Posts Tagged ‘defense’

I read Bob Burnett’s excellent and timely post yesterday over at HuffPo, entitled "Bush’s Day of Reckoning."  I recommend reading it in its entirety.  The topic is whether or not to proceed with criminal investigations of Bush, Cheney & their ilk over torture and any other violations of the Constitution.  Bob does point out that incompetence is not a crime and focuses on things like ordering torture or illegal spying on Americans, which are crimes.

Is the United States of America is the world’s largest dealer of illegal drugs?  What about the world’s largest gun runner?  For years our government has used the CIA, NSA & other super-secret ‘intelligence’ agencies to cultivate drug harvest and distribution in SE Asia and Afghanistan.  We offer ‘aid’ and ‘trade’ to countries in the forms of weapons and ammunition.  The drugs come home to the US to poison and kill our own population.  The weapons we sell are used either against us directly by people to kill others, who then seek to kill Americans.  Did the founding fathers envision a country that would become the world’s largest debtor and blood merchant?

Hi everybody! 

Did you know that today is International Anti-Corruption Day?  I sure as hell did not (but I do now).  Just in case you forgot, corruption occurs when people pay money in a secret deal, in order to break the law…so they can make a lot more money.

Why don’t we look at how the world celebrated this wonderful new holiday.  Maybe we can even see some real corruption in action.  Wow!  This is so much fun.

“The true strength of rulers and empires lies not in armies or emotions, but in the belief of men that they are inflexibly open and truthful and legal. As soon as a government departs from that standard, it ceases to be anything more than “the gang in possession,” and its days are numbered.” (H. G. Wells, as quoted in the Gravel Edition of the Pentagon Papers.)

The enemies of democracy are the enemies of the rule of law.

“enemies both foreign & domestic…”

Our Presidents and our armed forces swear to protect the Constitution from this threat – with good reason. The Constitution is the rule of law and it is the one thing that can prevent tyrants, thieves and murderers from the ruinous world of their unchecked greed and brutality.

That giant sucking sound that you hear, is the hole in the ground where the GOP used to be. The Christian Reich Right (CR) took them over and instead of spreading out to envelop the entire country, the greedy, intolerant, deceitful hypocrites have killed the GOP. Moderate and independent citizens have spoken with their votes. It turns out that Americans really do want equality for all.

The question is everywhere: “How did all of this happen?” The economy. The endless war. The National Debt. All of it. Some people ask the question differently: “What were we thinking?” “Who’s responsible?”

I think that we have two problems. First, we don’t like bad news. Especially the really big, awful bad news that depresses us when we are confronted with big problems. War, poverty, disease, famine, economics etc. The general population has no idea how to manage global or national problems. Most of us are not skilled in these issues. So, when confronted by these issues, we “stick our heads in the sand” and try to forget.

I’ve been thinking about something for a while now, and I just feel the need to call things out the way I see them. Namely, the near constant use of the “cowboy” persona in American politics. I find myself compelled to say something about it now, because I think that John McCain is the latest (maybe the last) but likely one of the worst performers of this hackneyed role. I’ll get to him in a bit, but let me tell you how I got to this conclusion.

As a child, I sat with my grandfather in his living room, watching westerns on TV. Bonanza, High Chapparal, Gunsmoke and John Wayne movies. He fought in Patton’s army and came home to live out his life on his farm with his dogs and his wife. He died when I was 8, but he lives on for me whenever I sit down to watch one of those old shows.

This is a wonderful film that details the excesses of greed and violence that permeate our government and economy.  If you wonder why things are the way they are around here, then this may help you figure out some answers.

- gadfly