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A Cause
for Alarm?
December 4, 2002
By Dennis Kaiser
Most of those who have been keeping watch on the developments
taking place in our society having been asking "Where is the
outrage?" And, I might add, the question is a good one, especially
when one takes a look at some of the things this Administration
has been doing.
For example, there was once the day when those in the White
House were held to holding a level of accountability, after
all, they are merely representing the people. Aren't they?
Or, a better question might be, "Weren't they?"
As recently as the immediate past Administration, for example,
as much as $70,000,000 was spent on investigating the supposed
mid-deeds of the occupant of the White House in an attempt
at exposing the inhabitant of being unaccountable in whatever
actions he/she took in the past, and present.
Presently, however, it is apparent that such accountability
is not as important, for some unexplained reason. Much has
been taking place that indicates investigations should be
taking place in order that our Democracy be preserved, yet
the media remains silent. Thus, a majority of people are quite
unaware of the decimation of the U.S. Constitution and the
dismantling of rights once enjoyed, and guaranteed the citizenry
through the Bill of Rights, but that is a topic for another
article. This one shall deal with the lack of accountability
afforded this Administration.
For example, where is the accountability in appointments
that have been made, and are being made, by this Administration?
In fact, in most cases there has been little or no mention
of these in any of the major media sources. A rather incomplete,
but noteworthy list, of those appointments are listed below:
- Appointed John Negroponte, an un-indicted high-level Iran/Contra
figure, to the post of United Nations Ambassador.
- Appointed Otto Reich, an un-indicted high-level Iran/Contra
figure, to Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American
Affairs.
- Appointed John Poindexter, who escaped jail on a technicality
for lying to Congress in connection with illegally arming
CIA terrorists in the Iran-Gate acts of terror, appointed
to head up the development of a system called "Total Information
Awareness!" This scheme is intended to keep track of everyone's
everyday transactions - credit card, telephone, internet,
electronic too booths, etc.
- Nominated David Lauriski, an ex-mining company executive,
to post of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and
Health.
- Will no longer seek guidance from The American Bar Association
in recommendations for the federal judiciary appointments.
- Appointed recycling foe Lynn Scarlett as Undersecretary
of the Interior.
- Appointed Diana Roth to the Council of Economic Advisers,
who does not believe there is a pay gender gap.
- Appointed Kay Cole James, an opponent of affirmative action,
to direct the Office of Personnel Management.
- Appointed John Bolton, who opposes nonproliferation treaties
and the UN, to Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and
International Security.
- Nominated Linda Fisher, an executive with Monsanto, for
the number two job at the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Nominated Michael McConnell, leading critic of the separation
of church and state, to a federal judgeship.
- Nominated Terrence Boyle, an ardent opponent of civil rights,
to a federal judgeship.
- Nominated Harvey Pitt, a lawyer for a teen sex video distributor,
to head the SEC. This has already proved to be a disaster
- or was it?
- Nominated John Walters, a strong opponent of prison drug
treatment programs, to be Drug Tsar.
- Nominated J. Steven Giles, an oil and coal lobbyist, for
Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
- Nominated Bennett Raley, who advocates repealing the Endangered
Species Act, for Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.
- Nominated Ted Olson, who has repeatedly lied about his
involvement with the Scaife-funded "Arkansas Project" to bring
down Bill Clinton, for Solicitor General.
- Forced out Forest Service chief, Mike Dombeck, and appointed
a timber industry lobbyist.
- Fails to clearly define "war on terrorism," abandoning
campaign promises to always have an exit strategy and not
get the military involved in nation building.
- Bush and Cheney both contact Daschle requesting a limited
and secretive investigation of 9/11. Appoints Henry Kissinger
to head up the investigation. Henry Kissinger is unable to
travel freely throughout the World for fear of being imprisoned
for war crimes, has knowingly distorted and withheld information,
has directed destructive acts against governments and peoples
of other countries (who knows what he ordered against our
own?), and has lied to our own government on many occasions.
- Cheney refuses to comply with requests to turn over documents
on energy policy to Congress. He was just ordered to turn
over these documents as he lost his appeal to the courts.
Don't hold your breath until they are, in fact turned over.
Also, want to bet on how much you be informed of this by the
media?
- Bush signs executive order against the release of previous
administrations' documents.
- Proposed use of nuclear weapons in war.
- Proposed "strike first" policy for conducting "war on terrorism"
without Congressional approval.
- Restricts civil liberties by passage of the Patriot Act.
Ramrods this through Congress much on the order of the way
Hitler pushed through the Enabling Act.
- Allows Ashcroft to expand FBI power to investigate American
citizens.
- Waits eight months to acknowledge a warning received about
9/11 attacks.
- Restricts media coverage of "war on terrorism."
- Restricts administration criticism by labeling questioners
as unpatriotic or traitors.
- Admits that terrorist attack warnings are sometimes used
to reduce political criticism.
- Rammed through the Homeland Security Bill which gives anything
but security to the citizens of the United States.
This list, while far from being complete, represents a very
clear picture of what the Bush administration and Republican
agenda is all about. It is about helping the oil industry,
large conglomerates, and the wealthy. It is about a never-ending
war against terrorism. It is about showing contempt for the
American citizens. It is about developing a dictatorship,
in much the same manner as that used by Adolf Hitler, through
propaganda and fear.
I certainly support ending terrorism, but I believe terrorism
is simply being used by this Administration in much the same
manner as Hitler used it to gain control and maintain a hold
on the people of Germany. He was able to accomplish what he
did through keeping the people fearful with the assistance
of propaganda. He actually made it possible for people to
posses radios that were limited as to what stations they could
receive. The truth about terrorism is that it will be around
forever, much like the war on drugs.
The secretive Bush administration has accomplished the great
feat of avoiding accountability, which leads one to question
their motives. It is entirely possible that their motives
truly are genuine efforts to stop terrorism before American
citizens suffer further attacks. However, it is also entirely
possible that there are political and financial motivations
behind some of their actions. The difficulty in uncovering
the truth is compounded by their obsession with secrecy and
the assistance of the mainstream media in making this appear
as all quite natural. In fact, the mainstream media lashes
out at anyone who dares question the motives of this Administration.
Lest we not forget Cynthia McKinney, Paul Wellstone, Tom Daschle,
even Barbara Streisand, Martha Stewart, and of course Bill
and Hillary Clinton, to just name a few who have dared to
have different views than that of the Conservative agenda.
And this degrading of persons is not limited to Americans.
Remember the Canadian ex-aide who in a conversation simply
referred to Bush as a "moron." The individual was so ridiculed
and tormented that resignation was the only way out. For simply
calling Bush a moron! Now, it is true he is not. However,
on the scale of intelligence he is far closer to that of "moron"
than he is of "genius". The main point is that it shows the
protectionism given to Bush by the media, and the power the
media has over society. In fact, after this episode the media
went out of its way to try to picture Bush as being "crafty".
The question remaining to be answered is what long-term effects
the Bush administration actions will have on America. There
is little doubt that they are not having a positive effect,
since they are clouded in secrecy and they are widening the
divide between the haves and the have-nots.
Bush continues to have rather high approval ratings, as reported
by the media. Is this an indictment of the American people's
lack of political knowledge and their blind support of the
fight against terrorism? Or is this another example of being
controlled by the mainstream media? Polls appear to be a graphic
"yardstick" of the networks to gain peoples' acceptance for
what they want them to accept, yet how many people actually
even know someone who has been asked to participate in a survey?
Or does it show how instilling fear into the people is being
successful, much as it was for the Nazis in Germany?
It is rather funny how two main things have "hit a vein"
with this Administration; a comparison of Bush to Hitler,
and a reference to Bush as being a "moron." My experience
has been that people tend to let criticism roll off their
back, unless they feel that criticism hits close to home.
Now, why would those two things threaten the Bushies?
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