IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 (April 13, 2006)
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain (President of the United States) is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world:
He has refuted his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
NSA illegal wire tapping of American citizens, lying to Congress and manipulating intelligence to initiate war with Iraq
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
Medical marijuana, The Patriot Act
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
The Patriot Act
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
Hasstert & DeLay holding vote open until they got the prescription drug bill passed
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
The Patriot Act, the House Ethics Committee
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
The House Ethics Committee
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
Immigration Reform, Guest Worker Program
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
Refusal to comply with FOIA requests. Appointing Radicals to the SCOTUS, SCOTUS overruling Florida Supreme court to appoint Bush President
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
Attempt by Ashcroft to abolish judicial discretion and impose max sentencing
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
Massive new Department of Homeland Security, Privatization of government positions
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
Proposed use of military for domestic emergencies including weather
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
Proposed use of military for domestic emergencies including weather,
Pentagon Disinformation Program and Spying on Anti-war and Gay Protesters
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
The Marriage Protection Act, Immigration Reform and Promotion of Racism
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
Proposed use of military for domestic emergencies including weather,
Excessive Police Presence at Anti-war and other Liberal Protests and rallies
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
Proposed use of military for domestic emergencies including weather
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
Outsourcing of Jobs to Foreign Nations, No Bid Contracts to Political Contributors for Jobs Better Performed by Government Agencies
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
Unfair tax Relief for the Affluent, Irresponsible Budgeting Resulting in Unprecedented National Debt
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
Guantanamo, Enemy Combatant Law
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
Illegal Rendition, Officially Sanctioned Torture of Prisoners
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
Illegal re-districting of Texas by DeLay and the Republican Party
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
Tort Reform, Corporatism
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
Intrusive government e.g. abortion ban, Anti Gay Agenda
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
You are either with us or you are with the terrorists
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
Deregulation of polluters, deforestation and selling off our national resources
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
Iraq, Afghanistan and, coming soon, Iran
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
The Patriot Act Provision encouraging spying on Neighbors and Clients
Lowered qualifications to increase military enlistment
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
Truly an unfortunate statement however, Our Uniter not Divider has caused the greatest discord in this country since the Civil War
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British (Republican) brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred. To disavow these usurpations would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the (Democratic) Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies (this country), solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies (States) are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown (the Bush administration), and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain (the Bush administration), is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Monday, April 03, 2006
Grow a Pair
Why have the politically correct police emerged from the Democratic woodwork and jumped all over advocates of accountability? Seems crazy to me that from within our own party is an apparently growing force of do-gooders who see it as their responsibility to ensure opinions are not too strong or objectionable. That certainly seems to be the case where Senator Feingold and his censure proposal are concerned. I have heard so many Democrats deny or apologize for the censure proposal, doing all they could to assure their Republican, conservative detractors that they have nothing to worry about. Of course the Democrats are not going to attempt to censure the president.
If I may be so direct, BULLSHIT! Of course we ARE going to censure the president and only because the government is skewed so badly against the Democrats that any attempt to impeach the bastard will fail.
The degree of acquiescence from Democrats is nothing less than vomit inducing. The obvious treason against his own party committed by Joe Lieberman can not be allowed to become the rule rather than the exception. Democrats need to grow a pair and then have them bronzed. When Republicans spew their talking points of disinformation, every Democrat should reach between their legs to get a feel of the metallic testicular orbs and, thus fortified, challenge the facts, the context and the reasoning of every disingenuous utterance from the Right.
The other thing that has caused the gag reflex to kick in is the perceived need by prospective candidates to be as committed to carrying on the war on Terrorism as the nutcases now prosecuting this failed and illegal occupation. Biden and Clinton have both attacked Bush for how he has handled the war and both pledge to continue to do the same thing.
I think that a Democrat needs to come to the fore of this party if we are to have any hope of taking back 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or the institutions at either end of the street. The party needs an individual unafraid to speak truth to power, which is what we are not getting now. For instance, people of this country concerned that our democratic system of government is in jeopardy would most likely listen to a candidate willing to accuse the Bush administration of crimes we all know they have committed. Those who realize the current Republican leaders are willing to watch democracy destroyed rather than risk the wrath of the White House, would be happy to hear from anyone who will enunciate the offenses and transgressions of those whose job it is to oversee Executive authority.
Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Democratic candidate with the best chance of being elected is the one with bronzed balls of such immense scale that they campaign on a platform of restoring democracy to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches and by imprisoning those government officials suspected of having failed to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. If that means calling for the new Attorney General to take the entire outgoing administration into custody during the inauguration, so be it.
If I may be so direct, BULLSHIT! Of course we ARE going to censure the president and only because the government is skewed so badly against the Democrats that any attempt to impeach the bastard will fail.
The degree of acquiescence from Democrats is nothing less than vomit inducing. The obvious treason against his own party committed by Joe Lieberman can not be allowed to become the rule rather than the exception. Democrats need to grow a pair and then have them bronzed. When Republicans spew their talking points of disinformation, every Democrat should reach between their legs to get a feel of the metallic testicular orbs and, thus fortified, challenge the facts, the context and the reasoning of every disingenuous utterance from the Right.
The other thing that has caused the gag reflex to kick in is the perceived need by prospective candidates to be as committed to carrying on the war on Terrorism as the nutcases now prosecuting this failed and illegal occupation. Biden and Clinton have both attacked Bush for how he has handled the war and both pledge to continue to do the same thing.
I think that a Democrat needs to come to the fore of this party if we are to have any hope of taking back 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or the institutions at either end of the street. The party needs an individual unafraid to speak truth to power, which is what we are not getting now. For instance, people of this country concerned that our democratic system of government is in jeopardy would most likely listen to a candidate willing to accuse the Bush administration of crimes we all know they have committed. Those who realize the current Republican leaders are willing to watch democracy destroyed rather than risk the wrath of the White House, would be happy to hear from anyone who will enunciate the offenses and transgressions of those whose job it is to oversee Executive authority.
Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Democratic candidate with the best chance of being elected is the one with bronzed balls of such immense scale that they campaign on a platform of restoring democracy to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches and by imprisoning those government officials suspected of having failed to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. If that means calling for the new Attorney General to take the entire outgoing administration into custody during the inauguration, so be it.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
God Bless Molly Ivins
Thank God for Molly Ivins. It’s about time someone from the Democratic Party spoke the truth, as Ms. Ivins did in her recent column, about Hillary and other Democrats who seem willing to surrender their identity and credibility in a futile effort to appease Conservatives. Democrats like Senators Clinton and Biden roundly criticize the Bush administration and simultaneously do all in their power to emulate them. Lieberman no longer even pretends to uphold his party’s ideals and deserves to be voted out of office in Connecticut.
Ms. Ivins points to recent polls which clearly indicate the majority of Americans do not agree that the Iraq war is worth the cost, or that the economy has improved or that the Medicare reform helped anyone except the pharmaceutical industry. Yet, leading Democrats do not feel that they can oppose any of these policies lest they be maligned by Bush’s henchmen and jeopardize their re-election.
DUH! Every Democrats re-election is jeopardized as long as this administration remains in power. They do not feel bound either legally or ethically from using any ploy, deception or outright attack against opponents.
It gets worse. Republicans rule Congress so Democrats can’t even get them to investigate blatant violations of law. And in a true act of stupidity, Democrats look poised to confirm Alito to the Supreme Court ensuring no Republican sponsored laws will be found unconstitutional. And the whole process is being fed to the American public through a complicit corporate media willing to cover and even lie for their favorite politico, GW.
Please, start acting like Democrats. Oppose this illegal war. Demand investigations of the premeditated falsehoods that got us into war. Demand bush be impeached for warrant less wiretapping. Demand election and campaign reform that really achieves something by removing ALL corporate money and influence from the process.
Ms. Ivins points to recent polls which clearly indicate the majority of Americans do not agree that the Iraq war is worth the cost, or that the economy has improved or that the Medicare reform helped anyone except the pharmaceutical industry. Yet, leading Democrats do not feel that they can oppose any of these policies lest they be maligned by Bush’s henchmen and jeopardize their re-election.
DUH! Every Democrats re-election is jeopardized as long as this administration remains in power. They do not feel bound either legally or ethically from using any ploy, deception or outright attack against opponents.
It gets worse. Republicans rule Congress so Democrats can’t even get them to investigate blatant violations of law. And in a true act of stupidity, Democrats look poised to confirm Alito to the Supreme Court ensuring no Republican sponsored laws will be found unconstitutional. And the whole process is being fed to the American public through a complicit corporate media willing to cover and even lie for their favorite politico, GW.
Please, start acting like Democrats. Oppose this illegal war. Demand investigations of the premeditated falsehoods that got us into war. Demand bush be impeached for warrant less wiretapping. Demand election and campaign reform that really achieves something by removing ALL corporate money and influence from the process.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Pressed For News
Norman Solomon wrote in the Huffington Post that spying on the U.N. Security Council “had nothing to do with protecting the United States from a terrorist attack. The entire purpose of the NSA surveillance was to help the White House gain leverage, by whatever means possible, for a resolution in the U.N. Security Council to green light an invasion. When that surveillance was exposed nearly three years ago, the mainstream U.S. media winked at Bush’s illegal use of the NSA for his Iraq invasion agenda.”
The plan to conduct espionage against certain member countries of the U.N. was the brain-child of top members of the Bush administration and was approved by then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Solomon continues: “Back then, after news of the NSA’s targeted spying at the United Nations broke in the British press, major U.S. media outlets gave it only perfunctory coverage -- or, in the case of the New York Times, no coverage at all.”
This story is a precursor of the news that the New York Times had withheld for over a year the story of President Bush’s approval to use the NSA to spy on American citizens without obtaining a warrant as required by the FISA law. Is this lack of reporting information that could be harmful to the administration merely a coincidence or is it revealing a trend? Consider some other stories that the Main Stream Media in the US have covered scantily or not at all.
The Downey Street Memo, written by a senior member of the British government who was in attendance at the meeting with top members of the US government, describes the Bush administration’s strategy to justify the invasion of Iraq by “fixing the facts around the strategy”. Although this item was the big story in the UK and headlined in other countries around the world, it was barely covered in the US.
WMD Lies by Judith Miller filled the pages of the NYT in the lead up to the Iraq war, published without question by her editors. Yet, they all turned out to be false as they were based on extremely questionable sources and shaded with the utmost in poor judgment.
Bush Administration Moves to Eliminate Open Government, The administration has drastically changed the rules on Freedom of Information Act requests and laws that restrict public access to federal records, mostly by expanding the national security classification, operates in secret under the Patriot Act and consistently refuses to provide information to Congress and the Government Accountability Office.
Distorted Election Coverage: Faulted study that caused most of the corporate media to dismiss the discrepancy between exit polls and the vote tally and missed the still-contentious question of whether the vote in Ohio needed closer examination.
U.S. illegally removes pages from Iraq U.N. report: Even as Bush urged military action against Iraq for the country's failure to divulge details of its alleged chemical, biological, and nuclear arsenal, the U.S. government covertly removed 8,000 of the 11,800 pages of the weapons declaration the Iraqi government had submitted to the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Closing access to information technology: The Internet has functioned as the single most important medium for accessing these kinds of information. But if big communications companies get their way, the Web could be compromised as a democratic source of alternative news and perspectives. Soon, what we get from the Web could be a carbon copy of what we already get from corporate TV, cable, radio, and newspapers.
Sale of electoral politics: As much hope as electronic voting offers (ease of use, access for the disabled etc), it offers just as many reasons for skepticism and fear. A look behind the curtain reveals that the programmers and manufacturers of the machines are a combination of defense contractors and corporations headed by staunch Republicans whose programming codes are dangerously faulty and whose results are impossible to verify.
Secrets of Cheney's energy task force come to light: In 2001 the Task Force formulated the National Energy Policy (NEP), or Cheney Report, bypassing possibilities for energy independence and reduced oil consumption with a declaration of ambitions to establish new sources of oil. Via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in 2003, documents revealed the Task's Force interest in Iraqi oilfields as early as March 2001, pre-9/11.
Bush administration hampered FBI investigation of bin Laden family pre Sept. 11: Less than two months after Sept. 11, a Guardian reporter got hold of 1996 Federal Bureau of Investigation memos indicating the bureau suspected Abdullah bin Laden, brother of the most infamous terrorist in the world, of funding terrorist activity. Unfortunately, angry agents who spoke to the reporter told him the counterterrorism probe was scuttled by bureau honchos before it could even get off the ground.
Taken alone any of the stories above would be considered not just significant but, a major story with profound political ramifications. Or rather, it would have been ten years ago. In today’s world of issue free news, this unbelievable collection of near mortal attacks on democracy remain unheralded in the media even when it is inescapably evident that they all occurred in the current administration’s term. There is only one logical reason for the medias lack of interest in events such as those above. Not reporting them is in the best interest of the media’s own ideological agenda.
Nearly all of the media is corporately owned and is operated for profit. When the networks first developed news departments to keep the public informed, they were divisions of the networks that operated as non-profit entities. They were also an obligation the network/corporation had accepted to obtain a broadcast license. These laws and policies have been quietly changed over the years to allow for profit news and the definition of what public service they should provide became so distorted that Fox News is licensed by the FCC.
The plan to conduct espionage against certain member countries of the U.N. was the brain-child of top members of the Bush administration and was approved by then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Solomon continues: “Back then, after news of the NSA’s targeted spying at the United Nations broke in the British press, major U.S. media outlets gave it only perfunctory coverage -- or, in the case of the New York Times, no coverage at all.”
This story is a precursor of the news that the New York Times had withheld for over a year the story of President Bush’s approval to use the NSA to spy on American citizens without obtaining a warrant as required by the FISA law. Is this lack of reporting information that could be harmful to the administration merely a coincidence or is it revealing a trend? Consider some other stories that the Main Stream Media in the US have covered scantily or not at all.
The Downey Street Memo, written by a senior member of the British government who was in attendance at the meeting with top members of the US government, describes the Bush administration’s strategy to justify the invasion of Iraq by “fixing the facts around the strategy”. Although this item was the big story in the UK and headlined in other countries around the world, it was barely covered in the US.
WMD Lies by Judith Miller filled the pages of the NYT in the lead up to the Iraq war, published without question by her editors. Yet, they all turned out to be false as they were based on extremely questionable sources and shaded with the utmost in poor judgment.
Bush Administration Moves to Eliminate Open Government, The administration has drastically changed the rules on Freedom of Information Act requests and laws that restrict public access to federal records, mostly by expanding the national security classification, operates in secret under the Patriot Act and consistently refuses to provide information to Congress and the Government Accountability Office.
Distorted Election Coverage: Faulted study that caused most of the corporate media to dismiss the discrepancy between exit polls and the vote tally and missed the still-contentious question of whether the vote in Ohio needed closer examination.
U.S. illegally removes pages from Iraq U.N. report: Even as Bush urged military action against Iraq for the country's failure to divulge details of its alleged chemical, biological, and nuclear arsenal, the U.S. government covertly removed 8,000 of the 11,800 pages of the weapons declaration the Iraqi government had submitted to the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Closing access to information technology: The Internet has functioned as the single most important medium for accessing these kinds of information. But if big communications companies get their way, the Web could be compromised as a democratic source of alternative news and perspectives. Soon, what we get from the Web could be a carbon copy of what we already get from corporate TV, cable, radio, and newspapers.
Sale of electoral politics: As much hope as electronic voting offers (ease of use, access for the disabled etc), it offers just as many reasons for skepticism and fear. A look behind the curtain reveals that the programmers and manufacturers of the machines are a combination of defense contractors and corporations headed by staunch Republicans whose programming codes are dangerously faulty and whose results are impossible to verify.
Secrets of Cheney's energy task force come to light: In 2001 the Task Force formulated the National Energy Policy (NEP), or Cheney Report, bypassing possibilities for energy independence and reduced oil consumption with a declaration of ambitions to establish new sources of oil. Via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in 2003, documents revealed the Task's Force interest in Iraqi oilfields as early as March 2001, pre-9/11.
Bush administration hampered FBI investigation of bin Laden family pre Sept. 11: Less than two months after Sept. 11, a Guardian reporter got hold of 1996 Federal Bureau of Investigation memos indicating the bureau suspected Abdullah bin Laden, brother of the most infamous terrorist in the world, of funding terrorist activity. Unfortunately, angry agents who spoke to the reporter told him the counterterrorism probe was scuttled by bureau honchos before it could even get off the ground.
Taken alone any of the stories above would be considered not just significant but, a major story with profound political ramifications. Or rather, it would have been ten years ago. In today’s world of issue free news, this unbelievable collection of near mortal attacks on democracy remain unheralded in the media even when it is inescapably evident that they all occurred in the current administration’s term. There is only one logical reason for the medias lack of interest in events such as those above. Not reporting them is in the best interest of the media’s own ideological agenda.
Nearly all of the media is corporately owned and is operated for profit. When the networks first developed news departments to keep the public informed, they were divisions of the networks that operated as non-profit entities. They were also an obligation the network/corporation had accepted to obtain a broadcast license. These laws and policies have been quietly changed over the years to allow for profit news and the definition of what public service they should provide became so distorted that Fox News is licensed by the FCC.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
First Things First
Why is Congress holding hearings on whether or not to confirm Justice Alito before they conduct investigations into the legality of the Bush administration’s eavesdropping on American citizens? For that matter, why is our government continuing in a “business as usual” manner instead of taking action on a possible felony committed by the President of the United States? There is no more urgent issue for the House and Senate than performing their sworn duties of protecting and defending the constitution and if, as it appears, this president has violated citizens rights and liberties protected by that document it is their duty to remove him from office.
Let’s take this a step further. Congress should propose legislation to withhold funding for the recent appointments made by Bush while they were recessed. They should additionally refuse to acknowledge these appointments as official and prevent the appointees from assuming their new positions until the investigation of Bush’s actions are complete.
If Congress holds hearings that result in the adoption of articles of impeachment against Bush and the impeachment proceedings succeed in removing him from office, the country will be saddled with the political appointments and a Supreme Court Justice placed in their positions by a felon.
Of course, this suggestion will drive conservatives up the wall with self righteous indignation and surely unleash a firestorm of criticism and accusations. So please consider the reasons this proposal is made:
• A majority of Americans believe the president has over-stepped his authority by ordering these wire taps and a great deal of legal experts have opined that this is a direct violation of the FISA law which is a felony and demands the impeachment of the President.
• Congress must investigate the citizen surveillance carried out by the NSA as ordered by the president because he openly and publicly admitted to this. Regardless of his claim that he advised Congress of this program, or that the Patriot Act gives him authority to carry out the surveillance, or that as Commander in Chief he has this right due to the concern for national security, spying on private American citizens has been and is presently illegal with monumental judicial precedent to back it up. President Nixon was forced to resign the presidency for exactly the same type of illegal activity and the same laws must apply to Bush.
• By acknowledging the unwarranted invasion of American citizens, Bush has in effect pleaded guilty to violating the law. Consequently, he has assumed a posture above the law, one neither restrained by its authority nor subject to its penalties. In other words, a Dictator.
• Bush’s assertion that he needed to circumvent the FISA court to expedite investigations is not tenable because of the 72 hour grace period allowed by the court in which to apply for and obtain a warrant. It is a logical conclusion then, to believe that Bush has avoided the FISA court because the target of surveillance was not an issue of national security, but one of political nature. Recall the corrupt Republican gambit of spying on the Democrats in Congress when they “accidentally” tapped into shared memory files on government computers. Also, that when an investigation was undertaken to determine how this could have happened a suspicious anthrax scare occurred in Sen. Frist’s office which prevented investigators from accessing the computer of Frist and his staff. No anthrax was ever found and the timing and probability of such an event has never been credible.
• It is now known that Bush authorized the NSA surveillance prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This totally repudiates his assertion that it was for national security purposes.
Conservatives would no doubt demand to know what gives me or anyone else the right to question our Commander in Chief and to make demands on Congress to impeach a sitting president. The authority behind my demands is the same each of us holds as citizens of this country. It is the authority invested in each patriot who defends the document this nation was founded upon which begins with the empowering phrase “We the People”. It is the constitutional authority and responsibility of every citizen to ensure we remain faithful to the spirit and wisdom embodied within the courageous words of our forefathers when they established a new government based on democracy, liberty and equality.
Each of the principals listed above is anathema to the Bush administration and they have gone to great lengths to eradicate them. If Congress will not take action to prevent this president from establishing a dictatorship then it must be done by the people of this nation who do not want to see over 200 years of democracy wiped out in the course of one president’s administration.
Let’s take this a step further. Congress should propose legislation to withhold funding for the recent appointments made by Bush while they were recessed. They should additionally refuse to acknowledge these appointments as official and prevent the appointees from assuming their new positions until the investigation of Bush’s actions are complete.
If Congress holds hearings that result in the adoption of articles of impeachment against Bush and the impeachment proceedings succeed in removing him from office, the country will be saddled with the political appointments and a Supreme Court Justice placed in their positions by a felon.
Of course, this suggestion will drive conservatives up the wall with self righteous indignation and surely unleash a firestorm of criticism and accusations. So please consider the reasons this proposal is made:
• A majority of Americans believe the president has over-stepped his authority by ordering these wire taps and a great deal of legal experts have opined that this is a direct violation of the FISA law which is a felony and demands the impeachment of the President.
• Congress must investigate the citizen surveillance carried out by the NSA as ordered by the president because he openly and publicly admitted to this. Regardless of his claim that he advised Congress of this program, or that the Patriot Act gives him authority to carry out the surveillance, or that as Commander in Chief he has this right due to the concern for national security, spying on private American citizens has been and is presently illegal with monumental judicial precedent to back it up. President Nixon was forced to resign the presidency for exactly the same type of illegal activity and the same laws must apply to Bush.
• By acknowledging the unwarranted invasion of American citizens, Bush has in effect pleaded guilty to violating the law. Consequently, he has assumed a posture above the law, one neither restrained by its authority nor subject to its penalties. In other words, a Dictator.
• Bush’s assertion that he needed to circumvent the FISA court to expedite investigations is not tenable because of the 72 hour grace period allowed by the court in which to apply for and obtain a warrant. It is a logical conclusion then, to believe that Bush has avoided the FISA court because the target of surveillance was not an issue of national security, but one of political nature. Recall the corrupt Republican gambit of spying on the Democrats in Congress when they “accidentally” tapped into shared memory files on government computers. Also, that when an investigation was undertaken to determine how this could have happened a suspicious anthrax scare occurred in Sen. Frist’s office which prevented investigators from accessing the computer of Frist and his staff. No anthrax was ever found and the timing and probability of such an event has never been credible.
• It is now known that Bush authorized the NSA surveillance prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This totally repudiates his assertion that it was for national security purposes.
Conservatives would no doubt demand to know what gives me or anyone else the right to question our Commander in Chief and to make demands on Congress to impeach a sitting president. The authority behind my demands is the same each of us holds as citizens of this country. It is the authority invested in each patriot who defends the document this nation was founded upon which begins with the empowering phrase “We the People”. It is the constitutional authority and responsibility of every citizen to ensure we remain faithful to the spirit and wisdom embodied within the courageous words of our forefathers when they established a new government based on democracy, liberty and equality.
Each of the principals listed above is anathema to the Bush administration and they have gone to great lengths to eradicate them. If Congress will not take action to prevent this president from establishing a dictatorship then it must be done by the people of this nation who do not want to see over 200 years of democracy wiped out in the course of one president’s administration.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Clean House
It is not enough to impeach the president for his latest act of treachery against the constitution, not by a long shot. Americans must not be satisfied in simply removing George Bush from office, we must insist that he be tried for his criminal acts and incarcerated if found guilty so future presidents will be loathe to attempt similar crimes.
It would be ultimately fitting for this president's legacy to be the image of him being taken into custody and led off to jail. It would stand for the victory of Democracy over would be tyrants who attempt to corrupt our system of government and strengthen the resolve of those who believe in Democracy and stood by their principles throughout the past 5 year Neoconservative reign of terror.
Additionally, each Congressional Conservative that has come out in support of the president's decision to spy on Americans and have attempted to justify what is essentially an attack on the constitution, should be brought before Congress and censured for their subversive behavior.
This will seem severe to some and unwarranted to others, but consider the response of the Republicans to the manufactured assault against President Clinton. Many on the right took to the floor of Congress to make some of the most outrageous allegations and unfounded accusations against Clinton. Six years and $80 million of our taxes later, not one charge was ever substantiated or even found to be credible. This is because they were all the work of fanatical Neoconservatives and Richard Mellon Scaife, the right-wing Pittsburgh billionaire who funded the 1990s dirt-digging operation against the Clintons known as the Arkansas Project.
The Republicans must be held accountable for their party’s protection of this president over the past five years. Initially, it is understandable that Republicans were overly enthusiastic about gaining control of both the executive and legislative branches and some of their excesses can be attributed to that. Yet, as time progressed along with the administration’s abuses of power and privilege, this excuse lost its potency. Congress is obligated by oath to uphold the constitution and protect and defend the country. The Republicans in Congress opted for partisan and ideological goals in conflict with their duties. The American public needs to be informed of this and of how damaging their dereliction has been to our nation.
If the Democrats can take back either the House or the Senate in 2006 it will be possible to begin some long overdue investigations of this administration’s actions as well as the actions of many in Congress. This would be a good start but, not be as effective as regaining the White House and access to the documents and records the administration has refused to release in defiance of FOIA suits filed by many parties. I believe this to be crucial to any serious investigation of presidential, cabinet and Congressional misconduct and it is precisely for that reason I believe that Bush will be compelled to decree all such documents sealed for years to come. The American public must not stand for that or any other attempt to hide, obscure or destroy evidence that this administration broke laws, weakened democracy, defied the constitution, engaged in cover-ups, lied to the nation, authorized the illegal invasion of Iraq in defiance of international law, and caused the death and maiming of thousands of American soldiers for selfish purposes.
It would be ultimately fitting for this president's legacy to be the image of him being taken into custody and led off to jail. It would stand for the victory of Democracy over would be tyrants who attempt to corrupt our system of government and strengthen the resolve of those who believe in Democracy and stood by their principles throughout the past 5 year Neoconservative reign of terror.
Additionally, each Congressional Conservative that has come out in support of the president's decision to spy on Americans and have attempted to justify what is essentially an attack on the constitution, should be brought before Congress and censured for their subversive behavior.
This will seem severe to some and unwarranted to others, but consider the response of the Republicans to the manufactured assault against President Clinton. Many on the right took to the floor of Congress to make some of the most outrageous allegations and unfounded accusations against Clinton. Six years and $80 million of our taxes later, not one charge was ever substantiated or even found to be credible. This is because they were all the work of fanatical Neoconservatives and Richard Mellon Scaife, the right-wing Pittsburgh billionaire who funded the 1990s dirt-digging operation against the Clintons known as the Arkansas Project.
The Republicans must be held accountable for their party’s protection of this president over the past five years. Initially, it is understandable that Republicans were overly enthusiastic about gaining control of both the executive and legislative branches and some of their excesses can be attributed to that. Yet, as time progressed along with the administration’s abuses of power and privilege, this excuse lost its potency. Congress is obligated by oath to uphold the constitution and protect and defend the country. The Republicans in Congress opted for partisan and ideological goals in conflict with their duties. The American public needs to be informed of this and of how damaging their dereliction has been to our nation.
If the Democrats can take back either the House or the Senate in 2006 it will be possible to begin some long overdue investigations of this administration’s actions as well as the actions of many in Congress. This would be a good start but, not be as effective as regaining the White House and access to the documents and records the administration has refused to release in defiance of FOIA suits filed by many parties. I believe this to be crucial to any serious investigation of presidential, cabinet and Congressional misconduct and it is precisely for that reason I believe that Bush will be compelled to decree all such documents sealed for years to come. The American public must not stand for that or any other attempt to hide, obscure or destroy evidence that this administration broke laws, weakened democracy, defied the constitution, engaged in cover-ups, lied to the nation, authorized the illegal invasion of Iraq in defiance of international law, and caused the death and maiming of thousands of American soldiers for selfish purposes.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
The Gauntlet
George Bush has thrown down the gauntlet with his latest act of treachery, namely the use of the NSA to spy on American citizens. Regardless how many partisan hacks come to his defense claiming he has the right to do this because he is a war president, it does not change the fact that his actions are in direct violation of the FISA law. And though he is claiming legal and constitutional justification for his ongoing program of surveillance, he is most certainly aware that none exists.
This act, and his pathetic argument for its legality, is meant to exert an authority he is well aware he does not possess and to gauge public acceptance of limitless executive power. Bush’s administration has exceeded all previous presidents in exercising questionable authority and gaining acceptance of what was once unacceptable. Without the necessary checks and balances upon his powers he is unencumbered in expanding them beyond any previously conceived limits.
Congress, including bush’s partisans, apologists and water carriers, has been slapped in the face by this president who feels he is beyond their control. Those who have spoken out against him, as well as those who have spoken up for him, have been put on notice that he does not recognize their authority and is in defiance of the role of executive oversight. They must take positive action against the president now, or accept their new role as factotums with diminished capacity and heightened insignificance.
If Congress chooses the latter there will be no impediment for the president to overcome in claiming even greater authority including omnipotence. Considering the arrogance he has demonstrated thus far, it is no longer inconceivable that he would suspend elections and remain in office.
This act, and his pathetic argument for its legality, is meant to exert an authority he is well aware he does not possess and to gauge public acceptance of limitless executive power. Bush’s administration has exceeded all previous presidents in exercising questionable authority and gaining acceptance of what was once unacceptable. Without the necessary checks and balances upon his powers he is unencumbered in expanding them beyond any previously conceived limits.
Congress, including bush’s partisans, apologists and water carriers, has been slapped in the face by this president who feels he is beyond their control. Those who have spoken out against him, as well as those who have spoken up for him, have been put on notice that he does not recognize their authority and is in defiance of the role of executive oversight. They must take positive action against the president now, or accept their new role as factotums with diminished capacity and heightened insignificance.
If Congress chooses the latter there will be no impediment for the president to overcome in claiming even greater authority including omnipotence. Considering the arrogance he has demonstrated thus far, it is no longer inconceivable that he would suspend elections and remain in office.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
