Friday, December 29, 2006
Not For, Nor By The People
When a former president dies, there is lots of hoopla and ceremony. In the case of Gerald Ford there is also the release of his thoughts and feelings that for some mysterious reason, he did not want released until after his death. While it is not my intention to cast aspersions upon this man who was never elected to office, yet served as both vice president and president, I am disappointed that he felt more loyalty to .. what? party lines? status quo?
Perhaps I should explain. It seems that ex-president Ford had much to say about Bush, Rumsfeld and the illegal war Bush is conducting at alarming cost to US taxpayers: an up to the second cost counter is available here
cost of the war
Ford was against the Bush war, which might have been a good thing to know.. perhaps more people would have stepped forward against the war sooner. If everyone who harbored thoughts and feelings against going to war or supporting an illegal war had stood up against Bush when he was still saying anyone who stands against his war is the enemy, then maybe we would have already stopped the illegal war of fascist dictator Bush. Perhaps not, now we will of course never know.
Why did Ford keep his anti war/anti Rumsfeld/anti Bush sentiments quiet? Was there some secret code we don't know about that says one cannot critic anyone who takes over a political office?
Whatever possessed him, I for one think it was wrong not to come forward against and illegal and immoral war. Perhaps he would not have made a difference. Chances are we would still be at war, but perhaps there would have been more outcry against the war if those who respected Ford had had the moral support of knowing that he did not approve of the war.
Of course it is not fair to single out one person in the public eye and say "he should have said something", which is what I have just done. The world is not fair. What I will do is say that if you are in the public eye right now, and you know the war is one of lies and deceit, brought about illegally, then you need to take the moral high ground and stand up against the war.
As a people the United States need to stand up and speak out against the war. Condemn the illegal waging of invasions, and take on the task of putting Bush, Rumsfeld and the rest of those responsible for this illegal financial drain upon us on trial for their violations not just of US law, but of the Geneva convention and all the other agreements they have broken and/or violated.
Impeachment is actually not just to get justice served, it also is a preventative measure. Thus far, the actions of Bush and cronies has followed pretty much what Hitler did in Germany in the 1930's. (I have mentioned this before in this blog and you probably are tired of hearing it.)
Looking ahead, the next big step taken by Hitler to rise to power, was to stop elections... yes yes, we have laws, but so did the German people. Bush ignores laws he finds inconvenient or that do not match his agenda, so there is no reason to suppose he would not pass some kind of executive directive (most likely to postpone at first) the next election as when we are in a "state of war" (even an illegally started one) it is not wise to change the power structure. (sort of like, you don't want to change horses in the middle of the steeple chase)
Now I know you are thinking, the people would never stand for such an action.. well I am not convinced.. after all.. the people stood by and did nothing when the current administration tortured people at Guantanamo. They did nothing when the Geneva convention was violated. Nothing when Bush announced his war without ever getting the approval of the congress (a requirement for going to war)...
I realize some of you thought we might be out of the woods on this war thing when the democrats took over the congress this last election. Guess again. Bush is pushing for an increase in troops, (more canon fodder.) and more money. The first woman speaker of the house(Nancy Pelosi) is busy saying she will not defund the war.. and here we thought she was against the war. We thought she was a liberal.. we thought she would make a difference.
As long as Bush has funds to kill people, he will keep killing people. This in turn will keep creating more terrorists, which I have explained before, you can create, but you cannot un-create.
All the newly elected have been pledging to work with everyone when they should have been screaming at the top of their lungs "hell NO"... no to the war, to the funding of the war, to increasing the national debt. No to allowing the present administration to continue to violate the laws of our country. No to the military abuses against civilians, no to the military abuses to women who are in the ranks with the abusers, No to the double standards used in dealing with foreign powers, (we are only for democracy if the folks in power are pro US, despite them being legally elected. Previous posts have discussed this at length.)
In other words, nothing has changed significantly, the American people are still not roused to the warning signals, buffaloed into thinking that all is going to be well in the world. The national debt continues to increase, the cost of the war continues to increase, the body count rises, and the government is neither for nor by the people.
Perhaps I should explain. It seems that ex-president Ford had much to say about Bush, Rumsfeld and the illegal war Bush is conducting at alarming cost to US taxpayers: an up to the second cost counter is available here
cost of the war
Ford was against the Bush war, which might have been a good thing to know.. perhaps more people would have stepped forward against the war sooner. If everyone who harbored thoughts and feelings against going to war or supporting an illegal war had stood up against Bush when he was still saying anyone who stands against his war is the enemy, then maybe we would have already stopped the illegal war of fascist dictator Bush. Perhaps not, now we will of course never know.
Why did Ford keep his anti war/anti Rumsfeld/anti Bush sentiments quiet? Was there some secret code we don't know about that says one cannot critic anyone who takes over a political office?
Whatever possessed him, I for one think it was wrong not to come forward against and illegal and immoral war. Perhaps he would not have made a difference. Chances are we would still be at war, but perhaps there would have been more outcry against the war if those who respected Ford had had the moral support of knowing that he did not approve of the war.
Of course it is not fair to single out one person in the public eye and say "he should have said something", which is what I have just done. The world is not fair. What I will do is say that if you are in the public eye right now, and you know the war is one of lies and deceit, brought about illegally, then you need to take the moral high ground and stand up against the war.
As a people the United States need to stand up and speak out against the war. Condemn the illegal waging of invasions, and take on the task of putting Bush, Rumsfeld and the rest of those responsible for this illegal financial drain upon us on trial for their violations not just of US law, but of the Geneva convention and all the other agreements they have broken and/or violated.
Impeachment is actually not just to get justice served, it also is a preventative measure. Thus far, the actions of Bush and cronies has followed pretty much what Hitler did in Germany in the 1930's. (I have mentioned this before in this blog and you probably are tired of hearing it.)
Looking ahead, the next big step taken by Hitler to rise to power, was to stop elections... yes yes, we have laws, but so did the German people. Bush ignores laws he finds inconvenient or that do not match his agenda, so there is no reason to suppose he would not pass some kind of executive directive (most likely to postpone at first) the next election as when we are in a "state of war" (even an illegally started one) it is not wise to change the power structure. (sort of like, you don't want to change horses in the middle of the steeple chase)
Now I know you are thinking, the people would never stand for such an action.. well I am not convinced.. after all.. the people stood by and did nothing when the current administration tortured people at Guantanamo. They did nothing when the Geneva convention was violated. Nothing when Bush announced his war without ever getting the approval of the congress (a requirement for going to war)...
I realize some of you thought we might be out of the woods on this war thing when the democrats took over the congress this last election. Guess again. Bush is pushing for an increase in troops, (more canon fodder.) and more money. The first woman speaker of the house(Nancy Pelosi) is busy saying she will not defund the war.. and here we thought she was against the war. We thought she was a liberal.. we thought she would make a difference.
As long as Bush has funds to kill people, he will keep killing people. This in turn will keep creating more terrorists, which I have explained before, you can create, but you cannot un-create.
All the newly elected have been pledging to work with everyone when they should have been screaming at the top of their lungs "hell NO"... no to the war, to the funding of the war, to increasing the national debt. No to allowing the present administration to continue to violate the laws of our country. No to the military abuses against civilians, no to the military abuses to women who are in the ranks with the abusers, No to the double standards used in dealing with foreign powers, (we are only for democracy if the folks in power are pro US, despite them being legally elected. Previous posts have discussed this at length.)
In other words, nothing has changed significantly, the American people are still not roused to the warning signals, buffaloed into thinking that all is going to be well in the world. The national debt continues to increase, the cost of the war continues to increase, the body count rises, and the government is neither for nor by the people.
