An open letter to Green Party organizations of the United States of America.
As Greens compete in the open marketplace of ideas, and endeavor to spread their message for creating an ecologically sane society, and seek to gain electoral seats in local, state and federal government, they need to stand out on issues that get at the heart of what the “Green Project” is all about. I propose Pacific Greens endorse the effort to enact a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to seek truth and justice for those killed in 1960’s assassinations.
Greens are for ecological sustainability / ecological wisdom, grassroots democracy, social justice, and living in a peaceful, non-violent society.
But all of this possibility for a better society is shadowed by the grave injustice of the 1960’s assassinations, especially John F. Kennedy’s. James Douglas in his book, JFK and the Unspeakable: why his death matters, convincingly argues that JFK was murdered by agents of the U.S. Government who conspired to prevent Kennedy from carrying out a presidency that threatened to undermine the power of the military industrial complex; Douglas asserts that if Kennedy wasn’t killed our country would have , could have, put the USA on a peaceful trajectory and avoided the Vietnam War, Iraq War, and Afghanistan war and countless other CIA covert operations that undermined democratic movements. The blow against Kennedy was a blow against the possibility for peace in the world.
One of the most egregious aspects of the Kennedy assassination is that the official explanation provided in the Warren Commission Report, a brazen cover up, was a preposterously implausible conspiracy theory that covered up a host of known facts; the preposterousness of the lone gunman theory, and the pressure to accept the official report, forced the American public into cognitive dissonance, which manifests as a silence, because facing the horror of the assassination renders one unspeakable, or speechless. However, Americans know they are being lied to.
One poll asked if the person accepted the Warren Commission theory of Oswald being a “lone gunman,” to explain the Kennedy assassination; 70% said they did not. So, 70% of those polled don’t believe their government is telling the truth. As long as the truth of JFK’s assassination goes unaddressed, and the lie about his murder remains uninvestigated, then we the people will be unable to confront the vast power of the military industrial complex and get justice.
The Green dream for a peaceful world, and any hope of “social justice” much less simple justice, is precluded by the 1960’s false narrative that essentially holds the American public in a captive state of silent submission. We employ cognitive dissonance to cope with the problem of facing the official lie about Oswald: we don’t trust the Warren Commission Report but we won’t challenge the veracity of the report either; we live with a lie. By making a platform plank for a Truth Commissions we can purge the silence and purge the fear which keeps us silent, and empower and even enliven the green movement with a purposeful vigor: get justice for Kennedy and reassert his call for a Peaceful world that controls wars by controlling the Military Industrial Complex. I believe this can be a winning principle for Greens to organize around and build relationships with other progressive groups as a way to build the movement.
Assuming Greens ever take the presidency, or even a federal senate seat, the elected official will be confronted by the problem of a national security state that is not invested nor interested in Green Values and would be antagonistic to any Green New Deal that might be advanced.
Indeed, the green pillars for ecological wisdom, and non-violence / peace are antithetical to the goals of a national security state. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission will shine light on sectors of our government that must be confronted; otherwise, the Green ambition for a non-violent society and peaceful world can never be achieved.
Greens should stand in solidarity with The Truth and Reconciliation Committee; it is the action project for American Truth Now, ameriantruthnow.org, They are circulating a petition to ask Speaker Pelosi to open an investigation, or at least sponsor a Truth and Reconciliation project to investigate the 1960’s assassinations. The purpose is to reveal the truth and find some pathway into reconciliation, so that society may learn from the past to make a better future.
President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned the nation three days before he relinquished the presidency and Kennedy was inaugurated, that we should beware of the Military Industrial Complex; he wanted to include congressional in the group but was dissuaded by his speech writer. Sadly, the warning did not save Kennedy, nor have our elected officials heeded the warning; thus, the Military Industrial Complex solidified its power. As a result, we are a country captive to a plutocracy against which we have little capacity to push back.
This is a call for Greens to explicitly denounce the national security state governmental / military industrial complex. It’s grip on government is what has kept our country from moving forward in a way consistent with Green values.
I call for all Greens to discuss and debate these provisions for doing the following by taking a vote of the members:
Sign the Petition circulated by American Truth Now, which asks Speaker Pelosi to open a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to inquire into the 1960’s assassinations;
Include a plank in Pacific Green platform that explicitly Calls for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to explore and clarify facts around the assertion of the joint statement on the 1960’s assassination makes; or, a plank that denounces USA government malfeasance for failing to investigate JFK’s assassination and bring bad actors to justice; or, call for prosecution of Allen Dulles, post-mortem.
Sponsor local conferences that educate the public on issues of Truth and malfeasance by U.S. government and corporations;
Include a platform plank that recognizes the value and importance of Whistle Blower protections; call for expanded protections to all government employees and private contractors that reveal government actions and programs that are contrary to the public interest, are illegal, and / or are not consistent with the oath of the constitution;
Include a platform plank that calls for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to be formed to investigate the 9/11 events.
Include a platform plank to denounce illegal aerial spraying and call for a cease and desist of all geoengineering projects pending an environmental review for impact and a legal / judicial review for violations of oath to the constitution.
In closing, it is my experience that any discussion of about Truth is a taboo topic and so members of the Pacific Green Community will be uncomfortable with this, but by calling for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and standing in solidarity with the American Truth Now Joint Statement, we acknowledge that it is important to address illegal acts, especially ones that are morally reprehensible.
The “Unspeakable” in the title of James Douglas’s book is what is taboo; the Unspeakable is the profoundly uncomfortable task of thinking about and acknowledging the evil force that was brought to bear on JFK; a force, or a group, which robbed us, we the people, of a world of possibilities that John F. Kennedy wanted to see develop. We should feel very indignant about this.
Instead we sit in silence; the silence that fear of the Unspeakable produces, and this fear conditions us to live with the Unspeakable; we sweep it under the rug and ignore it, or rationalize it away.
Our silence enables the official conspiracy theory of JFK’s murder to remain unchallenged, and the false narrative retains legitimacy in social consciousness. An unchallenged government lie is a denial of justice, and our silence only lets the corrupt regime act with impunity.
As a result, official lies have enabled the people behind the Military Industrial Complex to rob us of what could have been: a society and history marked mostly by peace and less by war than what the USA has produced over the past 60 years.
It is our right to know the truth, and it is our right to demand justice and seek redress for our grievance. As Douglas discusses in his book, and he cites Thomas Merton, a Trappist Monk who anticipated Kennedy’s assassination when he mused that if Kennedy pursued peace with Kruschev, he would be assassinated. Douglas went on to say about Merton that he thought, one’s willingness to look into the “unspeakable” and contend with what is behind Kennedy’s assassination, is a measure of ones humanity and compassion for human kind.
Let’s support the efforts of the American Truth Now by passing the proposed measures.
Chuck Fall Blog and Progressive Green News 