This sounds cynical to be sure, but I don't think we can assure ourselves that there will be an 'election' in 2004. Those of us who voice dissent and concern for the preemptive strike policy of the United States should take a careful look at the June and July 2001 executive orders of the President, the military order of November 13, 2001, and subsequent orders redistributing the powers between the Attorney General and Homeland Security (the name itself bring shivers down the spine). The 2000 'election' process was foreboding, a warning of things to come from this administration which approaches, if not has succeeded in becoming, a theocratic oligarchy. Those who have not yet done so may want to read Lewis Laptham's recent piece in Harper's and Jeff Schelly's article on Ivanwald and The Cedars entitled "Jesus plus Nothing", wherein he describes through an undercover investigation that he learned that the most powerful men in this country have essentially worshipped the way!
s and ideals of power and ideology practiced by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong. America's top 'leaders' send their sons to Ivanwald to learn the ways of 'leadership' with an eye toward sending them out into the business world and politics. The 'leader' of this organization called "The Family", reminiscent of the Mafia but with less honor and - if you can imagine it - less scruples, uses parables invoking Hitler as the great example of world power and domination. Ed Meese is a member of the organization, not surprisingly, and gives inspirational talks at Tuesday morning PRayer Breakfasts. Bush I and Bush II have attended the National Prayer Breakfasts hosted by this organization, which also bosts having been the invisible government (as discussed in the late David Wise's book of the same name) since the 1940's (including being one of the closest advisors to President Eisenhower).
If this isn't food for thought, I don't know what is. I am one of the voices of dissent and know that a sense of futility is our worst enemy. But I recognize that in these recent days, that sense grows stronger and the gloomy shadow of Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale looms larger as Congress chips further at women's reproductive rights, and has already eviscerated the Bill of Rights. When a conservative organization like the ABA starts spending money to run 1/4 page and full page ads in the NY Times hailing our Bill of Rights and warning people to speak out in protection of these precious rights, we know something gave is afoot. When the Attorney General seeks to kill impoverished and non-Anglo (and diagnosed 'mentally retarded') defendants in 30 cases where local federal prosecutors have determined it unconstitutional, we should all be quite afraid of our own government.
We should read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety in the coming days, as well as the Consitutional separation of powers doctrine, the article giving Congress the exclusive power to declare war, and the war powers act in its original form to compare these visions of America with the one with which Bush seeks to replace them. The horror story is here at home and has been set ablaze on foreign shores - innocents to be harmed in both arenas.
The next time anyone asks a defense attorney, how can you defend 'those people'?, perhaps you should step up to the plate and declare that without attorneys willing to defend those people we would not have the rights that in the coming days, months, and years we will cling to in our own defense.
Karen Spear-Ellinwood
attorney, graduate student U of Arizona
David H Kirshner <dkirsh@lsu.edu> wrote:
Thanks for your note, Gordon.
I appreciate your confidence in the power of international voices of
dissent, but I don't share it. As the only superpower, the U.S. is fast
becoming a swaggering bully upon the international stage. What's important
to remember about President George W. Bush's policy toward Iraq is that it
isn't foreign policy, at all. It's domestic policy. To the extent he
succeeds in appearing successful in the eyes of the American public, he
will have laid a blueprint for electoral success at home. Sure, ideals of
international cooperation will continue to be spouted as part of our
political rhetoric. But the successful candidate will be the one who
swaggers most brazenly upon the international stage--a downward spiral into
international coercion and destruction. There is no world power left to
check the untamed imagination of the American public as to its moral,
intellectual, and spiritual superiority over the rest of the world.
...Would it weren't so.
David Kirshner
Gordon Wells
c.edu> cc: (bcc: David H Kirshner/dkirsh/LSU)
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to George W. Bush
03/18/2003 10:55
AM
Please respond
to xmca
David,
I, like many others, agree with your assessment of the reckless policy and
immoral and unjustified actions of George W. Bush and, equally, of Tony
Blair's involvement of British troops in the impending invasion of Iraq.
However, we must not underestimate the voices of dissent, from the many
individuals who have shown their protest to the substantial number of
governments in Europe and elsewhere who continue to stand firm against the
war on Iraq. It is heartening, for example, to see that three members of
the British (Labor) Government have resigned in protest. In particular,
see Robin Cook's speech of resignation yesterday in the British House of
Commons: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2859431.stm
Although there are always vested interests as well as ideals behind
political actions, we should continue to stand up for the United Nations as
the forum in which international relations should be debated and decided.
Gordon Wells
Please distribute:
March 18, 2003
Dear George W. Bush,
You are a man of conviction. Singly-handedly you are creating a new
world
order based upon the U.S. view of what is right and what is
necessary.
Saddam Hussein is a threat to the world. But an even greater shadow
looms
large upon the dawning of the new millennium: A rogue superpower that
imposes its will upon the world community--that robs the peoples of
world
of the possibility of directing their mutual destiny through the
institutions of international diplomacy. If you fail in your bid to
remove
the Iraqi leader from power, either through the threat of military
force or
through its quick and efficient use, you risk igniting the very fire
you
have vowed to stamp out--the distribution of Iraqi terror weapons
across
the world. If you succeed, you will become a hero here at home,
imprinting
indelibly upon the American political landscape the imperative of
subsequent leaders to live up to your example of international
bullying.
Either way, President Bush, this will be the American Century--a time
of
instability and fear in the world. Citizens of the United States (and
elsewhere), join with me for a peaceful and quiet candlelight vigil
from
7-7:30 PM Wednesday, March 19, your local time at a central meeting
place
of your local city or town, that together we may mourn the passing of
the
possibility of a world united.
David Kirshner
5428 Halls Ferry Drive
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA 70817
Attachment converted: Wells:vigil.rtf (RTF /MSWD) (00085A37)
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