George Carlin

[steve_earwig]

Hello again, I've just acquired a George Carlin audio cd from 2004 ("When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops"). In the introduction there is a quote about people being dragged into wars they don't want by their leaders, which seems pretty apt with regard to Iraq. Maybe this already did the rounds but I missed it so sorry if I'm being boring again. Anyway, the bit that shocked me is who it was that actually said it. I checked it out on Snopesand it's real:

“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the
leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a
simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a
fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of
the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are
being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and
for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every
country.”
--- Hermann Goering