The True Fourth of July for 2006

The theme of these years True Fourth Of July can be summed up in one word...IMPEACHMENT.

It is The considered opinion of this author, that it is more than a little likely that within a generation or two, the United States will cease to be a recognizable democracy. So deep are the divisions of race and class and religion, so single minded our double-headed foreign policy towards oil and Israel, so obsessed with security and the false Piety of spreading democracy, so unyielding our war posture towards the world in general and the middle east in particular, that before the middle of this century, unless there is some great change in our collective thinking, the united states will collapse as a democratic society from the weight of imperial ambitions abroad and deep divisions at home.

And while you may say that the end of America has been foretold before,

it is none the less true that America will know her demise more likely from within than without through the doctrines of hatred and disrespect

which undergurd American attitudes to the "outsider" and those who are different.

One of the defining areas of the American experience from which we can draw clues to our impending future is quantonimo Bay.

Quantonimo Bay

The very emblem of our nation disgrace, gitmo as it has come to be know

has been denounced by legal scholars, civil rights activist, clergymen,

Our European allies, protestors around the globe and ordinary citizens here in the US.

Bearing all the marks of an illegal gulag and legal black hole, the gitmo facility is the product of small minded, arrogant men who felt them selves to be above the law. Worse, the Bush Administration felt that the special circumstances of 9/11 were a golden opportunity to thumb their noses at civil society and the rule of law.

The truth is the rule of international law extends everywhere, to secret prisons, to gitmo and to the oval office.

The June30th 2006 decision by the supreme court in opposition to the presidents Use of special rules for military tribunals is a blow against the creeping fascism of the Bush administration, even so the tribunals and quantonimo with their complete disregard for international law are but symptoms of a larger malady.

That is that the Bush administration is by all definitions of the word a Fascist Government, born from the vote like the fascism of the nazis and as much a creeping dictatorship as any government in 1930's Italy or Spain.

If you think the word fascism is too strong, then consider these tell tale signs of a fascist government. See if you recognize any of these points in America today!

As described by Dr. Lawrence Britt the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14-defining characteristics

common to each:

1.Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans,

symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners including American citizens, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, Jews, Blacks, Homosexuals etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given

a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the government directly controls the media, but in other cases the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

"It is the responsibility of...every evangelical Christian ...to get serious about re-electing President Bush." Jerry Falwell, The New York Times, July 16, 2004

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often is the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually

beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are

severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist

nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions. They use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen

by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times

elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

As of January 2004, the United States fulfills all fourteen points of fascism. But we're not alone. Russia and Israel also fulfills all fourteen points as well. Welcome to the new republic, redefined, revised and spun.

As a result of the continuing divisions in America, America is more divided than it was on the eve of the civil war. At that moment, the United States stood at the fulcrum of history, at a point of transition from a slave holding nation to a nation more free, A time of

hope if you like.

And yet the thinking, which gave rise to slavery- industrial complex, assumptions of superiority, displays of false piety and excuse of biblical justifications to cover the abuse of slavery continue. Gitmo it self has come out of the hellish thinking that gave us the slave-breaking barn and unrelentingly harsh treatment of the slaveholders of old. The excuse that "these are new time and we need new rules" To deal with terrorist is the same kind of morally bankrupt, southern thinking that justified slavery on the excuse that blacks were natural slaves and made inferior by God.

MISTRUST

Since the civil war, hope has been murdered in cradle repeatedly, and when allowed to escape it nursery, was later caught and killed by a thousand cuts later on.

Today, the grand, unifying experience of Americans seem to be not only racism but also mistrust. Everyone I know in some sense subscribes to the experience that there is some one, some major person or group of persons who are close to them that they cannot trust. This sense of mistrust of our loved ones and fellow men can often explain in part some of our most destructive behavior.

People don't trust their governments in societies where the population is more diverse, not all one racial or religious group. In Iraq today where we profess to bring democracy Suni is killing Shea, neighbor fears neighbor and mistrust and uncertainty are everywhere.

What ever was wrong in Iraq before America's invasion, it is now much worse. It is not the resolve of the Iraqis to be free that I mistrust, but the

intentions and objectives of the Bush administration.

In America we live in segregated neighborhood, go to segregated churches; our children go to segregated schools and know more about people on American idol than about the neighbors or co-workers. The immediate reasons for the divisions are different but only difference between Iraq and the US is size, we talk of the killings in Iraq and yet we kill each other in roughly the same numbers in America with injustice, guns and knives as are killed by the insurgents with machine

guns and IED's.

We are a divided nation and such a nation is doomed.

Nations trust their spy satellites more then the councils in foreign nations, and with out trust, the fabric of society collapses.

RACISM

When in America we say "America", we invariably mean white America.

Race and class have always divided America, by income and status and by

the dividing power of corruption and graft. And in this sense, America has never really been one country, but many smaller countries. Some more economically better off than others.

In Washington, the southernization of our national politics with our emphasis of religious themes in our treatment of women's issues, the continued marginalization of African Americas and the casting of our wars for oil as wars against terror signal a terminal phase in evolution as nation.

Other issues, taken as subsets, as symptoms of disease of national hubris and self interest include, but are not exclusive to:

SECRETCY

The nation that does not deal in the truth in its dealings with its people is doomed. The unchecked powers of a rogue presidency, the rampant secrecy in the highest level of government over secret prisons, the justice department

investigations, wire taps and monitoring of phone call by private citizens used as an excuse to protect the national security is in the end, taken together is a bankrupt policy for such a policy has damaged American credibility at home and abroad and lead to a slow undoing of American international and domestic security as peoples and nations such as those in South and central America decide to ignore American interest and protect themselves against it.

The secrecy of the bush is so all encompassing, so exclusive and so random that it begs the question, WHAT IS Bush Hiding, Aside from his personal incompetence that is.

Further more, who does Bush think is a citizen? Does he think only those who are his base, his supporters are worthy to

have their needs catered to. Does he think that the average American is

only supposed to have observer status in our democracy, that all we should do is read the papers and vote and leave the rest to Bush and his secretive buddies, all behaving as if they are in their tree house,

excluding the girls of the neighborhood?

As the number of and type of documents to be declared secret has increased it must be said aloud that the bush administration has undermined not only OUR right to know, but also the right to active participation in the exercise of our democracy and our freedom.

These are ground for impeachment!

Taxation with representation has been replaced by representation with participation!

Earlier this year, around the nation some of our citizens took the day off and made observation of the legacy of Dr King and Gave thanks in churches around the country. As well as to remember Coretta Scott King for the contributions she made to making America a great nation.

But while many were relaxing and making thanks, our government continues to wage war and promote fear around the globe. A fear, which

is fostering the very situations, we now fear. While the white world fears for nukes in the hands of Iranians and the white man rattles the saber in Washington, men of cowardice continue to use the events of a post 9/11 world to undermine our freedoms here at home.

Our young men and women are being sacrificed in distant lands, to fight

an undefined terrorism with questionable targets. Some of our people go

to war willingly, some join the military to make money, never hoping or

expecting to be in a war. Some of our young people join to get some glory, only to find that the glory got them!

THE ECONOMY

While the rich get richer and manufacturing jobs disappear into the global economy, Americas economic might is shrinking, like a balloon slowly loosing air, it is hard to see right away. But as the jobs that made America great disappear, the economy is feeding on itself; we now have a prison -industrial complex that is replacing our former industrial strength.

And those who are getting the jobs in these are the refugees from corporate America and our industrial heartlands.

And instead of building an economy based on manufacturing, we are building one based on low paying service jobs, prison related industries and the military, none of which is sustainable without accepting the loss of the middle class and creating a permanent underclass, none of which has to do with making America great or keeping us safe.

We are not safe in America from our own arrogance and collective stupidity.

Neither Black guys from the Hood, nor Osama stole the election in Florida in 2000, George Bush and his Jim Crow pals did!!

The Insurgency in Iraq

AMERICA DISBANDED THE ARMIE OF IRAQ, THROWING A MILLION ANGREY MEN IN TO THE STREET WITH NO HOPE OF WORK BUT PLENTY OF SKILLS TO KILL AND MAME.

Much of the violence in Iraq now is not just based on religion, but political, local groups wanting power and getting it through the barrel

of a gun, they spread violence and clear the way through fear to ascend

to power later on.

Just like the klan-terroists of the old south.

We make demands on the new Iraqi government to follow our lead and form

a strong central government when the many cultural and tribal differences of the country would best be served by a Federated government of autonomous states governed by and a weak Federal government. Do we see through the violence in the street of the cities in Iraq to the underlying causes? No. We continue to enforce our own American mandate; we go merrily on as if all will be well.

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

Men will be tyrants given the change and George Bush is the worst president since Andrew Johnson. He has NOT asked what he can do for his

country, but what can he do to it! Our leaders are not leaders in the true sense, they neither leaders nor

do they protect, since 9/11; no American has been victim of a terrorist

attack unless they were in another country where such an attack took place. Our appointed guardians at homeland security are often unqualified associates of the president and his high paid political contributors Today our boarders are still like sieves, un-guardable without hundreds

of thousands of person employed to do so, like wise our ports process tens of thousands of cargo containers, the vast majority of which go un-scrutinized for weapons, drugs or even stowaways. We spend billions on a flexible army to fight elusive, irregular enemies who do not pose a military threat that our armies are designed to handle, thus many of the deaths in Iraq are from bombs, IED's and rpg's. When it come to dealing with people and their ideas, their opposition to American foreign and domestic policies we are using a big sticks to swat small flies. When bin Ladin offered a truce, we officially ignored

it because America had to have justice (vengeance). Now the only person

in American prison for the crimes of 9/11 is a near-idiot who was in prison when 9/11 was committed. SPREADING DEMOCRACY The biggest problem with America is that it has only stood for freedom when white peoples freedom was at stake, in the colonies in the 1770's, In Europe in 1917 and 1918 and in Europe again in the 1940'S and then only after we were asked. Every where else, America has opposed true democracy Put link to list of countries where democracy was opposed. The solution to all these problems begins with impeachment for high crimes and gross corruption of democracy, and continues with a radical reduction in enticement to be corrupt while in government. Salaries for congressmen and senators should be no more than minimum wage or modest salaries. The inducements to serve should be not money but the honor of service to the people. Like wise the healthcare and other perks should be no better than what the congress and senators are content that the rest of us should have. The President is only a figurehead. Our problem is structural.We are driving the wrong car, on the wrong side of the road. It's burning oil. The tires are bald and are leaking, the radio does not work and the air conditioner is blowing heat. The steering is loose. It's pulling to the right, it's rusting out and it's stolen. Changing the hood ornament wont help! African Americans in prison. Today African American is disappearing down a BLACK HOLE Of prisons, making up the majority of inmates in the federal penitentiary system. While white make up the majority of the population, about 69%, African American make up only about 12%, yet we are jailed in the US to the tune of 44% of the national prison population. Most of these incarcerations are for drug use, while white American makes up the bulk

of drug use in the nation, African Americans make up the bulk of those jailed for drug use, WHY?

THE ARGUMENTS FOR IMPEACHMENT As to the subject of impeachment, there are plenty of good reasons, Constitution of the United States Article II, Section 4 The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Bush should be impeached because: 1. He lied us into war in Iraq. According to the U.S. media-ignored British "Downing Street Memo," he "fixed" intelligence around a pre-determined policy of preemptive war. Results: 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths; about 1800 U.S. soldiers dead in two wars, 100s of thousands wounded and traumatized. 2. Under his watch, the U.S. suffered its worst terrorist attack on its

soil. He opposed an official investigation, and then stalled for months

on testifying before a handpicked committee. Finally testified behind closed doors. 3. He was "elected" under dubious circumstances in 2000. 4. He was "elected" under dubious circumstances in 2004. 5. He has approved (and his Attorney General Gonzales has re-defined) torture at Guantonimo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and elsewhere, while simultaneously opposing the International Criminal Court established to

check such abuses. According to Amnesty International, the United States has established a Soviet-style "gulag" of torture around the world. 6. He failed to support the Kyoto Protocols, reducing greenhouse gases,

but worked to open up Alaska's ANWR to drilling-despoiling an eco-system and increasing greenhouse gases. 7. He chose Halliburton toady Dick Cheney to be his running mate-twice.

8. He has attempted to pack the courts with ideologue-judges intent on overthrowing Roe v. Wade, and institutionalizing the police-state abuses of Patriot Acts I and II. 9.His "No Child Left Behind" education policies have replaced learning with testing and allowed military recruiters access to our schools, cajoling our children with military options before their minds have had

a chance to open, question and challenge. 10.He is attempting to dismantle the Social Security system that has ensured "peace and freedom" for tens of millions of working Americans for seven decades ("peace" of mind and "freedom" from economic crises) - rights hard-won by Labor and Progressives in decades-long struggles. 11. He has allied himself with Right-wing ideologues to curtail or abolish stem-cell research vital to the conquest of debilitating and fatal diseases. 12. He has failed to develop a coherent energy policy-except to prosecute wars for other peoples' resources. He fails to acknowledge the reality and impending disasters of Global Warming. 13. He has continued the Globalization project of his predecessors: outsourcing jobs, hollowing out our middle class. 14. He has undermined the legitimate protective protocols of the C.I.A., politicizing the agency, awarding positions on the basis of ideological orthodoxy rather than merit and astute analysis. 15. He has subjugated his Administration to Neocon ideologues like Richard Perle, William Kristol and Douglas Feith; men who have endorsed

the "settlement," expansionist and Wall-them-in policies of Ariel Sharon, sowing the seeds of anti-Arab racism, war and destruction in the Middle East for generations to come. 16. In spite of his rhetoric about freedom and democracy, he has allied

himself with dictators in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt and elsewhere. He

has increased the flow of arms to these states and others, fomenting instability, turmoil and war. 17. He chose Rumsfeld as DoD Secretary twice, in spite of Rumsfeld's obvious failure to adequately plan for the post-Saddam era in Iraq, inducing massive "collateral damage," the looting of ancient treasures,

and infrastructure destruction in a country we were legally and morally

bound to rehabilitate. 18. He endorses the weaponization of space, "Rods from Gods," and other

exotic, Star-Wars technologies to establish a twenty-first century American global empire that is doomed to create an arms race with China

and other opposing coalitions, sowing discord and wasting the resources

of the world. 19. He has presided over the most egregious media consolidation in the nation's history. While we have had "yellow journalism" and other media

abuses throughout our two centuries of Republic/Empire, we have never suffered the consolidation of power that we have today. He has presided

over the emasculation and cowering of PBS, while his disinformation troops have peddled fraudulent stories and comments to "reporters" like

Judith Miller, Armstrong Williams and Jeff Guckert-"Gannon," poisoning the well of information, adding to the general confusion and Goebbelsization of our news. 20. He lied about, misled, or misunderstood the astronomical costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He continues to do so, diverting tax money for education, health care, the EPA, transportation and social infrastructure into war making and destruction. 21. He has continued and enlarged the depraved Clinton policy of using depleted uranium on the battlefield; a policy bound to cause massive suffering and death to Americans and others for generations to come. 22. He has alienated our traditional allies and more than a billion Muslims around the world. He has ransacked the good will extended to the nation after the 9/11 attacks, leading a crusade of vengeance and reprisal, most often against innocents, judging without sufficient evidence, arrogating to himself a crooked, self-righteous Texas sheriff's power to execute without justice. 23. Under his watch, millions more Americans have been added to the ranks of the uninsured while health-care costs have exploded. His answer to these and other pressing social problems appears to be faith-based charities-in other words, preaching to the choir while stealing from the pews. 24. Under his watch, the North Koreans have, apparently, developed eight nuclear weapons and Israel has continued to increase and refine its arsenal-now estimated as high as five hundred, all the while continuing its overreaching, reactionary and unproductive actions against the Palestinians 25 .He lied to Congress and the American people to launch an illegal war of aggression

26.He set up a worldwide network of secret prisons, torture and assassinations.

27. He unleashed a massive unconstitutional wiretap and spying operation against the people of the United States

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Nuremberg trials, what is needed in the United States now is a new Nuremberg trial, with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others in the Doc! We are told we must build a better military, billions wasted on the war

on terror and there is more terror now in Iraq than there was before America invaded. But still bush is called liberator. Bush is no great man, were he not the son of a rich, white man he would

be parking cars in west Texas. Here a is a man, the grandson of a nazi sympathizer who was on his way to being a rich nobody until the corporate class decided they needed someone docile enough and stupid enough to do their dirty work for them. A failed Business man, bailed out by his mommy and daddy, unqualified to be a great leader; this dry drunk, bush has substituted one obsession, alcohol, for another; bringing democracy to others. Bush has

brought his ideas about democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan un-invited and all the while taking democracy from you and me. Bush would no doubt like to be thought of as some sort of liberator, indeed He has done some liberating; just not the sort people are given parades

for. He has liberated billions from the national treasury for his obsessive wars on terror. He has liberated thousands of our soldiers of their health and welfare in a fool's errand in Iraq. He has liberated more than 157000 Iraqi's of their lives!! He has tried to liberate American from the rule of law under which Americans and freedom have thrived more and more over the decades. Bush has squandered the good will of the world after 9/11 with gitmo, gulags and secret renditions. Now we are in an open-ended war, a war that cost much in lives and treasure and promise nothing in return. Getting the picture yet? Were foreign powers to enter the United States and engage in the actions taken by the Bush administration, there would be warfare in the

streets!! There is one issue facing the American people, are we better off now than we were before Bush took office? Fools in the service of their own egos, fears and ambitions do America to death. They think nothing of lies, self-deception and the embrace of

dearly held bigotries. No sooner do terrorist strike America than suddenly we are in a new world, not just a new world of anti terrorism,

but a new world of lawlessness and secrets and war and excuses for war.

And spinning us to war are political operators, lawyers, spin doctors, armchair warriors, appointees and policy wonks dreaming of everything from cheap oil to free tickets to the Mets game. These back room dealers turn the criminal acts of a few terrorists in to an excuse for a global war on terror. The machinations of men Like Chaney and Rumsfeld, behind the scenes, pushing for war, jockeying for influence and lusting for power are just

the sort of people who will get us all killed! Are these men any better

than the eye for an eye crowd that supports them. Good Christians all, turning that other cheek. Vengeance for the Lord and sword for Gideon as we invade the Muslim world at the behest of the hardliners, weapons manufactures, Israel and the oil barons. Until men have sleepless nights over the injustices committed in America and in her name around the world it is a certainty that similar

crimes and injustices, be they against individuals or against the whole

country will be visited upon us. The men in Washington are a disgrace,

they has betrayed their manhood, they betray the tenants of good government, they have cost innocents in Iraq their lives, innocents in America as well and then wonder why America is the despised of the globe. THE CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT MUST GO FORTH ON THIS FOURTH!

It is not too late to reverse this situation in America, but it will be

soon. The first step is realizing it. The second step is getting involved. As the propaganda slogan disguising our current war goes, "Freedom isn't free." But our war for freedom isn't abroad; it's here at home. Where ever you are if you thirst for freedom from tyranny and strive for democracy be it in Burma or Brooklyn, regardless of where you live,

your are an American, you are an Athenian, you are the brother of Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi, the son

of Nelson Mandela, the daughter of Harriet Tubmen, the protégée of Robert F. Kennedy, the student of Mary Mac loud Bethune or W.E.B Dubois, the kin of Mother Theresa, the child of Malcolm x or Martin Luther King. More than that, you are the enemy of every small town policemen with chip on his shoulder, every corrupt politician, every pathetic bigot, every colluding businessman, every two bit District Attorney trying to make a name for them self by piling up convictions, Every petty tyrant, every Joe Stalin, every Franco, every Pol Pot and Hitler and yes, every

George Bush. In your mind that questions every call for McCarthy style conformity, challenges every mongering of war dressed up as patriotism and piety, in your voice raised against tyranny, rings the True Chimes of freedom...let freedom ring. On this Fourth Of July, remember one thing... No one will guard your liberty more fiercely than you will!