My thousandth post: On murderers and thieves in high places [View All]

[rhiannon55]

This is my thousandth post and I want it to count, ya know? So I’m throwing out, for discussion, some conclusions I have come to as I watch the machinations of the people who seized the reins of power in 2000 and show no signs of letting go. As I watch these people methodically destroy everything good and bright and hopeful about America, I worry so much about my grandchildren’s futures. And I realize that it is going to take a massive effort on our part to save our country from fascism and perpetual war--if in fact, it’s not too late.

We sometimes ask each other who is really the president—Bush or Cheney? Is it the puppet or the puppet master? Is it both, or is it neither? I think it’s neither. I think we haven’t had a president or a vice president—or a presidential cabinet, for that matter--since Big Dawg left office. We have, instead, a team of cutthroat corporate executives who are pretending to play those roles while they plunder the nation’s (and the Middle East’s) wealth.

America is the victim of a coup—a ruthless corporate takeover of the executive branch of our government. These people used the political process (and the corporate-owned media) to fool voters into thinking that they were legitimate contenders for the leadership of our country. Enough voters bought their bullshit and swallowed their lies (twice!) to give them cover for a stealth takeover of the highest office in the country, and arguably, the world.

This is why they won’t listen to the people, no matter how many or how loud the voices. They don’t feel beholden to the people, even the ones who voted for them, because they know they are not there to serve the people. They are there to make money for themselves and their masters—the extremely wealthy people who installed them into power. How are they making that money? On the backs (and with the blood) of the people.

This is why they are cutting social programs and taxes at the same time. Social programs benefit poor people and cost taxpayers money, while tax cuts mostly benefit Bush’s base of the “haves and have mores.” And this is why they continue to pump obscene amounts of our money into the military: they own the extremely profitable war machine, and in order to keep their profits flowing, they must continually feed it with money and lives.

This is also why BushCo invaded Iraq and now refuses to leave. This is not a war in the traditional sense; it’s a corporate takeover of a country, a country that has a great amount of oil wealth to be stolen. Iraq is also a strategic location from which to control the flow of oil throughout the Middle East. Someone said this in a recent post--that the Green Zone is Halliburton’s corporate headquarters in Iraq. American troops and private contractors are in Iraq to build and protect the military bases that are going up all over the country. And they are there to protect the oil wells that were the reason for our invasion in the first place.

Our young people are not dying for our country, or even for “democracy for the Iraqis”; they are dying simply for corporate profits. Bush et al. is ruthlessly using them for cannon fodder while speaking in patriotic platitudes about their noble service to our country, while expanding their corporate takeover throughout as much of the Middle East as they can manage.

Now the target is Iran and it’s “déjà vu all over again,” as lies are being told once again to justify another invasion and another “regime change.” And our congress people continue to dance around the truth: that these people are not statesmen or even politicians; they are thugs and frauds who care nothing about people or our country and everything about their own profits. Every time they vote to give these people the funding they need to carry out their ruthless invasions, they are aiding and abetting high crimes and misdemeanors. And they are legitimizing the illegitimate rule of murderers and thieves.

It is great that the Democrats won back the majority in November and are talking about investigations and possibly, impeachment. And we have some great people announcing a presidential run in 2008. All of this gives me hope, but my hope is tempered with trepidation. We are presuming that BushCo can be removed from office by lawful means. My fear is that they will dig in their heels and refuse to leave. Dictators do not simply step down because the people want them to, and we must be prepared for that possibility.

To take our country back, we must do everything we’re doing and more. Yes, we should write letters to the editor and post on DU. We should sign online petitions and march in the streets and participate in voter registration drives. We should continue to push our congress people toward investigations and impeachment, but we should also encourage them to prepare for a more direct route to removal: arrest and imprisonment. How this can be done, I don’t know, but it may be necessary.

We should also be prepared to put our lives and livelihoods on the line. We should not only march in the streets, we should SIT DOWN in the streets and refuse to turn the wheels of commerce until this faux administration is out of office. More and more of us should be willing to face jail, injury, or worse in order to right the terrible wrongs that are being done to our country and the world.

When my grandchildren look back at this time in history, I hope they see us as the patriots who saved their country from the clutches of evil men, and not as the “sheeple” who let them have it. I hope their world is more just and free and peaceful for our actions. The Bush administration is a cadre of criminals, and they should be treated as such. They should get absolutely nothing they ask for and everything they deserve: tiny windowless rooms in The Hague for the rest of their natural lives.