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Edited on Sun May-06-07 12:22 PM by Peace Patriot
"Many Americans are aware that Bush and Cheney, WITH THE CONNIVANCE OF KEY MEMBERS OF BOTH PARTIES, planned, initiated, and conducted wars of aggression and occupation that have essentially destroyed entire countries. They have infringed the prerogatives of the legislative and judicial branches; authorized the CIA and the military to torture and mistreat detainees; violated the revised Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Fourth Amendment by ordering warrant-less electronic surveillance of Americans; curtailed the civil liberties of all Americans by abolishing the right of habeas corpus for detainees at Guantanamo and anyone else the government labels an "enemy combatant." --Herbert P. Bix (emphasis added)
Many political commentators ignore the role played by "key Democrats" not only in fomenting unjust war, shredding the Constitution and curtailing civil liberties, but also in the most corrupt and "black-holed" aspect of Bush/Cheney empowerment: the electronic voting coup of 2002-2004, by which rightwing Bushite corporations took over the "counting" of our votes, in machines run on "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls.
Professor Bix mentions the first--the connivance of key Democrats--but fails to mention the second--the loss of transparent vote counting. And it is the SECOND item that is most responsible for Congress' failure to impeach Bush/Cheney on a truly unprecedented and amazing list of "high crimes and misdemeanors." My guestimate--and that of statistical experts--is that Diebold/ES&S are putting a 5% to 10% "thumb on the scales" in our elections, in favor of Bushites, warmongers and corporatists. Combined with our filthy campaign contribution system, and other vote suppression, the people--75% of whom oppose the Iraq War and want it ended--were only able to achieve a 50/50 Congress, which does not have sufficient votes to do the peoples' will. The Democratic leadership is now arranging a COMPROMISE on the war with THE CRIMINALS WHO PERPETRATED IT, that will mean, a) continued killing and occupation for an indefinite period, b) continued massive war budgets, c) the constant threat of expanded war in the tinderbox of the Middle East.
And no relief in sight. Regarding the 2008 presidential election, I am reminded of the choices given us in 1968. A Democratic War, or a Republican War. Take your pick. In those days, the war profiteers assassinated anybody who got in their way (JFK, MLK, RFK). Today, they just Diebold them (shave off or change sufficient votes to keep them out of power).
This is the reality. Why else would Nancy Pelosi, coming right out a victorious election, in which THE issue was the Iraq War, would say, "Impeachment is off the table," when no impeachment CLEARLY MEANS continued war?
I can think of one reason she would say this (besides wondering WHAT "table" she was talking about, and who was sitting at it): A stealth plan to prevent a war on Iran. It could be she traded impeachment for no war on Iran. (WHAT "table," Nancy?) And, although my democratic soul cries out against such stealth deals, I cannot say that I wouldn't have done the same, in her place. We are a medieval society now, where powerful barons and dukes and counts rule over us, and struggle among themselves for control of US military and financial power. Some of these royalists are better than others, as to the common good.
But how did this happen? The Democrats lack of a veto-proof majority and the votes for impeachment is THEIR OWN FAULT. THEY voted for the "Help America Vote for Bush Act" of 2002, and APPROVED the spread of Bushite-controlled secret vote counting machines. Apparently, they don't want democracy--or a government of, by and for the people--any more than the Bushites do. (It's true that, regarding the Senate, only 1/3 of it was up for reelection this time, and it is thus still full of Bushites and warmongers, but HOW did those jerks get "elected" in 2004, or (to some extent) in 2002? The same way Bush did--via "trade secret" vote counting, and vote suppression. And if the House was truly representative of the American people--and had not also been shaped by Diebold/ES&S, vote suppression and filthy money--it would have much more clout in antiwar and pro-impeachment votes. 40 to 50 seats would have gone anti-Bush, instead of 30.*)
Professor Bix says impeach. How do you do that, when such a compromised election system shaping Congress to prevent just that?
I can't really take any political commentator seriously who doesn't point this out. It's the voting machines, stupid! THAT is why there is no impeachment. THAT is why the war continues. The barons and dukes and counts--whatever their secret deals might be--ARRANGED FOR the people of this country NOT to be at the "table," when they supported the takeover of our elections system by rightwing Bushite corporations.
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*(A key to understanding this situation is that this "Democratic" Congress has yet to deal with the dispute in FL-13. In the FL-13 Congressional election in '06, ES&S voting machines 'disappeared' 18,000 Democratic votes for Congress, in an election decided by some 300 votes. When the lawyers for Democrat Christine Jennings (--of course, it's always the Democrat who "loses" in Diebold/ES&S "vote counting") took the matter to court, and demanded to see ES&S's "trade secret" code, to try to figure out what happened to those 18,000 votes, ES&S REFUSED, and said that their "right" to profit from our election system with secret, proprietary "vote counting" trumps the right of the voters to know how their votes were counted! And the judge agreed with ES&S! The Democratic Congress--which holds ultimate power in this situation--has done NOTHING about it. They are dicking around with "hearings" which haven't even begun. In this--and also in their proposals for "fixing" our broken election system--they are PROTECTING the secret code. Why?)
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