Commentary on the News, Not Covered in the Books
September 27, 2007
On The "Jena 6" Case
(About 6 black youths beating one white youth unconscious)
From what I've been able to gather from news reports, this case began when a black student dared to sit under a tree on a high school campus even though, according to an unwritten code, the space under the tree was reserved for white students only. The black student's "offense" then prompted some white students to secretly hang rope nooses from the tree as a warning, and then the situation grew more heated.
This inflamed situation got so bad that it eventually came to the point when the six black students severely beat a white student, even kicking him when he was on the ground, and left his face bloodied and swollen. He apparently went to the hospital but was released. However, his father (who was interviewed on National Public Radio on 9-21-07) said that the beaten boy was bleeding from his ears for several days afterward and suffered a lot of pain.
The six black youths were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder, while the white boys who hung the rope nooses from the tree were not charged with any crime. They were only suspended from school for a bit.
All this eventually prompted large demonstrations by black people marching in support of the six black youths, pointing out that the criminal justice system is biased and unfair. As a result, charges against five of the black youths were dropped, and the charge against the one who already had a criminal record was reduced to second degree assault.
I have mixed feelings about this, and I think it's important to tell you why.
On one hand, the criminal justice system in America is indeed unfair and racially biased. My writings explain how and why racism against blacks (African-Americans) has deeply infected the whole political-economic-law enforcement-criminal justice system in America. After all, over the last 26 years since the Reaganites gained power there has been an erosion of affirmative action and housing programs; racial profiling; disproportionate targeting and unfair treatment by police; racially skewed charging and plea bargaining decisions of prosecutors; discriminatory sentencing practices; and terrible failure of judges, elected officials and other criminal justice policy-makers to redress the inequities.
Actually, racism has been a problem in America ever since white Europeans first began treating Native Americans (Indians) unfairly, and particularly since they began the slave trade and took Africans as prisoners and slaves to do all their dirty work. Thank God, Martin Luther King Jr. and many others tried to expose the racism, and they had some success. But, as I stated in my second book, this situation has grown steadily worse again in America ever since the policies initiated by then-president Richard Nixon began targeting black people. It worsened when then-president Ronald Reagan rendered the Civil Rights Commission ineffective and virtually opened the doors wide open for institutionalized racism once again. And it worsened even more when George W. Bush used racially charged code words in his campaigns to cater to and solicit the support of Southern white racists.
Of course, Bush and other Republicans would vehemently deny that and insist that they are not racists, and some of them might not be. But the fact is that many of them use coded words like "states' rights," a term which was originated by Southern white racists before the Civil War to defend slavery. And they say and do other things that appeal to white racists and are detrimental to black people, such as the things I mentioned above.
On the other hand, the public demonstrations in support of the Jena 6 should have been mainly about racial segregation and the hate crime of hanging rope nooses from the tree. After all, hanging a noose is not a harmless "prank," as white officials in Jena claimed. A noose is a symbol, just as harmful or threatening to blacks as the Nazi swastika is to Jews, because countless black people were lynched and killed with nooses hung by white people in the South. The noose is even a worse symbol than the confederate flag, which represents advocacy of racism, slavery and apartheid. Therefore, those who hung the nooses from the tree committed a vicious hate crime. Rather than being properly ashamed of their racist ancestry, the white students who hung those nooses choose to embrace and flaunt it, and some people have appropriately called them terrorists for it.
That is what started the whole thing, even though some white people in Jena, Louisiana would no doubt claim that it was really started by the black youth who dared to sit under the tree. They would be wrong, however. He was right to do that, and brave, just as Rosa Parks was for sitting at the front of the bus to defy racist traditions and demand her civil rights. In fact, Rosa Parks is the brave soul who spurred Martin Luther King Jr. to begin his work more seriously.
The original wrong in the Jena case was in the segregation/apartheid, and in the hanging up of rope nooses. The public demonstrations by black people in support of the Jena 6 were quite right to protest that, and they were quite right to protest the injustice and racial bias in the criminal justice system.
However, I believe they were wrong to claim that the six black youths should be freed and escape any punishment. They deserved to be punished appropriately. They kicked a white youth into unconsciousness when he was on the ground. They committed criminal assault and battery with intent to do bodily harm.
If Martin Luther King , Jr. were still alive, he would no doubt remind the Jena 6 and all other black people that peaceful, non-violent protest is the ONLY productive way to protest prejudice and injustice. As he said, hate only begets more hate, and violence only begets more violence.
September 30, 2007
On Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vs Bush
(Revised 12-4-2007)
In late September, 2007, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited the U.S. He was interviewed on television and then spoke before a college audience and the United Nations general assembly. He drew scathing criticism from Americans, partly because he puts on a mask-like smile on his face, apparently to hide his feelings, and mainly because of his stated beliefs.
To his credit, Ahmadinejad did level some very valid criticism against the Bush Regime and against Israel. Much of that is very well deserved, as you can see on the pages on this site addressing Bush’s Record and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
However, Ahmadinejad was not truthful about many things, and his denials were wide open to ridicule. For example, he denies that he would like to see Israel destroyed. He denies that the Nazis killed millions of Jews during the Second World War. And he even denies that there are any homosexuals in Iran, a denial that brought laughter from most Americans who heard it.
Unfortunately, none of these are laughing matters, and Ahmadinejad made a serious mistake because he underestimates his enemies and he grossly overestimated his ability to sway Western minds.
On September 30, 2007, the day after Ahmadinejad spoke at the U.N. and was soundly denounced by the American media, U.S. President George W. Bush announced that he would authorize "surgical air strikes" against Iran. He apparently wanted to destroy its nuclear facilities and weapons factories. He obviously felt that the time was right, since most Americans were very angered at Ahmadinejad.
Bush then increased his inflammatory rhetoric against Iran, claiming they have a nuclear weapons program that must be stopped. And even when on December 4, 2007, U.S. Intelligence Services broke ranks and released information from a report stating that Iran had in fact stopped their nuclear weapons program, Bush still insisted Iran is "dangerous." He claimed he had not known about the intelligence report before December 4, but it is very apparent that he had known about it. He had already been choosing his words carefully, using language saying the Iran was dangerous because it "had knowledge" of how to operate a nuclear weapons program. And he kept it up and said the report changed nothing in his mind.
Tragically, Bush has chosen to not only to continue, but to expand his vain folly. So in my view, Bush is not really all that much better than Ahmadinejad. Granted, it might be true that Ahmadinejad is a deceptive and hypocritical hatemonger and warmonger, as many Americans think. But he has very good reasons to hate Israel, America and England. They have brought a lot of suffering, death and destruction to Arabs and Muslims for nearly a century. And Bush has compounded it. In fact, Bush is now the biggest reason many Muslims hate America, and he has, through his arrogant, misguided folly, made a terrible situation (regarding Muslims) ten times worse since 2001. He has been a big part of the problem, and certainly not part of the solution.
Because Bush has listened to certain right-wing conservative "Christian authorities" who insist that Islam is evil and that a war by Christians against Islam was "prophesied," he has been led to believe that he is fighting a "holy war. " He thinks that all this is in fulfillment of prophecy. The trouble is, Bush is nearly as misguided and deluded as the Muslim extremists who also believe they are fighting a holy war ("jihad"). But Bush is far more dangerous because he has much more military power at his disposal, and he upholds traditional views held by many Jews and Christians even though they are wrong. The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) were meant to be a family of religions, and they were all inspired by the same God who wants us all to love one another and treat each other as family.
The truth is that Bush and Ahmadinejad are, in a certain respect, just like Osama bin Laden, Ehud Olmert (Prime Minister of Isael), and all other leaders of nations or religious sects or groups who believe they must fight a "holy war" or "jihad" in order to rule. They are simply wrong about that, because no war is holy, and we should not kill anyone if we can help it. Killing is justifiable only if and when it is to save the lives of those who are in imminent danger of being murdered, or to save people from horrible and unbearable tyranny, persecution and oppression, and ONLY if absolutely necessary as a very last resort.
Granted, these wars were foreseen and prophesied, but that does NOT mean they were caused or sanctioned by God, and it does not mean they must continue. They were caused by egocentric, ethnocentric, spiritually blind men, and that was foreseen or prophesied. But they do not need to continue, and our Parent God wants his/her children to stop killing each other. The fact is that no one can "win" by killing their fellow human beings. It is a lose-lose situation.
We now must realize that those who judge, hate and try to destroy their enemies are misguided. That is why the Christ Jesus, like all other true servants of God, have advised us to love even our enemies. In fact, they advised us to live not by the sword; to not retaliate; to resist not evil (if we are tempted to judge); to overcome evil with good; and to overcome hate with love.
Easier said than done. I know. But it’s the right way. And it’s the only way that will save the world and unite us, and enable us to make peace.
November 3, 2007
(Revised 2-19-2008
On The America Competes Act and No Child Left Behind Act:
American Education Initiatives: Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences
The America Competes Act and initiative has broad bipartisan support because it was designed to increase funding and boost American efforts to increase education in "STEM" subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The rationale and belief was that this is necessary to compete with other countries that have been and are increasingly producing and graduating professionals in these fields at a rate higher than the U.S.
On the face of it, this seems like a good idea, and it is a good idea except for one important thing. It is to the detriment of the liberal arts, and particularly to the detriment of literature, history, civics, geography, art, and music, all of which are just as valuable to our civilization. In fact, many people would say they are even more valuable to the spiritual and cultural development of our civilization, and to increase funding for STEM subjects while decreasing funding for liberal arts is foolhardy, shortsighted, and careless.
Moreover, since the American Competes Act came on the heels of Bush’s "No Child Left Behind Act," it compounds the problems caused by that foolhardy initiative. And let me tell you why I say that.
Bush’s "No Child Left Behind" is an unfunded education "reform" initiative designed to make schools more accountable by imposing more standardized tests. It’’s part of the Republican demand to prove how much "bang for the buck" we’’re getting. But, the reality is that it wastes public schools' precious time and money, and it endangers many public schools and sets them up for failure.
"No Child Left Behind" threatens loss of funding if schools do not meet standardized testing requirements. But most educators find those requirements unrealistic and counterproductive, and they detract from real teaching and learning. In fact, they stifles incentive and destroy interest in wider and higher learning, because they are geared toward low-performing students to ensure that all students pass the standardized tests so their school is not punished.
While "No Child Left Behind" ostensibly creates "greater accountability," it actually forces attention on very narrowly defined academic achievement. Like "merit pay," it forces teachers to "teach to the test" and focus on test results, which is at the cost of wider and more comprehensive learning, and also at the cost of social and emotional character development. After all, we should be motivating and inspiring our students and instilling in them a desire for comprehensive liberal arts education, rather than coaching them to be able to regurgitate a narrow, given set of answers to predetermined questions. "No Child Left Behind" forces schools to do the latter.
You see, Bush’s education initiative was originally predicated and modeled on a fraudulently touted Texas school program, and it never was a good idea. In fact, I suspect it was secretly designed to gradually undermine public education and make way for a privatized, profit-making education system. I suspect that is the hidden agenda of right-wing conservatives regarding education. That is why they have been pushing for "school choice" and the voucher program, demanding taxpayer’s money for private schools, and taking money away from public schools that desperately need it. I believe that is why early in his first term Bush cut $8 Billion from the promised funds for public education, and then imposed an education law and unfunded mandate that has created more costly bureaucracy and paper work for public schools.
Now things have been made worse. The 2007 American Competes Act decreases our ability to give students a comprehensive, broad education, because it focuses and rewards the STEM subjects at the cost of everything else –– particularly at the cost of the subjects that make our culture more creative, beautiful, entertaining, enriching, and enjoyable. Even worse, it runs headlong further toward an inequitable educational system in which only the children of the wealthy would be able to afford liberal arts education. And even as it has been, many students in many public schools cannot afford to participate in some music and arts programs because they are already underfunded. In fact, most band and orchestra teachers are forced to get their students to go out and beg for money in funding drives, and they have to spend a lot of time recruiting "booster" organizations that help raise private funds.
We need to educate our children and young men and women with a broad, comprehensive liberal arts education that includes all areas of academic study, and we need to ensure that they are all funded fairly and equitably.
Remember what the very wise have said.
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, and music."
–– John Adams
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music."
–– Albert Eienstein
"Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter -- to all these music gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way, as if we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds in the tranquil and fathomless water."
–– Albert Schweitzer
"When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest."
–– Henry David Thoreau
I focus on music because it is dear to my heart. And I quote those who were speaking of classical music, because it soothes the soul. But any good music with beautiful melody and engaging rhythm is highly valuable to our culture and civilization. We all know that. We just need to keep that in mind when it comes to funding our educational system, and fund music, art, literature, history, civics, and geography just as much as we fund the STEM subjects.
Finally I’ll just say that Americans have been sold on the idea that victory in competition is everything, and that we must be "Number One." But that is not what’s most important. Creating equality, harmony and joy is crucial. And creativity is the thing that is most valuable and enriching, and the satisfaction and enjoyment it brings is far longer lasting.
Let us nourish the soul of all, not feed the individual or national ego.
December 30, 2007
On Political Assassinations
(Revised 3-20-2008)
The tragic death of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan prompts me to make some general observations regarding political assassinations, because while misguided murderous partisans come from all extremes and from the right and left, most seem to serve the same purpose for the same special interests.
Consider, for example, why John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the moderate Israeli President Rabin were assassinated. They and countless other good, caring, conscientious, progressive leaders, including Bhutto, who served in the best interests of humanity and the people as a whole, have been assassinated by malicious right-wing ideologues who used murderous deadly force to try to control and rule.
They usually kill in the name of God and Country (in the name of their extreme "religious" beliefs and/or their extreme political ideology), but they actually serve evil. They in fact commit premeditated murder, and some of them even commit mass murder, and they do it with malice and hate in their deadened hearts.
Unfortunately, whether evil is deceptive and masquerades as good in the public eye, or whether evil is cowardly and sneaky in its murderous ways, it has been and still is very powerful in its ability to kill and destroy those who would deny it power to rule over the people. In fact, that is the main problem in the world today.
Benazir Bhutto tried to deny many different brutal forces the power to rule over her people. She wanted to give her people democratic freedom and equality. She was against al Queda, she was against General Musharif, and she was against the Bush Regime, all of whom want to rule and don’t mind people being killed so they can do so. She is dead because she dared tell the truth.
By the way, her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was also assassinated for the same reasons, and he also knew his life might be taken by those who do not want a free democracy. Before his death, he wrote a book, If I Am Assassinated, which can help us to understand America's hypocritical role in creating conditions that led to both of those tragic deaths.
Also by the way, I discussed American Neo-Imperialism in full chapters in my first and fourth books, because Americans must at long last face the truth about it, and ensure that their government makes amends and ceases trying to rule the world for the benefit of American corporations and the wealthy few who seek to increase their wealth, power and domain. Their "globalization" movement must be recognized for what it is, and it must be reformed and regulated so that it is not exploitive and not detrimental to so many people of the world. (I discussed that fully in my second and fifth books.)
Those who profit and benefit from it will want to denigrate me, and some will even want to see me dead. But one of the reasons I am supposed to write anonymously is so that it will not be so easy for right-wing zealots to assassinate or "crucify" me. That is why the prophets Isaiah and Jesus revealed the way for me and foretold that I would deliver my work and not speak in public. Of course, they also knew and said that would mean my work would be rejected by my generation.
Nevertheless, whether I am killed by deluded zealots or not, the Spirit of truth will ultimately prevail, and we shall overcome. It is but a matter of time, because the promised and needed truth has now been written.
March 19, 2008
On the Indictment of Eliot Spitzer
On the page titled Bush’s Real Record I discussed some of the Bush Regime’s abuse of power, and I should say something about what was perhaps the most recent example of that.
Some people are beginning to suspect that the Bush Regime targeted Eliot Spitzer out of vindictiveness. As most of us know, Spitzer has been in the news because he was arrested by federal authorities for his secret, illegal use of call girls for sexual favors. But most people do not know that Spitzer had written an OpEd that was published in the Washington Post, titled Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime: How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers.
The article begins with this statement: "Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets. [But] Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers."
Eliot Spitzer, as a public official, was a conscientious servant of the people, for the most part. And he surely was only one of very many high government officials who have made use of prostitutes for sexual gratification. That is certainly not unusual.
Unfortunately, Spitzer bravely dared to cross and expose the Bush Regime, just as Joe Wilson did, and Joe Wilson suffered the consequences. You may recall that Dick Cheney’s right hand man, Lewis Libby,"outed" Valerie Plame Wilson, who had been an undercover agent for the CIA. She had kept her occupation and her identity a secret for 18 years, until the Bush Administration leaked her name to the press in retaliation for her husband Joe Wilson’s public criticism of Bush’s war plans for Iraq before the initial invasion. (Wilson had provided evidence that refuted Bush’s claims about an alleged Iraqi nuclear program, but Bush simply ignored that evidence and claimed otherwise.)
I do not know if anyone has yet uncovered evidence that the Bush Regime told federal prosecutors to target Eliot Spitzer, but I certainly understand why some people suspect that. As I’ve explained on the page about Bush’s Real Record, he and his cohorts are among those who want to rule the world and feel that their desired end justifies any means. They seek and fight and kill for personal power, wealth, and domain, while claiming it is in the name of God and Country.
Granted, as I’ve said, some of them may actually believe they are doing the right thing, but they are quite simply wrong. They have fallen into temptation and corruption, and they do not serve God or the people. They serve Mammon and the wealthiest few.
March 20, 2008
On Chinese Occupation of Tibet
The latest Tibetan protests against Chinese occupation and imperialism began on March 10, the 49th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day. It commemorates what happened in 1959 when Chinese troops cracked down on a Tibetan uprising and forced the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader, to flee into exile.
On March 14, Chinese forces killed an estimated 80 Tibetans while putting down protests in Lhasa, and violence and killing has increased since then. The China Support Network (CSN), a group established in the U.S. in 1989 to support freedom for all regions and ethnic groups persecuted by the Chinese government, estimates the death toll is now at around 120.
CSN reports that from 1950 to the present, Communist China has killed over a million Tibetans, and destroyed some 6,200 Buddhist monasteries. The Communist Premier, Wen Jiabao, held a press conference on March 18 and became the regime's point man for demonizing the Dalai Lama, whom he blamed for the violence. But a Connecticut newspaper, the Hartford Courant, directly rebutted Wen's charge, saying "No, it was incited by unacceptable Chinese repression of Tibetan religious and cultural practices and aggravated by Chinese security forces too eager to attack."
Tibetan Buddhism is known as a religion of non-violence, and yet the Chinese government tries to demonizing the Dalai Lama, a man who holds a Nobel Peace Prize.
CSN is not the only group that has pointed this out. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has spoken out, and they have previously documented torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Tibet, especially those accused by the Chinese authorities of "separatist" activities. And with the current killings and arrests, they have also called for China to give access to independent monitors to see if new detainees are being tortured or mistreated.
Unfortunately, the Chinese government has expelled or turned away foreign journalists and tourists. That suggest that China wants to retaliate against the protesters covertly. And as HRW has pointed out, China is in direct violation of its commitment to the International Olympic Committee to allow foreign journalists free access to the whole country, a point the IOC should be making publicly if it is to be at all credible and effective.
Since China was given the right to host he next Olympic Games, this is our opportunity to make China comply to internationally accepted human rights policies.
Unfortunately, the Bush Regime has not agreed. The Hartford Courant has reported that: "The United States, regrettably, has recently removed China from its list of the 10 worst human rights violators. China should go back on the list." The Hartford Courant is quite right. China should go back on the list.
On March 19, Wei Jingsheng published an op-ed in the Washington Post. It was aptly titled, "China's True Face: The Host of the Olympics or the Thug of Tibet?" Wei said: "The old lies and propaganda don't work anymore."
The old lies and propaganda should not work any more. China’s brutal and murderous imperialism must stop, just as the brutal imperialism and occupation of foreign lands by any other country must stop. And we, the people of the world, must demand it.
Addendum: On June 17, 2008, I must add that even though the Chinese Government is proud to state that 90 percent of its people approve of their government, and even though that is partly because their government is doing a good job in certain respects, it is also because the Chinese people do not know the whole truth about what is going on in their country and in the world. The Chinese Government formulates the news and sensors all the print and broadcast news, so that the people know only what the government wants them to know.
This is a good example of why it is crucial and imperative that the news media be enabled to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And I say that because even in America, with the increasing corporatization and privatization of the news media, and the increasing corruption of certain corporate executives, the people are being deprived of the whole truth. Instead, especially during the last eight years, the commercial news media has veered away from ethical journalism and fed the people with the news that the Bush Regime wanted the people to be misled with. And as I’ve said on other pages, that is how Bush was able to deceive and mislead Americans into going to war in Iraq. (See the page titled Bush’s Real Record and War.)
June 17, 2008
On George W. Bush’s Plummeting Status in the World
A new World Public Opinion poll of 20 nations finds that only TWO PERCENT of the people say that they have "a lot" or "some" confidence that, as president, George W. Bush will do "the right thing regarding world affairs."
In that regard, Bush ranks even below Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, but just edges out Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
That shows just how arrogant and out of touch with reality George W. Bush is, even while he continues to cling to his stated belief that he is "doing God’s will" and "doing the right thing."
The only people who still believe that are the greediest and most corrupt of the wealthiest few Americans, and the most deluded of those right-wing religious bigots and hypocrites who claim to be the "only true Christians."
June 23, 2008
God Bless George Carlin
I was so sad to hear that comedian George Carlin died of heart failure. He was a funny man, a courageous man, a great man.
Unfortunately, George let his anger get the best of him. But that’s not to say that righteous anger is bad. Even the Christ Jesus hated and was angry at money changers, greedy rich people, religious hypocrites, and "Nicolaitans" who fight for and win worldly power, wealth and domain at the expense of others.
But, while George was righteously outraged, he didn’t realize he was letting his anger consume him.
The following is what George said at one of his last appearances before an audience:
"Politicians have traditionally hidden behind three things: The Flag, The Bible, and Children. ‘No Child Left Behind.’ Oh, really? Well, it wasn't long ago you were talking about giving kids a Head Start. Head Start.... Left Behind....someone's losing ground here."
"There's a reason for this. There's a reason for this. There's a reason education sucks and there's a reason it will never, ever, ever, be fixed. It's never going to get any better. Don't look for it. Be happy with what you got. Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners. The big, wealthy business interests that control everything and make all the important decisions."
"Forget the politicians. They're irrelevant. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They've long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls. They've got the judges in their back pockets. They own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls!"
"They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying. Lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else. But I'll tell you what they don't want. They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don't well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They're not interested in that. That doesn't help them. That's against their interest. That's right."
George Carlin was quite right. He just didn’t know how to channel his anger properly, and he grew too bitter. But at least he tried to wake people up!
July 3, 2008
On the Bush Regime’s "Justice" Department
The Washington Post reported today that Bush Regime refuses to investigate corporate corruption cases. More than 900 cases regarding government contractors and drug companies that have defrauded taxpayers out of billions of dollars have been shelved, and fraud investigations have either been put on hold, or dismissed. That’s because former Attorney General Gonzales inverted the purpose of the Department of Justice. Instead of rooting out corruption and prosecuting the perpetrators of fraud, the Gonzales DOJ intentionally intercepted and silenced thousands of whistleblowers, and this policy apparently continues even today.
"Yet another example of how the Bush administration takes care of its corporate friends at the expense of American taxpayers," stated Dr. Patrick Campbell, member of the International Association of Whistleblowers (IAW).
IAW co-chair Michael McCray added that: "This is just another example of how the Bush Administration political prioritization of the government has continued to negatively impact the Department of Justice. Beginning with the Ashcroft Justice Department and its anti-civil rights and anti-civil liberties enforcement policies, through the Gonzales Justice Department's politically motivated prosecutions and retaliation against honest U.S. Attorneys, and finally the Mukasey Justice Department's elimination of liberal attorney candidates from the Justice Department's summer internship program. Where does the injustice stop?"
Well, apparently injustice will certainly not be stopped by the Bush Regime’s "Justice Department," because he’s in the pocket of the perpetrators, and Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey have not only done their bidding, but have trampled on civil and human rights.
Fortunately, some members of Congress are calling for an end to the permissiveness, especially with regard to fraudulent war profiteers and fraudulent health care practices. "Whistle-blowers are the key to the secrets locked in closets throughout the federal bureaucracy and government contractors," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). "These patriotic Americans stick their necks out, against all odds, to help the federal government pursue fraud and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars that would otherwise be lost." (The Washington Whistleblowers have awarded Grassley their highest award for lifetime achievement.)
It’s just a terrible shame that it’s taken eight years for most people to realize how truly harmful the Bush Regime and the whole Neo-Conservative Movement has been. Thank God their reign is soon coming to an end.
© 2007 - 2008 Joseph J. Adamson
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