Gaia: The Integral Pod - Noosphere Nougat - Impeachment - pros and cons

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:36:08 GMT

Mascha, glad you like the Brin contributions. He's a science fiction writer who loves to play with various scenarios, while keeping an open mind; he also has a lot of insightful observations and musings on trends and events in this wonderful, strange, complex world we're living in. I particularly like some of what I've read of his stuff along the lines of ending the culture wars in America - that's getting into a more integral space than most of the political commentary that's out there (and yet, without using impenetrable jargon). I'm also fascinated by his musings on secrecy vs. the free-flow of information.

The conspiratorial stuff, it's tricky territory - people have been known to go down that rabbit hole and never come back. Brin seems to have a level-enough head to go spelunking there on occasion, and he takes the prudent precautions (such as talking about scenarios as such, rather than as The Truth). His scenarios for the Bush gang having something up their sleeves to keep the powerful state machinery they've built up under their own control sound plausible to me; if people are in positions to stop such plans, I hope they do so. Particularly if an attack on Iran is really in the works. His article on blackmail is interesting as well; I wonder if that partly explains why America doesn't have an opposition party?

I'm not that interested in anthrax, 9/11 etc., although occasionally I can get into such conversations for a while. Even if the government was behind such events - which I personally do not believe - what's important is what happened after the neocons got their hoped-for Pearl Harbor, how they used it. Not to mention what happened just before that - in the 2000 election - what's happened since then (Iraq, New Orleans, the Patriot Acts, etc.) - lots of stuff that is much more out in the open. Anthrax, 9/11 etc. look like red herrings to me, and in any case, are unlikely to be decided on websites and discussion forums, which is why I seldom participate for very long in such discussions.

Again, glad you like the Brin stuff. I've already linked to his blog; check out his webpage as well, which is chock-full of stimulating and interesting stuff, e.g. his recent project "The Ostrich Papers" (which I've only mildly skimmed so far). Here's a recent blurb from his webpage, on his efforts to help end the "culture wars":

~~~

In a time of increasing political polarization, I have urged (in my most recent essay, "The Ostrich Papers") that we look past the simplistic and outdated "left-right political axis." Yes, there is madness going on. But I suggest that the cure is not bitter "culture war." Rather, moderate and decent citizens of the Enlightenment need to reach out to other decent people -- even those who have swallowed nonsense. At stake is preserving a nation of modern confidence from a looming dark age.

~~~

spiral out,

arthur

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://Mascha.gaia.com — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:27:31 GMT

Great find, Arthur. I had not come across David Brin as a resource yet. His call for professionals to step forward with inside knowledge may have been answered recently by at least one individual.

Anthrax Coverup: A Government Insider Speaks Out

"Francis A. Boyle, an international law expert who worked under the first Bush Administration as a bioweapons advisor in the 1980s, has said that he is convinced the October 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people were perpetrated and covered up by criminal elements of the U.S. government. The motive: to foment a police state by killing off and intimidating opposition to post-9/11 legislation such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the later Military Commissions Act."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now we need just a few more high-profile whistleblowers. AND get the corporate media to report their revelations. Should be doable.

Colin Powell, how about it, hon? You know you don't sleep so well. Come on, save the country you swore to defend, if not the whole world, and save your own sweet Christian ass from burning in hell. You want to, don't you. Yes, there's a conscience in there.

Lauren, it looks like BushCo have selected this guy for Attorney General.

.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:34:54 GMT

One more Brin Blog for y'all. I recommend following the link to his blackmail article toward the end of this piece (or, just follow it now):

~~~

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Scary Stories for a Saturday Night (with the p-lamp lit)

As busy as a squirrel trying to power a locomotive, I’ll have to make do this time with emptying my “political stuff” file onto this diary... including some material that’s either a tad dated or not well-edited, or else maybe a bit repetitious. But let’s start with three resounding thoughts.

#1 - Yes, I have declared that the skilled civil and military professionals are key to saving our republic -- if only more of them will recognize their duty to blow the whistle on their mad political-hack overlords...

...and yet, I do believe there is one place where a few men and women are even better-situated to do their nation and civilization powerful good, simply by standing up and speaking out. That place is the Diebold company, manufacturer of most of America’s newfangled voting machines.

Especially the varieties of voting machine that do not give paper audit trails, or that have closed/secret software, unchecked by independent examination, or that were bought under no-bid, crony contracts... all traits that simply scream conspiracy and corruption. In other words, voting machines purchased “for the people” in almost every state that is under republican political control.

So, this is my appeal to workers at Diebold, especially some higher level tech person or administrator, but even down to the guy who sweeps up after executive meetings. Someone (or two or ten of you) who knows what’s been going on, who has some evidence, and who now can see that serving the neocons has meant rationalizing a downward spiral, a gradual betrayal of everything this country -- and, yes, conservatism(!) -- is supposed to stand for.

Surely, surely this criminal enterprise contains some “henchmen” who have nursed doubts, suspicions, worries, dark broodings and maybe even grownup regrets. If there is no great and noble soul, like Oskar Schindler, then how about someone who wakes up, sweating about the special place in hell that surely awaits election fraudsters?

Or else who hears the rest of us -- (your fellow citizens) -- beckoning you, appealing to your duty and citizenship. Ponder, please, the special place in our hearts that awaits the hero or heroes who step forward to save us from the truly heinous and evil plot against our Great Experiment.

#2 - Again, the fact that the democrats have not made this very topic a major NON PARTISAN ISSUE is something I find deeply worrying. So worrying that I refer you all, again, to:
http://www.davidbrin.com/blackmail.html

Seriously, could they be missing so many killer tactics and issues so consistently? I mean, really? One grows worried that I published that article way, way too late.

In which case, ahem, why haven’t I been offered any parties and bribes? Rats. I must REALLY be too late....

#3 - If you haven’t seen it already, you MUST go look at the national security document in which the monsters are now asserting, line-by-line, a claim of utter presidential supremacy over all branches of government... and indeed, over all society... in any future crisis.

With “crisis” to be entirely defined at the whim of (guess who?) the President.

Pore over this document. And then ponder. Why would they do such a thing? Asserting vast new presidential powers, even though today’s open betting seems strongly to favor the Democrats taking ahold of that office, in just 18 months or so?

Really, there are only a few scenarios that are consistent with such a frenetic push, one that would only seem likely to empower adversaries. Just a small number of scenarios congruous with known facts, past behavior and plausible future events. In prior postings, I have compared some of these possible explanations, such as “state of denial” and “planned future hypocrisy” and so on...

Alas, not one of them actually makes as much sense as the one with the title: ”These guys already know something that we don’t know.”

In other words, the paranoid answer is that they expect to be in a position to ASSERT these powers before 2008 elections could possibly kick them out.

Okay, I’m not the only one to posit this possibility. The “October Surprise” has long been pondered by partisans of every political wing. Though in this case, the scenario would involve not so much a surprise as a major calamity.

Okay, okay, let’s just have a little late night fun with this. (In other words, don’t read it by daylight. This scary story may look silly. Just remember, we’re stretching the mind, here. Not making accusations.

Hmm. Okay. Given that the monsters have plummeting popularity among both the average citizens and civil servants, including the intelligence and military professionals, it seems pretty clear that only any paranoid scenario must have certain characteristics. For one thing, it will NOT involve very many members of those services, if any at all. Indeed, I’d wager against it even involving very many redstate/redmeat homegrown fanatics.

For example, while many Timothy McVeigh types are putting posters of Hillary on the wall, already, framed within concentric circles, it is almost certain that some OTHERS -- smarter versions of the type -- have already started realizing that every dark fantasy they used to fume over, about the left, is at this very moment taking shape over on the right. Every nightmare about “black helicopters” and supersecret plots. These are the kind of guys who may, at any moment, suddenly realize that Blackwater is far worse than Whitewater ever was. And when such people realize they’ve been had, used like puppets, betrayed by new feudal lords, well, there is no fury greater.

So no, while some of the home-grown dittohead crazies might be useful as provocateurs, it would likely only be as distractions, with lots of insulation and deniability. Only fools would involve them in a really big or complex operation.

Remember, it’s gotta be something that can be disowned. That, in fact, can be kept completely out of the scrutiny of those intelligence community and law and military professionals that the monsters (rightfully) fear. Hence, it must be planned, financed and operated by a foreign center of power. One that has (1) a great record of internal secrecy and security, (2) an assured supply of reliably dedicated shock agents, (3) a history of strong, family level reliability in collaboration with our top neo-feudalist cabal.

And finally, here’s the cute part... (4) even if our pros do show a link to this foreign center, that center must be able to claim “it wasn’t us! It was our cousins who (take our word for it) we don’t even like very much.”

(Hey it's worked before!)

If you think you know who I am talking about, you MAY be right... there is one “foreign center” that fits the bill completely, and that I’ve spoken of before. One led by bona fide geniuses who have the motive, means and opportunity. And yet, don’t be too sure! In viewing this list of traits, I came to realize there’s half a dozen other that could fit the bill, almost as well.

For the ultimate job of political “outsourcing.”

Again, alas, I wonder if any of the democrats is willing to risk his/her chance of the presidency in order to raise this issue, and possibly make the presidency worthwhile for another decent candidate.

That should suffice for now.-- at least for a weekend screed. (Pity me, I just returned from Comic-Con!) Still, I may append a final item, below, in “comments”. Something under the category of

...“if Clinton had done the tiniest fraction of this...”

~~~~~

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:23:52 GMT

Here's another nugget to throw into the stew from David Brin's blog. Brin is realistic about what's happening, yet overall he's very optimistic - in the long run, he believes civilization will prevail.

~~~

It has all gone too far. Hell, even if we win the next dozen battles, loosen the monsters’ grip on the Republic and make it through elections that turn the bastards out in droves, that will do some good, but it will still leave us mired in “culture war,” with one third of our countrymen nursing grudges that would make the post-Watergate GOP look like Pollyanna.

Moreover, that one-third will be poised to use every trick to win back the one-sixth they’ll need for “another round”. Even marginalized, they can make life hell for all of us. Remember Monica. They don’t need a meaningful pretext. Only hate.

The real challenge for us is not to win the next round of Culture War, but to end it.

And we have only one real hope for that to happen. The entire neocon movement must be stripped so bare, revealing so many horrors, that 80% of Americans see how horrible this has been and that the remaining Culture Warriors are genuine, certifiable loons.

So that a decent American conservatism can begin rebuilding with Barry Goldwater as its model, and not Savanarola.

There is only one way that any of this can happen. It will not be a miracle wrought by politicians. It will not be a revolution led by the People - though they will rise up when it all comes out.

This is a matter that requires action by the tens of thousands of skilled men and women who we have hired to protect us. It is time for the pros to stand up, to listen to their hearts and obey the oaths that they have sworn.

I have long forecast that our nation-saving breakthrough may only come from a rebellion in favor of the law and Constitution, on the part of the skilled professionals in the horrifically abused civil service, intelligence community and US Officer Corps.

In this particular case, an appointed US Attorney -- or even a civil servant, non-appointed DEPUTY US Attorney -- might gather the courage to defy his or her screeching/tyrant boss and make the test case, by serving enforcement papers upon Harriet Meiers and others who have been subpoenaed, in obedience to the legal and constitutional powers of Congress.

Ponder it.

The spectre that the Bushites have most to fear is such a rebellion in favor of law, in even one small part of the professional caste, spreading to other parts. Already the biggest victim of the monsters – the military Officer Corps – is roiling with so much anger that they may refuse, when the inevitable order comes down, to create political distractions by attacking Iran. If the CIA likewise were to report to Congress (as it is legally obliged to do) that the pretexts are bogus…

…well, that’s just one example of a situation in which sworn protectors might show the guts and brains that we hired them for.

Indeed, helping the professionals feel ready to take such steps should be seen as the number one goal and objective of Democratic endeavors and rhetoric. Because if such a dam were ever to burst, encouraging other professionals to tattle, the cleansing tsunami that followed might sweep all the monsters away.

Clearly, the Bushites know this, or they would not have bent almost all of their efforts, across a decade, to harrying, bullying, browbeating , suborning and destroying the professional caste.

It is their most consistent behavior set...

...just as the most consistent pattern of the Democrats has been to stupidly ignore this issue. The one totally non-political and no-brainer, killer issue that crosses all party lines and should appeal as much to honest conservatives as it does to liberals!

The one issue that might instantly unify the nation.

The issue that could crush the monsters, as if they were made of spun sugar.

If any major Dem were to speak out about the War Against Professionalism, offering our public servants protection and shelter from the freaks and inquisitors who have oppressed them for a decade, the levee might, indeed burst.

Bigtime.

Their failure to do so speaks volumes about how poorly the opposition is led.

- from the July 23rd entry of David Brin's blog.

~~~

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://Mascha.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:17:31 GMT

Hi fellow travelers, warmth to all of you out there.

To put it in a nutshell: There are times when I'm terrified of the Evil Empire and what Darth Vader and his first monkee will do to hold onto their rapidly waning stranglehold over USAll. I haven't read Arthur's post above yet beyond the first paragraph because I'd like to feel good for a few hours more, have some hope that the worst can still be averted if we only collectively wake up just a little bit more, just enough to find our strength in the face of these assaults by our own collective shadow material, made flesh in the figures of the BushCo cabal.

For a boost to our immune system, I'll submit this article posted by Jimtzu on the Heartmind forum way back in July. Steve Bhaerman says it so well, I can only take a bow for now. Yes, it is a long article, but it is making such a good point... :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Call For Political Climate Change
Time to Fire the Nitty-Gritty Grid
July 20, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by Steve Bhaerman

Well, we fired up the grid last Tuesday, or maybe the grid fired us up. Now that we proved that invisibly or visibly (as with the Live Earth events of two weekends ago), the loving heart of humanity can be activated, it's time to move our feet. It's time for the upwising of awareness and upwelling of love to burst into action. It's time to address the political climate crisis.

The Political Climate Crisis is Real!

Earlier this year, I wrote a piece called "The Self-Impeaching President." My point was that because the Bush-Cheney Administration had so violated the letter and spirit of not just our Constitution, but international and commonly-held moral law, they would necessarily stonewall any attempt to investigate. Consequently, they would end up making the case for impeachment by their own actions.

Eventually, it would come down to George Bush's challenge of several years ago: "You're either with me or against me." And now it has. It's George Bush (and his cheney of command) against the Constitution, against the Bill of Rights, against the Declaration of Independence, against the American people, not to mention the people of the world. The inconvenient confrontation that most peace-loving people generally try to avoid is finally at hand: Standing up to the bully.

Here's why it's happening now, and here is how it is happening. The Bush Administration has already played the fear card and nobody is listening anymore to the little boy who cried wolfowitz. Bush and Company only have two cards left -- force, and the fear of force. This is a hand they cannot afford to lose, because when the cards fall it will bring down not just this Administration but the entire philosophy that supports absolutely corrupt power taken in the name of "national security" -- the protection racket disguised as "protection."

So if you're wondering why this absurdist rationalization called "executive privilege," that's why. He's an executive who wants to hold on to his privilege. Meanwhile, here is another inconvenient truth that is making itself manifest, and if we don't face it we're in even bigger trouble: The mechanisms for fascism are already in place.

Can We Use the F-Word?
OK, you eye-rollers -- put your eyes back front and center so you can see what I mean. The very simple definition of fascism is this: Fascism is interlocking political, military, industrial force run more like a criminal gang than a government. Does that sound familiar? Because the government is involved, it conveniently has the force of "law" behind it. Consider that everything that Hitler did after he took office was "legal."

Similarly, George Bush is proceeding under the cover of law to enact executive order after executive order as arbitrary, irrational and unjust as any policy a dictator might dictate. And, as we are finding out, his legal shills in judicial positions of power are acting solely on his behalf. So, yes ... he has the cover of law. Just as the original coup, the "election" of 2000, was absurdified by five partisan Supreme Court jesters who wouldn't allow a recount to take place in Florida.

The 97-pound weakling of a body politic allowed the bully to kick sand in its face in 2000, and that just invited further abuse. Now the abuse is becoming more intense, more over the line -- and we find that the dictator-in-chief has conveniently covered his bases with judges.

So what do we do? First of all, we face this inconvenient truth and at the same time, keep our eye on the prize. Because the "prize" -- a world where we use our resources to heal instead of hurt, where the GNP can be truly measured in "goods" and not "bads," where we live by the Golden Rule not the rule of gold -- is where we are going. What we have now is the challenge that will make us strong enough to stop doing what we've been doing and try something new for a change.

We're Becoming Stronger -- Whether We Like It Or Not
Several years ago, I spent a year in a ch'i kung practice that involved strengthening the ch'i by banging ourselves in the solar plexus first with our fist, then with a wooden block, finally with a brick. Next came the two person practice where we would hit each other full force in solar plexus to "light up the ch'i." While this might sound like a rationalization for sadomasochism, we came to realize that each blow made the ch'i stronger. In fact, we no longer even felt the punch. All we could feel was our shield "rising" to absorb the blow.

George Bush is bringing up the ch'i of the body politic, and it's up to us to recognize and use that power. Each blow to the spirit of the law, to our Founding Fathers, to decency is strengthening us for our true evolutionary destiny -- to overgrow the false dichotomies of left and right and stand for what the vast, vast majority hold in common. In other words, we must turn the demoralized majority into a New Moral Majority that holds honesty, justice, integrity and transparency above ideology or short term financial self-interest.

We Are the New Moral Majority
Here's more good news, something I call The Law of 75. You may have read it here before, but it is worth mentioning again. It's based on something that happened to spiritual psychologist Patricia Sun a number of years ago. She was set to speak at a "new age" bookstore, and noticed there were four fundamentalist Christian pickets outside. "I'm going to talk with them," Patricia said.

The store owner was skeptical. "You can't reason with those people," she said, but Patricia did it anyway. A short while later, three of the four picketers had put down their signs and were hugging Patricia: "You're saying just what Jesus said!" they told her. The fourth picket refused to be swayed and continued protesting.

So why is this important? I devised the totally made-up Law of 75 to describe this phenomenon where three out of four people are susceptible to loving communication that calls forth what we hold in common -- the desire to live in peace and happiness, and the willingness to grant others who play by those rules the same freedom / responsibility. 75% of us -- or more -- want the same things, and those same things are far, far more important than the differences that are used to keep us divided and conquered.

I'm willing to bet that 75% of Americans don't want to live in a corrupt fascist system where George Bush's word is law, and where our greatest fear is our own government. I could be wrong. Maybe it's 95% and not 75%.

And what does this mean? It means that Democrats AND Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, Independents -- most Americans -- given a choice (and hey, I say we give it to them) will just say NO to fascism. That 75% of Americans by the way includes rich people and poor people, rural conservatives, urban progressives and even -- and maybe especially -- members of the military, who are experiencing some of the system's abuse firsthand.

On the eve of last November's election -- where, by the way, the body politic finally showed some muscle -- the four military publications representing each branch of service called for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. Now sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but I read it differently. I read it as a signal from the military that if George Bush tried any funny stuff, he couldn't count on their support.

My strong sense is that those people in all echelons of power who have not been "ethically-cleansed" will stand up for justice -- if we will. And -- to quote the football coach George Allen, "the future is now." Right now, the Bush Administration has the momentum as it illegally uses the law to hide from scrutiny, and sends out kingly decrees equating protest with treason. Bush can't help it, folks. He has to do it to survive.

Time to Bring Left and Right Front and Center
At the same time we realize he will not and cannot back down, we must remember that 75% of us (a conservative estimate, again, of those who don't want fascism) -- nearly 200 million people -- are standing on the other side. Now all we have to do is understand our numbers and our bottom line -- fascism in any form must be taken off the table now.

To paraphrase the old saying, those who fail to learn from history flunk it and have to take it over. What was it that allowed Hitler to come to power, to use questionable legal leverage in an illegal way until the disease had so metastasized that it could no longer be cured by the German body politic's immune system? It was the failure of the parties on the left, the parties on the right and the parties in the middle to unite to face the common danger.

There's a scene in the documentary, Bringing Down a Dictator -- the story of the fall of Slobodon Milosovic -- where all the leaders of the opposing parties realize they must form a coalition if the dictator is to be stopped. As you look at the expressions on the faces of these leaders, you see how distasteful a task this is for them. And yet they do it. They unite around one alternative candidate, and they are ultimately successful. The pivotal moment, by the way, is when the soldiers realize they will be firing on their brothers and sisters and ultimately put down their guns, and the palace falls.

So, again, what do we do? As part of the "up-wising" there is a growing field of awareness among Americans of all stars and stripes that "we're not in Kansas, anymore Toto." There is a groundswell swelling on the ground, but no significant leadership has yet emerged at the top. We can only guess that there is an epidemic of cowardice and denial, and most importantly a "misunderestimation" of the American people, and our own legacy and destiny.

We don't need a revolution in this country. We already had one. But we are at an evolutionary tipping point, and we the people can't wait for some big scorer to come lumbering down the court. We have to tip it in ourselves. In other words, we have to face the truth with courage, and we must communicate with others to strengthen the field of truth and weaken the field of lies. The time is now ripe for a national organization that stands up and uses the F-Word to Just Say NO To Fascism. Maybe it can be called the New Moral Majority or Patriots Against the Patriot Act (PAPA) or the Jefferson's Witnesses or the American Citizens Union.

As an individual I'm not in a position to make this organization happen. But each of us as individuals can put the idea out and call on those who we know are leaders to speak directly to this issue, and some already are. It's very important IN FACT ESSENTIAL that this be a bipartisan or transpartisan group. In addition to calling on people like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and elders like Bill Moyers, Elizabeth Holtzman and Jimmy Carter, we must include those on the right who have called for impeachment or who are concerned about America's loss of liberties, including Bruce Fein, John Dean, Paul Craig Roberts and Rep. Ron Paul (R, Texas).

In addition, now is the time for prominent folks to use their bully pulpit to help oust the bully-in-chief from his -- whether it's a spot on Leno or Letterman, or like Michael Moore it's on CNN. In fact, watch this and be inspired as we finally have someone break through the media soundless barrier and speak to the betrayal of the American people by the media. Take heart too that Richard Mellon Scaife, one of the most vicious attackers of Bill Clinton and loyal supporters of Bush has now has begun to question the President's mental stability.

It's Up to Us to Put the Decider Through the Decider Mill
No matter who we are, no matter how much or little influence we think we have, we all (75% to 95% of us, anyway) share the same mission: To awaken all 200 million adult Americans to draw the line and tell the "Decider" that we the people are the Deciders, thank you. And we have decided he will do no more deciding on our behalf. Impeachment notwithstanding, we need a long, long, long piece of paper with 50 million or more adult American signatures calling on the President and Vice President to step down. We can call it Total Recall, but I like the idea of a physical scroll of signatures. As Benjamin Franklin ("we must all hang together or else we will surely hang separately") understood, the more of us who sign it, the safer we all will be.

As with that other King George some ten score and eleven years ago, this bloodless evolution, this firing of a few Big Shots will be seen and heard around the world. One morning, possibly very soon, we will wake up and realize the tides have shifted. The headlines will reveal it, and we will see it in the faces of our fellow Americans -- people no longer afraid of their own government, people ready to face the real challenges ahead of us as a people and a world without the vicious diversions of problems generated to keep us apart.

If we don't do it, no one will. And if we do, not just America but the world will change course for the better.

May God bless America, and may Good bless us all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://aqalicious.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:15:42 GMT

What's been happening so far in this shiny new millenium is heartbreaking and horrifying, and may get a lot worse. It's like a train wreck unfolding. Most people who are against what's been going on probably feel that nothing they do is going to change the course of events. I don't know what to say about it anymore, let alone do.

Here's an entry from David Brin's blog which may be of interest:

~~~

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Gloomy ruminations on an anniversary...

On the Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we are drawn away from contemplations of peaceful development and Asia’s rapid rise*, back to the gritty Earth of America’s current predicament.

Even as General Petraeus asked Congress for yet another nine months of “surge” before we can “pull out” back to pre-surge levels, it has become clear that the Iraq War has everybody transfixed. So, contrarian that I am, let me take this opportunity to remind people that Iraq is not the principal issue before us, right now.

In fact, I feel it is a grotesque distraction from the real issue that lies before us. The issue of America.

Some people already grasp this. Take an interview with Prof. Gregory Cochran that appeared on the online intellectual salon “The Edge.” http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/cochran.html

What would be the consequences of a rapid USA exit from Iraq?

Cochran: Someone would win the civil war and then they'd sell oil.

So, why don’t we get out?

Yes, the Iraq War is a terrible thing. A wretched repeat of every blunder made in Vietnam, all the way down to “meddling in military matters by inept, draft-dodging politician armchair generals.” (The rant we heard for thirty years from the far right, but strangely absent from their rhetoric today. I wonder why.) Spurred by lies and arm waving motivations that shift with every week, the has accomplished a long list of things that even conservatives ought to find repellant, if they were true patriots:

* erosion of United States military strength and reputation

* devastation of our alliances and standing in the world

* ruination of the National Guard and Reserves

* squandering of hundreds of billions of dollars, including some billions that went missing when left by the side of an Iraqi road (an event that would have led to impeachment calls, if it happened under Clinton)

* destruction of American social cohesion, unity, confidence and belief in ourselves

* feeding the sense of resentment in the Muslim world and increasing, steadily, the number of recruits available to radical anti-western causes

* almost complete abandonment of standards of accountability, including contracting rules that used to prevent the handshake passing of billions of taxpayer dollars directly to “companies” owned by friends of the administration... another impeachment-level scandal, if Clinton had done it. Yet, no journalist even cares....

... and so on, and on. With no tangible results to show for this wasted trillion dollar calamity, but a long list of negatives, I have been asking: “If you were an enemy power, who suddenly found itself in secret control over a U.S. administration - able to make it do whatever you wanted - isn’t all of this EXACTLY what you would have ordered?”

After a century of amazing success in nearly all things... even miraculously controlling our own budget (under Clinton)... what great American mistake would such a foreign power have us make, if it had the chance to steer us from the top? What other than a repeat of the biggest and dopiest error we ever made. Abandoning every recent military and political doctrine of agility and care, turning away from jiu jitsu to sumo, and getting mired in a land war of attrition in Asia?

Oh, this war has only been a means to many ends, achieving deepening rifts in America’s “culture war” for example. And providing a competition-free gravy train to every contractor who has Bush family ties. But I refuse to be distracted.

Because the real issue... the only important one... is the issue of America.

Will this nation manage to thwart those who have their eye on permanent political power?

A monopoly of power sufficient to prevent a thousand cohorts from going to jail for defrauding the public and stealing billions?

A grip that will let them continue to degrade our professional civil service, intelligence community, law enforcement and military, so they cannot be used by the people as tools of accountability?

A trend toward secrecy that is already undermining the operation of all four of our basic processes: democracy, courts, science and markets, all of which depend ultimately on players who are well-informed?

Yes, the political winds seem to be blowing against these guys. Hence they now seem to be turning toward another actor-politician. Trying the tactic of criticizing and dissing the previous GOP administration. Claiming the next one will be different... while shouting the same slogans.

And yet - (God how I hope that what I see is just an author's over-active imagination at work!) - one can point to plenty of signs that they are confident for some unknown reason. The reason that they are stupid? Or mad?

Or for the reason that we haven't even glimpsed yet their real trump card. The big one that the Bushites haven’t played yet. A trump card that they already seem to be bidding toward, for example by striving furiously to strengthen a presidency that they seem about to lose.

As if they (or their masters) know something that none of us do.

------

* The twinge I felt, seeing THREE Asian buildings shooting skyward, each aiming to take a turn being tallest in the world. 9/11 was reason for bold determination. But not the thuggish, stupid kind that we have been led toward.

~~~

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://maryw.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:12:11 GMT

Mascha wrote: I also would like some MAJOR HANDHOLDING through this phase where I can see the writings on the wall but still have some hope that it's not too late to derail that perpetual war train we've been loaded on without even noticing much of a change.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://Mascha.gaia.com — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:57:14 GMT

Hi Lauren,

as you can see, there isn't much interest here. But I have found other sites where spirited discussions take place about the forces that are shaping our reality today and certainly into the coming years. CommonDreams.org -- Huffington Post -- Democratic Underground and many more feature relevant articles from all over the world and comments by writers who frequently are better informed than the original authors.

Thanks for the link you gave, btw. Every day, I try to incorporate another piece of the puzzle to gain an overview of the crises (plural) we're in, and it's not fun, it isn't a barrel of laughs, but it sure beats the alternative, which is either willful or dumbstruck denial.

Now, I'm not an expert on the legalities of impeachment proceedings. My Senator, Dianne Feinstein, has e-mailed me a form letter reply, stating there aren't enough votes to push impeachment through, and I'm still trying to get a clear answer from all of our legal scholars out there to determine that there is, in fact, no way to get these sociopaths in the White House removed from office and tried at the International Court for war crimes, treason, mass murder, illegal invasion/occupation of a foreign country, torture, lying to Congress... the list goes on.

Here's a thread that discusses the legalities: Impeachment is the only viable opinion to stop these madmen

For a bigger picture understanding of what is coming down the pike as the US is slip-sliding into an overtly totalitarian regime, Naomi Klein's new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism has become a center piece for international debates of late.

You might want to start by watching this 7 min. film by Alfonso Cuaron and Naomi Klein as an introduction. A must-see, if you ask me. Then there is a 3 part interview with the courageous Ms Klein at The Guardian UK...

If anyone wants to talk about how frightening, how crazy-making this regression to fascistic corporatism really is for those who've opened their eyes, I'm game, I'm here, I'll speak my piece. I also would like some MAJOR HANDHOLDING through this phase where I can see the writings on the wall but still have some hope that it's not too late to derail that perpetual war train we've been loaded on without even noticing much of a change.

M

P.S.

Comments to "The Shock Doctrine" on Comment Is Free: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/naomi_klein/index.html

There were over 700 replies last time I looked.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://plums.gaia.com — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:03:40 GMT

I'd like to see this discussion continue.

My attempt to awaken deeper consideration of the issues at hand:
please read this.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://mqs.gaia.com — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:20:05 GMT

Dear Ones,

The million reasons to impeach are more of a problem from a legislative/legal standpoint than an asset. How do you even begin? Its too late from a logistical perspective to institute the process. One approach for the present would be to inquire of all presidential and other candidates what their opinions are on impeachment vs. prosecution once their term in office is over.

I say screw impeachment and let the bastards be turned out after the election then sue them for theft, dereliction, and terrorism as private citizens. That will send a message to any others contemplating such activities.

yer pal,
Michael

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://maryw.gaia.com — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 19:02:09 GMT

Hi everyone --

This AFP report just in (on Sept. 7) from ImpeachBush.org on some organizers who were arrested while organizing for a Sept 15 Impeach Bush rally:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police break up anti-war meeting in Washington

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers and an AFP reporter said.

"The police suppressed the press conference. In the middle of the speeches, they grabbed the podium" erected in a park in front of the White House for the small gathering, Brian Becker, national organizer of the ANSWER anti-war coalition, told AFP.

"Then, mounted police charged the media present to disperse them," Becker said.

The charge caused a peaceful crowd of some 20 journalists and four or five protestors to scatter in terror, an AFP correspondent at the event in Lafayette Square said. No one appeared to have been hurt.

Three people -- Tina Richards, the mother of a marine who did two tours of duty in Iraq; Adam Kokesh, a leader of the Iraq Veterans Against the War group; and lawyer Ian Thompson, who is an organizer for ANSWER in Los Angeles -- were arrested, Becker said.

The ANSWER coalition is trying to rally support for an anti-war demonstration in Washington that is due to take place on September 15.

Last month, the movement was threatened with a fine of at least 10,000 dollars unless it removed posters in the city announcing the September 15 march.

Washington city authorities have said the posters had to come down because they were stuck on with adhesive that did not meet city regulations.

"At our demonstration today we were showing the media that the paste we use conforms to the rules," Becker said.

"One of our activists was making a speech when the police barged in and grabbed the podium. At that point, Tina Richards started to put up a poster, so they arrested her and two others."

"This strategy of suppression has not worked. We expect many tens of thousands of people" in Washington for the September 15 anti-war demonstration, he said.

The march has been timed to coincide with the release of a report by the US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and will be part of a week of protests led by veterans of the Iraq war.

A petition calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, allegedly carrying one million signatures and endorsed by former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, will also be submitted to officials during the week's activities, ANSWER has told AFP.

Here's the related YouTube video

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://monk.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:08:45 GMT

Here's a Frontline documentary about private military contractors.

A big part of this has to do with the Bush administration's favored economic theory, what Ken calls "free-right" (see A Theory of Everything). It's the opposite of socialism. They want to privatize absolutely everything under the sun. Apparently some of them will draw the line somewhere, but basically they want to privatize everything. Why? Because socialism is evil and capitalism is good. The free-market forces, they believe, are perfect, god-like. Really, it's like another kind of fundamentalism, another kind of religion almost. Ken's talked about 2 kinds of Orange, here I believe. Perhaps the choice depends on your pocket book or where you grew up, but sometimes I've wondered if the extreme free-right position is like a different kind of Amber. They make a God out of the free-market forces, believe in a literal interpretation of the Constitution sometimes.

So privatizing a little of the war in Iraq and relief efforts on the Gulf is just the beginning for these people, just a start. It does bring up all sorts of issues of accountability and ethical standards. Would privatized law enforcement have incentives to arrest more or less? I would not want privatized law enforcement anywhere in the U.S., and I'm sure the Iraqi people don't like it much either. A big part of the whole thing also has to do with an all-volunteer army. There aren't enough troops to go around now. Of course we might have skipped the Iraq War altogether, though there were teal reasons for doing something about Sadaam Hussein.

There is shadow as well. I don't know how much of that comes into play with private military contractors. It might. But I think shadow shows up more in renditions, excessive use of force, devaluing the lives of people of other races, skirting the law, etc. But some of this stuff is better characterized as Amber than evil. It's just the sorts of things people do at Amber, though some of it might be pathological. Are the neocons healthy Orange or pathological? If Thomas Friedman is Orange, as Ken has said, and Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld are also Orange, then perhaps there is pathology. Or perhaps we're just talking about different lines, different ethical development.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://maryw.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:46:44 GMT

Mascha wrote: Our unwitting participation in way too many government-authorized and officially perpetuated myths is what we should fear the most, methinks, not the true but painful revelations that are waiting in the wings.

There really are so many ways we become unwitting accomplices in myths or in exploitation of some form or another. There are components in the cell phones and computers we use, for example, that require materials from mines in Africa -- involving men doing backbreaking and dangerous work that separates them from their families for weeks at a time. These components also create a lot of pollution ... yet without them, there are no online forums; there is no noosphere. Our comfort and conveniences are often entwined with someone else's exploitation and pain. Since this pain is usually tucked away out of our sight, it's quite easy to remain complacent -- or to say, "It wasn't my choice for things to be this way" ... and to keep on doing what we're doing.

That was off the subject somewhat -- but it leads to the question: what can and should we do about these horrors? What do we do when we live in a country with a criminal administration that we are apparently unable to call into account? I mull this impeachment notion over and find myself thinking yes, that's what needs to happen -- it would be a tiny step toward making amends with the rest of the world if we could actually go through with it. And yet Congress shows no real movement in that direction, at least not at the moment. It actually feels quite surreal and cognitively dissonant to me, that so much has happened over these past 6 years and no one has been seriously called into account.

My husband has been deeply involved with the local peace & justive movement over these past years ... (I have been less directly involved) -- going to protests, setting up and serving long hours at information booths at rallies, participating in candlelight vigils, making phone calls, canvassing for political candidates, signing petitions, writing letters to the local newspaper, and simply learning, keeping informed. But many of the people who have been engaged in this way are feeling so dog-tired and worn out now -- they have put in all this energy, and so little seems to have changed. There is an encroaching cynicism and a heartbreaking sense of futility. Increasingly, there are petty political battles and scuffles in the p & j movement, leading to fractures and fragmentation, and more wasting of time and energy. It is a kind of collective dark night. And while we might remind ourselves to keep on with the good struggle and let go of attachment to outcome, I think this is enormously difficult for many folks. The air of apathy, complacency and seeming indifference that surrounds us now is just what's at the surface -- underneath that there is depression, and further underneath that there is heartbreak and anger. And we have many addictions available to us here to keep that anger numbly tucked away: food, drugs, entertainment, work ...

And it is also becomes easy to forget our genuine needs for beauty and love in the midst of all of this ... so this is what I have been focusing on during this dark night (although not always successfully, I must admit): loving the people who populate my life. Touching. Listening. Breaking bread. Holding. Laughing. Crying. Praying. Looking at the mountains that rise up on the eastern horizon here and musing that they will be here long after George and Dick and you and I have returned to dust.

Impeachment will not likely come to pass, and who knows how many more horrors will be unearthed, and what the upcoming years could bring. Love remains a choice we can make with each passing moment, whether we are voting, facing our shadows, protesting, feeling futile, learning something new, sharing almonds with a panhandler ...

This passage from Joan Chittister comes to mind:

...I know that life is a gift, a responsibility, a venture into human accountability for which there is no excuse acceptable, no justification adequate enough to explain why I did nothing to complete a world given to me for safekeeping. We may, of course, fail because failure is also a mark of creaturehood, the beginning of a growth learned over and over again, from generation to generation, until the end of time. Success is, therefore, not required. We are frail, uncertain. But the outpouring through us of the Breath of God, the spirit that brought each of us into being and sustains us there, is of the essence of God's work on earth. The massacres may go on, the injustices may be legalized, the oppressions may be theologized, the barbarisms may be taken for granted everywhere, but I am expected to meet inhumanity with humanity, human darkness with the gleam of the divine eye .... I am expected to draw from the Being that is the source of my being so that all of us together may someday, somehow grow to full stature, become that from which we were made, be everything that creaturehood demands.

Geez, guess my head is in the clouds tonight!

Mary

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://Mascha.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:26:54 GMT

Hi Chris. One word: Yeah.

Rick, as an ex-military man, you must have serious concerns about the private army of mercenaries that has been quietly empowered by BushCo, I imagine. Has anybody else here looked into Blackwater yet?

A short video introduction:

Blackwater: A Shadow Army

I've read 2 serious papers on this Blackwater Private Security outfit so far, but the comments below are more fun... especially the guy calling himself Tenzing Gyatso, which is the Dalai Lama's name if I'm not mistaken.

Question:
"Why is there a need for Blackwater? Isn't there enough money to pay our own armed forces the same amount that Blackwater is paid? Perhaps if Bush quit giving no-bid contracts to Haliburton for billions of dollars."

Reply by tenzingyatso:
"The "need" as you ask is for a covert army to be paid to do "work" anywhere in the world without any accountability. Because this is a private army, paid with your tax dollars covertly, they don't have to explain their actions or who they are working for or what they are doing to anyone,not you, not the American people, not the media, NO ONE!"

Heh, another piece of the puzzle... Are you getting it yet? The picture?

Last Sunday, I got so sick reading this stuff and following various leads, I hung over the toilet, heaving. Then I had to lie down - escape, go deep inside myself, where none of this even exists.

Look at our collective shadow. Massive... painful, revolting. Bit by bit it is emerging into many more people's consciousness. From what I know about personal shadow-work, resistance is futile. Our unwitting participation in way too many government-authorized and officially perpetuated myths is what we should fear the most, methinks, not the true but painful revelations that are waiting in the wings.

It's easier if we face it together, no?

M

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://rickholden76.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:30:17 GMT

A recent poll done by a school of journalism showed that viewers of the Daily Show were much more informed about the facts of recent events than viewers of Fox news. It's crazy when people that watch fake news are better informed than those that watch a cable news channel.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://off-center.gaia.com — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:02:10 GMT

Con (there is only one; and even that isn't real): No White House wedding for the blonde Bush twin.

Seriously, did anyone see the taped interview Cheney did April 15, 1994 on why we should NOT invade/go to war with Iraq? I saw it on The Daily Show the other night. Stewart also interviewed the guy who wrote Cheney's biography. Unbelievable stuff. I still have a hard time believing Bush made it to the presidency in the first place. Why he hasn't been impeached or otherwise vanished just doesn't comprehend in my world.
Peace,
Chris

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://Mascha.gaia.com — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:08:45 GMT

Hi again... the saga continues.

Spiritual leader Marianne Williamson posted an article that amounts to an urgent call for everyone to watch the new movie "No End in Sight" with a link to the trailer yesterday, Aug, 16, 2007, in The Huffington Post ~

Quote M. W.:

"Whatever anger or frustration you might already feel about this [the Iraq] war, it's nothing compared to the heartsickness you'll feel after seeing this movie. It's not just that the invasion occured ... it's the complete and total bush league (well, what did we expect?) level of post-invasion planning -- or lack of planning -- that goes so far beyond a dereliction of duty, to a level of ineptitude that borders on the criminal, if not the insane."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After doing a lot of research myself connecting the dots (first professionally for a movie, then privately because I couldn't stop unraveling the various threads all leading to the massive fix we're in now, globally), I have to say that Williamson's assessment of the situation is too cautious and sounds rather lame. The following quote from a comment to M.W.'s blog sums it up more succinctly:

lynn1219:

".....In 6 years, this regime has trashed our Constitution, done away with the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Accords, Habeas Corpus, and now wants to speed up death row inmates' executions. This all sounds like it's happening in some Banana Republic but, wake up America, it's happening here. If they could wreak this havoc in such a short time, imagine what a group of desperate, power-crazed egomaniacs will do until January 20, 2009. We need impeachment, and we need it now. No more subpoenas, hearings before Congress or polite requests from [sic] Bush to cooperate. The only remedy is to get the neocons out of Washington! "

Light, love and healthy outrage while there's still time,

M

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://monk.gaia.com — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:16:57 GMT

This, The Dark Side, is a fantastic documentary about Dick Cheney and how he consolidated power.

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://monk.gaia.com — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:12:23 GMT

But the sort of things Cheney does are enough to get some people worrying about a police state. The Cheney Branch of Government. He's refusing to hand over documents to the National Archives, arguing that the Vice President's office is not a part of the Executive Branch of government. As Maria Cox of Time said, "Perhaps next he will say he is not subject to the laws of gravity either. He will just float away to some undisclosed location."

Re: Impeachment - pros and cons

http://monk.gaia.com — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:59:41 GMT

Oh, I decided it was too unrealistic to work as a game as well, as you indicate.