Did we collectively give a damn that aside from Saddam, his family and some military officials ordering soldiers to do strikingly similar things our leaders ask of our own soldiers, most of the people we were about to incinerate, obliterate, and annihilate were just trying to survive our oppressive sanctions and a ruthless dictator simultaneuosly and were in no position to pose a threat to us whatsoever?
The answer is no, as a nation we did not. Prime time, Shock and Awe Baby, and the nation ate it up.
Did we really care enough about all those dead Iraqis with white phosphorous all over them to raise our collective voice as a nation against it?
The answer is again, no we did not. The United States would never improperly use an incendiary weapon on civilians unless the evidence forced them to admit they had and well, it was really to late then wasn't it?
Were we sufficiently appalled that our Government tortures people to rise up, as a nation, and say with unity and commitment we would not tolerate it?
No. Out of sight and out of mind is the American way.
God knows how may Iraqis, along with thousands of American Soldiers bear witness every day to the way Bush and Company pursue whatever the hell it is they want while they enrich themselves and their corporate partners, with only the vaguest of lip service, flipping the channels and changing the stories of war and conquest as if they were changing their socks.
Have we listened to the conscientious objectors or is it easier just to call them cowards?
If you find yourself thinking about rising up and making your voice heard at this late date, you may want to consider that President George W. Bush has just signed into LAW the means by which your government will deal with you should you decide to attempt to publicly assert your right to demonstrate your disgust with them.
The ultimate irony, of course, is that you could enjoy a stay at the Halliburton Center for the Unpatriotic and Unrepentant that your own tax dollars paid to construct. It is your right to choose though, shut up or get jacked up.
It is called Martial Law, also known as a Police State.
I am utterly saddened that America has come to this, a brutal and corrupt government seeking to protect its own interests from the people. Saddam would be proud, except that he is going to be executed for doing just that, since he decided to run his own game and not play ball anymore with the Bush gang.
And the irony just goes on and on.
By the people and for the people, that was a really a great idea. Too bad it may never get the chance to be all it could have been in America. We the people gave it all away, bit by bit and what hurts the most is deep inside ourselves we know it was our game to lose.
How long have we watched this very thing go on around us? How often have we turned our faces away from those who would warn us that our own Government has been deeply involved in creating this very scenario in other countries around the world?
Are we about to find out first hand just exactly why "they" hate us so much?
Kim Gongre is a freelance writer working to promote peace, social justice and truth in media. Kim works and resides in the mountains of East Tennessee.
CONGRESS makes laws. Pointing to a president as the culprit in bad law ignores the pivotal issue. The public has no practical control over the president or the Supreme Court. The one organ of government that is most responsive to public control is Congres . . . and when Congress makes stupid laws, the media and political dabblers gnash their teeth at the president. Ineffective, and ridiculous.
Garbage in, garbage out. Don't elect idiots to send bad law for signature and the supposedly almighty chief executive has nothing to sign.
And look more closely at law wording. I followed the circuitous route of links to a more authenticate citation of the actual law and it does not grant the president power to call up guard units without the governor's authorization. It specifies already "Federalized" (assigned to federal control) units.
Presidents are capable of tremendous power, and of using that power very badly. Executive orders, anyone? Japanese interment camps? But bitching at the prez for signing bad law diverts attention from the area where genuine progress can be made.
Public ignorance of the system is one of the foundational supports of the deterioration of the system.
by
Patriot-X (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 2:56:27 PM
