LIVING IN BUSH'S AMERIKA by The Cosmic Messenger
As 2007 unfolds, the elected leadership on both sides of the political aisle in Amerika appear determined to chart a destiny for the world using the same flawed rationale prior to the November elections. Conservatives joined by their commercial media cohorts have locked arms to impose upon us what they insist must be done to save humanity for the benefit of the next generation of corporate warlords.
Although some of the faces have changed on Capitol Hill and amongst Pentagon strategists the message remains the same. These contemporary taskmasters have returned to the same cunning logic used to manipulate Americans into supporting the illegal invaision of Iraq. Its substance is built on hollow notions, questionable evidence and slick talking points to justify expanding conflict in the Middle East. Further compounding the situation is their use of psychological fear to persuade the nation to accept the agenda they've devised.

Most citizens acquiesced to the war plans based on blind nationalism in 2003 but the majority of them failed to recognize it meant suspending many of the Constitutional freedoms they took for granted. Those who did make the distinction, falsely assumed the rollback of their rights would be temporary rather than permanent and restored after hostilities ceased.
Regrettably Americans are being to realize the Patriot Act, proclaimed as necessary for winning the battle against terror has become an indefinite license for their government to not only tread upon the rights of foreign sovereign countries but their own domestic independence as well. Extending the Iraq war to neighboring Iran enables our present leadership to place the country in a state of perpetual armed turmoil, permeates the abatement of individual liberty and paves the way for the corporate takeover of our government.

The following list can be found at the Progressive Review whose link is available in the right index of "The Cosmic Message." It's prefaced with an editorial note stating:
"Some of these symptoms are found in non-fascist countries where they should be treated as serious warning signs. On the other hand, fascist states - unlike democratic nations - have many, if not all, of these symptoms."
- Your president asserts the right to ignore part or all of laws passed by the national legislature.
- Massive warrantless searches
- Your president and other officials regularly lie to you
- Fraudulent election counts
- Government monitoring of letters, emails, phone calls and checking accounts
- Secret courts
- A government subservient to the interests of the country's largest corporations.
- Courts that support presidential use of unconstitutional powers
- Massive spying on citizens, especially those involved in political dissent
- A government that uses words like democracy, freedom and peace while engaging in acts dramatically at odds with such words
- Government agencies or officials declaring themselves exempt from portions of the law or constitution
- Creation of watchlists, no-fly lists and similar exclusionary documents
- National ID cards
- Growing number of citizens incarcerated for a growing number of offenses
- Massive use of cameras to spy on citizens
- A media supportive of or obsequious towards the government in covering its police state activities
- Security bubble around government leaders' public appearances including preselected audiences and limit on proximity of protests
- Disarming of citizenry
- Dissent characterized as disloyal by government and its supporting media
- Increasing government control over private behavior
- Lack of legal recourse to stop illegal government actions
- Prison without trial and arrests without charges
- It is difficult to borrow books from libraries pertaining to controversial subjects such as communism, socialism and fascism.
- Transfer of powers from legislatures to executive
- Assassinations of popular public figures
- Expansion of prisons and laws that lead people to prisons
- President claims right to make war whenever he wants
- Words misused to mean their opposite: i.e. peace for war, democracy for fascism
- The president sets himself up as the sole moral authority for the entire country, using his personal beliefs as the basis on which to declare what is 'good' and what is 'evil.'
- Federal takeover of functions formerly considered essential state or local responsibilities such as state militias and public educatiion.
- Creation of a mercenary military force used for foreign and domestic purposes
See Slideshow Of Bush's Latest Victims in Amerika
Howard Zinn editorialized in the February 2007 edition of Progressive Magazine that "courage is in short supply in Washington, D.C." these days. He reminded Democrats of their obligation to protect "the equal right of all to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Zinn further emphasized this was critical given the ideological goals of the West Wing.
"There seems to be a special viciousness that accompanies the current assault on human rights in this country and in the world. We have had repressive governments before, but none has legislated the end of habeas corpus, nor openly supported torture, nor declared the possibility of war without end. No government has so casually ignored the will of the people, affirmed the right of the President to ignore the Constitution, even to set aside laws passed by Congress."
My sentiments exactly as well as the majority of citizens today. What America needs now are leaders with the fortitude to preserve democracy rather than replace it with a corporate plutocracy dedicated only to maximizing profits at the expense of the Constitutional rights of the people they were elected to serve.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Labels: Amerika, Blind Nationalism, Constitutional Rights, Political Fortitude, Progressive Commentary, Save Humanity, The Cosmic Message





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