Where Were You ...
... when the Coup happened?
The President of the United States has come out and publicly told people that he is, for all practical purposes, Above the Law in this country. Now, he justifies this by saying that we're at war, his Constitutional powers allow it, and so does the Congressional "Authorization for Use of Military Force" which marked the Congress' terror-stricken stampede away from their traditional prerogatives.
Okay. Several problems here. For starters, we already HAD a perfectly sound mechanism for wiretapping people, and you had 72 hours to do it before having to take the case to the largely rubber-stamp FISA Court. Two, the US Constitution does NOT give the President authority to act above it. This is not the Roman Republic; there is no provision to set up a dictator to 'see to it that no harm come to the State.' If Bush truly respected the rule of law in this country, he would never have done anything so patently stupid and illegal. Three, the Congress never authorized - and as far as we know never agreed to - allowing Bush to run roughshod over the Constitution.
Personally, I blame two lawyers for this shit. One is Alberto "Torturer" Gonzales, and the other is an Eichmann-like character named John Yoo. It would not surprise me in the least if Mr. Yoo were revealed to be a paid agent of the People's Republic of China (but that's a TinFoil Hat Moment).
So, let's see where we stand right now:
1. A President who claims the authority that Henry VIII, Adolf Hitler and Iosif Stalin claimed - that they are above the law, and can do whatever they wish under the guise of "protecting the country."
2. The ruling party in the Congress owned in fee simple by corporate interests who are dedicated to using the present "War on Terror" to line their own pockets.
3. The courts bypassed and the highest court in the land being packed with right-wing ideologues.
4. A largely servile news media, who have given up their independence to their corporate masters in exchange for "access" - crumbs from the tables of the powerful. Fox, for example, should call itself a Propaganda Channel - which would be the plain truth.
5. Bush's "conservative base" made up of people who have, for all intents and purpose, stopped thinking for themselves. Completely.
The only thing we can do, people, is for all of us, Republican and Democrat, to work for an overturn of the current majority in both Houses of Congress. Agitate for the news media to return to its former status as the Fourth Estate and start raking through the wreckage to find their balls.
And when the "conservative base" start screeching at you like parrots that the President needs these extraordinary powers, just remind them that Bush is setting a precedent here - and would they like to see a Democrat wielding those powers?
And now, two quotes:
"Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny."— Barry Goldwater
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."— Sinclair Lewis
The President of the United States has come out and publicly told people that he is, for all practical purposes, Above the Law in this country. Now, he justifies this by saying that we're at war, his Constitutional powers allow it, and so does the Congressional "Authorization for Use of Military Force" which marked the Congress' terror-stricken stampede away from their traditional prerogatives.
Okay. Several problems here. For starters, we already HAD a perfectly sound mechanism for wiretapping people, and you had 72 hours to do it before having to take the case to the largely rubber-stamp FISA Court. Two, the US Constitution does NOT give the President authority to act above it. This is not the Roman Republic; there is no provision to set up a dictator to 'see to it that no harm come to the State.' If Bush truly respected the rule of law in this country, he would never have done anything so patently stupid and illegal. Three, the Congress never authorized - and as far as we know never agreed to - allowing Bush to run roughshod over the Constitution.
Personally, I blame two lawyers for this shit. One is Alberto "Torturer" Gonzales, and the other is an Eichmann-like character named John Yoo. It would not surprise me in the least if Mr. Yoo were revealed to be a paid agent of the People's Republic of China (but that's a TinFoil Hat Moment).
So, let's see where we stand right now:
1. A President who claims the authority that Henry VIII, Adolf Hitler and Iosif Stalin claimed - that they are above the law, and can do whatever they wish under the guise of "protecting the country."
2. The ruling party in the Congress owned in fee simple by corporate interests who are dedicated to using the present "War on Terror" to line their own pockets.
3. The courts bypassed and the highest court in the land being packed with right-wing ideologues.
4. A largely servile news media, who have given up their independence to their corporate masters in exchange for "access" - crumbs from the tables of the powerful. Fox, for example, should call itself a Propaganda Channel - which would be the plain truth.
5. Bush's "conservative base" made up of people who have, for all intents and purpose, stopped thinking for themselves. Completely.
The only thing we can do, people, is for all of us, Republican and Democrat, to work for an overturn of the current majority in both Houses of Congress. Agitate for the news media to return to its former status as the Fourth Estate and start raking through the wreckage to find their balls.
And when the "conservative base" start screeching at you like parrots that the President needs these extraordinary powers, just remind them that Bush is setting a precedent here - and would they like to see a Democrat wielding those powers?
And now, two quotes:
"Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny."— Barry Goldwater
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."— Sinclair Lewis
posted by Walt at 11:56 AM
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