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Go To The Light
By Sheila Samples
12/31/05 "ICH"
-- -- Folks at the White House stay pretty busy these
days just trying to untangle the lies George Bush keeps telling
every time he opens his mouth. For example, back in April 2004, Bush
explained to a cheering audience and an unchallenging press corps in
Buffalo about "eavesdropping" on Americans -- "When you think
'Patriot Act,' constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes
to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because," he
said earnestly while leaning over the podium, his hand on his heart
"--because we value the Constitution."
Bush? Value that (insert Lord's name in vain) piece of worthless
paper? I think not. From his actions and manner of speech, it is
doubtful that Bush has read either the US Constitution or the holy
book upon which he placed his hand twice and swore to preserve,
protect and defend it.
After the New York Times reported last week that Bush authorized the
National Security Agency (NSA) to cast a wide net to spy on American
citizens' e-mail and phone calls without seeking warrants from the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, Bush went on the
offense, saying yeah, he did it, and he was gonna keep on doing it,
cause he was the president and -- like he told Washington Post's Bob
Woodward -- that means he doesn't have to explain to anybody why he
does anything...
That apparently includes the FISA court, which has the audacity to
require "probable cause" before approving wiretaps on American
citizens. In Bush's defense, when you're huntin' and chasin' and
smokin' out evil lurkers and plotters and planners, you don't have
time to stop and fill out two or three million pieces of paper. Like
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says, the (insert Lord's name in
vain) Constitution is a quaint little thing, but we live in a new
world order now, and any constraints on "this president" are just
too cumbersome.
In an October speech, Bush said, "Our country is at war, and the
executive branch has an obligation to protect the 'Merican people.
We are aggressively doing that. We are finding the terrorists and
bringing them to justice," he said, pausing for effect, then added,
"and anything we do is within the law..."
Vice President Dick Cheney agrees. He says they must have complete
control and flexibility and unlimited power, even if this means they
have to make up the law as they go along. While speeding home from
the Middle East in time to break a Senate tie on a bill that raises
Medicaid payments for the poor and elderly while, at the same time,
allowing states to cut their Medicaid services, and cuts child-care
payments for social bottom-feeders, Cheney snarled that there "is a
hell of a threat" out there, and the president's authority under the
(insert Lord's name in vain) Constitution must be "unimpaired."
Cheney says "the vast majority" of Americans support Bush spying on
them, and warned that any "backlash" would not be against Bush, but
against the critics who dared question Bush's illegal and quite
possibly treasonous bits of derring-do. Cheney is adamant that he,
er -- Bush -- is above any court and outside any law. Those who
disagree can just go (insert word depicting doing sexual "wild
thaing") themselves.
Besides, Cheney might have added, they've been doing it for four
years -- collecting information on American citizens by tapping
directly into the US telecommunication system's main arteries
without first getting warrants -- and nobody seemed to care.
According to the Times, these corporate behemoths supported and
assisted the spying operation -- storing information on citizens'
calling patterns and giving it to Bush since 9-11.
Got that, sports fans? Since 9-11. And the NSA is not the only one.
According to Capital Hill Blue's Doug Thompson, the FBI, the
Department of Homeland Security and "dozens of private contractors
are spying on millions of Americans 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, 365 days a year."
It got so blatant that a former NSA agent who quit in disgust over
use of the agency to spy on Americans, told Thompson, "We're no
longer in the business of tracking our enemies. We're spying on
everyday Americans."
And, when there's treason afoot, one can hardly leave out the
vicious and wacky Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. A couple of
years ago, Rumsfeld had this great idea for not only spying on
Americans, but building a profile on every citizen who travels, uses
credit cards, talks on the telephone or works or plays on a
computer.
He called his new toy the "Total Information Awareness" (TIA)
Program, and put the disgraced Iran-Contra felon John Poindexter in
charge of it. When a furious Congress killed the program, Rumsfeld
said, "Fine. They can have the name." He then moved it to the
Pentagon's covert "black bag" program, out of Congressional sight or
oversight, and renamed it the "Terrorist Information Awareness"
(TIA) system. Thompson says the program is "alive and well and
collecting data in real time on Americans at a computer center
located at 3801 Fairfax Drive in Arlington, Virginia."
It's difficult to gauge either the height of awareness or the depth
of outrage of the American public because the corporate media
steadfastly refuses to shed even a glimmer of light on the myriad of
scandals this administration is hiding out there in plain sight.
The shock of 9-11 thrust the people of this country into a
depressing twilight zone, a "loyalty-oath" atmosphere where they
stumble around in the dark, afraid to speak -- afraid to think. Any
anger they feel about the president of the United States committing
an impeachable offense by covertly spying on them and openly
admitting it will fade as the media psycho-flogs them into believing
the criminal here is the whistleblower who shone the light on the
illegal surveillance, not the traitor who broke the law.
The irony of Bush, the NSA and Gonzales whipping up a criminal
investigation into who dared tell the public that they were breaking
the law will be lost on far too many Americans. Those who do
understand, yet choose to stand mute and hope for the best should
weigh the loss of their civil liberties against the violence,
murder, vicious lies, and especially the sheer animosity Bush feels
toward all but the wealthiest Americans.
They should take a look at the backgrounds and goals of the
beady-eyed war vultures who control Bush; who are urging him to
destroy everything in his path -- not the least of which is the
(insert Lord's name in vain) US Constitution. They should ask
themselves what they would do if they woke up in the middle of the
night to find an invader in their bedrooms, pawing through their
personal belongings. Would they silently bow their heads, or would
they turn on the light and scream bloody murder at the top of their
lungs?
Truth doesn't just radiate light -- it IS light. If Americans would
raise their heads and look around, they would see there are flashes
of light everywhere -- especially on the Internet.
Americans have come to a fork in the road and, like the great
philosopher Yogi Berra once said, they need to take it. They need to
go to the light.
Sheila Samples is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US
Army Public Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a
variety of Internet sites. Contact her at:
rsamples@sirinet.net
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