Who Will Save America? - By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - Disturbing article.

[Wind Dancer]

My So-Called "Epiphany"


A number of readers have asked me when did I undergo my epiphany, abandon right-wing Reaganism and become an apostle of truth and justice.

I appreciate the friendly sentiment, but there is a great deal of misconception in the question.

When I saw that the neoconservative response to 9/11 was to turn a war against stateless terrorism into military attacks on Muslim states, I realized that the Bush administration was committing a strategic blunder with open-ended disastrous consequences for the US that, in the end, would destroy Bush, the Republican Party, and the conservative movement.

My warning was not prompted by an effort to save Bush's bacon. I have never been any party's political or ideological servant. I used my positions in the congressional staff and the Reagan administration to change the economic policy of the United States. In my efforts, I found more allies among influential Democrats, such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Russell Long, Joint Economic Committee Chairman Lloyd Bentsen and my Georgia Tech fraternity brother Sam Nunn, than I did among traditional Republicans who were only concerned about the budget deficit.

-snip-

We have reached a point where the Bush administration is determined to totally eclipse the people. Bewitched by neoconservatives and lustful for power, the Bush administration and the Republican Party are aligning themselves firmly against the American people. Their first victims, of course, were the true conservatives. Having eliminated internal opposition, the Bush administration is now using blackmail obtained through illegal spying on American citizens to silence the media and the opposition party.

Before flinching at my assertion of blackmail, ask yourself why President Bush refuses to obey the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The purpose of the FISA court is to ensure that administrations do not spy for partisan political reasons. The warrant requirement is to ensure that a panel of independent federal judges hears a legitimate reason for the spying, thus protecting a president from the temptation to abuse the powers of government. The only reason for the Bush administration to evade the court is that the Bush administration had no legitimate reasons for its spying. This should be obvious even to a naif.

The United States is undergoing a coup against the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, civil liberties, and democracy itself. The "liberal press" has been co-opted. As everyone must know by now, the New York Times has totally failed its First Amendment obligations, allowing Judith Miller to make war propaganda for the Bush administration, suppressing for an entire year the news that the Bush administration was illegally spying on American citizens, and denying coverage to Al Gore's speech that challenged the criminal deeds of the Bush administration.

The TV networks mimic Fox News' faux patriotism. Anyone who depends on print, TV, or right-wing talk radio media is totally misinformed. The Bush administration has achieved a de facto Ministry of Propaganda.

more

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02062006.html

This is one of his best articles.

God help us.

[melody]

1. Great statement but too little, too late from conservatives

They chose to attack all the dissenters, minimizing the position of strength of the opposition, in order to shore up the government by, for and of the corporations. They laughed at liberals -- made us an object of ridicule. As much as I "grok" Roberts now, I still blame him and all the other Reagan era fake conservatives for opening the door for these monsters and making the environment so comfortable for them.

The selling of the US to international interests started with Ronald Reagan. It's not just a new phenomenon.

[Talismom]

2. Thanks FDinNC! I can't wait to read it! More great news, huh? n/t

[fooj]

3. It's a powerful article. Now what?

Peace.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

4. Buy guns. Stock up on ammo.

nm

[samhsarah]

5. I like that he called out the MSM and Americans for not questioning 911...

It needs to be done a lot more, IMO.

[On the Road]

6. Roberts Has an Odd Mix of Views

I am going to have to ponder them.

His beliefs on the Phillips curve (ie, there is a negative correlation between inflation and unemployment) certainly seems to have been borne out over the last 25 years. Greenspan, for example, took the unusual step of allowing unemployment to sink to record low levels, almost daring inflation to return. It didn't.

Roberts's views of Reagan (in the snipped-out portion of the article) are odd. I certainly never saw Reagan him way.

I completely agree with him that debate needs to be prized and made public, and that people today tend to limit themselves to their own point of view. That's one reason someone with an unusual combination of views such as Roberts is good for everyone.

[petgoat]

7. Dr. Roberts does make some provocative references to 911truth

He says some correspondents "challenge me to explain why three World Trade Center buildings on one day collapsed into their own footprints at free fall speed, an event outside the laws of physics except under conditions of controlled demolition. They insist that there is no stopping war and a police state as long as the government's story on 9/11 remains unchallenged.

"They could be right. There are not many editors eager for writers to explore the glaring defects of the 9/11 Commission Report. One would think that if the report could stand analysis, there would not be a taboo against calling attention to the inadequacy of its explanations. We know the government lied about Iraqi WMD, but we believe the government told the truth about 9/11."

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02062006.html

[carincross]

8. an Eisenhower Republican

Paul Craig Roberts harkens back to the Republican party of my youth. Like Dr. Roberts my father was a moderate Republican. Such people believed in a limited, but efficient and honest federal government; fiscal responsibility; corporations that served both workers and stockholders; a foreign policy that encouraged international cooperation, but avoided foreign entanglements; a strong military that understood the limits of force; a recognition of the rights and responsibilities of the individual citizen; the separation of Church and State.

Most importantly, Republicans of this era stressed personal freedom and responsibility. It was such Republicans that helped push through civil rights legislation and promoted the rights of minorities and women.

For years Dr. Roberts has been fighting this administration. His columns have consistently talked about our deteriorating economy and have punctured Bush's "good news" economic balloons by looking at the data, not the talking points. He has railed against the Iraq war and has been a constant foe of an expansion of the war into Iran. He has discussed the coming police state and our loss of personal and civil liberties.

Most importantly, he has constantly exposed this administration as one that brilliantly handles politics, but cannot formulate policy. I was reminded of this again this morning when I read that Karl Rove is pressuring Republican Senators to "follow the GOP line, or else!!!"

[HamdenRice]

9. Maybe the best article of the last five years! k&R

Here are two chilling paragraphs; first:

"The years of illegal spying have given the Bush administration power over the media and the opposition. Journalists and Democratic politicians don't want to have their adulterous affairs broadcast over television or to see their favorite online porn sites revealed in headlines in the local press with their names attached. Only people willing to risk such disclosures can stand up for the country."

This is in fact the only rational explanation for why the media seem to be living in a fantasy land, refusing to report the obvious hijacking of the country. And second:

"If Senator Ted Kennedy, a famous senator with two martyred brothers, can be put on a no-fly list, as he was for several weeks, anyone can be put on the list. ...
How long before members of the opposition party, should there be one, find that they cannot return to Washington for important votes, because they have been placed on the no-fly list? "

[Wind Dancer]

13. Those paragraphs are chilling to the bone.

I've suspected this has been happening since the Anthrax letters. All of these people better come together and start speaking out against the illegal activities or we will not recover as a country. The time is NOW.

[msgadget]

10. Excellent, excellent article! n/t

[Uncle Joe]

11. Most excellent column!

The corpwhorate owned MSM coverage of Al Gore's speech, harkens back to the glory days of Pravda and Tass. Never was a speech of such import marginalized or ignored by so many moral and intellectual pygmies.

Kicked and recommended!

:kick:

[Petrodollar Warfare]

12. New online interview w/ Dr. Craig Roberts

Trust me - YOU will be amazed by the subjects covered in this 1.5 hr-long interview
with Craig Roberts. US econonomy, Iran, 9/11, Bush's "above the law" mentality, etc...

http://www.electricpolitics.com/index.html

(Also is an interview w/ Ray McGovern and author of 'Petrodollar Warfare')

[Wind Dancer]

16. Thanks for the link, Petrodollar Warfare.

I will listen to it tonight, great website.

Nice username, btw.

:hi:

[GeorgeGist]

14. In a hurry couldn't read the entire article...

but anyway, it seems the only answer to the headline is... The Same People Who Lost It. Otherwise it won't be America anymore. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.

[katty]

15. 5 yrs to realize this?! bush&co have gotten an all access pass to

DESTROY-The United States is undergoing a coup against the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, civil liberties, and democracy itself. The "liberal press" has been co-opted.