OK, it’s clear now that I will probably not be able to stop writing about the Bush administration until long after they are out of office. The damage they have caused is unbelievable. And it’s like George is just passing time as we close in on the day so many of us have been anxious for since 2000, preparing to move to his new all-white neighborhood (is anyone surprised, really?) as if there’s nothing left to do but prepare the history books for the “true” story of why our country is falling apart at the seems. I think his determination to rewrite history is motivating my determination to make sure that he is unable to manipulate what he has done – and hopefully pay more of a price for his actions than to spend his remaining years with a bunch of rich white folk complaining about high government taxes. This guy, and his close associates, have chosen to break numerous laws ON PURPOSE! They didn’t just screw up a couple times and then say they were sorry, they purposefully broke laws with the intention of increasing the power of the presidency to something that resembles a monarchy (I even believe they felt Jeb was next in line – and don’t be surprised if he re-emerges in the not too distant future if GW gets away with what he’s done). The end result, considering the enormous power that has been given to the corporate heads in this country was a nation on the verge of a fascist government when the wheels finally started to fall off.
But don’t kid yourself, the wheels aren’t off all the way yet. Maybe this ridiculous display of union bashing the republicans are displaying as they attempt to destroy the United Auto Workers will have a lasting effect that will preclude ordinary Americans from voting republican for generations to come – I couldn’t be happier if that is the case. Hopefully, another group of people will emerge as the competing party to the democrats, maybe the Green party or something like that – so that there is a genuine debate as to how we “pull” ourselves out of the mess that the Bush administration (and the republican party of the last 30+ years) has created for us. Even a lot of the people I know who backed Bush are starting to realize what a baffoon he is – normally, they vote for republicans because of the abortion issue – but even they are beginning to see that “We the People” have been robbed blind by these criminals. They’ve profited off of a war (that in itself is sickening – when the whole truth about the fraud associated with Iraq comes out – people are going to be really angry – our young men and women dying while Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and their cronies are getting filthy rich on “no-bid” contracts to provide false services in an illegal occupation, ugh!!!), they’ve filtered trillions of tax revenue to the top 1% over the last 8 years while the treasury has gone essentially into bankruptcy, and to top it off – while the economy is tanking they figured out a way to give $350 billion to their buddies “to save the economy!” This is all shockingly unbelievable to me – and it’s finally getting the attention it deserves. But there’s more!
Possibly more important than the thievery, is the assault on the constitution. This is the part that I’m really going to be upset about if Bush, Cheney, Addington (Cheney’s lawyer), Gonzales, Rove, Libby, et al are allowed to walk after thumbing their collective noses at the constitution they swore to uphold when they took office in January of 2001. It has become clear to me that they had no intention of following this constitution the day they swore to do so! And the major culprits here were Cheney and Addington, although Bush was the “boss” or “decider” as he referred to himself. I’m just finishing a book called “The Shadow Factory” by James Bamford that gives the history of the NSA (National Security Administration) all the way back to WW I and leading up to the warrantless wiretapping program authorized by GW Bush and championed by Cheney and Addington, that become public knowledge in 2005 – and it’s still going on today. Every adult who votes in this country should read this book. Maybe you don’t believe in the value of the constitution, but just to make my personal biases clear, I have a sticker on my car that says, “I am a constitution voter.” After hearing of this program I donated money to the ALCU for the first time in my life. This should be a HUGE RED FLAG to all of us!
For those of you (here I go fantasizing that people actually read this :o) old enough to remember Richard Nixon, the first president in my lifetime with the philosophy that “If the president does it, it must be legal,” you know why the FISA court and supporting legislation came into existence. Simply put, it would be hard to have a real democracy if the party in power was able to listen in to the phone conversations and/or read the mail of those who oppose them. And, of course, then there’s the question of the right to privacy of our citizens that is guaranteed by the fourth amendment to the constitution. As Bush himself said early in his presidency (but after he had authorized this intrusive program) “The government can’t listen to your phone calls without a warrant” or something similar to that. I mean, when you find out the truth, I guess it’s just one more blatant pathalogical lie from this man – but you know that after the republicans spent years and hundreds of millions to impeach Clinton for lying about sex (I’m not defending Clinton here) – wouldn’t you expect a bit more. I mean the guy is violating the constitution, he’s committing probably millions of felonies, he knows exactly what he’s doing and he tells us that the government needs a warrant to listen to our phone calls which he’s in essence listening to without a warrant as he speaks. YES, THEY DO TAKE US FOR IDIOTS!
Not only has the government been listening in to phone calls without warrants, but they’ve been intercepting emails by the billions without warrants for years. In fact, as I read this book, there is evidence that Michael Hayden, the head of the NSA at the time began doing this prior to 9/11. The Bush administration has OKed a program that “data mined” phone conversations inside and outside the USA by the millions upon millions. They made agreements with Verizon and AT&T to collect this data and they had a budget of $60 Billion per year to run this program. And the sad truth is that they had a program in place prior to 9/11 that should have stopped the terrorist attacks and should have done so without an illegal warrantless wiretapping program. I mean they actually had phone records of the original two “plants” in the US by bin Laden, and due to regulatory bickering failed to follow through as these two terrorists made phone call after phone call that could have been legally monitored which would have uncovered the plot in plenty of time to stop it. Back to Nixon: Cheney and Addington were part of the Nixon and Ford administrations when FISA was enacted into law following the Watergate scandal which led to Richard Nixon’s resignation. They openly resented FISA from the first day it was enacted. It was during this era that the republican “dirty tricks” schemes were perfected and out of this era came Lee Atwater who was the mentor of Karl Rove (need I say more). Both Cheney and Addington carried a long standing grudge that FISA was one of the many intrusions on executive power that needed to be reversed when they finally were in a position to do something about this once GW Bush chose Cheney (actually Cheney chose himself) as Vice President. Their way of dealing with this was to just ignore the law. Addington at one time was quoted as saying our job is to “push, push, push” the limits of the law until somebody stops us. Well, as we all know there isn’t much of a democratic party in place with the gumption to stop them. This program is continuing today and will continue up until January 20th and that is where I’m a bit nervous.
I’ve heard President Elect Obama (in the interest of full disclosure – I sent him money several times during the campaign) say that one of the first things he’s going to do when he takes office is close down GITMO – Bush’s torture center in Guantanimo Cuba – but I haven’t heard much about FISA. Many of us who supported him were stunned when he voted to give retro-active immunity to Verizon and AT&T during the campaign. This almost led me to pull my support for him. In fact, I wrote a very long and direct letter to the campaign expressing my dismay at his decision to support that bill. I got a reply that assured me he would lead a charge to change the bill once in office and the NSA would be operating within the constituional and legal guidelines as set forth in the FISA provisions. However, I haven’t heard much since and I’m worried that he is going to be scared into trying to continue this intrusion on the privacy of virtually all Americans. I believe that, not only does the FISA law need to be followed, but those in the Bush administration who violated it need to be prosecuted. Keep in mind that the congress, when they passed this law – made each violation a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine – FOR EACH VIOLATION!! Bush and company have violated this law millions of times! And the telecoms got away with it because no one in congress except a few were willing to hold the executives of these companies accountable for turning over our “data” knowing it was illegal – this was no secret to them.
What makes all this worse is that the “data interception” business has flourished since (remember America alone is spending $60 Billion per year to listen into it’s citizens conversations) Bush authorized this program. They have created big data interception companies who have big data interception conventions where all the geeks who know how to tap into the internet and the phone lines show off their wares and fight for these huge government contracts. Now, other countries around the world are using these contractors and the contractors have no regard who they sell their technology to – they’re making a boatload of money. Dictatorships like in Viet Nam, China, and countries like this are using the technology developed because our market pays so well to virtually stymie all dissent in their countries. The fallout from the Bush administration’s decision to do this will be felt for probably generations – all around the world. Another BAD consequence of this program is that the two companies that have provided the technology to the NSA (via Verizon and AT&T) are from Israel and this has allowed the possibility (actually, I believe I should say the probability) for Israeli “spying” on us and our government. I mean the ramifications of all of this are beyond HUGE! And the technology has been installed into virtually every network in the world and it will be, it seems to me, much more difficult to get it out than it was to put it in.
If Obama and the new congress refuse to prosecute Bush and company for this egregious violation of mine and yours (again, just in case you might be reading this) 4th amendment rights, who knows where government intrusion will go next. As I’ve said before in previous posts, the republicans will regroup and they plan to be back – just try to picture their next “leader.” I know it’s hard to imagine, but here’s a few possibilities: as mentioned earlier – another Bush, Jeb – how about Sarah Palin, I’m sure she will really be focused on preventing the republican thugs who will still be running around if not stopped NOW from stealing our constitutional rights, or how about a resurgent Newt Gingrich – if that doesn’t get your hair to stand on end, I don’t know what will. I mean, can you see what I mean about how important it is that these people get a strong message, FINALLY! I honestly thought that no one who would enter the office of the President would ever be so brazen as to do something like this – but seeing is believing. So, if you’re reading this and you “get” what I’m saying – write a letter to Obama to encourage accountability for those who have done this. I believe that is the only way there is even a chance that the damage can be undone. KEEP IN MIND, THE LISTENING DEVICES ARE INSTALLED JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE! After 9/11 I was sure of just one thing – and that was if we succumbed to fear and started to give up the rights that have stood the test of time since the inception of our constitution, that would be the only way the terrorists could “win.” And even if Obama succeeds in capturing bin Laden, the destruction of the 4th amendment will be far worse than the destruction of the Twin Towers!