Friday, February 02, 2007
Pacifica Commentary for January 24, 2007
State of the Union
Yesterday's State of the Union left me with questions about both the President and the Congress. I would suggest that apart from being an American Citizen and having untold millions in their campaign coffers, anyone running for President or for Congress should be required to take Civics 101 and Political Science 101 and World History 101.
1. The President is not the Commander in Chief of the citizens of the United States. We are a sovereign people and he is our servant. When he consistently acts outside of our collective will he must be removed by impeachment or by the activation of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. At this point in history he has qualified for either or both of these legal remedies.
2. Comments he has made about Islamic people are similar to comments made about Jewish people by the leaders of the Third Reich.
3. He speaks of an ideological struggle. Just what is his ideology? Might makes right? The truth is anything I say it is? In any case his endless war program simply mirrors what he claims to be fighting.
4. According to the New York Times Magazine the death squad leadership in Iraq was imported from our death squad leaders in El Salvador.
5. The Congress has absolute authority to stop the funding and thereby to stop the war. There is simply no question about the legality of such Congressional action. And now some members of Congress are making non-binding resolutions? They are, however, fully authorized to make binding resolutions.
6. Corporate profits are at an all time high? What does this mean except that war profiteers are making obscene profits on the blood of our young. And this has been the case ever since the Civil War. Nothing has been more harmful to our democracy than the false patriotism of war mongering greed which has always been the last refuge of scoundrels.
7. Support our troops? As they die unnecessarily, as they lose their mental and physical health, as they are denied the democratic right of redress? Are we to presume for a moment they are in Iraq because they want to be there? As with most of the Bush proposals, reality is the exact opposite of what he is saying. "Support our troops," in his view is to let them die for a lie.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan Administration and also Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. He believes that the surge in Iraq is simply an attempt to deflect attention from the Bush plan to attack Iran. Roberts concludes, "Nothing can stop the Regime except immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney. This is America's last chance."
Yesterday's State of the Union left me with questions about both the President and the Congress. I would suggest that apart from being an American Citizen and having untold millions in their campaign coffers, anyone running for President or for Congress should be required to take Civics 101 and Political Science 101 and World History 101.
1. The President is not the Commander in Chief of the citizens of the United States. We are a sovereign people and he is our servant. When he consistently acts outside of our collective will he must be removed by impeachment or by the activation of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. At this point in history he has qualified for either or both of these legal remedies.
2. Comments he has made about Islamic people are similar to comments made about Jewish people by the leaders of the Third Reich.
3. He speaks of an ideological struggle. Just what is his ideology? Might makes right? The truth is anything I say it is? In any case his endless war program simply mirrors what he claims to be fighting.
4. According to the New York Times Magazine the death squad leadership in Iraq was imported from our death squad leaders in El Salvador.
5. The Congress has absolute authority to stop the funding and thereby to stop the war. There is simply no question about the legality of such Congressional action. And now some members of Congress are making non-binding resolutions? They are, however, fully authorized to make binding resolutions.
6. Corporate profits are at an all time high? What does this mean except that war profiteers are making obscene profits on the blood of our young. And this has been the case ever since the Civil War. Nothing has been more harmful to our democracy than the false patriotism of war mongering greed which has always been the last refuge of scoundrels.
7. Support our troops? As they die unnecessarily, as they lose their mental and physical health, as they are denied the democratic right of redress? Are we to presume for a moment they are in Iraq because they want to be there? As with most of the Bush proposals, reality is the exact opposite of what he is saying. "Support our troops," in his view is to let them die for a lie.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan Administration and also Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. He believes that the surge in Iraq is simply an attempt to deflect attention from the Bush plan to attack Iran. Roberts concludes, "Nothing can stop the Regime except immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney. This is America's last chance."
