The Unraveling, At Last?

The Unraveling, At Last?

By Ernest Partridge

Created Dec 12 2007 - 11:12am

The earth orbits the sun, as it has for four billion years, in perfect

balance of two opposing forces: the centrifugal force which, in accordance

with Newton's first law of motion, draws the planet outward, and the

centripetal force of the sun's gravity which draws it inward.

Analogously, political rule remains stable only as long as centrifugal

forces that would overthrow it are successfully resisted by centripetal

forces that contain them. Among these centripetal forces are the rule of law

and consent of the governed in democratic governments, and bribery,

propaganda, intimidation, and brute force in despotic regimes.

History teaches us that while a threatened despotism can maintain control

through a ruthless imposition of force, as with the Russian revolution of

1905 and the Hungarian uprising of 1956, once the centripetal grasp of the

despot is weakened, and is seen by the public to be weakened, an

ever-accelerating collapse of the regime often ensues. Then, what begins as

an appeal for reform can escalate into revolution. The American revolution

began with appeals to the English Crown by petitioners who fully intended to

remain British subjects. Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to reform Soviet

Communism triggered events that led to the downfall of both the Soviet Union

and Communism.

Although we are too close in time to realize it, last week may have marked

the beginning of the downfall of Bushism - the fatal loosening of the

centripetal Bushevik grip - as senior intelligence officials from sixteen

federal agencies finally stood their ground and said to Bush and Cheney, and

to the world, "no more! - we will no longer validate your lies and be

complicit in your war crimes!"

When, prior to the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, the Bush regime was

determined to "fix" the facts and intelligence to fit the pre-determined

policy, [1] the intelligence apparatus complied, suppressing the compelling

evidence that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and was in no way

involved in the attacks of 9/11, 2001. Then followed an illegal war and

occupation in Iraq, the violation of the Nuremberg and Geneva Conventions,

the looting of the U.S. Treasury, and the deaths of a million innocent

Iraqis and four thousand American soldiers and still counting.

An attack on Iran, equally illegal and unjustified, would possibly have even

more drastic consequences. The military Joints Chiefs of Staff are

reportedly opposed to the attack, along with career officials in the State

Department and the CIA. But who will prevent an attack on Iran? The Bush

administration owns the courts and the media. The Democratic Congress,

elected to end the Iraq fiasco, refuses to do so. Neither will the Congress

support a resolution to refuse funding of an attack on Iran.

That leaves the intelligence agencies and their primary weapon, the plain

facts and the evidence that supports them. In their National Intelligence

Estimate (NIE), the sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies unanimously

concluded, "with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its

nuclear weapons program." It is reported that several senior intelligence

officers told the White House that if the NIE report were not officially

released, they would take the report directly to the media, even if it meant

jail sentences for the leakers. [2]

With the release of the NIE report, the primary Bush/Cheney pretext for an

attack on Iran has been discounted, and the likelihood of such an attack

reduced, though not, unfortunately, eliminated.

Bush responded to the NIE report with a package of excuses and outright lies

so absurd and transparent that even the mainstream media had to take note of

it. In a White House press briefing, "spokesmodel" Dana Perino's attempt at

defending Bush was met with unprecedented ridicule from the press corps.

It is clear that the Bush/Cheney administration is at a crossroads: if it is

to retain its power, it must initiate some bold and likely ruthless means of

control. If not, a disapproving public, an erosion of media support, a

deteriorating economy, and a revolt within the administration may lead to a

spectacular disintegration of this misbegotten regime and with it the Karl

Rove's "permanent Republican majority."

Specifically, here is how the opposing forces are now lining up:

Centrifugal Forces:

a.. The American public has had it with this regime. The approval rating

of George Bush, in the mid-twenties, is at an historical low. Cheney's score

is in the teens. Equally significant, a majority of the public "strongly

disapproves" of both. There is no prospect of reversal of these dismal

numbers.

b.. As the mainstream media persists in its support of the Bush regime, it

is increasingly at odds with public opinion. Accordingly, the media is

losing its audience and its influence, and with these losses, its profits.

Due perhaps to these pressures, the corporate media is becoming more

critical of the regime, and even more significantly, is publishing and

broadcasting damaging reports about the administration.

c.. As more information about the malfeasance and misfeasance of the

administration comes to light, more and more of the public is willing to

suspect the worst about the Busheviks: that the presidential elections of

2000 and 2004 were stolen, that Bush, Cheney, Rice and Powell lied the

country into an illegal war, that "inconvenient" political enemies were

murdered, even that the Bush/Cheney regime was responsible for the 9/11

attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. While I personally doubt

that last accusation, [3] the widespread support of 9/11 conspiracy theories

testifies to an extraordinary public distrust of the administration.

d.. The dire economic consequences of the Bush/Cheney policies are

becoming ever more apparent to the public. Paul Krugman reports: [4]

"Americans' Economic Pessimism Reaches a Record High." That's the

headline on a recent Gallup report, which shows a nation deeply unhappy with

the state of the economy. Right now, "27% of Americans rate current economic

conditions as either 'excellent' or 'good,' while 44% say they are 'only

fair' and 28% say they are poor." Moreover, "an extraordinary 78% of

Americans now say the economy is getting worse, while a scant 13% say it is

getting better." ...

(In contrast,) in the fall of 1998 almost two-thirds of Americans thought

the economy was excellent or good.

e.. Bush and Cheney are being abandoned by their own party, as their names

are virtually absent from the campaigns of the Republican candidates. There

is an epidemic of GOP resignations and retirements in Congress, and a

declining number of voters are willing to identify themselves as

Republicans.

f.. As last week's release of the NIE indicates, there is growing

resistance to Bushism in the federal government. As I noted in July, 2005,

[5] when Bush and Cheney "outed" Valerie Plame Wilson, they may have made

some formidable enemies: "of this much we can be confident; the rank and

file of the CIA is super-pissed-off. One of their own has been trashed, her

operation demolished, and dozens of agents and operatives put in grave

danger. Possibly some have been killed. Nor is that all. The CIA has been

asked to take the fall for the Iraq fiasco - the result of 'flawed

intelligence' the Bushistas tell us. The motto on the floor at Langley, 'The

Truth Shall Make Your Free,' has been effectively supplanted with 'The Truth

Shall Get You Canned.' Pissing-off the CIA can be a very dangerous business.

These folks are very good at overthrowing governments."

g.. International support of the Bush/Cheney regime has virtually

disappeared, as one by one allies of the administration have been ousted

from power: Blair in England, Aznar in Spain, Berlusconi in Italy, Howard in

Australia. Hendrik Hertzberg reports [6] that "An avalanche of new

international polls... show that anti-Americanism has reached astronomical

levels almost everywhere and has solidified in the Northern European belt

from Britain to Poland."

Centripetal Forces:

Despite these myriad forces that are undermining the Busheviks, the capacity

of the regime for command and control is still formidable.

a.. Interstate 95/495, "the beltway" that surrounds Washington, DC,

remains a veritable moat, effectively isolating the "DC society" of

corporate lobbyists, pundits, military brass and politicians from the

country and citizens that presumes to "govern."

b.. The levers of Bushevik control - the compliant media, the privatized

voting devices, the intimidation and punishment of dissenters and

whistle-blowers - though diminished, remain in place. Some administration

retaliations are well-known: Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame, General Eric

Shinseki, Bunnatine Greenhouse, Dan Rather. But we can only speculate as to

the pressures exerted "below the surface" and out of sight. Why are the

victims of small aircraft accidents (e.g. Senators Mel Carnahan and Paul

Wellstone, and John F. Kennedy, Jr.) disproportionately democrats? Why were

the Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle, and the Chair of the Senate

Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, specifically targeted with Anthrax

letters, and why hasn't the culprit who sent them been apprehended? What

extraordinary threats may be preventing the congressional Democrats from

responding to the voters' mandate that put them in control of the Congress?

c.. If, in fact, Bushevik control has been accomplished through crimes

such as extortion, bribery, intimidation and even murder, then the regime is

extremely motivated to remain in power, or, failing that, to transfer power

to those who will neither investigate nor prosecute these crimes.

d.. Finally, and most significantly, the administration, with the

connivance of Congress, [7] has passed a series of "enabling acts,"

supplemented with uncontested executive orders, which today gives Bush the

virtual powers of a dictator, should he choose to exercise them. Among these

are The PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, The National Continuity

Policy of May 9, 2007, The Executive Order of July 17, 2007. (See my "A

Republic if We Can Keep It." [8]). Due to the pernicious vagueness of these

acts and orders, Bush can, virtually at his personal say-so, imprison

without charge, counsel or trial, any dissenting citizen and/or seize all

the assets of that citizen. He is presumably restrained by the likely

outrage that such behavior might provoke. Nonetheless, its all there, "in

the books." All it takes is another "national emergency," and perhaps not

even that.

"A Criminal Regime:" The phrase is no longer hyperbole: it conveys a

demonstrable truth, clear and incontrovertible to any and all willing to

face the facts.

Aggressive war is a crime. Torture is a crime. Warrantless surveillance is a

crime. Contempt of Congress is a crime. Defiance of acts of Congress is a

crime. Extortion and bribery are crimes. Election fraud is a crime. The

Nuremberg and Geneva conventions, the Constitution of the United States, and

the federal statutes say what they say. The remedy is unequivocal: "The

President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United States, shall

be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason,

bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." "Shall," not "may."

(Constitution of the United States, Article 2, Section 4).Without question,

the Bush regime now rules in disregard and defiance of the rule of law. Each

and every day that passes without decisive action against this lawless

junta, is another day of anarchy.

The courageous senior intelligence officers who demanded the release last

week of the NIE have opened a window of opportunity for the dissenting

activists, journalists, government officials and members of Congress. We

would all be foolish and derelict in our civic duties not to respond

promptly and decisively to this opportunity.

The catalytic moment may be at hand, wherein a mass of individual dissenters

coalesce into a "movement" - when these dissenters look about and discover

that they are participants in a significant political force; when they

achieve perceivable results, perchance minor at first, but with the

realization that significant reform is within reach and even, through

coordinated effort and inspired leadership, irresistible; when, in short,

perception becomes reality.

As I wrote in February, 2006 [9], although we have come upon evil times, we

Americans are not an evil people. Woefully ignorant at times, and short on

political sales-resistance. But when we sense that we've been swindled and

lied to, watch out! Our nation was born in rebellion against tyranny. We

have a Constitution and we have a tradition of liberty and the rule of law.

We have vivid memories of a short time ago when we lived in a country that

was both prosperous and free.

But neither were the Germans or the Russians fundamentally evil people. Yet

they succumbed to evil regimes. The Germans had to be liberated at

horrendous cost. After seventy long years, the various nationalities of the

Soviet Union threw out their oppressors. We may suffer the fate of the

Germans - there are no guarantees.

On the other hand, we the people just might take back our government, for,

as Edward R. Murrow observed in March, 1954, "We will not walk in fear, one

of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig

deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended

from fearful men ... We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot

escape responsibility for the result."

As the founders of our republic proclaimed in their Declaration of

Independence, "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the

governed." If the Congress refuses to act in behalf of the people and to

honor the oath of each member to defend the Constitution of the United

States by impeaching and removing this criminal regime, then it is time at

last for the people to withdraw their consent from the Congress and

recognize it for what it is: bought and paid for vassals of the corporate

oligarchs.

Armed rebellion is not the answer: it is both immoral and impractical. The

Busheviks and the Congress have effectively abolished Posse Comitatus, which

means the that military can now turn its weapons on the citizens. And if the

military refuses, the private armies, Blackwater, etc., are locked and

loaded.

Far better that the public follow the lead of Gandhi, Mandela, Sakharov and

King: non-violent resistance. They have indicated the way with their words

and deeds.

But I must say no more about this, for, according to the new "enabling acts"

of this Congress and this administration, to do so would be a "crime."

--

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson