The End Of The World As He Knows It
This is America, the land of free speech - as long as it isn’t attempted on private property or intended to reach a disconnected public official. George W Bush likes to proclaim that America’s soldiers are fighting to protect our freedoms, and yet he and his administration officials are doing all that they can to limit or destroy these very rights. They are now again assaulting free speech rights.
Our nations soldiers do not surrender all of their citizenship rights when they enlist. They can still vote. They still have - with certain understandable and logical exceptions - most of their free speech rights. The Universal Code of Military Justice clearly defines the circumstances when their free speech rights don’t apply.
But that isn’t good enough for The Commander Guy. He has had one of his lackeys in the Pentagon - Robert L. Wilkie - issue “guidelines” restricting Congressional testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by President Bush.
The Pentagon has placed unprecedented restrictions on who can testify before Congress, reserving the right to bar lower-ranking officers, enlisted soldiers, and career bureaucrats from appearing before oversight committees or having their remarks transcribed, according to Defense Department documents.
He will fail in this attempt as he had every other in his life:
[V]eterans of the legislative process — who say they have never heard of such guidelines before — maintain that the Pentagon has no authority to set such ground rules. The guidelines would not affect congressional subpoenas, which can compel anyone to appear before lawmakers. As a result, several lawmakers have pledged privately to use that power if the Pentagon’s guidelines stymie their efforts to get information from specific sectors of the military.
His insane little world is falling apart.
A US Marine is on trial for shooting five men in Haditha as they stood with their hands in the air, an act which is only sure to further erode the waning public support for his war. Even the Iraqi government has had enough, and is seeking to send George’s “freedom” fighters home.
Bush got us into his wars for oil through bad advice. He continues to receive advice from those same sources. Members of the GOP House Delegation recently advised George “Let a General do the lying about Iraq to us in Congress.” He heeded their words, and it was Gen. Patraeus who lied about extent of U.S. abuse of “non-detainee” Iraqis.
Brent Budowsky, former aide to the late Senator Lloyd Bentsen, severely castigates these pusillanimous Bush leaguers:
Heroes, they are not. The 11 Republicans who confronted President Bush on Tuesday, and promised their continued support for a policy they know is disastrous, have committed an act of indescribable hypocrisy and shame. On an issue of high honor involving life and death for thousands of American troops, they show the president their poll numbers and promise the president they will again vote for an escalation they know is wrong.
Columnist Mary MacElveen attempts to reason with these “representatives” while their minds are on something important to them. She says to them, “President Bush’s legacy and war are not worth saving
As a former Republican, I want to reach out to every single Republican within the House and Senate that this war and President Bush’s legacy is not worth saving. Are all of you trying to destroy America[?]
You were not elected to send us into deficit spending. The list is endless of how America’s needs are not being attended to and have not been for years. If one is to believe that this new Republican Party is controlled by evangelical Christians then all of you do need a come to Jesus realization that this war must be ended and protecting President Bush’s legacy goes against every Christian belief that I know.
But it’s clear that the Bush regime will only hear the words which are already bouncing about inside their commodious crania. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), the House Intelligence Committee’s former chairman and current ranking member, thinks he knows better than eleven retired three-star and four-star admirals and generals from all four branches of our national military. These retired officers are promoting “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change,” a study investigating how climate change will exacerbate conditions promoting terrorism and other threats around the world. It specifically calls for a national defense assessment of the impact of global warming.
I don’t know about you, but my tax dollars were spent educating these men so that they could assume roles of leadership in a time of war. We are told that these officers (some ARE female, after all!) are among the best-educated minds available to the country. I don’t recall that I had anything to do with educating Peter Hoekstra beyond that provided to all citizens. So who are you going to believe?
If you are Bush and other top Republicans, you continue to ignore the advice of our generals. That is why you won’t hear the words of General John Batiste, who led the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, when he denounces you: “You Have Placed Our Nation in Peril.” Such a stance, which induced him to leave his career as a flag officer of the United States Army in order to speak out freely, has now cost him personally. Batiste “has been asked to leave his position as a consultant to CBS News” over his criticizing the instigators of the Oil War. As Buzzflash put it in reporting this sordid episode, “In short, he was fired for being against the continuous unnecessary deaths of our GIs. CBS doesn’t support our troops; they support their continued deaths.”
When there is money to be made, those who are to make care little for how much blood it will cost. Attention is instead directed toward that which will produce more profits - even when said sweetheart deals cost American lives: Bush Gives No-Bid Contracts to His GOP Cronies and Our GIs Get Trapped in Their Humvees
All of this corporate largesse was to be funded by the proceeds of the practically-free pools of Iraqi petroleum provided by the plundering of the economic legacy of future American taxpayers. Buzzflash Contributor Larry Beinhart points out the necessary human investment in the Iraqi Oil Rustle if the Bush Leaguers are to achieve their goals:
According to both the Army’s old and new counterinsurgency manuals, it takes 40 troops per 1,000 members of the civilian population. Iraq has 26 million people. That means 670,000 troops.
Beinert is no supporter of Bushie plans, and “will fight tooth and nail” to protect his family from being sacrificed in that effort. He proposes another solution to meet the “needs” of the Crawford Gang:
If we are to speak of a moral obligation, let those who speak of it, or support those who speak of it, live up to it. Draft the war supporters. Send them to Iraq. They deserve it.
George Bush likes wearing uniforms. Let him march in Baghdad. We might say that Dick Cheney is old and feeble, but he can certainly do secret administrative duties from an undisclosed location in Iraq. John McCain can run the POW camps. Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war, can serve as an example to women. John Kerry, who promised to fight the same war better and smarter, and who voted for it, can serve. I would pay good money to see Bill Kristol and Paul Wolfowitz in uniform. Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity would make great MPs, or failing that, do great at KP or digging latrines.
But lets say that the Congress fails us, as many feel they already have, and give George the authorization to initiate the draft as they spinelessly did to give him authorization to initiate the war in the first place. By shafting the rank-and-file of our military, there will be fewer survivors to take advantage of that lying recruitment tool, the GI Bill. The Seattle Times reports that GI Bill benefits are falling so far below the amount necessary to complete a baccalaureate degree that it is essentially worthless to assist those who spent years risking life and limb in defense of the rights of wealthy oil men to become richer to become educated and be able to make something out of themselves. They instead are almost as burdened with student loans as those tough-guys who stayed home to argue over game consoles.
There are only a few “soldiers” who merit support from the Bush crowd, and that includes terrorists who acted in behalf of the Bush family and their political allies at some point.
But as I mentioned above, Bush’s sleazy schemes are coming apart at the seams. Prominent Republican former allies - such as Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff - are calling for impeachment. [Former Watergate Conspirator John Dean - who knows about the abuse of power from personal experience, has done so three times - so far!]
Bush can’t expect much help from the American people, for a clear majority disapprove of his vetoing the will of the people.
Bush can’t expect help from foreign allies. I’ve already mentioned the Iraqi parliament inviting the Connecticut Yankee from Texas to go home. First Lap Poodle Tony Blair is resigning, and is in no position to aid George in any way if he is to rescue his own legacy from historical calumny. The newly-elected French clone of Bush has already declared himself to be more interested in national and international issues that in George’s oil war. George’s buddy Pooty-Poot has compared Bush’s foreign policy to Hitler’s.
Far to close to the truth for comfort! George will need glasses the next time he looks into someone’s soul!
Bush’s Afghanistan Puppet, Hamid Karzai, is too friendly to George’s enemies. He’ll be gone by the end of 2007.
Bush can’t expect help from the international business community, for while his minion Paul Wolfowitz is besieged by the World Bank to resign, Latin Countries are pulling out of that globalization scam. That will only spread as it becomes known that the American Emperor has no balls. American involvement in international monetary affairs is becoming intensely discouraged.
Bush can’t expect help from the domestic business community. David Sirota reports that domestic manufacturers are mad as hell about being sold out by both their government and their industrial organizations, and they are not going to take it anymore [PDF]:
Driven by growing resentment among manufacturing business owners over the escalating trade deficit and the perceived unwillingness of the federal government and national trade associations to represent the interests of domestic manufacturers, the 74-year-old tooling group has changed its name to the Tooling, Manufacturing & Technologies Association (TMTA). It is seeking members from outside Michigan and will conduct an aggressive campaign to wrestle control of the trade agenda in Washington away from multinational corporations.
“Many members of NAM are beyond frustrated,” adds Brian Sullivan, TMTA’s director of sales and marketing. “They feel that they have been betrayed by [NAM president] John Engler and his Executive Committee’s decision not to support HR-1498. Go to the NAM Web site and click on their Board of Directors. You’ll see a Who’s Who of principals of multinational companies who comprise the great majority of NAM’s Board members. Clearly, NAM is not representing the interests of domestic manufacturers who happen to be NAM’s core constituency.” These domestic manufacturers “have become angry about the situation and have become aware that since NAM is not representing their best interests they need to look elsewhere for representation.
So once George finishes throwing the commander of the world’s oldest commissioned warship over the side, he might as well follow, for it’s looking like his Ship of State has been holed below the waterline, and his distress calls are going unheeded.
That may be the worst fate Bush could suffer - being completely alone, and in dire need, and no one to save him from his rashness.