Bush & People At The Top Are Frightened To Death! BOB HERBERT

[kpete]

The Kafka Strategy
By BOB HERBERT
Published: September 18, 2006

The president seemed about to lose it at times last week. He was fighting with everybody — tenacious reporters frustrated by the absence of straight answers about the treatment of terror suspects; key Republican senators who think it’s crazy for a great country like the U.S. to become a champion of kangaroo courts and the degradation of defendants; even his own former secretary of state, Colin Powell, who worries that the world is coming to “doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism.”

It seemed that the only people the president wasn’t fighting with were the Democrats, who have gone into a coma, and the yahoos who never had much of a problem with such matters as torture and detention without trial.

As Marvin Gaye once sang, “What’s going on?”

The people at the top are getting scared, that’s what’s going on. The fog of secrecy is lifting, and the Bush administration is frightened to death that it will eventually have to pay a heavy price for the human rights abuses it has ordered or condoned in its so-called war on terror.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Geneva Conventions apply to the prisoners seized by the administration, which means that abusing those prisoners — as so many have said for so long — is unquestionably illegal. And there is also the possibility that the Democrats, if they ever wake up, may take control of at least one house of Congress, giving them the kind of subpoena power and oversight that makes the administration tremble.

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/opinion/18herbert.html

or free here:
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/12453314.html

[southern_belle]

1. Dont ya love it!

You reap what you sow. :evilgrin:

[saltpoint]

2. Herbert is strictly top-drawer. A terrific columnist.

[billybob537]

3. Expect the unexpected

If this election goes well the people at the top could all land in jail.

[Ready4Change]

4. Several (at least) of them should be.

They've committed treason. And after 9/11, they committed treason during wartime.

Take a good hard look at ANYONE who tries to pass some form of CYA legislation from here on.

[proud patriot]

5. Good

the fear of getting caught usually stops people before
they commit crimes . Too bad so sad , boo hoo
no sympathy from me .

[QuestionAll...]

11. the crimes have been commited.

seems no way to stop them.

It's been 6 years of out in yer face crimes.
sometimes hope is dangerous.

[vickitulsa]

37. "sometimes hope is dangerous."

Now THERE's a thought that has only just begun to sink in to my consciousness!

As long as we keep hoping that * & Co will get their come-uppance, pay for their crimes, end up in prison or at least thrown out of office and written down in history as the "worst. ever." -- then we might never see we're way past the point where we SHOULD be hoping anymore, is that what you're saying?

And if we don't realize that continuing to hope means we will continue to restrain our protests, lest we risk too much before it is necessary, and then we won't rise up with enough anger and a loud enough voice to actually DO something about what's been happening to our country?

I think I see your point, if that's it.

As long as we keep hoping that justice will come to the Nazi-imitating, war-profiteering, criminal madmen in power if we just hold on a little while longer, then we won't be prodded by enough desperation to take whatever risks are necessary to stop them. That actually makes sense to me, and what a chilling thought it is~!

CHANGING THE LAWS is precisely how Hitler managed to tiptoe around the people in Germany who were getting outraged by his actions in the early 1930's, while at the same time he was forming up, gearing up, and empowering the Gestapo and SS to answer ONLY TO HIM and protect him and his thugs from anyone who tried to stop them as all power was being consolidated firmly in Hitler's hands.

The average Germans who craved security and stability more than the freedom to think for themselves gladly yielded up their rights bit by bit and knelt in obedience, acquiescing without protest as the laws were changed, one after the other. By the time they realized they'd been had, that they'd made a very bad deal with the devil indeed, it was to f'ing late!

That is exactly what's happening here in the U.S. of A. The very country that had to pull every resource together it possibly could late in WWII to STOP the most heinous political criminal in history is now seeing Hitler's cunning craftiness being demonstrated by an American administration that, like Hitler, was never honestly elected, though it came very close.

Yes, I agree. I can see how HOPE can be very dangerous indeed for a free people who are disturbed and frightened by what's going on in their world....

[EFerrari]

6. Bob is so good.

K&R

[K8-EEE]

7. K&R!! You Can Tell How Shrubby's Eyes Are Xtra BEADY!

And he's all screechy and scrambly! Their lies and various and sundry evildoings are coming down -- thanks to the United States Constitution, the survival of freedom of speech and the Judicial Branch, all the things they wanted to do away with for "our freedom." Freaking Nazis!! They are NOT above the law, they have lots to be afraid of.

[Cha]

32. "Xra BEADY"!

:rofl:

Beelzlebub cornered is not a pretty sight.

[Ikonoklast]

8. Those that have sown the wind.......

......are about to reap the whirlwind.






And I want a front-row seat to the show.

[crim son]

9. What makes their fear so wonderful to behold

is that no Supreme Court ruling was necessary. They already knew - hence the secrecy. It irritates the hell out of me when the Pretzel tries to make the claim that torture = "protecting American citizens"... it's such crap.

[David Zephyr]

10. My 90 year old mom says that George looks "scared" all the time now.

I think you are on to something.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

21. Yeah he almost went psycho at the press conference Friday.

[Cleita]

12. Before you dance in the streets, let's look at what Bush's

predecessor Adolf Hitler did when the world started closing in on him. He knew he was toast literally, but he decided he was going to take Germany with him. He ordered that everything be destroyed, so that there would be no food, no water, no medicine, nothing to sustain a defeated people through an occupation. They too would die. Fortunately, his henchmen were too panicked to obey orders for perhaps the first time in the Reich.

I am telling this story because I feel since the Bush administration seems to be following the same political philosophy, I'm wondering if they will have the same thoughts to take us with them. What would they do? I'm all for anticipating anything they might possibly do. There is no trusting them.

[MadMaddie]

13. What will they do....? Attack Iran....

distract Americans and the world....while they attempt to save their asses....

[Cleita]

15. That could be an opening salvo. If it doesn't work for them,

think N. Korea and nukes. These guys are capable of it. If they know they are going down, they will not hesitate to pull all the stops and take us with them if they follow the same pattern as Adolf.

[MadMaddie]

17. Yea...but shrub is not as resourceful as Adolf.....he is too

stubborn.....

[Cleita]

22. It's not just *, but Cheney and Rumsfeld, Kristol, Negroponte, et al..

I think this is how they think. Everything is a game, but if you lose you throw over the board. If they know for sure that they are going to be indicted and imprisoned, maybe even executed, they will move to destroy what they can before it happens.

I know I am sounding like a Cassandra, but I have some real foreboding about this possibility just looking at historical examples.

[vickitulsa]

39. I hope you keep singing out loud and long, Cassandra!

At least a few people were smart enough to LISTEN to Cassandra, after all. And lest we forget -- she was right!

Note my post above re "hope can be dangerous." If it delays our uprising, keeps us in self-restraints until it's too late, then hope IS dangerous.

Also, please, everyone, PLEASE read this:

http://www.datasync.com/~davidg59/shirer.html

It's just a few paragraphs total, and the person who posted the quote from William Shirer's Berlin Diary on that webpage explains briefly in his introduction what it's all about and why Shirer was a perfect observer to explain to others just how Hitler managed to consolidate all power to himself -- and protect himself along the way -- while the German people remained hopeful that they were doing the right thing as they gave up their rights one by one, bit by bit.

I've been saying that Shirer was a German citizen, but I had that part wrong -- he was an American correspondent but he had been living in Berlin all during Hitler's rise to power, and he knew how to explain that situation to us here in the U.S.

Hoping really isn't going to stop these evil criminals in Washington, D.C. who don't care what they have to do now to avoid the prisoner's box and the hangman's noose! I don't doubt for one second that they WILL bring the entire world down around our ears in puredee spite and petty vengeance if they think they're cornered.

Why should they care if they embroil the whole world in nuclear war or endless war or anything else? If they've been nailed already but still have the power to cause a lot more misery for the rest of us, it won't matter to them if they increase the level of human suffering around the entire world many-fold or destroy the ecosystems globally for many decades to come!

:think:

I've been trying to get people to read my posts comparing * to Hitler during the 1930's as he rose to absolute power in Germany and then other countries in Europe, but I'm starting to feel like I'm running around with my hair on fire and wailing Cassandra's prophetic song at the top of my voice to little avail -- even here on DU~!

Last week I watched three programs on The History Channel about Hitler's rise to power: Gestapo, Parts I and II, and an episode of "History's Mysteries" that dealt with the disappearance of many high-ranking Nazi officials at the end of WWII. It was the Gestapo and SS leaders who laid the best plans for their escape as the Third Reich crumbled and fell. It was the smartest ones among all the Nazi leadership that surrendered to the United States instead of Russia or even Britain because they knew they'd be TREATED PROPERLY as POW's and likely even be spared any punishment because they could be hired to work FOR the U.S.

That's exactly what happened, too.

And if that happened for them, then why wouldn't the appeasing, collaborating Dems -- those who just might find themselves with their tits caught in a wringer for their misdeeds as the R's who've benefitted from this administration's lawbreaking -- why wouldn't they be willing to ALLOW *&Co to escape punishment in the end? We most definitely would hear lots of talk from them about "healing the country's wounds" by avoiding trials and not putting the nation through any more agony or divisiveness. They could (safely, no doubt) figure that most people would be satisfied if the * admin badboys were simply thrown out.

To the extent that *, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove and some others honestly fear that they're very near to being exposed beyond recovering, beyond escaping justice without fleeing it, I believe they will start putting their escape plans into action. But before they resort to that extreme tactic, they will do everything they can to CHANGE THE LAWS, precisely as Hitler did, to preclude any justice being dealt them, EVER.

If they succeed at that as Hitler did, then we truly will have no recourse short of torches and pitchforks en masse, and I'm skeptical that enough citizens have the courage and understanding to carry it that far in an organized, effective way. Hell, I had to hock my pitchfork the other day to buy food -- and I'm disabled and old -- how in the world can *I* march on D.C.??

Many won't be able to do anything or will cave in at the very thought of risking their lives. Many won't believe it's necessary. Seems to me it's up to a relatively small percentage of the population to bring enough pressure against *&Co to actually succeed in stopping them.

Now, Somebody, please find an extinguisher and help me put out the fire on my head!

:argh: :think: :freak: :wow: :nuke: :banghead:

:patriot: :yoiks:

[bdamomma]

36. that would definitely be a big distraction attacking Iran

right before the mid terms again their same talking point would be 'you don't change horses mid stream" how many americans will go for it?

[Old and In the Way]

14. Bush needs to be held accountable for Deciding....

* Deciding to vacation 40% of his 1st year before 9/11, instead of paying attention to the Hart-Rudman bi-partisan Report on Terror.

* Deciding to read a kids book instead of immediately acting on mitigating American lives on 9/11.

* Deciding not to bring OBL to justice. Just like he decided to take the attack subs targeting OBL off-station...one of his 1st acts as Commander-in-Chief.

* Deciding to let the Saudi Royal family members expedited exit from the US after the attacks...without debriefing.

* Deciding to overtly lie and overstate the case for war with Iraq. Deciding to invade a secular country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

* Deciding he could have people tortured and imprisoned without trial....because, he could.

* Deciding that we need to jump start our next confrontation in the ME... before the mid-terms.

I hope the American voter decides to send the Decider a real message by electing Democratic majorities.

[Olney Blue]

19. He's not the only Decider in this country.....

[liberal N proud]

16. The whole regime needs to pay a heavy price for their crimes on humanity

Then we can add the crimes against the country to seal the jail cells they will spend the rest of their lives in.

[jeffuppy]

18. Don't get your hopes up too much

We'll be lucky to see foreign policy control wrestled away from these guys, much less see any accountability. War crimes trials. Fat chance.

[bvar22]

24. I'm not optomistic about accountability.

History is the teacher.
The Democratic Party Leadership will close ranks with the Republican Party Leadership to protect the system.


If (when) the Democrats take the House:

*There will be some superficial WhiteWashes that will find that everyone was responsible. And we all know that when Everyone is responsible, No one is responsible.
There will be Nobody punished for the Crimes, No Justice. The Republican Crooks will WALK with their loot.
Come on, we are talking about RICH people here.
Hold them accountable.....?

*There will be some Video Bytes of angry Democrats playing to the crowds back home, but nothing substantial in legislation or reform.

*There will be nauseating appeals by the Establishment Democrats, "Now is not the time to dwell in the past. We must look to the Future. Now is the time to HEAL the country by joining with the Patriots on the Republican side of the Isle and working together to bring UNITY back to our GREAT Country". :puke:

I hope I'm wrong.
I would love to eat this post.

[Joe Chi Minh]

34. Don't bank on it. I don't think they'll find justice is all that mellow.

You sound as if you might not be too ecstatic about it yourself.

[bvar22]

20. Reason to be Scared.

"The people who would have to worry would be those at the top of the command structure who crafted policies that were illegal and ordered them carried out — or who turned a blind eye to atrocities."

How many have turned a "blind eye"?
How many Democratic Senators saw the Abu-Ghraib videos and kept their mouths shut?

The whole corrupt bunch that supported the bush* War on the Iraq People are complicit.

[glitch]

27. First the Fascists, then the Collaborators and Appeasers. nt

[katinmn]

30. Let's call Dayton and Coleman and ask if they saw the video of the

child being sodomized.

If they did, why are they not condemning the act? If not, why not?

[dflprincess]

44. Well, we know Normie will never cross Bush

but Dayton should be screaming at the top of his lungs. I've spent far too much time the last few days imagining what Wellstone would be saying and doing if he were here for this.

[texpatriot2004]

23. Impeach, indict, imprison nm

[MzNov]

25. then do a re-call election and an exorcism of the WH n t

[texpatriot2004]

26. Good ideas nm

[Philosoraptor]

28. SHARE THE FEAR!

[cassiepriam]

29. Not to worry. Dems will never pursue charges against the Repugs..

Like Gore and Kerry they will all back down for the
"good of the country." Dems hate any conflict so will let
it all slide. Such great enablers.

[GeorgeGist]

31. Bush must go first...

[Blackhatjack]

33. The Lesson BushCo/NeoCons Never Learned is ....

...once the perimeter is breached, there aren't enough fingers in China to keep the secrets from pouring out.

And once the horrific nature of the secrets they are keeping becomes known, public opinion will turn 180 degrees against them.

That is what they fear.

That is what destiny holds for them....

[goforit]

35. Fine & dandy!! The WH has control of the RED BUTTON!! WATCHA gonna do?

Thanks for the obvious Herbert!!!

We need action not words.

[bobbieinok]

38. why KAFKA?????? see Kafka's The Trial

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_file...

This is the chilling start of the novel--

Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.

....

"No," said the man at the window, who threw his book down on a coffee table and stood up. "You can't go away when you're under arrest." "That's how it seems," said K. "And why am I under arrest?" he then asked. "That's something we're not allowed to tell you. Go into your room and wait there. Proceedings are underway and you'll learn about everything all in good time.

....

****

K spends the rest of the novel trying to find out what he has been charged with. As I recall, he dies without ever having learned what his 'crime' is.

****

Kafka scholars have frequently commented on the fact that this book, published in the 1920s after his death, is a chilling prophecy of the Nazi era.

Kafka was a German Jew living in Prague; his girlfriend and most of his family died in the Nazi death camps.

[vickitulsa]

40. My memory of The Trial by Kafka

has to do with a central idea one of my profs liked to speak about: The fact that K. was laughed out of court.

No matter how much sense he made in his questions and efforts to defend himself, they thought he was ridiculous because he had absolutely no power and it was THEY who were making the DECISIONS. Making good sense was, to them, laughable because it wouldn't change a thing. He was doomed from the start and anything he did was useless and pointless.

That, to me, seems to be exactly what has been happening to all of us who have protested what's happening in America, particularly until very recently as * seems to be throwing temper fits because his desperate need for changing the laws has become obvious to him.

I don't think the heavy-handed push to GET THOSE LAWS CHANGED has sufficiently relieved the criminals-in-charge of their arrogance, however, to shut up their laughing completely. At every step the govt moves closer to enacting new laws re torture and imprisonment even of American citizens without charge or representation, these evil thugs are regaining their composure and smirking again quite freely among themselves, I'll bet.

Pretty soon, as it becomes clear the prominent Dems who have colluded so much with them are as intent as they are on absolving the guilty from punishment for their crimes against Americans and humanity, they'll be outright laughing us out of court again.....

No further action on their part is necessary.

If they get the laws changed, we are doomed from then on out.

[goclark]

41. The Supreme Court will take care of um if they

really get in Hot Water ~ they have every time except this last time.

What was the break down on the vote that last time?

[Auntie Bush]

42. Yowee Bush is scared! He propagandized himself!

[southern_belle]

43. I hope so!

O8)