How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Bombing Iran
For long time now, perhaps a year, I’ve been hearing (we’ve all been hearing) that the White House is planning to bomb Iran. As the neo-cons say, “Boys go to Baghdad; real men go to Tehran.” It’s a strategy so seductive that John McCain set it to music.
I’ve been dismissive of these rumors, as have you. Why? Because one would have to be a madman (or Dick Cheney) to start a second war when the first one is going so fucking well.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t take into account the way decisions about these things are made; and it neglects to take into account, as well, this particular president’s view of himself in history.
As Bush this weekend was disclosed to have said to his biographer, “I made a decision to lead… One, it makes you unpopular; two, it makes people accuse you of unilateral arrogance, and that may be true. But the fundamental question is, is the world better off as a result of your leadership?” [The biography, by the way, is called Dead Certain. How reassuring to the rest of us.]
In the eyes of our president, an Iran with a different government is a world better off. The people of Iran, or what’s left of the people of Iran after a 1,200-target bombing campaign, will greet us as liberators. History and Joe Lieberman will judge him brave for having turned the tide in the Grand Battle Against Islamo-fascism — a battle which, as we now know, had its origins in the Vietnam war.
Still, I was inclined (you were inclined) to dismiss all this bluster as sabre-rattling. Alas, in the past week it has become more likely that those sabres are Tomahawk missiles — locked, aimed, targeted.
Here are the indications that a large bombing campaign against Iran is not only on the table, but is in fact the main dish — the turkey, if you will, of Thanksgiving 2007. I list them in order of ascending terrifyingness.
First: Robert Baer, the former middle-East CIA operative and a man who is not unconnected in the intelligence world (c.f., Syriana), says his peeps tell him we’re planning to “hit” Iran.
Second: Barnett Rubin, a scholar and one of the Serious people in the academic foreign policy establishment, says we’re already committed to an attack on Iran, and that the marketing for this attack will be ramped up after the long weekend. [In this light, Bush’s speech to the American Legion and various Cheney remarks of the last month can be seen as test-marketings. As Bush said in that speech, “We will confront this danger before it is too late.” Meaning, I suspect: “before I no longer have my finger on the button.”]
Third: the foreign press, which during the run-up to Iraq was far less blinkered than, say, the Gray Lady, has been over this weekend treating an attack on Iran as a fait accompli. See this from the Telegraph (UK) . The Times (UK) ran today a headline with the flat declaration, Pentagon ‘three-day blitz’ plan for Iran. They quote Alex Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center: “Whether you go for pinprick strikes or all-out military action, the reaction from the Iranians will be the same.” It was, he added, a “very legitimate strategic calculus.” [One can’t help but recall the strategic calculus of General Buck Turgidson: “Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks.”]
Fourth: I doubt that David Addington believes that Bush, under the AUMF, really needs the permission of congress, or of anyone. As a courtesy, of course, he’d likely, as the planes are on their way, inform a bipartisan leadership group (several Republicans plus an independent from Connecticut). But what’s sadder is that this Congress, whose Democratic leadership is talking about opposing the war but not mentioning the words “withdrawal” or “timetable”; which cowed before the FISA revisions; whose Senate this year blithely passed, 97 to zip, a resolution condemning Iran for attacking U.S. forces in Iraq — When push comes to shove, will Reid and Pelosi (and Clinton, and Obama) put their political capital where their mouth is? As the magic eight ball says, “Signs point to no.” (See Glen Greenwald’s astute assessment of the political situation.)
Fifth: Regardless of the politics, in the Gulf of Hormuz the ships are in position, and, according to one unverified account, the targets are targeted, the planes are rehearsing even as we speak. In what are purported to be the words of one Navy officer on scene: “”I don’t think it’s limited at all. We are shipping in and assigning every damn Tomahawk we have in inventory. I think this is going to be massive and sudden, like thousands of targets. I believe that no American will know when it happens until after it happens.”
For me (and for you), beginning a war in Iran — in the midst of the disaster that is Iraq — is the precise incarnation of Santayana’s warning: “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.” But for Bush and Cheney, two of the ten or twelve people who actually believe that the Iraq war is going well, this new venture would be, in their eyes– Going from strength to strength.
I’ve written to my Congressman, and to both Senators. Call me quixotic, for writing; call me naive, for encouraging you to do the same; and, at day’s end, call me cynical, for believing that public opinion here makes not one whit of difference.
For this long, hot weekend in Los Angeles, the last weekend before the full roll-out of the Iran Strike Ramp-Up [can’t you just see the CNN logo?], we’ve gone to Video Hut and rented Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. We have a 14-year-old in the house, and we thought it would be nice to provide him with some context. As we pray, against all indications, for cooler weather and a peaceful fall.
Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, novelist, educator. He is professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts; a member of the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America, west; and an artistic director of the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs.
© 2007 HuffingtonPost
Forget looking to Congress to save us they are already bought off by the people launching the war. Stopping the way calls for civil disobedience!
Nancy Pelosi: The AIPAC Girl
By Patrick J. Buchanan
If George W. Bush launches a pre-emptive war on Iran, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bear full moral responsibility for that war.
For it was Pelosi who quietly agreed to strip out of the $100 billion funding bill for Iraq a provision that would have required President Bush to seek congressional approval before launching any new war on Iran.
Pelosi’s capitulation came in the Appropriations Committee.
What went down, and why?
“Conservative Democrats as well as lawmakers concerned about the possible impact on Israel had argued for the change in strategy,” wrote The Associated Press’ David Espo and Matthew Lead.
“Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said in an interview there is a widespread fear in Israel about Iran, which … has expressed unremitting hostility to the Jewish state.
“‘It would take away perhaps the most important tool the U.S. has when it comes to Iran,’ she said of the now-abandoned provision.
“‘I don’t think it was a very wise idea to take things off the table if you’re trying to get people to modify their behavior and normalize in a civilized way,’ said Gary Ackerman of New York.” [ Dems abandon war authority provision, March 12, 2007]
According to John Nichols of The Nation, Pelosi’s decision to strip the provision barring Bush from attacking Iran without Congress’ approval “sends the worst possible signal to the White House.”
“The speaker has erred dangerously and dramatically,” writes Nichols. Her “disastrous misstep could haunt her and the Congress for years to come.”
Nichols does not exaggerate.
If Bush now launches war on Iran, he can credibly say Congress and the Democrats gave him a green light. For Pelosi, by removing a provision saying Bush does not have the authority, de facto concedes he does have the authority.
Bush and Cheney need now not worry about Congress.
They have been flashed the go sign for war on Iran.
Pelosi & Co. thus aborted a bipartisan effort to ensure that if we do go to war again, we do it the constitutional way, and we do it together.
Nothing in the provision would have prevented Bush, as commander in chief, from responding to an Iranian attack or engaging in hot pursuit of an enemy found in Iraq. Nor would the provision have prevented Bush from threatening Iran. It would simply have required him to come to Congress—before launching all-out war.
Now Pelosi has, in effect, ceded Bush carte blanche to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. It’s all up to him and Cheney.
For this the nation elected a Democratic Congress?
Why did Pelosi capitulate? Answer: She was “under pressure from some conservative members of her caucus, and from lobbyists associated with neoconservative groups that want war with Iran and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC),” writes Nichols.
The Washington Times agrees as to who bully-ragged Nancy into scuttling any requirement that Bush come to the Hill before unleashing the B-2s on Arak, Natanz and Bushehr:
“Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a smattering of boos when she bad-mouthed the war effort during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the Democratic leadership, responding to concerns from pro-Israel lawmakers, was forced to strip from a military appropriations measure a provision meant to weaken President Bush’s ability to respond to threats from Iran.”[Foreign policy adrift? March 19, 2007]
This episode, wherein liberal Democrats scuttled a bipartisan effort to require Bush to abide by the Constitution before taking us into a third war in the Middle East, speaks volumes about who has the whip hand on Capitol Hill, when it comes to the Middle East.
Pelosi gets booed by the Israeli lobby, then runs back to the Hill and gives Bush a blank check for war on Iran, because that is what the lobby demands. A real candidate for Profiles in Courage.
As for the presidential candidates, it is hard to find a single one willing to stand up and say: If Bush plans to take us into another war in the Mideast, he must first come to Congress for authorization. And if he goes to war without authorization, that will be impeachable.
All retreat into the “all-options-are-on-the-table” mantra, which is another way of saying, “It’s Bush’s call.”
The corruption of both parties is astonishing. Republicans used to be the party of the Constitution: “No more undeclared wars! No more presidential wars!”
Democrats used to be the party of the people. The people don’t want this war. They don’t want another. The Jewish community voted 88 percent for Democrats in November, and 77 percent oppose Iraq.
So says Gallup. Yet, just because the Israeli lobby jerked her chain, the leader of the Peoples’ House has decided she and her party will leave the next war up to Bush.
Sam Rayburn must be turning over in his grave.
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America, can be ordered from Amazon.com.
We cannot call ourselves a democracy any longer if we have to watch a few madmen start destroying yet another country for their own evil purposes. Congress may think the only thing important is the preservation of their own lifestyle but they may think differently after Bush starts using his weapons of mass destruction to start WWIII. Apparently all 300 million people can do is wait for it to happen while our elected representatives are home securing their well paid jobs.
First they invaded Afghanistan, and I did nothing, because I was not an Afghan.
Then they invaded Iraq, and I did nothing because I was not an Iraqi.
Then they threatened Iran …
I hope this sounds familiar.
Bush’s biography is called “Dead Certain”?!!! A better title wouod be “Dead dog Wrong, Wrong, Wrong”. So Dubya thinks the measure of his adminstration is how much better off people are? Well let’s see. if you are a weapons or other war profiteer you are “better off”. Ditto for bought and paid for politicians and think-tank sychophants.
Oil companies are better off and CEO salaries and perks have never been better. The Chinese, Japanese, and European central banks to whom our nation has been sold into economic slavery are better off. There now don’t you feel better already!
“I’ve been dismissive of these rumors, as have you. Why? Because one would have to be a madman (or Dick Cheney) to start a second war when the first one is going so fucking well.”
I was surprised when they failed to attack Iran before the ‘06 elections.
“Nancy Pelosi: The AIPAC Girl
By Patrick J. Buchanan”
Old Nixonian Pat Buchanan’s feud with the neocons has to do with his Father Coughlin-inspired Americanist ideology, and the fact that the paleocons, who did the heavy lifting for putting Reagan in power, were marginalized by Kristol père et fils, David Frum, author of the “axis of evil” who launched the paleocon purge in the pages of the American Spectator around 1990, and the general cast of characters from the University of Chicago (rather Georgetowners & the heirs of the Dulles family).
Like all paleocons, Buchanan only wants the soldiers back in the US in order to repel the “invasion” of Latinos, to incarcerate as many dusky people as possible, and to patrol the American streets & campuses & return them to a 1950s paleface purity.
Dichter I agree with you 100% on Buchanon’s domestic outlook towards immigrants-its racist and its wrong. However, the reason I posted the article was to show that the Democrats are just as much for war as the Republicans and both are subserviant to the PNAC, Neocon, AIPAC interests.
Add a draft and civil unrest in America because of it. You can’t have a war with Iran without a draft following.
What does Putin do? China even. Pakistan?
WW3 … Bush’s nuclear weapons exception for India. Additional tens of billions of military aid and deals to regional allies.
For Bush there is no …what happens afterwards. All out missile strikes. Shock and awe and damn the civilians?
Bush never thinks about what happens afterwards.
Lots of missiles means lots of blood.
But then what? Does Bush intend to occupy Iran afterwards? What does happen after their all out missile attack. Then what happens?
Hello? Anybody out there? What happens afterwards? Hello?
The author writes:
[For me (and for you), beginning a war in Iran — in the midst of the disaster that is Iraq — is the precise incarnation of Santayana’s warning: “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”]
But i would say, the Cheney Bush gang does not think Iraq is a disaster, and they are not redoubling anything, they are simply going on to the next step in their plan, which is to use what they see as a historic opportunity before it goes away. They truly belive that they can win global war, and ensure US military domination of everything forever. You can look this stuff up, google “Full Spectrum Dominance” or “Space 2020″ or the PNAC documents.
And to answer BugsBBunny III, no, Bush does not expect to occupy Iran, Bush expects to win WWIII. He’s also not worried about what China or Russia might do because he thinks he is going to kick their asses.
If anyone can look at the history of the Cheney Bush gang, their historical roots, their public documents, and their actions since they took the White House, and tell me they are not attempting to achieve global military victory, please explain what your evidence is.
i should have also added, he is not worried about civil unrest because there is going to be martial law in the United States.
Scott Ritter’s target Iran speech:
http://tinyurl.com/yueo54
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb:
by just thinking that the oligarchy would get theirs too.
We bomb the daylights out of Iran and then what? Will we have to go after that vile Hugo and bomb the daylights out of Venezuela? Where does it stop? Does anybody out there have any idea? The madmen have secured the ship and there is nothing but icebergs ahead. So, full steam ahead and damn the life boats. This entire scenario is worse than anything Orwell could have dreamed up. He was close, but no cigar. I think, along with others, that there has to be a false flag first, otherwise the peasants won’t rally around this adventure. The public isn’t buying the idea that Iran is supplying weapons for the insurgents and they are not buying the idea that if we don’t stop Iran they will nuke us to kingdom come. So false flag it is and the architects have mostly left the ship, or at least are hiding in the hold. Bush is off selling his ’stay the course’ plans to whom? The troops? The Iraqis? the Contractors? Us? Bush is so very good at stages photo ops that this one should be a real treat.
There’s a military issue involved here. How about a massive demand by the officer corps of our armed forces that the policy and its envisioned consequences receive their endorsement? Come on, you generals and admirals, colonels and Navy captains — save your country from this madness!
This illegal time, however, they’ll be “smart” about their efforts to murder as many as possible as quickly as possible. This time, the “shock and awe” will not be televised. At all. No vid, no pics, nothing. We’ll be inundated with steroid- amped propaganda, a few arrests of those who dare post Iran death vids on YouTube, a handful of new “emergency” laws eliminating what’s left of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and, of course, with the “war on Christmas” coming, who can be bothered with more blowed up A-rabs anyway?
Words of wisdom for “dead certain” dubya.
According to Bertrand Russell the problem with this world is that the stupid people are so sure of themselves, and the smart people are so full of doubts.
“Unfortunately, this doesn’t take into account the way decisions about these things are made; and it neglects to take into account, as well, this particular president’s view of himself in history.”
Right - can you say War Criminal? George Bush will be named alongside Hitler and Stalin in the annals of war criminals. Others were more directly criminal making no excuses for their actions such as Idi Amin of Uganda. Bush however has succeeded in actually duping at least half of America into believing he had no mal intent. Choosing to hide behind the veil of “national security” or “terrorist threats” he has succeeded in gutting the US Constitution and flauting the rule of law has ignored over 900 laws passed by his own parties Congress with signing statement after signing statement. With the passing of each law his signing statements basically say he is above the law not as President - the office to which he was presumably elected to despite albeit highly questionable results in both elections - but as Commander in Chief. His favorite capmaign slogan of 2004 was “I’m a war President”. An easy claim when you are the idiot who started the wars without any provocation.
Oh, and pleeeeeeezzze do not tell me how we were attacked on 9-11 as innocent victims. Many innocent people died that day but our government is far from innocent in its dealings with the people who actually flew the planes. This does not condone what they did, but rather should give the intelligent person pause to consider that someone chose to fly a plane into a building ans was assisted by several other people in getting at least 6 planes loaded with attackers. 2 planes never took off, one in Dallas and the other in Hartsfield Atlanta, as they were grounded before they got into the air.
The reality is that had we not been meddling in the affairs of Middle Eastern nations since WWII (Iran’s ELECTED PM was deposed by MI6 and CIA in a 1953 coup that re-installed the Shah - a brutal dictator) we probably would not have been attacked. But you cannot change the past - all we can do now is go forward.
War Criminal Bush will soon prove his worthlessness when he orders either or both the US & Israeli militaries to bomb Iran. It was a nice run but it would appear that we are in the last days of the American Empire. It took the Romans another 1500 years to create a sane society we know of as Italy today. I hope America can fare better but we won’t if we elect a Nero II (read Democrat or Republican candidate) in 2008.
So what can we do about it?
I remember thinking before the Iraq war “how can it be that the UK still went to war although 80% of the populace was against it?”. A lot of the things we take for granted, like a minimum working wage were only possible with civil disobedience.
Imagine if only a small percentage of those 80% were to do something, the whole of the public transport, indeed all of our public services could have been halted within days. The government would have had to concede.
Thinking about it recently it occurred to me that one would not even have to target public servants and amenity employers to do this. It would suffice if only a tiny percentage of those against the war sat on train tracks, roads and so on. You would not even need a centralzed organization for this to work. If fact, the more decentralized it is the better. It would be much harder to stop these kind of sit-ins if they happed all over the place. 40 people on a motorway would bring it to its knees.
Not only that, it means that we don’t just have to rely on our American friends in progressive movements to realize this goal. This could be done world wide with the protestors demanding from their governments that if the US government goes ahead with an attack the government of whichever country must commit to severing all relationship with the US.
Think what that would mean. The Germans pride themselves that they were against the war. Schroeder got re-elected because of it. It was nevertheless a sham since nearly all of the American forces flew over Germany to get to Iraq and nearly all of the wounded have come out that way. Protestors should demand that all support would be broken off.
I think a lot of us appreciate what this attack could mean to all of us (unless you happen to work in the weapons industry) in terms of a way of life (spiraling costs, more unemployment, huge reductions in public services etc.). But maybe even more importantly it’s just hugely wrong to allow such a sickeningly criminal thing to happen. Many people have asked in the past, including the Germans themselves, how could they have let it happen?
Of course, the more people join in, the less chances there are for any of the protestors to suffer so a further course of action would be to persuade your friends, neighbors and families to join in. I think that with the short time we should keep the message simple and avoid difficult topics like; 911 complicity, and so on.
What is clear is that we were lied to about the last war, and that a new one would be a very, very bad idea: morally, financially and almost any other way you care to mention.
Once it has started it will be even harder to stop and a shame on us all if we have to say “why didn’t we do anything?” From the study of thousands of years of history we can see that democracy is indeed a fragile thing. We must fight if we want to keep it. The preamble to the US constitution says: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
Considering the Judges at the Nuremberg trials pronounced the largest war crime of WWII being the aggressive (pre-emptive) act of war, because it contained and enabled all other war crimes including the Holocaust, then I think a sit-in or two is certainly not over the top, and if even only of a fraction of those who took to the streets before the Iraq war joined in with some civil disobedience, results could be achived very quickly!
A Moratorium is being organized. Please help spread the word. Beginning Friday, September 21st and continuing the third Friday of every month:
• Wear and distribute black ribbons and armbands
• Buy no gas on Moratorium days
• Pressure politicians and the media
• Hold vigils, pickets, rallies, and teach-ins
• Hold special religious services
• Coordinate events in music, art, and culture
• Host film showings, talks, and educational events
• Organize student actions: Teach-ins, school closings, etc.
www.iraqmoratorium.org
It worked in 1969 to avert a nuclear strike against Vietnam and it can work again. Spread the word.
On Sept 11 we will see how much the American people support doing ’something’. The proposed ‘General Strike’ will come to absolutely nothing….no matter that one need really do NOTHING to have a successful result, we as a People are not going to be able to agree to do even that little bit. Sure, I will stay home and chill on Tuesday the 11 and give up a days work for pretty much no collective result, because we have no collective will.
Veteran, ‘66-68
I have organized a local grass-roots coalition for impeachment of any of my elected officials who vote for military action with Iran. I have sent emails to both of my Senators and my U.S. Representative that I will be leading marches in their hometowns the week after their vote. All politics is local in nature, therefore if they get threats of (legal) repurcussions from towns that they recognize, it could give them pause. I suggest that all of you bombard them BEFORE it happens.
Dear frank1569
You’re right about everything except one thing, Iranian are NOT Arabs…they’re Persians with over 3000 years of resisting aggression history behind them.
I’ve said it on a hundred threads and I’ll continue to say it because in my heart I know it will succeed. Passive resistance. We must bring this nation to a halt. When the bottom line of tptb is affected, THEY WILL LISTEN! It’s all that matter to them. But, IT MUST BE ON A MASSIVE SCALE AND IT MUST BE SOON. YOUR COUNTRY IS AT STAKE..STAY HOME..DON’T BUY ANYTHING..STOCK UP ON BARE NECESSITIES. ABOVE ALL, DO NOT DRIVE..DON’T GO TO MOVIES..DON’T GO TO FAST FOOD PLACES..LIVE MEAGERLY..CUT YOUR ELECTRIC USEAGE TO A MINIMUM. The methods are endless. It’s non-violent, so they cannot arrest anyone (which is what I suggest many Americans fear). I’s passive, so no one REALLY HAS TO DO ANYTHING. It will get results. A small sacrifice for THE PEOPLE TO REGAIN POWER. Can we at the very least DO NOTHING to take back our country????? PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD..IT CAN AND WILL CATCH ON. Does anyone believe this will not work?? Ghandi brought down the British Empire. Nothing has changed for it not to work. They need money..if we don’t give it to them, who will. Does anyone have a better suggestion? WE KNOW THE CONGRESS IS NOT LISTENING!!!
“However, the reason I posted the article was to show that the Democrats are just as much for war as the Republicans and both are subserviant to the PNAC, Neocon, AIPAC interests.”
The Democratic leadership is the fruit of the ancient Democrats for Nixon, which was the nucleus for the Democratic Leadership Council; so while PJB is right in making the allegation, he lacks the political credibility to make it. It’s a sort of predatory imitation of a genuine progressive analysis, which the right excels in making; the same trick is performed by the neocons when they echo progressive reasons or deploy democratic terminology for their general war on their authoritarian twins in the “non-Western” world.
It’s crucial, imo, to make clear that the intersection between the nationalist, racist anti-imperialism of the paleos & libertarians, and the trans-nationalist, anti-racist critique of empire is an accident of political geography, something which offers little potential for actual co-operation, apart from the project of removing Cheney-Bush.
I think Reggie Brown @ 8:54 pm has the right idea. I believe the key is to organize, since the even the average uninformed American will object to an unprovoked strike against Iran; particularly if oil futures go into the stratosphere, as they most certainly will.
It’s worth noting that Republicans have the most to lose here. If the markets dive–as they most certainly will–as a result of oil shocks, Republicans will lose all elections for the foreseeable future. Sensible Republicans (like Bush 41) realize this.
I suspect if a group of leading citizens from each congressional district were to ask for a commitment from their legislator to support impeachment if Bush launches a missile strike without EXPLICIT congressional approval, even most Republican congressmen would comply. Refusing to assert congressional authority under these circumstances would be political suicide.
Legislators are not likely to respond to individual e-mails or phone calls, but they WILL respond to a high-level delegation of their constituents. I’ve started organizing such an initiative in my congressional district. I encourage others to do likewise.
Passive resistance my ASS! Civil disobedience…BULLSHIT. What this country needs is for it’s citizens to take up arms and throw the bastards out. Anything less is aquiesence.
I’ve written the letters, called my reps, carried signs, wore slogans on my shirts. I’ve taught my children, argued with my parents, harrassed my coworkers. So have millions of others. Nothing has changed.
The power elite have their spin doctors, but where the hell is our Thomas Paine? The issues surrounding us today are not far removed from the issues that caused us to take up arms 231 years ago.
This administration is quite happy to see us quoting Gandhi and being passive. They, after all, have the power and are willing to use force to keep it. We are not willing to use force to take it back. We sit passively in the streets while they gas, harrass and beat us. And then we claim how well we are doing in turning the tide. They hardly need to spin the stories, since we are so willing to do it for them. Warren Buffet said it’s class war, and his side is winning. He’s absolutely correct and completely unapologetic. He is speaking truth to our faces and we are trying to pretend that he meant something else. Well folks, he didn’t mean something else. He meant exactly what he said.
It’s gotten so that in this country if you want to get away with something horrible and dastardly you need only tell the people exactly what you plan to do and in their horror they will hear only what they want and make your excuses for you.
Do you really think that if the markets dive the average american is going to be in better shape than the rich to withstand the fallout? Please! It would actually benefit the elite to ahve the markets fall apart. How much of their money do you suppose is in america in american dollars? Hungry people will eat shit and be thankful for it. And the supposition that the “republicans” and the “democrats” are any different is foolish. They are the same people, funded by the same corporations, pretending to give you a choice. By buying into the idea that you HAVE a choice, they have beaten us for good.
The fact is that our system of government has failed. It’s time for a new one. Our forefathers understood that our constitution was a working document and that we would have to revisit, revise and rewrite over and over again. It was never intended to be the final word. But that is how we have treated it. We have ignored the responsibilities inherent to a democracy and allowed a handful of people to take control of our society. Now, when we finally realize, 100 years to late, what has been happening under our noses, we cry foul.
Well Dichterfreund as they say in the Middle East “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”!
patnval…tptb thrive on violence. If the American people resort to violence, they will mow you down in the streets and not look back…just like they will do to the innocent civilians in Iran. Bush is just looking for a reason to initiate martial law. Do you seriously think the average American has any chance in a vioent confrontation? No doubt the system has failed…and failed a long time ago…but, intelligence is needed, not more violence. They only need us to buy the crap they produce and import. It’s a place to start. If we do not get results, then we take the next step. I would doubt very much if the everyday America citizen is ready to shoulder a rifle and confront the military and/or mercenaries. Not yet, anyway. I truly don’t know what it will take, given the lethargy and “busy-ness” of most Americans; but, violence is not the place to begin. In any case WE MUST DO SOMETHING VERY SOON! Invading Iran will put us as close to the edge of WW III as we have ever been.
Bomb Iran, which does have nuclear installations, sold by all the usual suspects AND INSPECED WITHOUT NOTICE BY THE IAEA. Right, think a thousand Chernobyls, whose radioactive clould traversed the globe. Think of America’s and the UK’s children - along with the rest of the world, being born with the horrendouse defects of Iraq, Afganistan, Balkans, Vietnam. Don’t worry to much about the Iranians, there won’t be any left.
The idea of bombing Iran is barking, raving madness, it is armageddon for the planet. The nuclear nightmare of ‘The Day After’. Please someone, certify these crazies, now. We have a beautiful, magical world, will they never see it, never become tired of bloodletting, in the name of ‘we thye people’? ENOUGH, ENOUGH ENOUGH. Where are the Nuremberg Tribunals for their murderous onslaughts and intents?
Meanwhile, the US Commander in Chief, creeps in to Iraq without notice, protected by thousands (no walkabout in the new democratic Iraq) and flies on to Sydney Australia where they have had to build a Berlin wallro protect him. Such courage for one who sends countles thousands to their deaths.
willybill,
I hear what you are saying and yet…..they already gas us in the streets, hold us without charge and without representation, they have all but made protest illegal and quite frankly, I believe they will “mow us down” in the streets anyway. For a long, long time I subscribed to the passive resistance theory. Recently however, I have come to believe that the more passive our resistance, the more aggressive their response. It’s almost like the playground bully who only stops when someone finally pops him in the nose. They thrive on our fear and our inability to fight back.
I agree that most americans aren’t ready to shoulder their rifles and take to the streets. Neither are they ready to stop paying taxes, stop supporting our corporate masters, start buying local etc etc etc. In fact, the american people are afraid to do anything that might be uncomfortable. Which is why we are in the situation that we are in. Yet in the 1770’s the majority of citizens were against the revolution. Most were not willing to take their rifles and hit the streets. Thankfully, some were ready and willing. Had they stopped to analyze their odds of winning and what would happen if they lost, we would still be swearing allegience to the crown.
Today, the people who are afraid of revolution are the same folks who are afraid to impeach, who are afraid to quit paying taxes who are afraid to announce that the emperor has no clothes.
I, personally, would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
There comes a point in every mans life when he must stand and be counted. If, at that moment, he fails to do so, he will be crushed by the tyranny of his own impotence. Atnov
I’m starting to hope Weasel Boy does bomb Iran. Nothing would slap DumbWhiteTrashAmerica upside the head more than $6/gal gas.
patnval..I too would rather die on my feet than live on my knees and I am very ready for that possibility. I’ve often said, that the day they initiate the national ID program, they had better bring some armor as they march down my 400 foot driveway in the woods to force me to comply. But, I would rather know in my own conscience that I had taken a peaceful approach before I resorted to violence; an idea these war mongering, child killing bastards rarely, if ever, consider. Protest in the streets gives the thugs too much leeway to react violently. Passive resistance is offensive without being physically offensive. They can ignore it, but there is no way (short of exposing themselves as the sadists whom they are) they can react violently. It takes organization, but materials and strategy are minimally necessary. I like the simplistic approach. I hate to have to keep bringing up Ghandi (not that he does not deserve the accolades), but I think he was on to something. The methods may have to be a bit different. But, who knows? Look at this fellow, Schultz, who is battling the IRS. The one thing he did that received more reaction than anything else was his hunger strike. Of course, they lied to him so he would cease his strike, but it had an effect. If it doesn’t work, then we need MILLIONS to hit the streets with everything we have. We can no longer sit back. It may already be too late. TEN MILLION TO DC! All I am doing is responding to and helping to sound the alarm…..we ALL have to do what it takes and SOON!!
Frank1569, LOL……it appears American citizens are more concerned about the upcoming “War on Christmas” than the Bush-Cheney Crime Syndicate attacking Iran for no reason and starting World War III. I’m laughing to keep from crying about the situation.
Remember Gandhi !
Impeach. Convict. Execute.
True Husslin…I believe that for America and our Judeo-Christian ethic, it goes back to the beginning of Christianity. For America as a country, it started when the Federal Reserve began running the nation.
The only ones who should be able to declare war are the ones who will be fighting it. F*** your politicians on this one. It’s time to take the power back
teh only people who can declare war are the people who have ot fight it. Take the power back America! the whole world is counting on you.
willybill: I like your ideas for a passive resistance but let’s go one step further: staying home from work. This will be the hardest method to try, because most Americans are not willing to stand up for their rights. Talk to different people about all these ‘jewels of America’ that the juvenile delinquent constantly repeats when he’s in front of a camera which I believe is seven days a week. “Our freedoms, liberty, democracy, freedom, liberty, democracy, over and over again. Most Americans aren’t even aware about the dismantling of the Constitution and The Bill of Rights by this treasonist Congress. Ignorant people are easily led and manipulated. Talk to strangers on the street about current events and watch the puzzled expressions on their faces when you engage them with facts. On the good side, more and more people are beginning to see through this fascist regime and how much they are losing since Cheney was selected to run the country in the 2000 election, coutesy of the U.S.Supreme Court.
With the military making out financially like the Soprano Crime Family (on HBO) and getting away with murder, torture, rape, and sexual sadism, and filming it, why wouldn’t they want to destroy Iran next, as they have destroyed Iraq. It’s all fun and games.
When the United States has cities and areas that look like Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, Hamburg, Berlin, etc. in 1945, then I believe you’ll see a ‘change of heart’ in the American people towards violence and military aggression.
But I agree with you and would like to change our system with ‘Mahatmas’ principals.
Good for us, Peaceman….I have the same experience when talking to people on the street…a very puzzled look. Even when I’m preaching to the choir, there’s a fear of speaking too loudly, lest someone might hear us. For me, that’s the scariest part. How did it come to this? As you said, the majority (I won’t say vast) do not even realize the Bill of Rights is gone..except the right to bear arms. As far as the Constitution goes, we need a NEW ONE. Invading Iran may be the biggest human and strategic error this country has ever made. From what I have read, the Iranians are an extremely intelligent, nationalistic, yet peace loving people. They WILL NOT sit back while there country is bombed into the stone age. I say it’s never too late to impeach Bush and Cheney. Justice must be served.
NO MORE WARS
NO MORE WARS
NO MORE WARS
NO MORE WARS
NO MORE WARS
NO MORE WARS
NO MORE WARS
Let’s try a novel approach.
PEACE
PEACE
PEACE
PEACE
PEACE
PEACE
PEACE
Negotiate, talk, compromise, respect, empathy, consideration, diplomacy.
Granted, those things are not in the neocon’s newspeak dictionary, but they are still in the old one. Let’s use them. They are not banned, just dusty from disuse. Dust them off! Use them!
Willybill: People’s fears about ‘talking to loudly’ and being ‘fearful’ started with the signing of the unconstitutional Patriot Act and everything that Bush signed into law since then. The Republicans and the Democratic enablers helped pass this draconian legislation to strip Americans of their Constitutional rights and try to make us afraid. My two U.S. Senators in California have more in common with Bush than people realize, and have helped him all along. One of them even campaigned for her ‘kissin’ cousin’ in Connecticut last year who is now an Independent U.S. Senator, and wants to attack Iran.
I’m not sure about a new Constitution, but we first have to repeal and rescind everything this administration has enacted, starting with the Patriot Act.
The Iranian people know more about the world than the average American, and even the ones who may not like their president will probably stick together and oppose an American invasion . Imagine if you were an Iraqi citizen worrying everyday if your country was going to be blown to smitherines by the U.S. or Israel. I would hope Russia and China comes to the defense of Iran and repels the American bully. But more importantly, I hope the people here walk of their jobs if we attack Iran. A nationwide strike is long overdue.
It is 2007 and instead of real peace and brotherhood in the world, we have a game plan for perpetual war. We can only do our share as individuals.
libertas fugit: I agree, I agree!