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April 14, 2008 at 23:35:54
by Dr. Dennis Loo Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
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The perverse and perilous paradox of this presidency is that the more Bush and Cheney fail, the more they succeed. (See my article "Fighting Terror with Terror.") Bush parlayed his criminal failure to protect and come to the rescue of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Katrina into getting Congress to pass in September 2007 the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007. The Warner Act abrogates the Posse Comitatus Act (the Civil War law that prohibits the use of federal troops in domestic affairs) and gives the President the power to declare, on his own say so, a "public emergency" and carry out mass roundups, arrests and detentions. All Bush and Cheney need do, in other words, to nullify their record level of unpopularity is allow - or merely fail to prevent - another 9/11 attack (the attack that Bush warns of in the article below.) 
If they once again fail to prevent a terrorist attack as they did on 9/11, they will then undoubtedly get their grandest wish: unfettered executive powers.
The reason that this perverse paradox works is because their "war on terror" rests upon a specific, immoral logic - the idea that Americans' lives are more precious than that of Afghanis or Iraqis or Iranians or Pakistanis and that that it is necessary, and justifiable, to do anything to "protect American lives," including torture, mass murder, surveillance of all of us, and so on.
So long as the logic of this rationale remains unchallenged, Bush and Cheney - and their successors (McCain, Obama or Clinton and so on) - will succeed in consolidating virtually all power in the executive branch, accountable to no one and to no law. Anything and everything can be justified according to this reactionary, national chauvinist logic. The Bill of Rights, US Constitution, Geneva Conventions, international law and the UN Charter be damned. Nothing must or will stand in their way.
The Democrats - and Obama and Clinton in particular - have made it clear that they do not question the logic of this vicious rationale. Where is the talk in Pennsylvania between Barack and Hillary right now about the recent revelations of how from the very top levels of the White House, torture was plotted? Why are the Democrats mum about this? What kind of leaders are these? What right do they have to say that they should lead this country and we should support and vote for them when they haven't stopped the torture? Obama can say all he wants that he will shut down Gitmo, but why hasn't he done this while in the Senate?
Obama and Clinton could have and should have filibustered the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that legalized torture and stripped habeas corpus rights from anyone the president decides is an "enemy combatant." It isn't enough to say you're against something and vote against it, but then allow it to nevertheless pass. This is what a filibuster is for. Even the NY Times said at the time, if you're going to filibuster anything, filibuster this. Since January 2007 the Democrats have had the majority in Congress and all of the leadership posts.
They could have and should have, if they're really against all of this, repealed the MCA and the Warner Act and Patriot Act.
They should have defunded the war. They have had the power to do this. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid hide behind the fig leaf that they don't have the votes to stop the funding and stop the other tyrannies and crimes against humanity of the Bush regime. This is disingenuous in the extreme. They don't even need the votes to turn out their way, the leadership can simply prevent a funding bill from coming to the floor. They could hold hearings that reveal the depravities and atrocities being committed at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and in Afghanistan and they would have no problem given the impact this would have on public opinion in repealing the fascistic laws that have been passed to enable Bush and Cheney's power grab.
You have to ask yourself, what road are we on? Where is all of this headed? What would you do if you were Bush and Cheney and you had their worldview and their agenda? Would you go quietly into the night? Or would you do what you knew would give you the power you crave? What has been, after all, their entire record up to this point?
You have to ask yourself, why would the very same people who have had all of the power in their hands for years to prevent and expose these crimes - but haven't used it - suddenly, upon getting the presidency, have a moral awakening? If you stand by for years while a murderer and torturer is doing their filthy deeds in full view of you, and you did nothing about it when you had the ability, and thus the blood is on your hands for your failure to act, why would you suddenly have an epiphany when you now occupy the highest office in the land? Even if you did suddenly have an epiphany, wouldn't the obvious question be: why didn't you do something about this back then?
"Bush Warns of the Possibility of Another 9/11"
Big News Network.com
Sunday 13th April, 2008
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| 13 comments |
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Dr. Loo Succintly Puts It All Together . . . . .
All the pieces are in place. Is this merely a coincidence? Of course not. The next seven months shall be interesting to say the least. Betsy by Betsy (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 19 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 11:19:27 AM  (0+)
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The next seven months
Yes, Betsy. What we do, or don't do, over the next seven months, and particularly over the next few weeks, will be decisive for good, or for ill. Now that the cat's out of the bag, and Bush has finally admitted openly that he approved torture (see click here) the world and history will watch what Americans do. Will we be good Germans and, in fact, end up supplanting that, making "Good Americans" the term of art, or will we astonish and gratify the world by standing up and demanding that this cruel and criminal regime be driven from office? by Dr. Dennis Loo (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 78 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 11:46:35 AM (0+)
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Reply: Why that?
"Yes, Betsy. What we do, or don't do, over the next seven months, and particularly over the next few weeks, will be decisive for good, or for ill." I'm just curious, what's so specific about these next few weeks?" by Pixie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 50 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 3:36:57 PM (0+)
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Reply: The next few weeks
I specified this immediate period of time as important because there is a window of reaction time that if it isn't used, means that the window closes, not irrevocably, but the greater passage of time means that the possibility of acting decisively against something grows less. While the fact that they've been torturing has been well-known for years, at least to those who've been paying attention, and been well-documented by multiple sources, including my book, Impeach the President: the Case Against Bush and Cheney (click here) it has not been as broadly known as it is now, now that he has officially acknowledged/admitted approving of torture. If people don't act against this with this widespread knowledge, then the ongoing practice of torture becomes legitimized. I see this quite differently than Bill Cain who wrote: "there doesn't appear that anyone or anything is going to stop it." It is up to US to do something about it. That is, each individual who still has a working conscience to act and speak out and call on others to do the same. It will not suffice and it is not acceptable to say, that I know what should be done, but it's not going to be done. It WILL be done if people stop accepting that others must act first. You must act, now is the time. If not now, when, if not us, who? World Can't Wait and others have called for actions this Friday. Go to http://worldcantwait.org. I and WCW have been calling on people to take up the wearing of orange and decorating with orange as a daily symbol of resistance to the monstrous policies of this criminal government. Declare It Now! by Dr. Dennis Loo (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 78 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 5:02:24 PM (0+)
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Another 9-11
Yes, it all makes sense, and there doesn't appear that anyone or anything is going to stop it. At least we'll have the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so.", to all the sleeping zombies when this starts to unfold. by Bill Cain (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 435 comments [67 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 2:27:49 PM (0+)
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Professor Yoo
Good essay. Indeed, many high-level people have warned of this: A former prominent republican U.S. congressman stated that the U.S. is close to becoming a totalitarian society and that the current administration is using fear to try to ensure that this happens. Current republican U.S. congressman Ron Paul stated that the government "is determined to have martial law", and that the government is hoping to get the people "fearful enough that they will accept the man on the white horse". He also said "a contrived Gulf of Tonkin-type incident may occur to gain popular support for an attack on Iran". A former National Security Adviser told the Senate that a terrorist act might be carried out in the U.S. and falsely blamed on Iran to justify war against that nation. The former assistant secretary of treasury in the Reagan administration, called the "Father of Reaganomics", who is a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Scripps Howard News Service, has said: (see also this even stronger statement). A retired 27-year CIA analyst who prepared and presented Presidential Daily Briefs and served as a high-level analyst for several presidents stated that if there was another major attack in the U.S., it would lead to martial law. He went on to say: General Tommy Franks stated that if another terrorist attack occurs in the United States "the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government". Daniel Ellsberg, the famous Pentagon Papers whistleblower, said "if there is another terror attack, "I believe the president will get what he wants", which will include a dictatorship. The former UN Weapons Inspector, an American, who stated before the Iraq war started that there were no weapons of mass destruction is now saying that he would not rule out staged government terror by the U.S. government. And a member of the British Parliament stated that "there is a very real danger" that the American government will stage a false flag terror attack in order to justify war against Iran and to gain complete control domestically. by George Washington (188 articles, 27 quicklinks, 189 diaries, 219 comments [17 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 5:28:21 PM (0+)
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Reply: George
Thanks for your great comment George. There has got to be a typo in the salutation though because you addressed me as "PROFESSOR YOO." Please don't confuse me with that horrid war criminal at UC Berkeley, John Yoo! I'm Loo. : ) by Dr. Dennis Loo (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 78 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 at 9:39:34 PM (0+)
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Today I put out an article with evidence
that shows that we under eminent attack .. from earthquake in the Pacific northwest. I think that it is far more likely that the torturing administration will just bide its time until they can blame Mother Nature - and yet still advance the cause of the police state than it is to do another OBVIOUS thing like 9/11. There was some ICONIC value in 9/11 - but Katrina worked far better at conditioning people. Now the earth is really acting up and when it does many thousands can be affected in a bigger gulp. Ruling class people like BuZh and Gore, think in terms of decades. The American people think in an eight year period and have developed collective amnesia about their history; this was INTENTIONAL. With an emergeny earthquake plan, they can easily affect both the US and Canada at once! That is the plan next. I still contend that one objective of 9/11 was the militarization aNd annexation of Canada - and that is complete as of 4 February of this year. Nothing about it appears in the Canadian MSM about it, nothing - yet it IS on the CENTCOM website. by ladybroadoak (39 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 394 comments) on Thursday, Apr 17, 2008 at 3:22:40 AM (0+)
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Saw this article about martial law
Hey Dennis! Always love your articles, they are always so precise, and I appreciate every thing you do for WCW! Just wanted to share this article from rense.com, (I'm not 100% sure of how reliable this site's info is, but thought this was an interesting article). It's entitled "Bush Replaced REX84 With New Martial Law EO" click here For the people who find this too incredible to be true then they should go back to their history books and look at what this country did to Japanese Americans during WWII. Don't think it can happen here? It already did! by Cheryl Abraham (13 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 207 comments) on Thursday, Apr 17, 2008 at 7:30:40 AM (0+)
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Reply: Martial Law EO
Cheryl: Thank you! Your essays are always impressively researched, on point and urgent. The link you provided isn't working for me. Can you check it? It sounds like the article may be referring to Bush's so-called continuity of government Executive Order. If so, then they're NSPD-51 and HSPD-20. When Oregon Congressional Rep. Peter DeFazio, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee heard about this EO from some of his worried constituents in July 2007, he asked the White House to see said documents. The White House - surprise, surprise - said "No." You cannot see our secret plans for how the US government will function and who will be in charge in case of a "public emergency." You cannot even see it as a current member of the "government," and as a member of the putative oversight committee, in camera. I wrote about this here click here by Dr. Dennis Loo (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 78 comments) on Thursday, Apr 17, 2008 at 9:17:40 AM (0+)
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Reply: Here's the link written out
Thanks for your kind words Dennis. Good to 'talk' to you. Here's that link written out: by Cheryl Abraham (13 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 207 comments) on Thursday, Apr 17, 2008 at 10:51:43 AM (0+)
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Reply: Copy paste that link - don't click on it
I guess the links aren't working today on this post - so you'll have to give me the actual address here for that article you wrote. I'm interested in reading it. Thanks, C by Cheryl Abraham (13 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 207 comments) on Thursday, Apr 17, 2008 at 10:55:30 AM (0+)
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Reply: Here's the link re: NSPD-51 and HSP-20.
Odd that it's not working. I'm going to give it to you and anyone else who's interested, the url and try to set up a link: click here I just checked the link and it's working. Here is the url, in case it doesn't work for you: dennisloo.blogspot.com/2007/07/even-congress-isnt-privy-to-their-well.html by Dr. Dennis Loo (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 78 comments) on Thursday, Apr 17, 2008 at 11:27:15 AM (0+)
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