Fwd: [bangla-vision] The Godfather and the Aftermath of U.S. Imperialism

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jamaaluddin al-Haidar <programdir@radiorawdeen.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Subject: [bangla-vision] The Godfather and the Aftermath of U.S. Imperialism
To: programdir@radiorawdeen.com

 

The Godfather and the Aftermath of U.S. Imperialism

By Jamaaluddin al-Haidar

 

After Spike Lee's Malcolm X, The Godfather and it's sequel Godfather II are near the top of my 10 favorite movies of all-time. These epic films featured the kind of memorable scenes and dialogue that are sorely lacking in many of the films of today. Greed and vengeance are interwoven with strong family virtues and cultural pride in this epic portrayal of the Corleone mafia family.

 

In The Godfather, Michael Corleone has returned from exile in Sicily to take over as head of the family after his brother Santino is ambushed and murdered by mafia rivals. Mindful of his father's advice, the aging retired Don of the family, Vito Corleone, who said, "revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold", Michael Corleone quietly plots his revenge. He has all of the heads of the families that were enemies of his father ambushed and killed while attending church and standing as godfather to his sister's baby. After the christening services, the family is exiting the church and heading to a vacation when Michael informs his sister's husband that he needed to stay behind and meet with him at the family home. The meeting went like this:

 

Michael: You have to answer for Santino, Carlo...You fingered Sonny for the Barzini people. Ahh, that little farce you played with my sister. You think that could fool a Corleone? Come on. Don't be afraid, Carlo. Come on, you think I'd make my sister a widow? I'm Godfather to your son, Carlo...You're out of the Family business, that's your punishment. You're finished. I'm putting you on a plane to Vegas...I want you to stay there, understand? Only don't tell me you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry. Now, who approached you? Tattaglia or Barzini?

Carlo: It was Barzini.

Michael: Good.

 

Carlo thinks he's off the hook. He's a slick character. He thinks he's being driven to the airport. Michael even tells him  "I'll call your wife and tell her when you're landing". Michael walks out just as Carlo gets into the car and watches as Clemenza, sitting in the back seat, wraps a Sicilian necklace around Carlo and chokes him to death. Carlo thought that he had missed his appointment with justice. But in the end. . .justice caught up with him.

 

One of the Founding Fathers of America once wrote in his published memoirs as he contemplated his country's horrific crimes against Native indigenous people, and African slaves.  

 

"I shudder in fear for my nation  when I reflect on God's Justice; knowing that His justice will not sleep forever"

 

I wonder if the rulers of America think that they are off the hook. I wonder if they truly believe that they have escaped their appointment with justice. Carlo had to answer for Santino's murder.

Who will answer for the 12 million African lives lost in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade?

Who will answer for the Emmit Tills, the nameless proverbial "strange fruit" that hung from trees of post-slavery America?

Who will answer for Martin and Malcolm?

Who will answer for Mark Clark & Fred Hampton?

Who will answer for the massacre of Fallujah?

Who will answer for the 500,000 Iraqi children who died as a result of the U.S. led embargo?

Who will answer for the depleted uranium that has poisoned the soil and water of Iraq and caused a spike in birth deformities, an awful phenomenon that is expected to rise exponentially?

Who will answer for the lives being destroyed in Afghanistan today, one of the poorest nations of the Earth that poses absolutely no threat to the United States?

 

Do the rulers think that just as the memory of US atrocities in Southeast Asia has been erased from the psyche of its citizenry, these too will fade into oblivion? When the nations of the past were destroyed by God's Wrath, what were the people doing? They were partying. They were having fun. They were carrying on with life without any thought or concern of God's judgment. The rulers of today are like these people. They talk God, but they don't believe in God. To them, "God" was strung up on a tree, like strange fruit, and murdered by mortal men like them. How could they possibly fear or be concerned of the coming wrath of a god like this?

 

The rulers of America are like Carlo who got greedy and fell out of favor by betraying the family. They have fallen out of favor with God and betrayed the order of God. O' rulers! You've got to answer for your hegemony and acts of aggression. That little farce that you play with the media, do you think that could fool the Creator of the Heavens and the earth who sees and hears all?

 

Peace-loving people of America, God-fearing people of America, should be shuddering in fear today for a nation that has so much to answer for. Americans of conscience must demand and work for nothing less than a full withdrawal of US military forces from foreign lands and an end to covert incursions into sovereign nations. The mantra is to withdraw and then pray for God's Mercy.

__._,_.___

--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/