Do Americans Have ANY Awareness Of Crimes Government Is Committing In Our Name?-Paul Craig Roberts

[kpete]

What Do We Stand For?
By Paul Craig Roberts

18/02/08 "ICH" --- - :

"The Bush administration has announced to the world, and to all Americans, that this is what the United States now stands for: a vicious determination to dominate the world, criminal, genocidal wars of aggression, torture, and an increasingly brutal and brutalizing authoritarian state at home. That is what we stand for."

Addressing his fellow Americans, Silber asks the paramount question: "why do you support" these horrors?

His question goes to the heart of the matter. Do we Americans have any honor, any humanity, any integrity, any awareness of the crimes our government is committing in our name? Do we have a moral conscience?

How can a moral conscience be reconciled with our continuing to tolerate our government which has invaded two countries on the basis of lies and deception, destroyed their civilian infrastructures and murdered hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children?

..........

There is no one in the Bush administration with enough integrity to resign. It is a government devoid of truth, morality, decency, and honor. The Bush administration is a blight upon America and upon the world.

more at:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19374.htm

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand.

[indepat]

1. Some, like Paul Craig Roberts, see things as they are: one wonders how

a government devoid of truth, morality, decency, and honor and a populace largely of true-believers/ religious fanatics, the unaware, the uncaring can long flourish on the face of this earth. :shrug:

[Rex]

2. Moral conscience lost all value in the 80s.

I think we are on moral awareness at the moment.

[bobthedrummer]

3. I know a bit about the BFEE, I share what I know with other citizens

and have been DUing that since I came here.

We, the people are being mind-controlled incrementally into oblivion by these criminals, very much like the NAZIS did.

That doesn't work on all of US though.

[malaise]

4. No No No!!!

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Bush said he has the moral high ground.

Frei: Can you honestly say, Mr President, that today America still occupies the moral high ground?

Mr Bush: Absolutely - absolutely. We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in the human condition. We believe in freedom. And we're willing to take the lead. We're willing to ask nations to do hard things. We're willing to accept responsibilities. And - yeah, no question in my mind. It's a nation that's a force for good. And history will judge - the decisions made during this period of time as necessary decisions. And I believe that we are laying the foundation for peace. People have written off the Middle East. It's impossible to change the conditions there. Let's just ignore it. Or let's promote stability, which was part of the foreign policy of the past. I chose a different course. Stability didn't work. Stability created the conditions that were right for these terrorists to emerge and recruit. I happen to believe free societies provide hope. And I would hope that people in Europe, for example, understand that freedom has led to peace, and ought to be supporting the freedom movements and not shy away from the responsibility of the comfortable to help those who long for freedom. And it's hard work. It's really hard work. And it doesn't happen instantly. You know, we live in a world like - and all due respect - the 24 hour news. We live in a world where everything's, like, instant. But, the work we're doing... it takes patience. But, most importantly, it takes faith in the universality of freedom that exists in every heart. And so, yeah, I'm not only happy to defend decisions. I'm confident that they will lead to a better tomorrow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7245670.stm
--------------------
Bush is a fucking lunatic.

[Land Shark]

5. An impeachment hearing on these and other crimes against democracy Tuesday in NH, see

POlitical Videos section especially

but, here's the petition in case anyone's interested

PETITION TO COMMENCE IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURES

IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS



WHEREAS, Section 603 of the Manual of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives provides for impeachments to be initiated on a motion based on charges transmitted from a state legislature, and


WHEREAS the right to vote, being the right that protects all other rights, and the right which ratified the Constitutions of our state and country, is a right that is collectively inalienable, in that elections may not be generally suspended or terminated; and,



WHEREAS under Paragraph 2 of the Declaration of Independence, our government is "instituted to secure these rights", including the right of elections, which are necessary to Liberty; and,


WHEREAS the Executive branch is responsible for enforcing the law and guaranteeing these rights; and,


WHEREAS, instead of ensuring that the people of New Hampshire have guaranteed to them mechanisms for reliably altering or abolishing their representatives, pursuant to Paragraph 2, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have engaged in a pattern and practice of threatening litigation against states and people who refuse to institute mechanisms of voting that require votes to be counted in trade secrecy and outside the observation and control of citizens; and,


WHEREAS, the invisibility and secret vote counting means that citizens no longer control their elections, and that members of the Executive branch and the Election Assistance Commission do control elections, together with any criminal who may seek to alter the trade secret software; and,


WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have committed high crimes and misdemeanors, as they have repeatedly and intentionally violated the United States Constitution and other laws of the United States, particularly the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Torture Convention, which, under Article VI of the Constitution is a treaty as part of the “supreme law of the land," and,


WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have acted to strip Americans of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to legal counsel, without charge, and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an “enemy combatant", all in subversion of law; and,


WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Cheney have ordered and authorized the Attorney General to override judicial orders for the release of detainees under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS) jurisdiction, even though the judicial officer, after full hearing, has determined that a detainee is held wrongfully by the Government; and,


WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have ordered at least thirty times the National Security Agency to intercept and otherwise record international telephone and other signals and communications by American citizens without warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, and designated certain U.S. citizens as “enemy combatants," all in violation of constitutional guarantees of due process; and,


WHEREAS President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have admitted that they willfully and repeatedly violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and boasted that they would continue to do so, each violation constituting a felony; and,


WHEREAS, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have violated the United Nations Charter and other treaties prohibiting aggressive war, by invading Iraq without just cause or provocation, and have misled the US Congress by deliberate or negligent falsehoods to obtain the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq resolution (Public Law 102-1); and,

Whereas, President George W. Bush has now admitted that his 20-Year "War on Terror" includes a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq and the Middle East, consisting of a lavish embassy and dozens of military bases; and,


Whereas, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney continue to authorize the use of depleted-uranium (DU) munitions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of which spreads radioactive contamination to non-targets, including innocent civilians, animals, food and water sources, and the use of which has been declared illegal by the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Rights; and,


Whereas, President George W. Bush has subverted the laws of our nation, in whole or in part, through the use of "signing statements" on more than 1200 occasions, unprecedented in U.S. history,


NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GENERAL COURT submits that the actions and admissions of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney constitute ample grounds for their impeachment, and that the House of Representatives of the New Hampshire General Court has good cause for submitting charges to the U.S. House of Representatives under Section 603, as grounds for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney.


The House of Representatives of the New Hampshire General Court further submits that Articles of Impeachment should charge that President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have violated their constitutional oaths to execute faithfully the office of President and Vice-President to the best of their ability to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.


In all of this, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Richard Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice-President, subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the State of New Hampshire and of the United States.


WHEREFORE, President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any offices of honor, trust or profit under the United States.


Be it resolved further by the legislature of the State of New Hampshire, that our senators and representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, requested to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office.


Be it resolved further, that the Secretary of State of the State of New Hampshire be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to each Senator and Representative in the Congress of the United States, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, under the great seal of the State of New Hampshire, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the legislature of the State of New Hampshire. The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the original authorizing signature of the Secretary of State.

[kpete]

6. NH

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=95063&mesg_id=95063

[Danascot]

7. Here's One

man with the integrity to resign

Unforgivable Behavior, Inadmissible Evidence

"My policy as the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantánamo was that evidence derived through waterboarding was off limits. That should still be our policy. To do otherwise is not only an affront to American justice, it will potentially put prosecutors at risk for using illegally obtained evidence.

"Unfortunately, I was overruled on the question, and I resigned my position to call attention to the issue — efforts that were hampered by my being placed under a gag rule and ordered not to testify at a Senate hearing."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/opinion/17davis.html?pagewanted=2&bl&ei=5087&en=76b95cc46c75d6ce&ex=1203483600

[UpInArms]

8. good grief, kpete! what are you trying to do,

wake people up?

Most of them are so fully sated on the latest wife-swapping, american idol strutting, britney spears rehab issue that they don't even have a clue.

Not only that, you can't sell them a clue.

Dear little Paul Craig Roberts, that Olin Foundatin, RayGun supporting newly awakenend and now frightened little man...

oh, my heart bleeds for him and for all of us.

So, how many mainstream papers are carrying John Paul these days?

Oh, none, you say.

Well, then...

(oh, how I wish it weren't so)

[Demagitator]

9. Bush v. Gore n/t

[wildbilln864]

10. No they don't because....

Fox news and the rest of the M$M aren't telling them.

[seafan]

11. Paul Craig Roberts: "Without the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, America can never recover."

This is my worst fear as well.

If we do not impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, we will have forever forfeited the soul of our nation.


What Do We Stand For?

By Paul Craig Roberts
February 18, 2008

.....

The people ask over and over, "What can we do?"

Very little when the institutions put in place to protect the people from tyranny fail. In the U.S., the institutions have failed across the board.

The freedom and independence of the watchdog press was destroyed by the media concentration that was permitted by the Clinton administration and Congress. Americans who rely on traditional print and TV media simply have no idea what is afoot.

Political competition failed when the opposition party became a "me-too" party. The Democrats even confirmed as attorney general Michael Mukasey, an authoritarian who refuses to condemn torture and whose rulings as a federal judge undermined habeas corpus. Such a person is now the highest law enforcement officer in the United States.

The judicial system failed when federal judges ruled that "state secrets" and "national security" are more important than government accountability and the rule of law.

The separation of powers failed when Congress acquiesced to the executive branch's claims of primary power and independence from statutory law and the Constitution.

It failed again when the Democrats refused to impeach Bush and Cheney, the two greatest criminals in American political history.

Without the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, America can never recover. The precedents for unaccountable government established by the Bush administration are too great, their damage too lasting. Without impeachment, America will continue to sink into dictatorship in which criticism of the government and appeals to the Constitution are criminalized. We are closer to executive rule than many people know.

Silber reminds us that America once had leaders, such as Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reed and Sen. Robert M. LaFollette Sr., who valued the principles upon which America was based more than they valued their political careers. Perhaps Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are of this ilk, but America has fallen so low that people who stand on principle today are marginalized. They cannot become speaker of the House or a leader in the Senate.

.....

(bold type added)

[rhiannon55]

12. Some of the people who are unaware that our government is run by criminals

who are creating horrendous crimes in our name are simply too busy or distracted or uneducated to know. Others are willfully ignorant and no amount of trying to tell them gets through. My brother is one of those, and it is because of his unwillingness to listen or see the horrible truth that he and I are no longer close. I used to think he had at least some integrity, but no more. I can barely stand to look at him these days. I think he would stand by silently and let his neighbors be "taken away", like in Nazi Germany. And the twisted thing is, he thinks he's moral because he's a fundamentalist Christian.