16 Comments so far

1. bakunin January 23rd, 2007 6:03 pm

   Bush, Cheney et al have been nothing short of catatrophic for the US (and the world) these past six years. If he and Cheney are not impeached soon they will probably deliver us WWIII with millions of deaths, so impeachment is now imperative.

2. gilly January 23rd, 2007 6:27 pm

   surprise surprise!

3. felix4321 January 23rd, 2007 6:34 pm

   I’m w/ gilly: this is nothing new. The only thing that is surprising is that there aren’t riots in the streets. Where is the outrage; where are the protests? Today, I spent over an hour e-mailing both my senators and the White House regarding the war in Iraq and the 100 Hours Agenda, but it didn’t feel very satisfying, as it seems no one is really listening to reason anymore, assuming they ever did.

4. Ken Mitchell January 23rd, 2007 6:59 pm

   You think? Unfortunately yes.

5. burke bromley January 23rd, 2007 7:16 pm

   It’s too bad that all we seem to be able to do about this is complain from the sidelines.

6. Lioness January 23rd, 2007 8:04 pm

   Indeed, but there’s little that can be done in actuality.

   Bush and his cronies still have enough secure votes in the House and the Senate to forestall impeachment, and among his last acts from the White House — aside from stealing souvenirs — are quite likely to be Presidential pardons far and wide. Heck, there are still enough die-hards who consider the fortunes of their political “team” more important than justice that there probably aren’t enough votes in the country to effect real change. Even with grievous provocation, many Republicans complicit in his crimes were reelected.

   Just as Caspar Weinberger escaped justice over the Iran Contra affair, Clair E. George, the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Duane R. Clarridge, the former head of the C.I.A.’s European division, Alan D. Fiers Jr., Robert C. McFarlane, the former national security advisor, Elliott Abrams, the former assistant Secretary of State for Central America, all ditto, the chances of anyone serving time for Bush’s treasonous acts and crimes against humanity are almost non-existent.

   The best we could hope for would be “extraordinary renditions” to countries in which their crimes might be taken seriously, of which there may well be a few.

   We might also consider limiting the power of the pardon to eliminate from the list of potential pardonable offences certain high crimes against the people of the United States and against humanity. But that would take a Constitutional Amendment, which couldn’t be passed fast enough (if at all) to do any good.

7. felix4321 January 23rd, 2007 8:17 pm

   Wow! Lioness rules.

   One thing people such as Chomsky stress is the difference between the US Government and the people of this soon-to-be-if-not-already Empire. While there is a correlation between these two things and we all have blood on our hands, there is a difference. An important question then becomes: how do we as humans best let other cultures and countries know we differ more than not from our government on many of the key issues facing the world today?

8. thumbtrees January 23rd, 2007 10:44 pm

   A view from Australia sees an arrogant bully nation acting selfishly. Our own puppy dog prime minister Howard stumbles behind yapping “look at me,look at me” in some vain attempt to boost his own image. What Bush and his coterie have accomplished in such a short while will take years to repair. The world needs a lead nation and America had what it takes to do good things. Bush has squandered that capital and America will find it hard to be taken seriously again. If the perceived ills of the world had been addressed by a compassionate America and only a fraction of the money spent on “the war” had been directed towards humanitarian needs globally, then America could have achieved its world leadership status - deservedly - and would be in a position to influence other nations and peoples to its point of view. To attempt to exert that influence now from the butt end of an M16 is too late and was never going to work anyway.
   Will the American people put up with Bush’s cover up tactics until the end of his term ? Surely that’s Bush’s “course” now, to hang in there until he can move out and his successor takes the can for the withdrawal that’s inevitable. What damage, death and dollars to burnish the image of that man.
   Tony Jacques

9. Silva January 23rd, 2007 11:10 pm

   Felix wrote in part: “An important question then becomes: how do we as humans best let other cultures and countries know we differ more than not from our government on many of the key issues facing the world today?”

   To me that question is all about making ourselves important. I can’t imagine why they should care how I feel–I with more than my share of the world’s resources, spewing more than my share of wastes, etc.–and now I want them to care about what I’m feeling?

   To me the important question is what I’m doing to try to restrain my government–and economy–from doing any more damage to the rest of the world. I don’t expect people in other cultures and countries to care what my effort means to me. What matters is what effect it is having in slowing the damage.

   That’s a different way of looking at it, but does it make sense once you hear it?

10. rtdrury January 24th, 2007 1:12 am

    Felix, I disagree that Lioness rules, with assertions such as “there is little we can do”. And I think you disagree with that assertion yourself. There is plenty we can do. Dissenting is the important first step. And plenty of steps remain. Every step you take until your death should be a step of self-determination. It doesn’t matter how futile it seems while all the rest bow to the ruler. The self-determination in your steps has intrinsic value, greater than . Rulers depend on our falling in line behind them. Stop falling in line, and free yourself. The basic elements for building self-determination in a society include the following for every citizen: civics class, quality information, civic responsibility, engagement with markets and government in the society’s best interest, including nonviolent action, e.g. strikes, boycotts, and avoidance of debt and tax liabilities. These take the wind out of the ruler’s sails and puts it into the individual’s sails, see?

    Individual and local self-sufficiency are important goals. The more you look into it, the more you find that the people’s self-determination will stop errant public policy, all of it. America illustrates how without a foundation of mass self-determination, public institutions become hijacked instruments of corruption. Those who wish to rule us have suppressed self-determination and self-sufficiency, with such tactics as the spreading of fear of economic collapse or evil empires. When we achieve self-determination, we cannot be conquered by any wannabe ruler, internal or external. The Iraqi insurgency provides an ugly, yet real example: They are exercising self-determination, and winning. Self-determination requires that your live your principles and serve yourself as the default. Allow yourself benefit from the power of institutions and organizations but always be prepared to disengage from them when they become hijacked, errant. This pressures them to purge the corrupt elements and solicit your renewed patronage. But if they don’t, at least you are not enslaved to them, contributing to their destructive potential.

11. alan Broom January 24th, 2007 3:32 am

    The most worrying thing about this survey is that the tide is only turning against Bush and his cronies now. Looking from the outside it was extraordinary to see him elected in the first place let alone re-elected. The US could have had Al Gore as President. This government has been a predictable disaster. I remember thinking when 9/11 happened what a pity there was not a more reflective, self-examining, type of president in the US. I cringe whenever I here an American leader refer to “American security” or “making the US a safer place for Americans.” The result is to make the world less safe, less just, more violent and divided.
    Please put up some candidates for the next elections with moral courage and a thirst for peace and justice around the world.

12. ballerina January 24th, 2007 4:32 am

    Since I moved to Europe last summer, i have met many people who, when we first meet, ask why I left. When I say that I left for political reasons, they simply nod their heads in understanding. To me, that speaks volumes.

13. ThadStone January 24th, 2007 6:59 am

    You know, Bush and cheney have a very good reason for hanging onto the Iraq conquest with a fanatic death-grip: once the invasion and conquest fails, the AWOL is over (American Way Of Life). The reason the U.S. is rich and powerful (besides taking a very bountiful virgin continent from the Native Peoples and bringing African slaves to help export cotton which paid for industrialization, then the vast oil finds, etc) is because we are violent and threatening. People that say ‘bring the troops home, this Iraq War was based on lies’ are not technically correct. The war was based on truths (just not told to the American public, which had to be manipulated). The war started because as Pres. Carter said 27 years ago ‘the Middle East is a vital U.S. Nation Interest.’ Without controlling the oil (pump rates, price ranges, infrastructure buildup rates, concession percentages, profits investments, etc), and the global banking system setup to use US$ to pay for oil (and everything else), the American post-WWII system will fall.

    Like Anthony Soprano Jr., most Americans are relatively wealthy and ignorant of the underlying violence that is the foundation of this wealth. Convincing Tony Soprano to stop killing people might be ethically good, but then the Family lifestyle will change drastically. If we cannot crush a little country like Iraq (25 million people, at least 110 billion barrels of oil), its like Tony Soprano not being able to break the kneecaps of a businessman not paying protection money. It’s bad for the entire racket. Other countries are watching, and noting the weakness of the ’sole superpower’.

    Just realize that after the Iraq adventure fails, there are big consequences. Such as ? Oil prices go up, Detroit fails, ExxonMobil starts to dry up, more and more countries ‘act up’ (stop being intimidated by the U.S.), big banks like Citibank lose 100’s of billions.

    It will be a mess. Crushing little countries (for example lessons and profit) is what the U.S. DOES, since 1947 (or earlier, if you count Hawaii, Central American countries, Phillipines, etc).

    So, fight for Peace and Justice. Just realize that this country was made wealthy and powerful using very different international concepts. I’m ready for the end of the American Century (more or less… Probably not.)

    Are you ?

14. Lioness January 24th, 2007 8:36 am

    “rtdrury” disagrees with the assertion that I “rule,” a sentiment with which I heartily agree. If only.

    He or she also says that dissent is valuable, and it is, but there is a limit to what mere “dissent” can do.

    Jawboning won’t alter the fact that Bush has been extremely successful in achieving the Neo-Con/Libertarian agenda, one of the primary goals of which has always been to “starve the beast,” to spend down so much of America’s capital that any progressive social program that counteracts the cruel social Darwinism of the Right becomes difficult or impossible.

    Almost everything the extreme Right holds dear has already come to pass, other, perhaps, than the imposition of a new Thousand Year Reich.

    The Supreme Court has been packed with rightwing idealogues, laying the groundwork for upholding governmental cooption of civil rights and even civil government.

    Our legal framework was designed from the start to uphold the interests of the monied classes, and to diminish the role of populism and democracy. And it’s worked quite well at this.

    One cannot, as Audre Lorde observed, dismantle the master’s house with the master’s tools.

    Yet where is the constituency for real revolution?

    While there was a brief flurry of resistance to the idea of taxing the poor to further enrich the wealthy at the beginning of our so-called “democracy,” in the form of Shay’s Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, and other acts of defiance toward the Hamiltonian counter-revolution, these petered out. The “special taxes” and governmental protection of certain wealthy individuals, advantaging the rich over all others, have proliferated to the point that many types of income escape almost all taxation, while others carry a heavy burden. By strange coincidence, those incomes which escape most taxation are those habitually paid to the wealthy.

    But the inevitable consequence of unbridled capitalism is serfdom or slavery for the majority of the people.

    Our Republic started its days with a hereditary underclass with no hope of escape from brutal oppression and exploitation, and it’s well on its way to creating a “new and improved” version of the same system. We already have a new slave system, prisoners who labor essentially for the food they eat, coerced by the awful power of the State to endure hazardous and degrading conditions, forced to handle toxic waste, participate in “clinical trials” of possibly dangerous drugs, and labor for pennies a day, depressing the fair wages of those who might willingly risk toxic waste, crippling burdens, and danger in exchange for larger salaries. Is debt bondage next on our list of social “improvements?” What do we do if we run out of prisoners, when many of our state governments are dependent on prison labor? “Find” more prisoners?

    Our bankruptcy laws, originally a progressive tool to ensure that no citizen could be bound into debt slavery, have been weakened to the point that the only “citizens” who can easily escape their obligations are immortal corporate non-persons, leading to the easy transfer of fungible wealth and power down the generations, untroubled by mere nationality. We still have “prominent” families whose wealth is directly traceable to chattel slavery, yet few object and even fewer demand reparations.

    Henry Ford, not well-known for his general humanitarianism, thought that it was obscene for the head of a company to make more than forty times the pay of the lowest-paid worker in his company, yet where’s the stomach for a similar governmental philosophy today?

    We’ve squandered our progressive income tax system, a tool meant to ensure that accumulating unlimited wealth became difficult.

    We’ve frittered away the inheritance tax, which had similar social intentions, despite being easily evaded by anyone wealthy enough to create a family corporation, or its lesser cousin, a trust that outlives the death of the individuals who created it.

    We’ve almost thrown away our capital gains taxes, evidently on the specious theory that the income of our “betters” ought not to be taxed at the same rates as that of mere working stiffs.

    Collectively, we’re pretty much a nation of gullible cretins, willing to trade our freedoms and fortunes for the shiny beads of euphemized hate speech and imagined moral sanctity.

    And “Three R’s” and “Back to Basics” movements aiming to diminish the ability of the masses to think critically by focusing on rote memorization have largely succeeded, while the “consolidation” of the media, by which is meant the elimination of most media in favor of those propaganda tools owned by the richest and most powerful, has progressed to the extent that a handful of huge corporations own most of our public airwaves, most of our newspapers, most of our television and radio stations, and most of our wealth. And those who own and control these corporations come from a single class, pretty much, the wealthy.

    The supply of money is not infinite — and in fact is carefully limited by the Federal Reserve — yet the ability to comprehend this fact has been eliminated from our brains by a kind of Doublethink in which we assume — and are told — that “all the money in the world” is an incomprehensibly huge sum, one without bounds. Yet Archimedes figured out how to handle such numbers more than 2200 years before beginning of the common era. One reckons thaat we forgot this simple skill. We are collectively approaching an asymptotic limit, the monetary value of the Earth itself, which is very unlikely to be exceeded, and may actually diminish drastically if global warming takes the dire toll that our most pessimistic predictions imply. We’ve started to see what a fully-exploited world looks like, and it doesn’t look all that attractive, or even survivable, for most of us. Maybe we ought to cut back before we spend ourselves into global bankruptcy, ceding the biosphere to our ultimate debt-holders, the anaerobic bacteria.

    There is a Gross World Product of approximately US$7,200 per person. The Gross Domestic Product of the USA, by way of contrast, works out to around US$42,000 per person, man, woman, and child. But every dollar earned above those averages is necessarily not earned by someone else. We subsidize the million dollar salaries of the few by the minimum wage salaries of the many, the wealth of some nations by the poverty of others.

    There is an interesting website calling itself “Worldmapper.” Look it up. It’s right at the top of the list in Google. Look for their “Wealth Growth Map.” If you’re reading this, it ought to make you ashamed.

    Are you getting your “fair share” of our collective inheritance? Or rather more, no matter how much less it is than that enjoyed by Bill Gates? Is the villager in rural Uganda getting a fair share? Is the former resident of Lohachara, the Indian island that recently disappeared beneath the rising seas, displacing 10,000 people. When places, even nations, disappear, where are the people who live there to go? Do we all make a little room? Or do we say, collectively, “Tough luck.”

    One of the reasons that we’re reluctant to confront injustice domestically is that we don’t want to confront it globally. Our own wealth — whatever that consists of — is dependent on the thugs we hire to patrol our borders, so we don’t object too very strenuously when those same thugs are turned against us. It could, after all, be worse. And we don’t look too very carefully at the idea of social justice, because magical thinking can only go so far, despite the sterling examples of Reagan and Bush, junior.

    Rulers, in fact, throughout history have not depended on people “falling in line,” but on gangs of thugs to enforce their will upon a populace cowed by overwhelming force and intimidation. Thugs, in general, are loyal to the people who pay them, be they brutal despots or the enlightened and virtuous rulers we fondly imagine are meant to govern us. We are always one step away from despotism, our local tree of liberty not having been refreshed by the blood of patriots nor would-be tyrants for quite some time now.

    With a population growing steadily poorer, steadily less educated, and steadily less powerful, how are we to know the difference? In exactly what way does the current Bush Administration differ from that of a brutal despot? The fact that we. personally, have escaped his wrath? Are we especially favored, or merely lucky? And wither democracy in a country purposefully designed to lessen democracy’s ability to change the course of governance? Are we at the tail end of a long decline? Will Bill Gates, or someone like him, eventually own everything and everyone? What’s to stop him?

    How do we recapture the airwaves “we” sold for a mess of pottage, the media we allowed to wither away, the wealth we let trickle through our hands, the knowledge and skills we’ve traded for wrestlemania and “reality tv?”

    How do we reassert control over “our” politicians, whose candidacies and continued favor are mostly bought and paid for by the wealthy and powerful?

    Where do we find volunteers for the next revolution?

15. bnpuroxotawi December 11th, 2007 7:45 am

    tittaxowyzyva…

    exnunozuvonu…

16. bnrazisiruve December 26th, 2007 7:24 pm

    titpehotoruki…

    excuwehopyte…

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