Independent research and analysis, essays in politics and philosophy.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
America: A Fork In the Road
"If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest." - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) 3rd American President
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost
"As an American who long ago realized that the US military is used as a corporate security force to protect globalist assets and interests overseas, and the "wars" and "police actions" are mounted whenever global capital interests are threatened, I felt Dr. Paul deserved further investigation as a viable candidate." You might think this is the statement of a liberal or leftist, but this is a voice from conservative America. Wherever you are on the political spectrum, if you oppose the war in Iraq, if you would not like to see the further escalation and spread of war across the cauldron of the Middle East, would like to see the body count, on both sides, end, or would like to see America stop acting like the world's policeman, and stop wars of empire and aggression, or even if you would simply like to see the US avoid bankruptcy through $1 trillion a year in imperial warfare expenses, then please Google Ron Paul. If you are American, look at this long shot who just might win. If you are not from the United States, tell your American friends to Google Ron Paul.
Key words: Ron Paul, US, war, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, preemptive war, aggression, empire, CIA, Mossadegh, Mujahadeen, Brzezinski, Musharraf, ISI, blowback, bankruptcy, dollar crisis, Middle East, foreign policy, election, 2008, YouTube, Ron Paul 2008, constitution, voting record, freedom, non-intervention, republic
Ron Paul: Basic principles - first things first:
Stop the use of US military as global corporate security force. Restore civil liberties and constitutional rule at home.
In a nutshell: Save the republic, renounce empire.
My American friends, there approaches a fork in the road. The choice is becoming increasingly clear: empire or freedom. Everyone talks of freedom, democracy - like mom and apple pie, such words bring nods of approval, and everyone wants to be associated with them. But words can be hollow, even deceptive, as Orwell warned. In terms of freedom and democracy, one would expect a political candidate to support and adhere to the Constitution, and in practice, not just in speeches. Yet leading Democratic Presidential candidates (Clinton and Obama) voted for the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act, which together nullify the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and in fact, abolish the 800 year old foundation of all rights under the rule of law, habeas corpus, allowing arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, without trial, indefinitely and without recourse to a lawyer or defense, and allow torture and extra-judicial execution by order of the executive or his representative. Only Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, among the US Presidential candidates, voted to protect the Constitution and Bill of Rights, to protect freedom and civil rights, and to protect democracy from excessive and arbitrary executive power. The other candidates literally voted in favour of demolishing the Constitution, Bill of Rights, civil liberties, freedom, democracy and the Republic, and in favour of arbitrary rule by Presidential decree. America has entered a terrifying new phase of its history. Only Paul and Kucinich among the candidates speak to the truth of this new reality, and only these two men speak and also act to defend the freedom, rights and democracy that are fundamental. Orwell would be nauseous over the rest. Many speak of peace, few have shown their words have any substance. Only Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul have shown action on opposing and reversing the historical pattern of US imperial warfare and wars of aggression. Look at the candidates voting records, not just their sound bite rhetoric. (See www.Vote-Smart.org)The rest are either unabashed pro-war hawks, ardent fence-sitters, or politicians who talk out of both sides of their mouths, saying one thing to win votes, but showing the complete opposite in their actions - and this includes Clinton, Obama and Edwards. (Mike Gravel seems a genuinely honorable and highly informed man of integrity, like Kucinich and Paul, but he is the long shot of long shots, hence I have focused here on the other two decent candidates, as I believe one of them, particularly Ron Paul, could actually win - could become the next president.)
As the insightful and prescient political essayist Gore Vidal put it, the United States has always had two very different currents running throughout its history as a nation: the Great Empire, and the Great Society. Unfortunately, it has been the Great Empire that has been the predominant pattern (my apologies to those who are fond of the American fantasy of sublime and pure history prior to Bush and company). There have always been strong anti-imperialist voices within American society as well, including those of Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr. and Noam Chomsky. Ron Paul follows in this most noble of American lineages. These are my American kindred. And I would suggest they are more kindred to the great majority of Americans than citizens of the United States tend to realize. Most Americans want a great society, in peace and in freedom, not a great empire. The fact that nearly 70% of Americans now oppose the war in Iraq is but one indication of such basic common sense and the basic decency of the American people. But the presidential candidates, with the exception of Paul and Kucinich, speak only in PR spin - doublespeak, as Orwell called it.
Substance is what is needed. We must renounce empire in more than words. We must support freedom, democracy and peace in more than pleasing phrases designed to win votes or assuage discontent. We must seek action that is bold and strong, or democracy and freedom will be lost, peace will be an impossibility, and empire will eclipse all hopes for a truly great and free society. If bold and peaceful action is not taken, it will be the end of the republic, the end of freedom in America, and the beginning in a new chapter of global imperial terror for the world.
There must be a deep re-examination of the state of the union, the Republic, democracy, freedom and civil rights, in light of the now oligarchic and profoundly anti-democratic nature of extremely and increasingly concentrated corporate power. Anti-trust laws must be strengthened, particularly in the absolutely critical area of mass communications and media ownership, and election financing reform must gain some real teeth. But these things are not even possible unless the basics of Constitutional rule and civil rights are upheld, and the powers of the executive held in check. Presently, America is sliding rapidly into fascism. Its future will not only deeply affect the American people, but will also profoundly affect the rest of the world.
Ron Paul does not represent the answer to every problem America faces, but he does represent a definitive rejection of the notion of empire, the imperial warfare that goes along with it, and the destruction of civil rights, freedom and democracy which are now entwined with this late-phase imperial ambition. He represents a reinstatement of the Constitution and a restoration of the most basic foundations of the Republic. Without these things, it is hard to see any future for America that is not gravely dark. And if America is not averted from its present dark road, it bodes very, very ill for the rest of the world as well.
The question now, the question for America, is, does America continue along the tragic and failed path of empire, which is to say, rogue nation, disregarding its own constitution, international law and the sovereignty, independence and self-determination of nations and peoples around the world, at the probable cost of American bankruptcy, and the certain cost of many more lives, both American and other, and the inevitable cost of further and possibly more terrible blowback, reaping what it has sown, or rather, the American people, tragically, reaping what its political and business elite have sown; or does America embrace that other current of its history, that more noble current, which upholds the rule of law, respects and honours the freedom and self-determination of all nations and peoples, and sows freedom and democracy by its good example - which is the only thing that works - and not through the barrel of a gun?
Which will it be America? Empire, or great society? The two are now self-evidently mutually exclusive. It cannot be both. Choose wisely my friends. The world is watching. I would urge you, please, choose freedom over empire. Choose the great society, forgo the madness of the great empire, and show the world the true greatness of America, in peace, in brotherhood, and in sisterhood, with all humanity on Earth. This is the basis of a peaceful and harmonious family of humanity: mutual respect in freedom and self-determination, with solidarity and strength in unity - within diversity. Trying to impose uniformity on the world - the impulse to domination - leads to the destruction of both freedom and democracy. It is only through embracing diversity, and recognizing our underlying commonality, despite our differences, our common ground as human beings, and also by renouncing completely the wars of conquest for material gain or economic predation, that we can live in peace, or that freedom or democracy are possible.
Freedom and empire cannot coexist. We are forced to choose one or the other. If we choose empire, say goodbye to freedom - at home as well as abroad. The choices are becoming stark. Freedom and democracy, or empire and fascism?
It is not important that we agree on everything, nor can we. It is enough that we agree on certain essential basics, certain fundamental principles. No to imperial warfare. Yes to freedom and democracy. If the people of America can unite on these two most basic, most essential points of principle, then there will be a new day for America. America, which will it be? America, I hope you have some dreams left. Let they be of peace, of freedom, and of the end of empires.
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again." - Thomas Paine
America, a choice is at hand. America, what are your dreams?
This is not about right and left. This is about something more basic. This is about freedom versus empire. America, it is time to decide where you stand, and what you stand for. People of America, speak now. A moment of decision is at hand. There is a fork in the road ahead. Choose wisely. Your decision may be more momentous than you realize. America, this can be a time of rebirth, or the descent into further darkness. There is no time for apathy, no time for despair, no time for the paralysis of fear. Action must now be taken. Be brave: freedom is a powerful idea. Unlock the power of freedom. Restore the Constitution. Save the Republic. Renounce empire. The time is now. This is an historic juncture. It is time to decide.
America, who are you, and where are you going? The fog of delirium, the stupor of illusions, is wearing off. I can see the dawn light. Be clear, be brave, be decisive. Freedom or empire? Choose well my friends.
"The future holds ominous portent, and signs of great hope. Which result ensues depends largely upon what we make of the opportunities." - Noam Chomsky
Below is a collection of photos, quotes, videos and references. There are a lot of resources here, which together make for an excellent summary of where America now stands. You may want to bookmark this page and come back to it more than once.
"It's amazing what you can see - when you look." - Yogi Berra "Whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth." - Patrick Henry
"If the American people knew the blood that was on their hands [by acts carried out in their names] they would be appalled." - Noam Chomsky
"I have to believe that the American people are the most systematically lied to people on Earth; if I did not, I would believe they were the most evil." - Former Foreign Minister of Nicaragua
"We know what to do when someone is caught misappropriating funds, but when confronted with evidence of a systematic attempt to undermine the political system itself, we recoil, in a general failure of imagination and nerve." - Former National Security Council staff member Gary Sick
"Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." - Robert F. Kennedy
"Somebody, sometime has got to take a stand and say democracy cannot survive, much less thrive with the level of big corporate and big government interference and intimidation in news." - Dan Rather
"In the size of the lie there is always contained a certain factor of credibility, since the great mass of people will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one." - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf
"If this were a dictatorship it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." - George Bush II
"Beware the military-industrial complex." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
"I wanted the American eagle to go screaming into the Pacific ...Why not spread its wings over the Philippines, I asked myself? ... I said to myself, Here are a people who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ourselves, give them a government and country of their own, put a miniature of the American Constitution afloat in the Pacific, start a brand new republic to take its place among the free nations of the world. It seemed to me a great task to which we had addressed ourselves. But I have thought some more, since then, and I have read carefully the treaty of Paris [which ended the Spanish-American War], and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land." - Mark Twain
"I am said to be a revolutionist in my sympathies, by birth, by breeding and by principle. I am always on the side of the revolutionists, because there never was a revolution unless there were some oppressive and intolerable conditions against which to revolt." - Mark Twain
"Our involvement in the [Persian] Gulf is not transitory. It pre-dated Saddam Hussein's aggression, and will survive it." - George Bush Sr., September 11, 1990
"What I’ve Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy. The basic message being that the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), the military-industrial-complex, the Pentagon, the multinational corporations, the media and the Government of the United States are responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the third world, not to mention the poverty and oppression of millions more. We support, arm, and train dictators and militaries that do these evil actions to their own people. All of this is to insure that we control the natural resources of these countries and their market place, use the people for cheap labor and keep the business of war (which is our biggest business) ongoing."
"Why do we do these grisly things broad? I believe strongly that until we have fundamental change in the United States, domestically, in the domestic system; until we have some kind of real democracy in this country, participatory democracy, where people have a say, and where we end the re-election of 95 to 97% of the incumbents at every election, [the Soviet Union only had a 92% re-election rate!] where there is a real political debate; until we change the domestic system, we're going to have elitist control of United States, we're going to have these foreign adventures, and grisly things that I mentioned that the CIA does abroad, so the real problem is here at home, in changing the domestic system, in bringing about a conversion of the economy to human purposes, solving the domestic crises, and getting the people out of office who are in there to back a continuation of the permanent war economy." - Former CIA Officer Philip Agee
By the way, the Bush family really does have a history of fascist sympathies and Nazi collaboration - something we might want to know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D6fxyOtVeI
Check the facts. Do your own homework. Don't dismiss or believe anything based upon who said it. See for yourself.
"In the course of hundreds of interviews in the US, Europe and the Middle East, I've been told repeatedly that individuals associated with the Reagan-Bush campaign of 1980 met secretly with Iranian officials to delay the release of the American hostages until after the Presidential election. For this favour, Iran was rewarded with a substantial supply of arms from Israel.....From October 15th to October 20th 1980 events came to a head in a series of meetings in Paris....Accounts of these meetings vary. There is, however, wide spread agreement on a number of points. [One:] William Casey, Reagan's campaign manager, was a key participant. [Two:] Iranian representatives agreed that the hostages would not be released prior to the Presidential election on November 4th. [Three: In return] Israel would serve as a conduit for arms and spare parts to Iran.... At least five of the sources who said they were in Paris in connection with these meetings insist that George Bush [senior] was present for at least one meeting. Three sources say they saw him there....[Former President George Bush denied being in Paris.] Immediately after the Paris meetings things began to happen. Iran shifted its policy position."
- US Congressional testimony of former National Security Council staff member Gary Sick, author of October Surprise
(The American hostages were released the day Reagan - and Bush - took office; in fact, just minutes after Reagan was inaugurated as President.)
"a bias, malicious, deceptive, and manipulative tissue of lies and another reason for Americans to disengage from an establishment media empire that continues to hemorrhage viewers on a daily basis due to its ceaseless lies and propaganda." - An unnamed voice of honesty in a sea of spin and fabrication.
Democracy in the US being destroyed, media networks silent - Greg Palast & RFK in NY
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
- Thomas Jefferson, 1816
"I have more fear for the banks than from standing armies." - Thomas Jefferson
"I have the South in front of me and the bankers behind me, and for my country, I fear the bankers more." - Abraham Lincoln
"The domination of government by corporate power is the essence of fascism."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"Fascism, properly named, should be called corporatism, for it is the merger of business and the state. - Mussolini
"If you want to remain slaves of the bankers and pay for the costs of your own slavery, let them continue to create money and control the nation's credit." - Sir Josiah Stamp, 1880 - 1941
"Once a nation parts with control of its currency and credit…all talk of the sovereignty of Parliament and democracy is idle and futile." – Prime Minister of Canada Mackenzie King, 1935, creator of the publicly owned central bank, the Bank of Canada
"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933
"The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes." - Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, 1952
"Those who would trade a little liberty for a little security deserve neither." - George Washington
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"- Patrick Henry
"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." - George Washington
"It ain't over `till it's over." - Yogi Berra
Ron Paul: Next President of the United States, 2008
Stop voluntarily subjecting yourself to propaganda, indoctrination and manipulation.
Cut through the spin. Switch off the corporate news.
Here are ten excellent resources for further information.
Examine things for yourself.
Democracy Now!
Online Independent TV & Radio
http://www.democracynow.org/
"The show that challenges presidents: For 12 years a radio and television news program, Democracy Now, has survived and even flourished on a cobbled-together broadcast network that reaches all of the United States and out into the world. It has almost no paid resources, yet daily defies the corporate and government agendas, and has sometimes forced mainstream media into picking up its stories, if not its attitudes."
People of America, your freedom is being attacked from within - from above; your democracy is being destroyed, your rights are in jeopardy. It is now time to act! Unite, and say no to empire, yes to freedom.
How corporate America nearly destroyed democracy in the United States in 1933
It is unsurprising that powerful vested interests in business and government, as well as many within the media and academia who are devoted to these powers, attempt to shape perceptions, distort or conceal information, and do so with considerable success, even in relatively free and ostensibly democratic societies. What is almost amazing, however, is that at least one event of the greatest significance in the past one hundred years, was successfully erased from history and the peoples' awareness almost completely. I am talking about the little known "Business Plot" of 1933, in which a number of the most powerful of the American business elites, including individuals from General Motors, Prescott Bush, grandfather of George Bush Jr., J.P. Morgan and the Rockefeller dynasty, attempted to seize the White House by military coup, and to install a fascist regime in America. Americans as well as people across the Western world, indeed, the world as a whole, should know about his dark scheme by the business elite to destroy democracy, a scheme which would have been successful but for the integrity and courage of U.S. Major-General Smedley Butler.
We are extraordinarily fortunate that the business elite chose the wrong man for the job - that Smedley Butler, very intelligently, listened to the plotters' plans and went along with them long enough to find out who was involved, and then went immediately to Washington, and testified before Congress as to the atrocity which was being planned by some of the most powerful U.S. citizens and business "leaders."
This was the last straw for the highly decorated General. He wrote what should be required reading for all high school students, "War Is A Racket," in which he declared he has been a "gangster for capitalism" for over thirty years, on three continents. After having been corporate America's man for so long, leading the charge to secure territory, resources, cheap labour and markets for U.S. business interests, he was asked to go one step further in the betrayal of his conscience, and perform the same function at home: destroy democracy and install a business-friendly dictatorship. His stomach turned, his conscience revolted, and the rest, is history - or it would be, if it had not been erased.
In order to correct this dark and dangerous silence, it is important that Smedley Butler's tale now be told. In his own words:
“The U.S. has routinely destroyed democracy throughout the globe while its leaders spout words about spreading democracy.
“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism....
“I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
“During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”
– Major-General Smedley Butler, 1933.
"According to retired Representative John W. McCormack, former Speaker of the House, if the late Major General Smedley Butler of the U.S. Marine Corps had not been a stubborn devotee of democracy, Americans today could conceivably be living under an American Mussolini, Hitler, or Franco.
"An ironic aspect of the conspiracy General Butler unmasked is that few Americans have ever heard about it, or even know anything about the general.
"Former Speaker McCormack told the author, “In peace or war he was one of the outstanding Americans in our history. I can’t emphasize too strongly the very important part he played in exposing the Fascist plot in the early 1930’s backed by and planned by persons possessing tremendous wealth.”
"The crucial events of the plot to seize the White House unfolded between July and November, 1933, with hearings before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee begun in New York City on November 20, 1934. On November 26 the committee released a statement detailing the testimony it had heard, and its preliminary findings. On February 15, 1935, the committee submitted to the House of Representatives its final report, verifying completely the testimony of General Butler.
"There is strong evidence to suggest that the conspirators may have been too important politically, socially, and economically to be brought to justice after their scheme had been exposed before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee of the House of Representatives. The largely anti-Roosevelt press of the New Deal era scotched the story as expeditiously as possible." (From The Plot To Seize the White House, by Jules Archer)
The story resurfaces:
In July of 2007 an American investigative journalist, John Buchanan, broke through more of the fog surrounding these largely buried events of critical importance to our understanding of both history and on-going political-economic realities of power in society. What he found was that in addition to the details already outlined here, it is established beyond any doubt that Prescott Bush, George Bush Jr's grandfather, was indeed involved in this grim and sinister plot. After this reporter again broke through the icy chill of silence and forgetfulness, a U.K. newspaper picked up the story, the Guardian, followed by the BBC, which did a full documentary on the subject. Since that one brave and determined journalist sought and found the truth, and unearthed the story in July 2007, there has been a growing revelation and interest surrounding this most astonishing, or at least, striking of events. Smedley Butler should be read and honoured, and the Business Plot both studied, and more importantly, learned from. The next coup against democracy may not be so direct, but no less dangerous. The price of freedom is in truth, eternal vigilance. This is neither paranoia nor "conspiracy theory" but simply a clear and honest understanding of history.
Research summary: J. Todd Ring (Free use with attribution)
(My apologies for the primitive formatting of this article. I'll polish it later. Content first.)
Articles, videos and books:
The White House Coup - BBC Documentary: US Business elite attempt to install fascism in America, 1933
By the way, the Bush family really does have a history of fascist sympathies and Nazi collaboration - something we might want to know: (Search "John Buchanan" Bush YouTube, if this link is deleted)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D6fxyOtVeI
In Search of History - The Plot to Overthrow FDR - History Channel
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti-Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
The SPP threatens our environment, social programs, civil liberties, sovereignty and the foundations of democracy. The MAI was killed, and full corporate rule averted. Now we must do the same with the SPP. Time to act! Get informed. Get involved. Send this to everyone you know.
The RCMP, Surete du Quebec and US Army, who are providing security for the SPP meeting between Bush, Harper and Calderone this Sunday to Tuesday (Aug.19-21), have prevented a public discussion forum from being held in the nearby town of Papineauville. This is a good indication of the anti-democratic nature of this "Security and Prosperity Partnership." Fortunately, we still have freedom of speech. So speak up while you can. The internet is now the most powerful media and communications tool the public has. Let's use it.
Canadian Sovereignty in Jeopardy: The Militarization of North America by Michael Chossudovsky, Center for Research on Globalization, August 17, 2007 http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=6572
Related article, reprinted from PEJ.org:
The RCMP, the rogue states, and the SPP Summit
Pej.org news - Joan Russow (PhD) Global Compliance Research Project. It is reported by the Council of Canadians (see below) that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and U.S. Army have blocked a public forum on the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) which was to take place during the SPP summit in Montebello, Quebec on August 20 and 21. If the RCMP is ever going to be credible in the eyes of the public, the RCMP must be perceived to be the enforcer not of the whims of the corporate sector but of fundamental peremptory norms to which most states in the world adhere.
After months, if not years, of the RCMP engaged in range of questionable practices which culminated in the resignation of the Commissioner Zacardelli, the New RCMP Commissioner William Elliot is taking the RCMP to a new level of ignominy. Before assuming the position of Commissioner of the RCMP, William Elliot, -a “terrorist expert” - in his various capacities, under Transport and Public Safety ministries has been playing a sycophantic role to his US counterparts. Now, with his first act as the RCMP Commissioner he demonstrates that, rather than enforcing the rule of law, he is willing, by denying the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Association, to violate both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights instruments, such as the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights to which Canada, US and Mexico are signatories. .
If the RCMP is ever going to be credible in the eyes of the public, the RCMP must be perceived to be the enforcer not of the whims of the corporate sector but of fundamental peremptory norms to which most states in the world adhere. . The RCMP should be concerned that the SPP summit that the RCMP is so intent on protecting is one with at least two leaders who have seriously violated fundamental norms expressed in Conventions such as the Convention against Torture, and the Geneva conventions.
If the RCMP is to be credible, the RCMP should refuse to be an instrument of the US army, and should act to oppose the Security and Prosperity Partnership which further entrenches the licence to violate not only the fundamental human rights of freedom expression and assembly , but also key legally biding environmental, labour, social justice obligations and commitments.
The RCMP should also be concerned that the three countries have either failed to sign and ratify international agreements related to preventing war and conflict, to guaranteeing human rights, to ensuring social justice, to preserving and protecting the environments, or failed to enact the necessary legislation to ensure the implementation and enforcement of these agreements.
But no, the role of the RCMP has become to protect leaders of states which conspire to undermine the rule of law, and to prevent citizens from acting to protect the commons and the common good.
Pej.org news - Joan Russow (PhD) Global Compliance Research Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RCMP and U.S. Army block public forum on Security and Prosperity Partnership
The Council of Canadians has been told it will not be allowed to rent a
municipal community centre for a public forum it had planned to coincide
with the next Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) summit in
Montebello, Quebec on August 20 and 21.
The Municipality of Papineauville, which is about six kilometres from
Montebello, has informed the Council of Canadians that the RCMP, the Sûreté
du Québec (SQ) and the U.S. Army will not allow the municipality to rent the
Centre Communautaire de Papineauville for a public forum on Sunday August
19, on the eve of the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership Leaders
Summit.
"It is deplorable that we are being prevented from bringing together a panel
of writers, academics and parliamentarians to share their concerns about the
Security and Prosperity Partnership with Canadians," said Brent Patterson,
director of organizing with the Council of Canadians. "Meanwhile, six
kilometres away, corporate leaders from the United States, Mexico and Canada
will have unimpeded access to our political leaders."
As well as being shut out of Papineauville, the Council of Canadians has
been told that the RCMP and the SQ will be enforcing a 25-kilometre security
perimeter around the Chateau Montebello, where Stephen Harper will meet with
George W. Bush and Felipe Calderón on August 20 and 21. According to
officials in Montebello, there will be checkpoints at Thurso and Hawkesbury,
and vehicles carrying more than five people will be turned back.
Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians is Canada's largest citizens'
organization, with members and chapters across the country. The organization
works to protect Canadian independence by promoting progressive policies on
fair trade, clean water, safe food, public health care, and other issues of
Why on earth would a left libertarian who admires democratic socialist Hugo Chavez favour a conservative Republican candidate? The answer is simple: I see no other contender who is willing to seriously challenge the drift toward fascism. The preservation of constitutional democracy is the first and most urgent task at hand. All other issues can be debated once the basics are secured: preserve democracy.
“Ron Paul stands for populist ideals that the country is screaming out for after seven years of hell under Bush.
Paul unites opposition to the war and the police state at home across the entire political spectrum…from libertarians through anti-war Democrats.
Ron Paul is a constitutionalist who votes based on principles that support our rights as individuals.
But it is how he does is that makes him a HERO. He consistently stands undaunted in the face of opposition. He is dedicated to protecting “the good.” He is uncompromising in his standards, valiant in his efforts, and he does it all with a quiet nobility that is inspiring. He does what is right. He tells us the Truth. It is this that defines him as a HERO for our times.”
I would urge all who oppose the slide into corporatocracy and a police state to stand up now, speak up now, across the spectrum, from liberal and progressive to conservative or libertarian, social democrat or libertarian socialist – all who oppose tyranny and who would prefer democracy to fascism – and support Ron Paul. The stakes are high, and the time is short.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul has announced he is running for U.S. President in 2008: I think he would be far superior as a president than either Bush was, or Hilary Clinton would be.
Bush goes without saying. Hilary Clinton has expressed her support for expanding the Middle East war into Iran. She has consistently voted in favour of massive funding for unconstitutional imperial war in the Middle East, thereby helping to get thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed, while bankrupting the country. She also voted in favour of the draconian and dangerous Patriot Act. She boldly voted to limit the Military Commissions Act to 2011. What’s four years of abuse of power among friends?
Barrack Obama is admired by many, but I could not possibly support such a man who would speak against war, and simultaneously continue to fund it, voting in favour of over $580 billion for military appropriations in 2006 alone – much of this specifically targeted to increased funding for the war in Iraq.
On December 21, 2005, Senator Obama voted in favour of the $450 billion Defense Department FY 2006 Appropriations Bill – including $50 billion specifically tagged for continued war in Iraq and Afghanistan. On May 4, 2006 Senator Obama voted in favour of $67 billion in “emergency supplemental appropriations” for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On June 15, 2006, Senator Obama voted in favour of $70 billion in “emergency supplemental appropriations” for the “Global War on Terrorism.” On June 22, 2006, Obama voted in favour of over $500 billion in military spending for the fiscal year of 2007.
Now that I know the voting record of Hilary and Obama, whenever I think of either of these two “doves” I think of the line by The Who: “Meet the new boss – same as the old boss” (Won’t Get Fooled Again).
If we are to judge by action – by his voting record – and not just by words, Obama is full of shit; to be blunt. His words speak of peace, but his actions speak clearly of deferential and timid support for continued wars of empire. This man either has no spine, or else no integrity. I wouldn’t elect Obama to watch my dog for the weekend. He says one thing, and votes another. I would love to be shown wrong on Obama, but presently these seem to be the indications.
Even more fundamentally, Obama voted on March 2, 2006 - along with Hilary Rodham Clinton - to make 14 provisions of the Patriot Act permanent. This man is no patriot. Nor is he a democrat. This man, along with Hilary Clinton, voted in favour of legislation that can only be described as thoroughly anti-democratic, unconstitutional, draconian and, frankly, fascist. We cannot afford to see such wolves successfully masked as sheep. Democrats should be the first to reveal the true nature of such false-hope candidates and corporate lap-dog technocrats in drag as champions of freedom.
If I am wrong somehow on Obama, I would be glad to be enlightened. However, it seems he, like Hilary, is a lackey for the military-industrial complex, war-profiteers, oil barons and Washington chicken-hawks. Unless there is reason to believe otherwise, from what I can see now, I would hate to see this man elected or re-elected to any high office, let alone President of the United States.
As far as I am aware, there is no-one running for the next U.S. presidential election that merits support, other than Ron Paul, with the possible exception of Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) – a New Deal Democrat, reminiscent of FDR.
A former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, Dennis Kucinich has voted against the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act, and the exorbitant funding for adventurous neo-colonial wars. Perhaps a two-party ticket is in order. “The Democracy Ticket.” Paul and Kucinich: uniting the sane from the Republicans and Democrats in 2008. This might be a possibility worth pursuing. I’m not sure if they would be willing to run together, but if so, it could be a winning combination. The campaign focus: end the wars of empire, and restore the Constitution. Unfortunately, differences over immigration and gun control, among other issues, would likely prevent such a liberal-conservative alliance between Paul and Kocinich. I say unfortunately, and this must be emphasized, because these are the only two candidates I know of that seem willing to stand up to the assault on civil rights and constitutional democracy.
Ron Paul voted against the Orwellian Military Commissions Act of September 2006. He voted against the Patriot Act in 2001, and again in 2005 – on three separate occasions – as well as in 2006. If there is any measure of a federal U.S. political candidate’s integrity in defending constitutional democracy, it is this: unwavering opposition to these two terrible anti-democratic, unconstitutional pieces of authoritarian legislation. Obama and Hilary both fail this test.
Ron Paul also voted to close the infamous School of Americas – the largest terrorist training center in the hemisphere, operating out of Fort Benning Georgia, whose graduates have gone on to join and lead death squads throughout Latin America, and who were among those responsible for the assassination of 9 Jesuit priests as well as Archbishop Romero in El Salvador. This man will help fight terrorism – by ceasing to fund it. If you want a true defender of democracy and freedom, here is the real McCoy.
While most of Congress is unaware of, or silent about the Security and Prosperity Partnership, Ron Paul is speaking out and standing up for sovereignty and democracy.
“NAFTA’s superhighway is just one part of a plan to erase the borders between the U.S. and Mexico, called the North American Union. This spawn of powerful special interests, would create a single nation out of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with a new unelected bureaucracy and money system.”- Ron Paul
The Democratic Party hates Ron Paul because he’s Republican; the Republican Party hates Ron Paul because he does not tow the party line in prostrating before the military-industrial complex, serving the interests of the corporate elite, paying homage to wars of empire, or backing the rush to implement fascist legislation in the form of the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act. The grassroots, however, love him – across the political spectrum, from conservatives and libertarians, to anti-war democrats, to all those who oppose the slide into a police state.
All those who prefer genuine democracy and the rule of constitutional law to fascist corporate oligarchy, would be wise to support this humble Congressman. He may well be this era’s Honest Abe: a liberator of the country. If he succeeds in exercising the popular will and ending the imperial wars abroad, as well as the slide into a police state at home, he will have been, truly, a liberator of America.
Ron Paul is a true grassroots hero, in that he is willing to back the people with authentic and substantial support for the constitution, the struggle to preserve democracy, and the opposition to imperial wars – all of which, the majority of Americans clearly want. It will take more than one person to change the course of American society, as it always has. Even if that person holds the highest office in the republic, there will need to be a mass movement, not just to get a better president elected, but to get the job done: to halt the drift toward fascism and to restore democracy, freedom and human rights in America.
Paul is a Republican conservative reminiscent of Eisenhower. Like Eisenhower, he recognizes the grave danger of the military-industrial complex. Taking up where Ike left off, it is no longer sufficient to warn against the possible abuse of power and encroachment on democratic powers, of the military-industrial complex. It is now clearly time to rein it in. Ron Paul stands in this tradition, and is prepared to take the efforts to rein in this beast, to the next step. The plug must be pulled on the corporate military complex. Ron Paul is the only candidate I am confident will do just that.
Paul has 37 years of political experience, and currently sits on the House Financial Services Committee, the House International Relations Committee, and the House-Senate Joint Economic Committee. He knows the political arena.
Paul will have to run a broad-based grassroots campaign to win, as the corporate media are sure to try and shoot him down, or shut him out, while the Republican Party machine is unlikely to support a maverick who repudiates the corporate subservience of the party, and fiercely opposes their agenda of “war without end” overseas and an authoritarian surveillance state at home.
There may be issues where I disagree with Ron Paul, but he is right on the two biggest ones, in my mind: end the wars of empire abroad, and stop the destruction of civil rights and democracy at home. If there is any other candidate who shows spine enough to deal with these two most pressing issues, they should be supported. Presently, only Ron Paul evokes confidence with regards to these most critical issues.
Ron Paul is a conservative libertarian. If I were to put a phrase or a label on my political views, I would have to say they are libertarian socialist. The differences between a conservative libertarian perspective and that of a libertarian socialist are significant, but there is common ground as well. Libertarians have a deep skepticism about excessive concentrations of political power, as did Thomas Jefferson – they are not great fans of bureaucracy, authoritarianism or elitism, to say the least. Libertarians on the right have traditionally questioned state or governmental power – that is, concentrations of political power – while libertarians on the left have questioned not only concentrations of political power, but also excessive concentrations of economic power. Thus, while there may be natural common ground, libertarians of the right and the left have been historically estranged, barely communicating, if at all. However, recent trends have narrowed the divide.
What the right still fails to recognize – although this is changing – is that since the fall of the Soviet bloc, the left has abandoned what little remaining allegiance it had to bureaucratic big government, and now leans very strongly to a left libertarian perspective, advocating freedom, diversity, and limited government that is in close contact with the grassroots. Thus, there is more common ground between the right and left now than the right has recognized.
Likewise, the right is coming to realize that excessive concentrations of economic power are also threats to freedom, just as are excessive concentrations of political power. Jefferson and Lincoln – one a Democrat, one a Republican – both realized this very clearly. Now the grassroots right is beginning to realize it as well. This new tendency within the right offers the possibility for a greater basis of understanding between right and left. The left also does not yet recognize the narrowing gap between the two polarities.
While the left has largely rejected the big government bureaucratic paradigm, the right, at least at the grassroots, is coming to view the current threat to democracy and freedom as a threat waged by a combination of elitist, authoritarian government, aligned with a growing concentration of corporate power. The grassroots right now speaks of the present emergence of corporate fascism – a terminology that should be familiar to the left. The gap is indeed narrowing. It is now a struggle not so much between left and right, as it is between all those who prefer democracy to fascism – and this is the vast majority - and the few who are willing to side with an emerging corporatocracy.
It is important that the left and the right both understand this. We need a coalition that spans the political spectrum – from right to left – of all who would stand now to preserve constitutional democracy. If we fail to recognize the urgency of such a union, we will fail, and we will see fascism take hold. It may be unthinkable, but the unthinkable is taking place. We had better form a union of diverse groups and individuals to preserve democracy, freedom and human rights, or we will lose them all.
I’m not a conservative, nor a Republican party fan, but if there is going to be a conservative wing to U.S. politics - which of course there will be for a long time - there should be a representative who’s at least sane, who’s not on a corporate payroll, and who is not a military-industrial complex lackey. Ron Paul for President - now!
And for a running mate? If not Dennis Kocinich, then Robert Bowman. Fair trade, non-interventionist, anti-corporatist conservative. I didn’t know there was such a creature, but there is. He’s the real deal. Ron Paul and Robert Bowman would make a stellar team. I hope the Ron Paul campaign team will give this idea some serious thought. It could be a powerful alliance. It could be an alliance to successfully defeat the threat to democracy. The threat at home, that is.
We must now end the left-right alienation. It is in some senses a false polarization. Yes, there are very real and important issues on which there is serious divergence, but there is common ground between traditional conservatives, traditional liberals, right libertarians, left libertarians and democratic socialists. The common ground is that we all prefer democracy to fascism - whether it is the corporate fascism that is arising, or any other kind of totalitarian regime. It is neoconservatism and neoliberalism, which are two sides of the same corporate boot-licking coin, that has to be defeated now. It is the preservation of constitutional democracy that must come first. Afterwards, we can debate the rest of the issues. Democracy and human rights are fundamental.
The real division, the one that matters most, is between the neoconservatives and neoliberals on the one hand, who promote and support a corporatist regime both domestically and world-wide, and all those who prefer and support constitutional democracy. Traditional liberals and conservatives, progressives, libertarians of the right and left, as well as social democrats, must get together now to stop this slide into fascism and corporate rule.
Let’s get it together on the major issues; the rest we can debate later. First things first: we must preserve democracy and stop the slide into corporate fascism. We must first rein in the military-industrial complex, and the corporate powers more generally. Once that is accomplished, we can debate the rest of the issues `till we’re blue in the face. Until that is done, debate is largely irrelevant, because corporate fascism rules.
So long as the neoconservatives are in power in Washington, or their neoliberal “opponents” in the Democratic Party - Kerry, Edwards, Hillary, Obama et al. - the nightmare will continue to unfold.
With Ron Paul or Robert Bowman in the White House - and ideally both - I could envision a safe and prosperous, sane and just - albeit conservative - America. This would be a tremendous relief, not only to the great majority of Americans, but to the world.
Left/right debates can resume once we’ve secured the basics: the safeguarding of constitutional democracy. Until then, we need to get together, across ideological and party lines.
Support Ron Paul! Stop corporate fascism now! Yes, we are heading in that direction, and no, there seems to be no-one else in the U.S. Presidential race that will halt this slide into a very dark time.
If you like the corporate lobby, the military-industrial complex, unending bloody, costly and dangerous imperial wars, the destruction of civil rights and freedom and the slide into a police state, vote for Hilary or Obama, or any of the other Republicans or Republican look-alikes. If you prefer peace, freedom and constitutional democracy, there seems to be only one choice: Ron Paul.
Ideological rigidity won't help us now - not that it ever has. There is a war on democracy, in case anyone has missed this fact. What we need now is a coalition of all who oppose the drift into oligarchy and the destruction of constitutional rights and freedom. Come on people now, let's get together.
“I have a dream. I want to re-instate the Constitution.” – Dr. Ron Paul
Can it get any more clear? Ron Paul stands up to speak against war in Iraq, while Democrats – who now control Congress, and have the ability to pull the plug on this ongoing tragedy - continue to fund the war. Ron Paul clearly stands out. And what an overtly Orwellian speech by a Democrat to follow him!
“Ron Paul stands for populist ideals that the country is screaming out for after seven years of hell under Bush.
Paul unites opposition to the war and the police state at home across the entire political spectrum…from libertarians through anti-war Democrats.
Ron Paul voted against the Patriot Act, opposes the draft, advocates the abolition of the income tax, urges the re-introduction of the gold standard, and stands against initiatives to strip the U.S. of its sovereignty such as CAFTA and the FTAA [as well as the secretive SPP].
Ron Paul has consistently upheld his commitment to civil liberties and slammed the militarized police state that Bush has created.
Paul has been in and out of Congress since the 70's and is universally hated by the Republican elite, who routinely back Democrats against him just to try and get him out of office. The former Vietnam flight surgeon is the perfect candidate for President and activists from every corner of every political persuasion should mobilize now in an attempt to help Paul shatter the power monopoly of the Republican and Democrat establishment who have worked together for decades to slit America's throat in the interests of power, greed, and ego.
Paul was one of only a handful of Republicans to vote against the illegal invasion of Iraq...In bucking a trend, Paul was anti-war long before the majority of the country came around to a similar way of thinking following the catastrophe of the occupation.
While Democrats soft-peddle and cozy up to Bush, creating phony arguments about the level of troop presence in Iraq and ignoring the majority will of the country to bring the troops home immediately, Ron Paul's opposition to unnecessary wars of intervention has remained steadfast throughout his entire political career.
If a gargantuan effort is made from now until the end of 2008 to heighten Paul's media profile and forward him as America's last hope, he truly has a significant chance of giving Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani or whichever elitist puppet the Republicans choose to put forward a real run for their money.
With the favor of the political landscape continually swinging away from the scam repeatedly run by the Republicrats and Democans, we should really start off on a positive footing and consider the fact that Ron Paul, though still an underdog, has a real chance of becoming the next President.”
First, a few words about this blog: This site is dedicated to the pursuit of truth, the protection of living beings, to working for the benefit of all living beings, and to providing independent research and analysis on major issues affecting the world today in order to advance these goals.
About me:
I'm a 40-year old father of two beautiful children, writer, entrepreneur, social activist. How should I describe myself? A seeker of truth, unshakably optomistic, fiercely committed to facing our social and environmental realities, an ordinary man with a deep and abiding confidence in basic human goodness - despite everything - and one who believes a good life is one lived with compassion, and also enjoyment of simple pleasures. Hm. Talking about yourself feels a little wierd. Anyway, this is a bit of a profile, for anyone who is interested.
