This is a great topic for this week because April 19 marks the anniversary of the slaughter of innocents at Mount Carmel outside Waco, Texas, twenty-one years ago and the subsequent cover-up. It's hard to believe so much time has passed since government agents burned out a group of peaceful Christians in a show of force to the nation. Bill and Hillary Clinton were new to the White House and the operation was a pet project, planned well ahead of Clinton's inauguration.
Of course, by the time old Bill was in office, he had the power of the press in his back pocket. That certainly made things easier. The tale could be told in a fashion that was much easier on American sensibilities. David Koresh could be turned into a drooling child molester and made to appear as a manipulating monster.
Along those lines, when I decided to write a piece for the anniversary of the big ATF/FBI barbecue, I wanted to remind myself of some of the more salient facts surrounding the nightmare and so I set out to do some web searches. That's when I noticed the proliferation of negative stories about Koresh and the Branch-Davidians. The negative articles are all ranked up there in all the internet search engines, so many, in fact, that you'd have to go through pages of listings to sort through the lies and propaganda. Ah, but it's how the government forms the narrative. Lies and propaganda shoved down our throats for years and years until the truth fades away and we're left questioning our own memories of the events, even as vivid as the military tanks and roaring flames were. It's how history is written. However, if you're brave enough to look back without a jaundiced eye, the truth of the matter is as plain today as it was then.

When I reflect on those events in 1993 and consider the actions of the US government and compare it to what has happened since, it all becomes relatively clear.
Let's turn to the related topic for a moment -- the notion of appearance versus reality. It's how the magicians in the government use their powers to make things seem real. Yet, seekers of the truth must remember that our goal is to define what is ultimately real as opposed to what is merely apparent. Incidentally, this is the definition of metaphysics.
In everyday life, people distinguish between the real size of the Sun and its apparent size, or between the real color of an object (when seen in standard conditions) and its apparent color (nonstandard conditions). A cloud appears to consist of some white, fleecy substance, although in reality it is a concentration of drops of water. In general, men are often (though not invariably) inclined to allow that the scientist knows the real constitution of things as opposed to the surface aspects with which ordinary men are familiar. It will not suffice to define metaphysics as knowledge of reality as opposed to appearance; scientists, too, claim to know reality as opposed to appearance, and there is a general tendency to concede their claim.

It seems that there are at least two components in the metaphysical conception of reality. One characteristic, which has already been illustrated by Plato, is that reality is genuine as opposed to deceptive. The ultimate realities that the metaphysician seeks to know are precisely things as they are--simple and not variegated, exempt from change and therefore stable objects of knowledge. Plato's own assumption of this position perhaps reflects certain confusions about the knowability of things that change; one should not, however, on that ground exclude this aspect of the concept of reality from metaphysical thought in general. Ultimate reality, whatever else it is, is genuine as opposed to sham.
Second, and perhaps most important, reality for the truth seeker is intelligible as opposed to opaque. Appearances are not only deceptive and derivative, they also make no sense when taken at their own level. To arrive at what is ultimately real is to produce an account of the facts that does them full justice. The assumption is, of course, that one cannot explain things satisfactorily if one remains within the world of common sense, or even if one advances from that world to embrace the concepts of science. One or the other of these levels of explanation may suffice to produce a sort of local sense that is enough for practical purposes or that forms an adequate basis on which to make predictions. Practical reliability of this kind, however, is very different from theoretical satisfaction; the task of the metaphysician is to challenge all assumptions and finally arrive at an account of the nature of things that is fully coherent and fully thought-out.

That's why when the government disseminates prepackaged, even fake news, eventually someone notices. The government counts on convincing a sizeable enough portion of the population so as to not fret so much over the naysayers. The truth is, all our masters want is just enough of the vote to keep them in office.
Don't believe me? Well, why should you? Here's one reason: In March 2005, the New York Times revealed that there has been a large amount of fake and prepackaged news created by US government departments, such as the Pentagon, the State Department and others, and disseminated through the mainstream media. Shocking? Only if you've been living on the dark side of the moon. The New York Times noted a number of methods pertaining to media manipulation.
For instance, the aggressive use of public relations to prepackaged news. Many government-made news segments are made to look like local news. Sometimes reports have fake reporters such as when a ‘reporter’ covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. Other times, there is no mention that a video segment is produced by the government. Where there is some attribution, news stations simply rebroadcast them without citing the source.
These segments reach millions of us. And we accept them as the truth, even though we assure one another that politicians habitually lie in order to get the vote.
Ironically, Americans pay to be subjected to government propaganda. All this nonsense is financed through our taxes.
The media is manipulated in multiple ways through professional public relations as well as covert and overt government propaganda which disseminates propaganda as news. What are often deemed as credible news sources can often knowingly or unknowingly be pushing political agendas and propaganda. The truth is, it happens every day of the week.
Manipulation of internet search engines is just another technique available to the great powers on high.
Our leaders are the true monsters running loose in our society. The debacle at Mount Carmel occurred twenty-one years ago and the subsequent cover-up was committed by both political parties as well as a pliant media. The old tricks are still being used on an unsuspecting public and it appears that things have generally grown worse for both freedom lovers and purveyors of the truth.
And so, when you hear about that fateful day in April 1993 on the plains of Texas when 76 men, women, and children were burned alive and/or shot down by government agents, caution yourself to remain quiet, lest you gather attention from those who would have you believe otherwise.
More info can be gleaned from these articles on the North Texas Drifter:
The Seige Begins
Gun Control By Left Is Not New
What Happened To Carlos?
Rest In Peace:
Chanel Andrade, 1, American
Jennifer Andrade, 19, American
Katherine Andrade, 24, American
George Bennett, 35, British
Susan Benta, 31, British
Mary Jean Borst, 49, American
Pablo Cohen, 38, Israeli
Abedowalo Davies, 30, British
Shari Doyle, 18, American
Beverly Elliot, 30, British
Doris Fagan, 51, British
Yvette Fagan, 32, British
Lisa Marie Farris, 24, American
Raymond Friesen, 76, Canadian
Sandra Hardial, 27, British
Diana Henry, 28, British
Paulina Henry, 24, British
Phillip Henry, 22, British
Stephen Henry, 26, British
Vanessa Henry, 19, British
Zilla Henry, 55, British
Novellette Hipsman, 36, Canadian
Floyd Houtman, 61, American
Sherri Jewell, 43, American
David M. Jones, 38, American
Bobbie Lane Koresh, 2, American
Cyrus Koresh, 8, American
David Koresh, 33, American
Rachel Koresh, 24, American
Star Koresh, 6, American
Jeffery Little, 32, American
Nicole Gent Little, 24, Australian, pregnant
Dayland Lord Gent, 3, Australian
Paiges Gent,[72] 1, American
Livingston Malcolm, 26, British
Anita Martin, 18, American
Diane Martin, 41, British
Lisa Martin, 13, American
Sheila Martin, Jr., 15, American
Wayne Martin, Jr., 20, American
Wayne Martin, Sr., 42, American
Abigail Martinez, 11, American
Audrey Martinez, 13, American
Crystal Martinez, 3, American
Isaiah Martinez, 4, American
Joseph Martinez, 8, American
Julliete Martinez, 30, American
John-Mark McBean, 27, British
Bernadette Monbelly, 31, British
Melissa Morrison, 6, British
Rosemary Morrison, 29, British
Sonia Murray, 29, American
Theresa Nobrega, 48, British
James Riddle, 32, American
Rebecca Saipaia, 24, Filipino
Judy Schneider, 41, American
Steve Schneider, 43, American
Mayanah Schneider, 2, American
Clifford Sellors, 33, British
Scott Kojiro Sonobe, 35, American
Floracita Sonobe, 34, Filipino
Aisha Gyrfas Summers, 17, Australian, pregnant
Gregory Summers, 28, American
Startle Summers, 1, American
Hollywood Sylvia, 1, American
Lorraine Sylvia, 40, American
Rachel Sylvia, 12, American
Chica Jones, 2, American
Michelle Jones Thibodeau, 18, American
Serenity Jones, 4, American
Little One Jones, 2, American
Margarida Vaega, 47, New Zealander
Neal Vaega, 38, New Zealander
Mark H. Wendell, 40, American