Image: La Liberté guidant le peuple par Eugène Delacroix (1830) (Musée du Louvre, Paris)
Hard Rain Journal: Asking the Right Questions -- It is Tyranny, Treason & Torture, Not Terrorism, that Will Destroy Us; Unless We Resist.
By Richard Power
The question isn't whether or not the Bush-Cheney regime should attack Iran without first receiving explicit congressional authorization, the question isn't even whether or not the Bush-Cheney regime should get the funding to continue the occupation of Iraq.
The question is "How can the _resident be allowed to spend one more weekend mountain biking at Camp David while the men and women of the US military die in the Mega-Mogadishu of Iraq?"
The question isn't whether or not the VICE _resident should be investigated for his role in violations of the Foreign Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Freedom of Information Act or improprieties in regard to the awarding of no-bid DoD contracts to Halliburton, or for tampering with the operations of the CIA or the DoJ.
The question is, "Why should the US taxpayer foot the bill for this person to fall asleep at another cabinet meeting, shoot another friend in the face or spend any more time 'working in the shadows' from his secure, undisclosed location?"
The question is, "How can we remove these people from office peacefully and constitutionally; and if there is no way to remove them from office peacefully and constitutionally, how do we best use the political process to mitigate their destructive impact until their term is up?" The question is, "How do we insure that they leave at the end of it?"
The question is, "How do we make certain that they are not followed up by others like Giuliani or Romney, who although just as disturbed, might prove more competent?"
It is not terrorism that will destroy us, it is tyranny, treason and torture.
In recent days, despite the worst intentions of the US mainstream news media, the stark truth has bled through the fabric of self-deception, from within that mainstream itself.
However, without the aggregation, analysis and amplification that is only available in the blogosphere, the truth would be all too easily drowned out with nonsense.
So here are four nuggets of gold truth concerning Tyranny, Treason and Torture extracted from the mainstream media's mine of false memes:
Tyranny --
CNN commentator Jack Cafferty speculated on Wednesday about how George W. Bush's unilateral grab for presidential power might be reversed.
"The president of the United States didn't have the power to spy on Americans ... operate secret prisons ... suspend due process ... torture ... hide the conduct of the government from the public," Cafferty stated. "It's not like anybody gave President Bush any of these powers -- he took them, as a brain-dead Congress just stood there and watched."
In the follow-up segment, Cafferty read a selection of emails from clearly outraged -- and outspoken -- viewers ... "George Bush is the next president. He and Darth Cheney will be surrendering none of their bounty. Forty years of planning to hand it all to Hillary Clinton? Not a chance. If you think there'll be a November 8 election, give my regards to the Easter Bunny." Raw Story, 10-26-07
Treason --
Disclosure of her covert identity for political purposes was nothing short of "treason," outed former CIA agent Valerie Plame told Hardball host Chris Matthews Thursday on MSNBC. ...
"When your husband filed that story," Matthews said, "he must have known, didn't he, that he was gonna light a match that was going to lead all the way to you?"
Plame responded that her outing was not only unexpected, it was also treasonous.
"You cannot possibly be suggesting that with Joe's credentials, my airtight cover, that we actually anticipated that senior government officials would commit treason by blowing my covert identity," she said. Raw Story, 10-26-07
We know, with a 70 percent level of certainty — which is huge in the world of intelligence — that in August of 2007, bin Laden was in a convoy headed south from Tora Bora. We had his butt, on camera, on satellite. We were listening to his conversations. We had the world’s best hunters/killers — Seal Team 6 — nearby. We had the world class Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating with the CIA and other agencies. We had unmanned drones overhead with missiles on their wings; we had the best Air Force on the planet, begging to drop one on the terrorist. We had him in our sights; we had done it. Nice job again guys — now, pull the damn trigger.
Unbelievably, and in my opinion, criminally, we did not kill Usama bin Laden. ... The United States of America’s political and military leadership has, on at least three separate occasions, chosen not capture or kill bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahri. We have allowed Pakistan to become a safe haven for Al Qaeda. We have allowed Al Qaeda to reconstitute, partially because of money they (Al Qaeda in Iraq) have been sending to Al Qaeda in Pakistan. Col. David Hunt, Fox News, 10-26-07
Torture --
Former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's jaunt to France was interrupted today by an unscheduled itinerary item -- he was slapped with a criminal complaint charging him with torture. ...
The head of one of the groups responsible for bringing the charges, the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights, told RAW STORY today by phone that the suit was a long time coming.
"We've been working on cornering Rumsfeld and getting him indicted somewhere going on three years now," said the Center's president, Michael Ratner. "Four days ago, we got confidential information he was going to be in France."
Joined by activists, attorneys for the human rights groups caught up with Rumsfeld on his way to a breakfast meeting. "He was walking down the street with just one person," said Ratner.
"Around 20 campaigners gave Rumsfeld a rowdy welcome...yelling 'murderer,' waving a banner and trying to push into the building," reports AFP. ...
According to Ratner, France has a legal responsibility under international law to prosecute Rumsfeld for torture abuses. Raw Story, 10-26-07
For an archive of Words of Power posts on 9/11, Terrorism, etc., click here.
For an archive of Words of Power posts on Corporate News Media Complicity, Power of Alternative Media, Propaganda & Freedom of Press, click here.
Jack Cafferty, Donald Rumsfeld, Valerie Plame, Col. David Hunt, Bush, Cheney, Iraq, Iran, Richard Power, Words of Power
