‘George Bush said today that the war was going to take
more fighting and more sacrifice. I want to know who is fighting? I want to
know if the members of the executive and legislative branches that are so
willing to leave our troops in the middle of sectarian violence and a
militarily undefeatable resistance are willing to send their children and other
of their relatives over to the dessert to take the place of the at least 72% of
soldiers who want to come home? Are they willing to go over there themselves to
fight? George Bush didn't finish his commitment to the country when he went
AWOL from the Alabama National Guard, why hasn't he been called back up to go
and fight and die in his own "noble cause?" I have heard of other men
and women his age who have been called back up. This is not our children's
fight. As in all war, the only people who benefit are the war profiteers.
I would also like to know who is
sacrificing in this country besides the soldiers and their families? Where are
the shared sacrifices of the past? There was a USA Today poll recently which
said that at least 50% of our population has "cried" because of the
war and so many more have put magnets on their cars. I wonder how many of our
citizens wake up everyday with broken hearts and holes in their lives that can
never be filled? I wonder how many wake up missing arms, legs, or both? I
wonder how many can't sleep because they are afraid of the nightmares that
haunt even their waking hours? George Bush is sacrificing squat and it is easy
for him to keep the people of Iraq and our troops in harm's way because it
costs him absolutely nothing.
Finally, today George said that
the temptation to abandon "our" commitments is strong. Did he have a
mouse in his pocket? I never made a commitment to preemptive war. I didn't
authorize Congress to abrogate their responsibilities to declare war. I didn't
give the orders to invade a country that was absolutely no threat to the USA. I
also didn't give the orders to use depleted uranium and wmd in Iraq. I wasn't
the one who devoted myself to torture and imprisoning people without due
process. I didn't lie to the world about the reasons for the invasion. I have
no commitments to honor in Iraq but I believe George's commitments are criminal
and they should be abandoned as swiftly as humanly possible.’
The Bodies Are
Piling Up
caesar augustus .....
‘Never has sociologist Franz
Oppenheimer’s view of the state been more clearly on display: it is there to
dominate, exploit, and protect itself against any challenges to its power. It
clings to power like Gollum holding the ring. And that power is deployed not
for the purpose of protecting people but for protecting the state and its
interests. When Oppenheimer theorized in 1908 that this was the true nature of
the state, he was shouted down and pilloried for denying the doctrine of
government as a social compact. Now his claims read like a description of the
day’s political news.
Most Americans
are aware that something has gone very wrong, but they are at a loss to sort of
out the causes, especially the ones that are most invisible. This is where the
smashing book by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin, titled Empire of
Debt, performs an extraordinary service. In addition to
being accomplished financial analysts, Bonner and Wiggin are talented
historical writers. And they put this talent to work in the cause of examining
the political and economic effects of empire.’
An Empire Built Of
Paper