Virtual Museum of China '89Hard Rain Journal 11-8-07: Who Will Rescue The Goddess of Liberty from Her Abusers & Their Enablers in the US Congress?
By Richard Power
She never wanted to be with him. She did not choose him. He and his thugs took her by force in 2000, and dragged her into their lair.
She tried to escape in 2004. She got as far as Ohio, then they caught up with her, hog-tied her, and hustled her away again.
How many times has she been carried into the chambers of the US Congress, bruised and bleeding? Too many.
How many times have the denizens of the Congress sent her back to him? Every time.
"It will be different this time," they promise. "We have assurances."
But, of course, each time, it does happen again. And each time, a little bit more of her body is broken, and a little bit more of her light has gone out.
"We told him he better not try this again," they boast. "Its better for the children if you stay together."
When her bones get broken, they say, "Oh, we can fix this ... We are going to submit legislation!"
But, of course, if the legislation is submitted, it is filibustered, if somehow it eludes the filibuster, it is vetoed, if it is not vetoed, he simply issues a signing statement declaring the law does not apply to him and his thugs.
So her bones are never set properly, and the resultant deformities cause her to live in ceaseless pain.
Why are they enabling this abuser? Why don't they confront him? Why do they give him everything he demands? Why do they send her back to him again and again? Is it fear? Are they afraid his thugs will come after them? Do they fear for their children? Is it business? Is the money really that good?
The US Senate thrives on denial. It is the oxygen of that place.
You cannot fight this kind of abuse with legislation.
This is not a policy debate, this is personal.
You need to intervene -- forcefully, and directly; and you must not back down, no matter what the consequences.
George W. Bush has given seven State of the Union addresses. Not once has any one of those Senators stood up, turned his or her back and shunned him.
George W. Bush has submitted just as many budgets, as well as countless "emergency supplements." And yet, not once has the Senate refused to give him the money.
Bush and Cheney deserve to be impeached and removed from office.
It doesn't look like that is going to happen, despite the daring and worthy efforts of Rep. Dennis Kuchinch (D-OH).
Bush and Cheney deserve to be censured.
It doesn't look like that is going to happen, despite the worthy efforts of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI).
"Just hold on," they tell her. "It will be over next year."
Ah, but he has already made plans to sell her to another abuser.
And that transaction will go through, unless enough of us stand up and fight to save her between now and 2008.
She is, after all, our mother.
And she is the mother of us all.
Why do you think it is that anti-war, pro-Constitution maverick Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) raised $4.2 million on-line in one 24-hour period? (See Houston Chronicle, 11-7-07)
In his Special Comment on 11-5-07, Keith Olbermann exhibited a depth of courage and patriotism that has gone tragically missing in the halls of Congress.
Except, of course, for Rep. Dennis Kucinich who stood on the floor of the House two days later and introduced his resolution calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney (only to have debate on it voted down by his own party).
Why is a former sportscaster the only news show host in the US mainstream media willing to speak truth to power?
Why is a Congressman from Cleveland the only elected representative in the US federal government willing to lead an effort to remove these people from office?
Those who hide behind the "conventional wisdom" that impeachment is not politically feasible have no credibility. Because they have done nothing to compensate for not pursuing impeachment.
They refuse to push for censure. And yet, they found the votes to condemn MoveOn.
They refuse to torpedo Mukasey's nomination, even though he equivocated on a simple, long-established issue of law regarding torture. And yet, just prior to the August recess, they were able to rush through a bill that expanded Bush's power and further weakened FISA.
They refuse to cut off the funding for a continuation of the Mega-Mogadishu in Iraq. And yet, they found enough votes to help further Lieberman's lust for attacking Iran.
Of course, there is always some excuse. But if there is always an excuse, and an excuse is required for almost every action, then something is wrong, something much worse than whatever any one or another excuse supposedly relates to.
Here are some excerpts from Olbermann's Special Comment and Rep. Dennis Kucinich's resolution, with links to the full text of both important documents:
It is a fact startling in its cynical simplicity and it requires cynical and simple words to be properly expressed: The presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.
All the petulancy, all the childish threats, all the blank-stare stupidity; all the invocations of World War III, all the sophistic questions about which terrorist attacks we wanted him not to stop, all the phony secrets; all the claims of executive privilege, all the stumbling tap-dancing of his nominees, all the verbal flatulence of his apologists...
All of it is now, after one revelation last week, transparently clear for what it is: the pathetic and desperate manipulation of the government, the refocusing of our entire nation, toward keeping this mock president and this unstable vice president and this departed wildly self-overrating attorney general, and the others, from potential prosecution for having approved or ordered the illegal torture of prisoners being held in the name of this country. ...
Daniel Levin took himself to a military base and let himself be waterboarded.
Mr. Bush, ever done anything that personally courageous?
Perhaps when you've gone to Walter Reed and teared up over the maimed servicemen? And then gone back to the White House and determined that there would be more maimed servicemen?
Has it been that kind of personal courage, Mr. Bush, when you've spoken of American victims and the triumph of freedom and the sacrifice of your own popularity for the sake of our safety? And then permitted others to fire or discredit or destroy anybody who disagreed with you, whether they were your own generals, or Max Cleland, or Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, or Daniel Levin?
Daniel Levin should have a statue in his honor in Washington right now.
Instead, he was forced out as acting assistant attorney general nearly three years ago because he had the guts to do what George Bush couldn't do in a million years: actually put himself at risk for the sake of his country, for the sake of what is right.
And they waterboarded him. And he wrote that even though he knew those doing it meant him no harm, and he knew they would rescue him at the instant of the slightest distress, and he knew he would not die - still, with all that reassurance, he could not stop the terror screaming from inside of him, could not quell the horror, could not convince that which is at the core of each of us, the entity who exists behind all the embellishments we strap to ourselves, like purpose and name and family and love, he could not convince his being that he wasn't drowning.
Waterboarding, he said, is torture. Legally, it is torture! Practically, it is torture! Ethically, it is torture! And he wrote it down. ...
From its beginning as the most neglectful protection ever of the lives and safety of the American people ... into the most efficient and cynical exploitation of tragedy for political gain in this country's history ... and, then, to the giddying prospect that you could do what the military fanatics did in Japan in the 1930s and remake a nation into a fascist state so efficient and so self-sustaining that the fascism would be nearly invisible.
But at last this frightful plan is ending with an unexpected crash, the shocking reality that no matter how thoroughly you might try to extinguish them, Mr. Bush, how thoroughly you tried to brand disagreement as disloyalty, Mr. Bush, there are still people like Daniel Levin who believe in the United States of America as true freedom, where we are better, not because of schemes and wars, but because of dreams and morals.
And ultimately these men, these patriots, will defeat you and they will return this country to its righteous standards, and to its rightful owners, the people. Keith Olbermann, MSNBC Countdown, 11-5-07 (Courtesy of Truthout)
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis demeanors.
Article I
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:
(1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction...
(2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice President was fully informed that no legitimate evidence existed of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Vice President pressured the intelligence community to change their findings to enable the deception of the citizens and Congress of the United States.
(3) The Vice President’s actions corrupted or attempted to corrupt the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, an intelligence document issued on October 1, 2002 and carefully considered by Congress prior to the October 10, 2002 vote to authorize the use of force. The Vice President’s actions prevented the necessary reconciliation of facts for the National Intelligence Estimate which resulted in a high number of dissenting opinions from technical experts in two Federal agencies.
The Vice President subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the invasion of Iraq. In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States.Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
Article II
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:
(1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and the Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda...
(2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice President was fully informed that no credible evidence existed of a working relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, a fact articulated in several official documents, including...
Article III
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and done so with the United States proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the national security of the United States, to wit:
(1) Despite no evidence that Iran has the intention or the capability of attacking the United States and despite the turmoil created by United States invasion of Iraq, the Vice President has openly threatened aggression against Iran as evidenced by the following:
(2) The Vice President, who repeatedly and falsely claimed to have had specific, detailed knowledge of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction capabilities, is no doubt fully aware of evidence that demonstrates Iran poses no real threat to the United States as evidenced by the following:
(3) The Vice President is fully aware of the actions taken by the United States towards Iran that are further destabilizing the world as evidenced by the following...
(4) In the last three years the Vice President has repeatedly threatened Iran. However, the Vice President is legally bound by the U.S Constitution’s adherence to international law that prohibits threats of use of force..
Wherefore Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
The full text and extensive supporting documents are available at Rep. Kucinich's official web site.
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