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The election of 2008 is not the end of our fight. It is the beginning. Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George SantayanaThere's a persistent rumor that George W. Bush, and congress' response to him, is no worse than what's gone before him, and that "Democrats are just as bad as Republicans". Perhaps it's time for some recent historical perspective. First, a bit of background. If Richard Nixon had not resigned, he would have been impeached for committing or ordering criminal acts. Articles of impeachment had been drawn up, the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend articles of impeachment against the President: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. A group of GOP congressmen informed Mr. Nixon that if he didn't resign the papers would be served. If Nixon hadn't been pardoned by Gerald Ford he could still have been prosecuted for those crimes. (Remember this when you consider the possibility of a John W. McCain Presidency, and his appointment of judges, prosecutors, and the Attorney General.) As a direct result of the Nixon Presidency and his over-reach for more Presidential power, accompanied by a paranoid need for secrecy, voters who were disgusted by Nixon's actions and thoroughly disillusioned with the Republic Party elected Democrats. Five More Democrats to the Senate and forty-nine in the House. The FOIA was amended, increasing transparency in government, in response to Nixon's paranoid secrecy. The releasing of recent income tax forms by the President, while not legally required, came to be expected. In response to numerous examples of the President's staff destroying records, the Presidential Records Act was passed requiring the records of all Presidents to be released 20 years after they leave office. All of these things enraged Dick Cheney, who has served in virtually every GOP administration beginning with Nixon. (He served under Rumsfeld in the Nixon administration, was Assistant to the President and later White House Chief of Staff under Gerald Ford. He was Secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush. And, of course, he's currently the Chimp in Chief's VP, enjoying a 16% approval rating.) It became Mr. Cheney's goal to "restore the power to the Presidency". I'll come back to this, later. Let's get back to the subject line, now. So, aside from destroying the air traffic controllers union, dismantling the ability of government to ensure that all sides are heard in the media (rather than those with the most money), and demaning Americans in general ("welfare queens" driving Cadillacs, kids being fed ketchup as a "vegetable" in schools, and so on), what is President "Saint Ronnie" Reagan's claim to everlasting fame? Iran/Contra. And what was Iran/Contra? OK, give me one more side-track and I'll get to it. Remember " the October Surprise"? The US hostages were released on the day Reagan took office. It's a virtual certainty that records that will prove that Reagan's "team" went to Iran to negotiate their release, without the permission of the US Government, and that these negotiations actually led to an increase in the amount of time the American "hostages" were held by the Iranian "students". Reagan's first act of treason occurred before he even took office! So what does this have to do with Iran/Contra? Well, Reagan (or his "team") owed a debt to Iranians for their release of those hostages. Iran/Contra is how they paid that debt. This is :
Israel would ship weapons to a moderate, politically influential group of Iranians opposed to the Ayatollah Khomeni; the U.S. would reimburse Israel with those weapons and receive payment from Israel. The moderate Iranians agreed to do everything in their power to achieve the release of six U.S. hostages, who were being held by the terrorist group Hezbollah. The plan eventually deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which members of the executive branch sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the American hostages, with the authorization of President Ronald Reagan. Large modifications to the plan were conjured by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council in late 1985. In North's plan, a portion of the proceeds from the weapon sales was diverted to fund anti-Sandinista and anti-communist rebels, or Contras, in Nicaragua.
Now then, let's get to (one of) the punch line(s).
Why were 14 people indicted for crimes, and what crimes were they?
The 14 were indicted, in part, for violating The Boland Amendment, which specifically forbid the Executive branch from providing aid to the Contras, considered a "terrorist" organization. The amendment outlawed US assistance to the Contras for the purpose of overthrowing the Nicaraguan government.
Which was, of course, not what the administration wanted. They argued that this restricted the President's power to conduct foreign relations. (Does this sound familiar? Hint: think "Bush doesn't allow congressional oversight".) So, they found a way around it by "interpreting" the law (Does THIS sound familiar? Hint: think "John Yoo and David Addington") to apply to only U.S. intelligence agencies, allowing the National Security Council, not so labeled, to channel funds to the Contra rebels. In order to block this, the amendment was changed to prohibit any funds for military or paramilitary operations.
Administration officials then argued that the Boland Amendment, or any act of Congress would not interfere with the president's conduction of foreign policy by restricting funds, as the president could seek funds from private entities or foreign governments.
Enter Israeli arms sales, John M. Poindexter and Oliver North, and the diversion of millions of dollars to the Contras.
So, what's the punch line? What was the crime?
The 14 were indicted for defying the will of congress, which is directly translated to violating the law, and they were so surely guilty that President H. W. had to pardon them before a trial could be held. He also pardoned six convicted administration officials, namely Elliott Abrams, Duane R. Clarridge, Alan Fiers, Clair George, Robert McFarlane, and Caspar Weinberger. It's so far unprovable, but reasonable to assume that those trials would have led to the indictment/impeachment of President "Saint Ronnie" Reagan for similar crimes.
Now to the present. Again :
George W. Bush selected some individuals that served under Reagan for high-level posts in his presidential administration. They include:
Elliott Abrams: under Bush, the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs; in Iran Contra, pleaded guilty on two counts of unlawfully withholding information, pardoned.
Otto Reich: head of the Office of Public Diplomacy under Reagan.
John Negroponte: under Bush, served as the Ambassador to Iraq, the National Intelligence Director, and the Deputy Secretary of State.
Admiral John Poindexter: under Bush, Director of the Information Awareness Office; in Iran Contra found guilty of multiple felony counts for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, lying to Congress, defrauding the government, and the alteration and destruction of evidence, convictions reversed.
Charles E. Allen: under Bush, appointed in August 2005 to be chief intelligence officer at the Department of Homeland Security. Allen's position at DHS was not subject to Senate confirmation. Prior to the DHS appointment, Allen had worked 47 years at the CIA. Director of Central Intelligence William Webster formally reprimanded Allen for failing to fully comply with the DCI's request for full cooperation in the agency's internal Iran-Contra scandal investigation. However, coworkers of Allen pointed out that Webster reprimanded the one person in the CIA who had brought his suspicions of a funds diversion to Robert Gates.
And what else?
Bush's first executive order, 13233, sealed these Reagan-era records. The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007, introduced by Henry Waxman to to void Executive Order 13233 by amending the act, has been passed by the House 333-93, It is stalled in the one-Liberman majority Senate.
Bush has by-passed FISA, and this bypass has been condoned by the GOP congress.
Numerous Bush officials have refused to appear before congress to testify about the numerous examples of Bush administration contempt for the rule of law, notably the attorney firings and the unjust jailing of a popular southern Governor, Don Siegelman. (Rumor has it that Rove could be held in inherent contempt and held in the basement of the congress, a completely legal act that's forced on the congress by the President's AG, Mukasey, who refuses to carry out subpoenas.)
Bush, the boy who would be king, is a sock puppet. Cheney is in charge. Cheney has been in the inner circles of power since the 1970's. Cheney is out to "restore the power to the Presidency" that was claimed, and lost, by Nixon. In the past 7 1/2 years, Cheney has been enormously successful in this, albeit with the willing compliance of a corrupt GOP congress, and Bush, who is a witless, easily led fool who believes he was born to lead, but still follows.
He panders to those who hate America because abortion is legal. He panders to those who hate America because it was founded on the principal of 3 separate but equal branches of government, preventing states and congress from passing unconstitional laws. He panders to those who hate America when it cares for the least of it's citizens. He panders to those who hate that it's illegal in America to subjugate the constitution to their holy book, or force people to believe as they believe. He panders to those who hate groups of Americans because of the color of their skin, their gender, or their sexual orientation.
We are divided because our leaders do not respect the law, and the haters are in control.
The Democrats are trying to fight back, to restore the balance of power to a government that, imperfect as it may be, has worked well for over 200 years. This fight is stalled by a Senate that lacks a sufficient majority (thank you, Joe the McCain lover) to mount a meaningful challenge to a Presidency run amok.
We have a lot of work to do, and we have only just begun to regain the power to do it. Cheney will be gone, but the damge has been done, and the SCOTUS judges are in place to ensure the damage will remain.
A John W McCain Presidency, with the control of the legal system by the party of corruption that ensures, will stop the restoration of the rule of law to all branches of government in it's tracks.
I could go on, but it's time to get to the bottom line.
Twenty years ago, Reagan (or at the very least, his administration, and he was already too out of it to know) tried to undermine the will of congress and it was considered a crime.
Now, a President openly defies congress and we accept it, because we're told the alternative is certain death, another 911, a "mushroom cloud over an American city". We accept it because congress itself, the Senate still over-run with Republicans who hate America, look the other way. We accept it because we can't believe that "if it's true" surely SOMEONE would be making a bigger deal of it.
It will not be enough to put a Democrat in the White House.
We need to overwhelm the GOP minority in congress.
And even more importantly, we need to extract a promise from any would-be leader that they will examine the Bush record, and change the laws to prevent such outrages on the constitution, on the rule of law, and on the American people from ever occurring again.
Contempt for the law should not be the guiding principle of the leaders of our democracy. This is the "change" that I hope for.
It is a battle that will be fought on a slippery slope, from a steep disadvantage.
It is a battle that we MUST win.
Do you remember how you felt, after the election of 2006?
If those who would be our leaders will do this, with our help, there is most certainly a difference between a Democrat and a Republican.
(Here's a link to a transcript of the video.)
They twist the constitution, but we make it straight! |
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