The following are the final words on Immortal Technique’s “The 4th Branch” from his 2003 album Revolutionary Vol. 2.
The fourth branch of the government AKA the media
Seems to now have a retirement plan for ex-military officials
As if their opinion was at all unbiased
A machine shouldn't speak for men
So shut the fuck up you mindless drone!
And you know it's serious
When these same media outfits are spending millions of dollars on a PR campaign
To try to convince you they're fair and balanced
When they're some of the most ignorant, and racist people
Giving that type of mentality a safe haven
We act like we share in the spoils of war that they do
We die in wars, we don't get the contracts to make money off 'em afterwards!
We don't get weapons contracts, nigga!
We don't get cheap labor for our companies, nigga!
We are cheap labor, nigga!
Turn off the news and read, nigga!
Read... read... read...
Immortal Technique - The 4th Branch (Lyrics)
As for the extent of corruption that is prevalent in this industry? In the following interview on Democracy Now!, a co-author of the report cited above, Kevin Connor of the Public Accountability Initiative explains the depths to which we have been duped.
“New research shows many so-called experts who appeared on television making the case for U.S. strikes on Syria had undisclosed ties to military contractors. A new report by the Public Accountability Initiative identifies 22 commentators with industry ties. While they appeared on television or were quoted as experts 111 times, their links to military firms were disclosed only 13 of those times. The report focuses largely on Stephen Hadley, who served as national security adviser to President George W. Bush. During the debate on Syria, he appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg TV. None of these stations informed viewers that Hadley currently serves as a director of the weapons manufacturer Raytheon that makes Tomahawk cruise missiles widely touted as the weapon of choice for bombing Syria. He also owns over 11,000 shares of Raytheon stock, which traded at all-time highs during the Syria debate.”
The Military-Industrial Pundits: Conflicts of Interest Exposed for TV Guests Who Urged Syrian War
This is the state of affairs right now (2, 3, 4), the place where Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about in his exit speech on January 17, 1961, warning us of the military industrial complex’s takeover of the nation.
Eisenhower warns us of the military industrial complex.
So, as was previously discussed, in recognition of endless wars (2) and imperial presidencies, executive salary bonuses, maximizing shareholder value, and banking profits, and in recognition of profits made from selling weapons of mass destruction, waging war, and propagating fear, and in recognition of big oil (2, 3) and profiting from scarcity, let’s remind ourselves who actually benefits from war by taking a look at a couple of pages from one of the greatest comic book series ever created, “The Savage Sword Of Conan”.
Below you will find panels from page 29 and 30 of the August 1983 issue of The Savage Sword Of Conan #91 (click images to show full pages and enlarge):
source
The story so far …
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Conan and his mercenary army have won another victory and have dispatched their fastest rider to carry the news to King Ronal of Lapis L’harr, a Corinthian city-state engaged in protracted warfare with the adjacent city-state of Razalah B’qen:
In comic books, more often than not, the good guys win. I sure hope this is also the case this time around (2, 3), and that some of the pundits mentioned in The Public Accountability Initiative report will suffer a comparable fate as those bestowed upon the war profiteers from this story arc (click image to enlarge).
Who Pays the Pro-War Pundits? Conflicts of Interest Exposed for TV Guests Backing Military Action
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