, however, starts making perfect sense when we understand the shadow principle with which they operate. Just like gravity works in the shadows without meeting the eye, these shadow principles and motivations of politicians and power systems drive their actions and policies.
So, for example, politicians make claims to live and die for Pakistan but when they have the means and ability, all they do is to steal money and park it in Swiss banks or in the form of luxury properties overseas. But if we actually understand that these politicians are not driven by benevolence or patriotism but one simple shadow principle, greed and selfishness, then all their criminal activities and dark enterprises become quite easy to understand.
American politicians get elected to Congress and publicly claim to work for Israel's safety. Notice that Israel is a foreign country, just like any country other than America. Anyone new to the study of American politics would find it ridiculous to hear such claims and assertions from American politicians. Anyone not fully comprehending the nuances of American politics and the shenanigans of the Israel Lobby inside America would be completely baffled to see how this one superpower country is always ready, willing and almost bowing to be at the service of this tiny country in the Middle East.
It would be a mystery for anyone not knowing about the shadow rulebook to watch America always rescue Israel from the United Nations resolutions by using its veto power, by providing arms to Israel despite knowing that innocent children would be killed, by providing money to this tiny little terrorist state knowing that countless American citizens are homeless, without running water, without food, buried under massive credit card debt, killed due to terrorism that resulted from supporting this very extremist state and lack universal healthcare, while Israel does have one.
However, it would all make unmistakable sense when we observe all these American actions from the lens where the Israel Lobby controls, coerces, scares, blackmails and dictates American politicians. Through a combination of mind control of the electorate, campaign donations using American money given as aid to Israel and, as conspiratorial as it may sound, through blackmail of powerful politicians, Israel manipulates and redirects American foreign policy where it only favours Israel even if it is at the cost of American national interests.
Once these shadow realities are understood then it makes perfect sense to watch Ted Cruz say, "I came into Congress 13 years ago with the stated intention of being the leading defender of Israel in the United States — I've worked every day to do that". Make sense of it if you can without deciphering the shadow rulebook first.