.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

While We Still Have Time

In spite of the grimness of the times in which we live, there is still hope. If you feel, like I do, that the usual discourse about matters of critical concern tends to be superficial, misguided, and false, then you might find some solace and inspiration here. I will try to offer insight and a holistic perspective on events and issues, and hopefully serve as a catalyst for raising the level of dialogue on this planet.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States

I was born in 1945, shortly before atom bombs were dropped on Japan. I served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971. I earned master's degrees in Economics and Educational Psychology, and certificates in Web Page Design and as a Teacher of English as a Second Language. I followed an Indian guru for eight years, which immersed me in meditative practices and an attitude of reaching a higher level of being. A blog post listing the meditative practices I have pursued can be seen here.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

What about us?

Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame, patriots both, in the truest sense.Now that Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Irv Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has been convicted of four felony charges for his role in the treasonous exposure of an intelligence agent, the question we face is where the country goes from here. I wrote a comment that I submitted to Salon and Smirking Chimp, and a revised version appears below. Before reading it I suggest you read Glenn Greenwald's reponse to defeatist comments on what he wrote about the verdict.
____________________________________

Changing the dialogue

The power behind the throneMy greatest hope is that this verdict will disabuse the country of the notion that the Bush regime is anything other than a criminal organization. A mafia. A syndicate. A gang. A conspiracy. The ideology is just window dressing, intellectual cover, a front to keep pundits employed, especially on Fox and CNN, but also on the "legitimate" networks - CBS, ABC, and NBC. The intention of the propaganda front is to keep the "American" people confused, fooled, compliant, and supportive.

From Bush to his lowest appointee, this administration is criminal. Bush himself stole two elections. He should never have been president in the first place. His active negligence (or worse) enabled the attacks of September 11, 2001. His lying enabled the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the occupation has been fraught with corruption, kidnapping, torture, and murder of Iraqis.

His active negligence enabled the disaster and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His failure to address the effects of climate change guarantees that we will pay a dear price for it in death and destruction for decades to come. He is a completely worthless human being, and should be impeached, tried, convicted, and imprisoned for the rest of his misspent life. His accomplices should suffer the same fate.

The real question at this point is what about us, The "American" people? Do we have the wherewithal, the nerve, the courage to bring this regime to justice? If we are a nation of Patrick Fitzgeralds, then yes, we do. But there is an entire political party that supports the criminality of the Bush crime family. The "Republicans" will do anything they can to prevent the gang from being held accountable, because the long arm of the law just might reach them too. So we can expect the expected: obfuscation, propaganda, obstruction, fake indignation, fake arguments, diversion, character assassination, scapegoating, threats, lies, etc., etc., etc.

What honorable, intelligent people can begin doing is change the dialogue about the drive for empire. It was never for us, but for themselves. "Leftists" call them "fascists," but it is fascism to benefit themselves, not us. They would not like fascism so much if someone else were in power. The "Patriot Act" is for their own benefit, not ours. The domestic spying is to benefit themselves, not us. Packing the Supreme Court is for themselves, not us. The "War on terror" is for their benefit, not ours.

So maybe now we can start to talk differently about this regime. Once we have changed the context, we can see clearly what needs to be done.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Impeachment won't happen so long as Repubbies have a veto proof minority in the Senate.

So why pontificate on it?

beebs
anarchist

3/17/2007 3:51 PM  
Blogger John Hamilton said...

Whenever I see one of these defeatist comments I refer to Glenn Greenwald's reply, which is linked to above, but here it is again.

In this case it's probably a fake defeatist comment, though the difference between fake and real is negligible. To be defeatist and anonymous both is to be a double coward.

As far as pontificating, I wasn't aware I had been elected Pope. I thought the smoke was black. Actually, the accuser is just engaging in a little ego masturbation. Seemingly stating the obvious, that impeachment won't happen as long as "Repubbies" have a veto proof minority in the Senate is publishing one's ignorance. Impeachment takes place in the House of Representatives. The trial takes place in the Senate. Read about it here.

This is a pretty good example of why "anarchists" will remain impotent, limited to what they are good at: vandalism. It would be interesting to know the ratio of FBI agent to "anarchist" in any of their cell groups around the country. For a little background, check this out.

3/19/2007 9:39 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home