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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (8720)	11/3/2001 2:08:36 AM
From: MSI	Respond to of 281500

This stinks. Covering up criminal acts is itself a criminal act. "These claims of executive privilege, however, can be appealed in court, Gonzales said. " Sure, all the way to the Supreme Court. Right. Time to open the file on impeachment proceedings against Cardboard Boy and the cabal. Perfect. Do this on a Friday, covered up by all kinds of other news. They could have at least waited a decent interval until the Afghan occupation. Maybe if we're lucky the height of distraction is now (unless they've got something else in mind). If so, at least that's a good indicator for the stock market. Make money for now, don't worry about the men behind the curtain, and in 15 years see what kind of shenanigans they were really up to. Meanwhile, this isn't the last we'll hear about closing up government from public view. Full martial law is around the corner, and not just for the Taliban. Here's what Jacob Levich has to say about a previous speech: commondreams.org The permanent war undergirds every aspect of Big Brother's authoritarian program, excusing censorship, propaganda, secret police, and privation. In other words, it's terribly convenient. And conveniently terrible. Bush's alarming speech pointed to a shadowy enemy that lurks in more 60 countries, including the US. He announced a policy of using maximum force against any individuals or nations he designates as our enemies, without color of international law, due process, or democratic debate. [note: no formal declaration of war, therefore no real debate in Congress] He explicitly warned that much of the war will be conducted in secret. He rejected negotiation as a tool of diplomacy. He announced starkly that any country that doesn't knuckle under to US demands will be regarded as an enemy. He heralded the creation of a powerful new cabinet-level police agency called the "Office of Homeland Security." Orwell couldn't have named it better. By turns folksy ("Ya know what?") and chillingly bellicose ("Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists"), Bush stepped comfortably into the role of Big Brother, who needs to be loved as well as feared. Meanwhile, his administration acted swiftly to realize the governing principles of Oceania: WAR IS PEACE. A reckless war that will likely bring about a deadly cycle of retaliation is being sold to us as the means to guarantee our safety. Meanwhile, we've been instructed to accept the permanent war as a fact of daily life. As the inevitable slaughter of innocents unfolds overseas, we are to "live our lives and hug our children." FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. "Freedom itself is under attack," Bush said, and he's right. Americans are about to lose many of their most cherished liberties in a frenzy of paranoid legislation. The government proposes to tap our phones, read our email and seize our credit card records without court order. It seeks authority to detain and deport immigrants without cause or trial. It proposes to use foreign agents to spy on American citizens. To save freedom, the warmongers intend to destroy it. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. America's "new war" against terrorism will be fought with unprecedented secrecy, including heavy press restrictions not seen for years, the Pentagon has advised. Meanwhile, the sorry history of American imperialism -- collaboration with terrorists, bloody proxy wars against civilians, forcible replacement of democratic governments with corrupt dictatorships -- is strictly off-limits to mainstream media. Lest it weaken our resolve, we are not to be allowed to understand the reasons underlying the horrifying crimes of September 11. The defining speech of Bush's presidency points toward an Orwellian future of endless war, expedient lies, and ubiquitous social control. But unlike 1984's doomed protagonist, we've still got plenty of space to maneuver and plenty of ways to resist. It's time to speak and to act. It falls on us now to take to the streets, bearing a clear message for the warmongers: We don't love Big Brother.

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (8720)	11/3/2001 10:36:57 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

>>Not exactly comforting to those of us who feel that information is the lifeblood of a democracy and the more that information is withheld from the citizens of this country, the less democracy we are going to be allowed to have.<< No right is unbridled, not even constitutional rights. Every claim must be balanced against competing claims. You have a claim that information should be available. Others have a claim that information should be kept secret in order to protect national interests. There is a process by which these claims are evaluated, balanced, and resolved. If you don't find that comforting, you're unreasonable. The only people who expect to get their way all the time are people aged less than three, and even they need to learn to live with it.