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How did we get here? How is it that
we have allowed these paranoid and delusional individuals to take over
this nation? There are many reasons cited, but the one clear common
denominator that connects them all - is that we failed to prosecute the
individuals, even when we had the evidence of their criminal behavior. And
when there are no consequences - those who follow the gods of wealth and
profit by any means are only encouraged to go even further. That is what
happened to the idea of America, and to the formerly legitimate government
of the United States.
 This began with Nixon, and his
ordered break-in at Democratic National Headquarters, which led to the
Watergate trial. When it was clear that the "president" would be
convicted, and that he was certain to face impeachment proceedings - there
was a back-room deal among the members of congress to allow Nixon to
resign.
First of course, they needed to find a replacement for former
vice-president Agnew, who was already in jail on other charges. They found
Gerald R. Ford, who was the only candidate that would agree (in advance of
appointment) to pardon Nixon. Ford became president, and Nixon was
pardoned, and that was that. Except that along with Ford we also got
Cheney and Rumsfeld, along with Kissinger who had chosen to stay on as
National Security Advisor and Secretary of State: And so began the first
version of their insane little plan to take-over-the-world.
Ford also brought in Rockefeller
(via the 25th Amendment) www.kirwanesque.com/cal15.htm
to begin to lay the banking industry connections, for the foundation of
the military-industrial-congressional complex that has brought us finally
to a national budget that consists mostly of military-industrial
pipedreams on a stratospheric scale.
Next came Jimmy Carter - an essentially nice man but an inept president
who was caught up in the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. Ronald Reagan then
worked out a deal to free the hostages upon his ascension to the office of
the presidency, and the hostages went free shortly after Reagan became the
38th president of the USA.
Ronnie soon began to make his contributions to the Imperial dreams of
Empire that had been fostered and nurtured by ultra-right individuals, who
had remained in the shadows throughout the previous administration.
Ronnie's plans involved something called Iran-Contra. This scheme involved
contraband arms (Stinger missiles), and drugs (on a grand scale) smuggled
from Central America on CIA aircraft - the profits from which became very
murky, in the somewhat muddled trials that followed. Again, blame was
adjudged, by seldom more than a slap on the wrist, for some operatives.
John Negroponte, currently the US Ambassador to the UN was involved in
something to do with a major crime in his then capacity as a US diplomat
in Central America at that time. Another with culpability in this quagmire
was the current Under Secretary for Defense, Richard Armitage, and there
was Admiral John Poindexter, more recently famous for his failed attempt
to get TIA (Total Information Access), off the ground. He finally had to
be fired - again - after his third attempt to create something credible
and legal, which was neither at the time. However the program is still
alive and is the one that now color-codes all airline passengers (in the
USA) whenever they try to board an airplane.
There were others not charged at the time, but they were still very much a
part of the plans both then and now: Paul Wolfowitz was foremost among
these creatures. Ronnie's administration stumbled and bumbled its way
through the national treasury. After he increased the size of federal
government by 300%. He then proceeded to take us from the world's leading
creditor nation to the world's leading debtor nation in a few short years.
The particulars of Ronnie's solutions to other political problems in his
administration are here: http://vander.hashish.com/
His climax was the introduction of the Star War's Missile Defense Shield,
which, it turns out, was far more important than most of us ever thought
it could be. It seems that Ronnie's Star Wars project was a major step
toward the advancement of the Weaponization of Space program. For a
complete explanation please go to www.snowshoefilms.com/
and view the documentary by Rosalie Bertell - "Planet Earth, the
Latest Weapon of War."
Citizens of the US have been paying taxes ad nauseum for decades -
trusting that this nation was using that money for legitimate governmental
purposes. We paid into the Federal, State, and City governments so that
the nation could carry out the legitimate functions that these people were
charged with creating and administering. But when GWB and his pirates took
over all that changed. Gone are the social programs; gone are the concerns
about the health and welfare of the fifty states and the citizens of this
country. The Bushwhacker's consider us nothing but marks - brain-dead
idiots - that will do whatever they tell us to do in the name of HOMELAND
SECURITY, and all their other fantasies that add up to paranoia and fear
on a grand scale.
The reason for all of this comes down to the fact that we didn't have the
guts to charge Nixon, or to prosecute Reagan fully - so we got this
cartoon character who calls himself our leader, and despite his having
started two wars, and having given away two tax-cuts to the filthy rich,
in only three years - we are actually still treating him seriously - as
though he mattered. To many that will sound irreverent - but to many more
who have lost their jobs, their way of life, and their future dreams -
this condemnation of the failures of Bush and his "policies" is
long overdue.
Just look around the USA today. Public-school teachers, in California,
start in the upper ranges of $20,000 a year, while prison guards start at
$55,000 a year. America, the supposed beacon of freedom and democracy for
the world, locks up more of its citizens than any other major nation.
Prisons are a major growth industry while schools are a public disgrace.
Moreover, since the 1980's public behavior in general has declined
drastically, while respect for authority has virtually gone
missing-in-action. Given the corporate climate ushered by Ken Lay (Bush's
largest campaign contributor) of Enron fame - quickly followed by the
collapse of several major accounting firms, compounded by Wall-street
insider treading scandals - the business climate here is, shall we say,
barely legal. And these facts are not lost upon the population.
Offshore tax havens are now being pursued by a lot of the smaller fish,
and finally the IRS is beginning to take notice, probably only because the
loopholes were only meant for the big boys to enjoy. What the USA has
become is a two-tiered system of both justice and life. At the top there
are no problems, but below that - there is no end to problems in every
aspect of daily life. This will not stop until we have the guts to
prosecute the people who have been running this "continuing charade
of business-as-usual."
What happened to the supposedly objective journalists in this country?
Even PBS has become just another mouthpiece for the administration's party
lines. What happened to truly investigative journalism? What happened to
common sense? Maybe when this nightmare is over, the executives at the
major "news" outlets may need to explain their completely
one-sided coverage of everything this administration has done. And maybe
they too should be doing time!
 Congress by the way was supposed to
be the check that would keep the executive branch in balance. For decades
they have been failing to do this. Look at the vote for the war; look at
the vote in the middle of the night for the Patriot Act. Look at the
number of times that Bush has just created laws and then implemented them
almost immediately:
Where was congress on this one? For
that matter what happened to the courts? Without the hands-on
participation of congress and the courts we have what amounts to a
dictatorship by the executive.
What seems to have happened here is that a symbiotic relationship has
grown up between those seeking total control and those who want nothing
more than to not see, to not know, or even to remotely detect - anything
that may actually be taking place. Because if people have to look at this
corruption of their way of life, then they might 'need' to get involved in
what is actually happening.
Yet, it is this very fact that seems to be preventing people from looking
at the facts:
Because the hardest thing to do is to let go of an 'existing and known
course of action' for a 'possible solution' when if comes from an unknown.
There was a quote from Joan Vinge, in her novel: The Snow Queen - that
might shed some light.
"Indifference is the strongest force in the universe. It makes
everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance
against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice go
unchecked. It doesn't act, it allows. And that's what gives it so much
power."
Seen in this light maybe we need to contrive together to murder
indifference, and get back to trying to resurrect the kinds of lives we
had, when this place was a free and open society - well before we began to
worship at those alters of pure wealth and profit.
The sand in the hourglass of our lives continues to move, the question is,
when will we begin to act?
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