Hard Rain Journal 5-25-07: Martial Law, Monica Goodling & the Funding of the Bush-Cheney Slaughterhouse -- Yes, It's Going to Be a Long, Hot Summer
By Richard Power
The situation is worse than most people are capable of acknowledging -- both militarily in Iraq, and politically in the USA. People do not realize how far off the road and into the bushes we have already been dragged.
Four months ago, in Hard Rain Journal 2-2-07: Forget about 2008, the Fate of the Republic could be Decided in the Next Six Months, I wrote that indulging in speculation about the presidential campaign was a luxury we simply could not afford -- because the future would depend on whether or not this Congress confronted the Bush-Cheney regime. Everything that has happened in recent weeks -- e.g., the bloody futility of the escalation in Iraq, the manuevering over a military strike against Iran, and the shocking revelations that have flowed from congressional investigation of the US DoJ scandal -- confirms this conviction.
Last week, in Hard Rain Journal 5-18-07: Is This The Week The USA Got Its Mojo Back?, I wrote that recent events indicated that the forces of reason and conscience were on the ascent and on the advance. Nothing that has occured in the past several days, as grim, disturbing and discouraging as the news has been, changes that assessment.
This rescue of the Republic is one of the great sagas of human history; and like all great sagas, the course of the narrative includes trials and tribulations as well as triumphs, it includes tactical retreats as well as bold advances.
Consider some recent developments within this context.
Never turn your back on the Bush-Cheney regime, it is the Hannibal Lecter of US politics. If you do, it can and will escape to kill again.
President Bush has signed a directive granting extraordinary powers to the office of the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or oversight. The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" was signed May 9 ... It was issued with the dual designation of NSPD-51, as a National Security Presidential Directive, and HSPD-20, as a Homeland Security Presidential Directive. ... "Catastrophic emergency" is loosely defined as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." Corsi says the president can assume the power to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over. Bush grants presidency extraordinary powers, Directive for emergencies apparently gives authority without congressional oversight, World Net Daily, 5-23-07
This story surfaced on World Net Daily, a reich-wing propaganda organ. In other words, they want this story out there. It is an attempt to intimidate, but, of course, it is also what it is appears to be on face value, i.e., preparation for possible martial law.
This week's House Judiciary Committee testimony of Monica Goodling also offers some eerie insights.
Remember the prophetic warning of Sinclair Lewis in It Can't Happen Here: "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
Take a look at some of the video clips of Goodling's testimony. That's the one of the faces of the great deception -- a pretty, young, seemingly niave woman.
She only wanted "to serve this President," not the people, not the US Constitution, but "this President."
"I crossed the line, but I didn't mean to."
Remember, this woman was hired as a senior DoJ official with the power to ruin careers or disrupt criminal investigation after graduating from Pat Robertson's poorly ranked law school and doing a six-month stint conducting "opposition research" for the Republican National Committee.
In Hard Rain Journal 3-25-07: DoJ Purge Update: Four Blockbusters that Have Not Hit -- YET, I wrote about several asepcts of this scandal that had yet to become common knowledge, one of them was that Alberto Gonzalez couldn't resign (he's still there), and another was that this investigation will inexorable lead to revelations concerning the theft of elections, in particular 2004.
Consider this latest post from Greg Palast.
This Monica revealed something hotter - much hotter - than a stained blue dress. In her opening testimony yesterday before the House Judiciary Committee, Monica Goodling, the blonde-ling underling to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Department of Justice Liaison to the White House, dropped The Big One.... And the Committee members didn't even know it.
Goodling testified that Gonzales' Chief of Staff, Kyle Sampson, perjured himself, lying to the committee in earlier testimony. The lie: Sampson denied Monica had told him about Tim Griffin's "involvement in 'caging' voters" in 2004.
Huh?? Tim Griffin? "Caging"???
The perplexed committee members hadn't a clue - and asked no substantive questions about it thereafter. Karl Rove is still smiling. If the members had gotten the clue, and asked the right questions, they would have found "the keys to the kingdom," they thought they were looking for. They dangled right in front of their perplexed faces.
The keys: the missing emails - and missing link - that could send Griffin and his boss, Rove, to the slammer for a long, long time.
Kingdom enough for ya? ...
Why weren't these African-American voters home when the Republican letters arrived? The homeless men were on park benches, the students were on vacation - and the soldiers were overseas. Go to Baghdad, lose your vote. Mission Accomplished.
How do I know? I have the caging lists...
Greg Palast, Brad Blog, 5-24-07
The third turn down a dark corner in this last week concerns the Democratic Party leadership in the US Congress. There is a stench in the air. The leadership must move swiftly to dispel it. It is difficult not to assume that these people are going to capitulate and continue on in complicity. Those of us who remember the faux opposition to the bankruptcy bill, the refusal to filibuster Alito or Roberts nominations, the original vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq, and so many other acts of cravenness and cowardice, can only assume the worse -- particularly since as they were "negotiating" a "compromise" with the Bush-Cheney regime on Iraq, they were also selling out labor and the environment in a "Secret Trade Deal" with the Bush-Cheney regime.
Did they bow on Iraq? Did they blink? Is their opposition to this occupation disingenuous?
Remember that the K Street virus that devoured the Republican Party has half-devoured the Democratic Party. It is not altogether lost but it is in trouble.
These passionate and eloquent dissents from Keith Olberman and Buzzflash frame the issue magnificently:
Few men or women elected in our history—whether executive or legislative, state or national—have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear:
Get us out of Iraq.
Yet after six months of preparation and execution—half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this:
The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president—if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history—who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats “give the troops their money”;
The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans;
The Democratic leadership has given Mr. Bush all that he wanted, with the only caveat being, not merely meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government, but optional meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government.
The Democratic leadership has, in sum, claimed a compromise with the Administration, in which the only things truly compromised, are the trust of the voters, the ethics of the Democrats, and the lives of our brave, and doomed, friends, and family, in Iraq.
You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions—Stop The War—have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you… for a handful of magic beans. Keith Olberman, Special Comment, MSNBC Countdown, 5-23-07
There is no question that the GOP is the party of surrender. Terrorists don’t need a timeline to know that Bush and Cheney began putting America in a position of weakness and vulnerability – both militarily and economically – when the mad king and his Rasputin – along with Svengali Rove -- ginned up a propaganda campaign to scare Congress into permitting them to make the strategically devastating error of invading Iraq.
But the Democratic leadership on the Hill reacts by doing the opposite of Teddy Roosevelt’s dictum: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Since the 2006 elections, the Dem honchos have been speaking loudly and carrying a little stick.Capitulating to the Party of Surrender: The Dems Help Bush Pull Domestic Political Victory From the Jaws of Defeat, A Buzzflash Editorial, 5-24-07
I have been waiting to hear what Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) would say. When he speaks about Iraq, there are tears in his voice.
I stand with Olberman and Buzzflash, but I will also stand by Murtha.
To win a political struggle you must understand the difference between hypocrisy and a paradoxical truth.
This foolish military adventure must end -- one way or another; and those responsible must be hounded to the Hague. This is not finished, unfortunately it has just begun. Do not allow yourselves to succumb to bitterness at this moment.
Remember that Presidentual Directive. Remember the example of Monica Goodling. The situation is much worse than most people are capable of acknowledging -- both militarily in Iraq, and politically in the USA.
Here is Murtha's statement:
Today, I voted for both the $22 billion supplemental funding for domestic programs and the $98 billion supplemental funding for our troops in Iraq.
The Democrats in Congress have already sent a supplemental to the president that would have set benchmarks and timelines for the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Instead of demonstrating to the American people and the Iraqi Government that our commitment is not open-ended, the president vetoed our bill and refuses to recognize that this war cannot be won militarily.
Some have suggested that since the president refuses to compromise, Democrats should refuse to send him anything. I disagree. There is a point when the money for our troops in Iraq will run out, and when it does, our men and women serving courageously in Iraq will be the ones who will suffer, not this president.
Patience has run out and I feel a change in direction happening within the chambers of Congress. While we don't have the votes right now to change the president's policy, I believe that come September we will have the votes from both Democrats and Republicans to change policy and direction. In September, General Petraeus will report back on the progress of the surge, and Congress will take up both the $460 billion base defense appropriations bill and the $141 billion Iraq supplemental. The surge is not producing the results that were promised. And, based on my discussions with Iraqi Government officials, I don't believe they have the motivation to bring about the political and economic benchmarks agreed to. This is why September will be key.
We have lost 418 of our fellow Americans since the president announced his surge, and come September, with your help, we can convince my colleagues from across the aisle that enough is enough. For almost two years, I have tried diligently to redeploy our forces from Iraq, and I will not stop now. Rep. Jack Murtha, Huffington Post, 5-25-07
It is already painfully clear that this is going to be a long, hot summer, and we have not even made it to the Summer Solstice yet. I hope enough of us, in both the US Congress and on the streets of this troubled country, have the stomach for it.
Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net
Rep. Jack Murtha,Keith Olberman, Buzzflash, Monica Goodling, Iraq, Bush,Greg Palast, Cheney, Richard Power, Words of Power
