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December 17, 2007 at 05:35:58
Police State America - A Look Back and Ahead by Stephen Lendman Page 1 of 10 page(s) 
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Year end is a good time to look back and reflect on what's ahead. If past is prologue, however, the outlook isn't good, and nothing on the horizon suggests otherwise. Voters last November wanted change but got betrayal from the bipartisan criminal class in Washington. Their attitude shows in an October Reuters/Zogby (RZ) opinion poll with George Bush at 24% that tops Richard Nixon's worst showing of 25% at his lowest 1974 Watergate point. And if that looks bad, consider Congress with "The Hill" reporting from the same RZ Index that our legislators scored a "staggering 11%, the lowest (congressional) rating in history," but there's room yet to hit bottom and a year left to do it. Why not with lawmakers' consistent voter sellout and failure record that keeps getting worse.
It's been that way ever since 9/11 with both sides of the aisle complicit with the administration. This article looks back at the record, and year end is a good time to review it. It's hard imagining another as bad with a President defiling the law and once telling Republican colleagues the Constitution is "just a goddamned piece of paper."
He didn't just say it. He governs by it, gets away with it, and former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame, says "a coup has occurred (with another to come from) the next 9/11....that completes the first (that's) seen a steady assault on every fundamental (aspect) of our Constitution (to create) an executive government (to) rule by decree" no different from a police state.
Author Naomi Wolf spells it out in her April, 2007 Guardian article - "Fascist America, In 10 Easy Steps." In it, she argues the Bush administration is following the same script any "would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms," and she lists them. They range from "invoking a terrifying internal and external enemy" to "creat(ing) a gulag" to spying on everyone to harassing opposition to controlling the media to calling dissent treason to "suspend(ing) the rule of law." She also notes how much "simpler" it is to shut down democracy than "to create and sustain" it, and that's today's threat.
It's not with jackboots in the streets but by a steady "process of erosion" with the public largely unaware and distracted by media mind manipulators. It's happening today, and Wolf sounds the alarm with the words of James Madison saying "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands....is the definition of tyranny," and that's the condition now in America. This article reviews the record for the past seven years. It's not pretty.
Even the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, (unlike every Pope in memory) condemned it in a wide-ranging UK Muslim magazine interview. It was quoted in a November 25 Sunday Times column headlined "US is 'worst' imperialist" and wields its power more reprehensibly than Britain ever did in its heyday. He explained that American overseas adventurism led to "the worst of all worlds" and expressed pessimism about the current state of western civilization and Washington's own misguided sense of mission.
He critiqued the "war on terror" and stated America lost the moral high ground post-9/11 and needs to launch a "generous and intelligent programme of aid to the (nations it) ravaged;....check (its) economic exploitation of defeated territories" and demilitarize them. He called the West fundamentally adrift and our "definition of humanity (isn't) working." He denounced America's violence and belief it can solve problems left for "other people (to clean up and) put....back together - Iraq, for example." Another is the condition at home.
Since taking office in January, 2001, George Bush signed a blizzard of Executive Orders and attached dozens of "signing statements" to hundreds of law provisions even though nothing in the Constitution allows this practice, and the Supreme Court banned line-item vetos. He continues to do it while Congress and the courts condone his claiming unconstitutional "unitary executive" authority to ignore the law and do as he pleases in the name of "national security" on his say alone.
It began on 9/11 when George Bush addressed the nation and declared a "war on terrorism," asked for world support to win it, and began what became "our government's emergency (preventive war strategy) response plans." The scheme was to ignore the law, go to war, and destroy our civil liberties to keep us safe from "rogue states, 'bad guys,' and evil-doers" throughout an "arc of instability" from the South American Andean region (mainly Colombia) to North Africa through the Middle East to the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere in Asia. Congress as well acted right out of the box with two audacious resolutions that surrendered its authority to the executive, allowed him to proceed, and signaled what would come.
The first one came September 18, 2001 in a joint "House-Senate Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)" that authorized "the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States." A second followed in the October, 2002 "Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of the United States Armed Forces Against Iraq," and the rest is history. This article reviews other key congressional legislation to the present along with George Bush's blatant abuse of presidential power.
His first action came November 13, 2001 when he issued Military Order Number 1 that one analyst called a "coup d'etat," and "watershed moment in (the) country," that was a hint of what would follow. This order violated the spirit and letter of a civil society under constitutional law with a firewall separating it from the military. No longer, and it got worse later on when its provisions resurfaced by act of Congress. That's discussed below. First, Military Order Number 1 and what's in it:
-- it let the President usurp authority to capture, kidnap or otherwise arrest any non-citizens (and later citizens as well) anywhere in the world if he claims they're involved in international terrorism and to hold them indefinitely without charge, evidence or allowing them due process in a court of law.
-- however, IF trials are allowed, they would be by special ad hoc "military commissions," not civil courts and in secret, with evidence obtained by torture allowed, those found guilty given no right of appeal, and they can be secretly executed.
-- no civil court has authority in these cases even if victims are identified and legal counsel wishes to represent them.
Few knew then that on November 13, 2001 US citizens lost their civil liberties, but that would come out later on. It's still ongoing with Congress and the courts complicit in the willful destruction of our democracy that was already on life support. Today, it's gone.
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=comment re: Popes
What a stupid comment on the first page regarding the misinformation that no Pope has condemned the war in Iraq. All the author had to do was google Popes + Iraq War and find all sorts of condemnations by Pope Paul II and Benedict XVI of the war. What the article should have stated is that our MSM has not reported on these condemnations because they certainly undermined what the Bushies wanted to do. Other than that, probably a good article. by Shirley Bianchi (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 97 comments) on Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 12:12:59 PM  (0+)
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Reply: for Stephen
one sour apple will not spoil the complete bushel. Comments Popes have made can be taken either way. Popes are also known to contradict themselves with their public statements. I haven't read all ten pages of your article. Once I have, I shall add yet another response. curtis by Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 2:55:04 PM (0+)
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Reply: In other words, you didn't read the article, but merely saw
the 1st-page comment about "Popes." Do you really think it's fair to use the word "stupid" in connection with this article, based on your shallow (probably non-existent) acquaintance with it? You picked on what is at worst a trivial defect, in an otherwise high-quality & thorough review of an immensely important subject. Meanwhile, you don't have a single word to say about the article's main thrust. // There's a large gap between the quality of the article, & the quality of your petty criticism of it. by Richard Mynick (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1552 comments [255 recommended, 5 rejected]) on Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 at 1:11:01 PM (0+)
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GREAT ARTICLE
This is the most comprehensive review and summary of all of the preconditions already placed for dictatorial rule and the suspension of civil rights in the United States. Typically, the first comment nitpicks a minor, though important, mistake, that is irrelevant to the body of the work. This is one I will print and reference again and again, and I thank the author for the hard work he put into it. I might note, additionally, that many of the rights lost, and structures built, actually occurred long before Bush II, during another unending war on drugs. In that war, random stops without cause and vehicle searchs without cause became legal, excessive and no bail became constitutional, anonymous and confidential sources became sufficient cause to obtain a search warrant for a dwelling, paid state witnesses became common, perjury by police became more common than not, local police became militarized in SWAT units, and joint federal/state investigations ended the long held tensions between the two. by W.M.L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 537 comments [52 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 4:19:16 PM (0+)
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Thank you
for your excellent article Mr. Lendman. I found your article to be the best compilation of all these issues I have yet read. I will pass it on to all I know because it lays everything out very clearly. btw, Shirley's harshness in the first post was uncalled for and rather telling. m. by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1359 comments [399 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Monday, Dec 17, 2007 at 6:50:07 PM (0+)
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Police State
A great compilation of the state of the Nation, I have sent links to everyone I know. Keep up the good work and thank you. by Robert N Smith (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 152 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 at 9:31:36 AM (0+)
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Police State America ---- the domestic half of Vichy Empire
Yes, Stephen Lendman’s article provides a very comprehensive review focusing on the domestic tyranny and police state which has arisen in parallel with the current and future imperialist wars in Iraq and the Middle East. The author’s previous book, “The Iraq Quagmire: The Price of Imperial Arrogance” focused more on the dangers of arrogant empire in terms of foreign imperialist wars, while this article focuses more on the domestic tyranny and police state also common to the very same pathology of empire. Lendman’s analysis of both foreign wars and domestic tyranny at the hands of empire certainly bespeaks his own intelligent assessment of the real danger in which we find ourselves, and also comports with the insightful views of many progressive and humanitarian leaders and with the increasing number of active participants on Op-Ed (and other anti-war, anti-tyranny, and pro-human rights sites and movements). However, what really caught my attention in Lendman’s piece was his reference to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams’ very public and very blunt statement that, the US is 'worst' imperialist’ and wields its power more reprehensibly than the British Empire ever did. Which is saying quite a bit ---- but which I fully subscribe to also. But the real question that came to my mind from this dramatic statement (which I had not previously seen), and, in fact, the question that always comes to my mind when reading Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson, Harold Pinter, David Harvey, David Korten, Gabriel Kolko, Justin Raimondo, Michael Hardt and hundreds of other well informed progressive intellectuals and thousands of articles and authors here on Op-Ed, is just this: Why is this ‘worst imperialist’ empire, which wrecks foreign wars, domestic tyranny, and economic oppression not universally recognized as such an awful and clearly un-democratic empire? If a ‘Brit’ like the Archbishop of Canterbury sees this as imperialism worse than the British Empire, then why doesn’t everybody see this danger as empire? Or to put it another way, how can the laughable veneer or façade of a supposedly progressive democracy be conflated with what is so clearly the behavior of an empire worse than the British Empire? Is it merely that America is not called an empire by the MSM? Hannah Arendt presciently warned that, “Empire abroad (always) entails tyranny at home”, and yet the tyranny and police state that Lendman describes here, as well as the imperialist wars that his book describes are precisely the twin symptoms of empire. So why is America not easily recognized by the majority of the citizens as acting like an empire? Why is it not openly recognized and described as an empire? My belief comes back to a more guileful style of empire than ‘Brits’ or Germans, or Russians, or anyone historically caught in the belly of an empire ever saw. I fully believe that, except for the insightful minority who see through the fog, the very modern, new style of guileful empire (one might say neo-empire) that infects our country is a nearly invisible virus or pathology, which maintains the outward appearance and image of a normal nation-state, and yet takes over the entire body politic. Similarly to the Nazi Empire that breached the Maginot Line and took over the French Republic, this neo-empire of global corporatism, through stealth instead of Panzers, breached the defenses of the old American Republic. But instead of setting up a thinly veiled ‘Vichy French’ government to front for the empire, it has set up a much more guileful, harder to comprehend, and infinitely more sophisticated two-party ‘Vichy America’ ---- which is not just one phony party installed as the government, but the entire two-party structure of government, plus a ‘vichy press’, and all the appearances of a civil and economic society infrastructure imposed over the rough glove of empire. Many, like Lendman, see through the façade of normalcy and clearly comprehend the dangers of empire in both foreign wars of imperialism and domestic tyranny and police-state tactics. But we are faced with the need for some cleaning solution to ‘clear the windshields’ of most Americans, so that they can see the road they are driving down before it is too late. We are currently on the ‘yellow brick road of empire’ in this land of Oz and the mainstream media is no more helpful than the Cheshire Cat in getting us back to reality. We are living in a surreal corporatist empire’s movie only imitating normal democracy titled ‘Vichy America’, and we have to regain our bearings and our country before it becomes “Apocalypse Now”. by Alan MacDonald (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 131 comments [43 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 at 3:35:16 PM (0+)
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POLICE STATE AND THE LAST NAIL IN THE COFFIN
WHEN THE DRUM BEAT IN CONGRESS GET LOURDER ON "GUN CONTROL" THIS WILL BE THE TURNIND POINT TO DECTATORSHIP. AMERICAN PUBLIC IS THE MOST ARMED IN THE WORLD, AND THIS IS A BIG PROBLEM FOR NEOCONS AND GLOBALIST, BELEIVE ME THEY WANT YOUR GUNS. A LITTLE HISTORY IN 1929 THE SOVIET UNION ESTABLISTED GUN CONTROL. FROM 1929 ABOUT 20 MILLION DISSIDENTS, UNABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES, WERE ROUNDED UP AND EXTERMINATED. IN 1911 TURKEY ESTABLISHED GUN CONTROL. FROM 1915 TO 1917, 1.5 MILLION ARMENIANS, UNABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WERE ROUYNDED UP AN EXTERMINATED. AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT HITLER DID WITH GUN CONTROL. I KNOW THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO THINK GUNS KILL PEOPLE, BUT THE FACT PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE. AND IF OUR GOVERNMENT TAKES OUR GUNS, THE ONLY PEOPLE WITH GUNS WILL BE THE CRIMINALS AND OUR GOVERNMENT. AND WE KNOW THAT THE POLICE ONLY ARIVE AFTER THE FACT, AND REALLY DON'T STOP CRIME. by RICHARD SHADE (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 460 comments) on Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007 at 9:53:40 AM (0+)
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rumpelstiltskin
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. The unbearable situation of the poor under oppressive national orders is reinforced by an unjust international order President Bush's new world order is coming on the heels of a decade that witnessed the largest transfer of wealth from the third-world poor to the developed-country rich in human history. The recent massive drain of wealth from the South to the North is reminiscent of the colonial conquest. In 1989 alone, third world peoples sent $52 billion more in debt payments to developed countries in the North than their nations received in new credits. by countsueulaw@hotmail.com (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Friday, Dec 21, 2007 at 6:47:38 AM (0+)
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looks like we have the stage set for the anti christ
I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." - Thomas Jefferson It is perfectly possible for a man to b out of prison, and yet not b free-to b under no physical constraint and yet to b a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private insterest within the nation, wants him to think feel and act...the nature of the psychological compulsion is that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to b free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective "The U.S. record of war crimes has been, from the nineteenth century to the present, a largely invisible one, with no government, no political leaders, no military officials, no lower-level operatives held accountable for criminal actions... Anyone challenging this mythology is quickly marginalized, branded a traitor or Communist or terrorist or simply a lunatic beyond the pale of reasonable discussion." "Those in power are blind devotees to private enterprise. They accept that degree of socialism implicit in the vast subsidies to the military-industrial-complex, but not that type of socialism which maintains public projects for the disemployed and the unemployed alike." by countsueulaw@hotmail.com (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Friday, Dec 21, 2007 at 7:04:22 AM (0+)
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