Amerika's Jacob's Ladder | Philip A. Farruggio

Philip A. FarruggioPhilip A. Farruggio -- World News Trust

Dec. 16, 2017

In Adrian Lyne's 1990 drama, Jacob's Ladder, Tim Robbins plays a haunted Vietnam War vet mourning his dead son, while suffering from severe disassociation.

Throughout the film he attempts to decipher reality and life itself from his weird dreams and delusions. Everything in his daily life seems to be "offbeat and surreal" as he stumbles to find the truth of it all.

In the end we see him back in Vietnam lying in a triage cot... dying. The entire film was but part of his nightmare. Finally, as he is dying, we see his already dead son's spirit guiding him up Jacob's ladder into the other side, or maybe what we would label heaven.

So it is with 2017 America. Imagine how surreal it is that we have Donald Trump as our president, a few years removed from being the "reality television star." How utterly surreal it is that the real Deep State is showing its muscle now. All the hogwash from the Trump version of right wing Amerika about the "Deep State" being the enemy is just that, HOGWASH!

The rightwing neocons and their adversaries running Trump are still delighted to get what they all want: A total Military Industrial Empire. We know, from when Eisenhower warned us in January of 1961, that this has always been a Military Industrial Empire. Now, however, it is one that is on steroids! From the tax cuts for the super rich individuals and corporations, to the increases in military spending, to satisfying the neo-fascist Israeli government on Jerusalem, to controlling the internet, to preparing for the overturn of a woman's right to choose... my goodness, need I go on?

In this fantastic (in a poor sense) version of 2017's Jacob's Ladder, the other rightwing political party, the lesser of two evils, Democrats, actually are looking very appealing to many. Why not? They are standing there ready to place a few band-aids on our economic and moral wounds.

Of course, the Democrats will never go the distance and stand up for cutting this War madness, or advocating for real and viable socialistic programs, like National Government run health care and nationalized energy, nationalized Pharma and public banking to name but a few. No, they will continue to serve this Military Industrial Empire but with more tenderness for the indigent and some sort of safety net.

As Porky Pig would say at the end of the cartoon: " And a that's all folks!!"

PA Farruggio

December 16 2017