WIN ELECTIONS BUT CAN'T GOVERN ?

Scott McClellan’s Revelations

LACK OF OVERSIGHT – A FATAL FLAW

With ex-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s recent about face, and the publication of his book “WHAT HAPPENED?” which describes a lot of his life in the bush White House for three years, the American population is finally able to draw a more reasonable breath. I use that metaphor, because, as Keith Olbermann alluded, most Americans simply didn’t believe the degree of the republican excesses since January of 2001. Most of us were just wishing he and his Administration would go away, collectively holding our breath.

It’s probably true that McClellan knows more incriminating truths that he didn’t include in the book, or in the interviews so far. Probably wise – the enemies he has now attracted don’t like to be exposed, and unlike the Democrats, with this crowd, nothing is off the table if you cross them. Nothing.

About once a week or more, I am moved by the scintillating intelligence of my son Eric, who recently characterized Republicans as: “…they can win elections, but can’t govern worth a damn, with their recessions, their wars, their financial excesses …” and then he immediately corrected himself on the win part of elections, since both recent elections, 2000 and 2004, are covered in corruption – one stolen outright, the other obviously stolen.

From the McClellan book:

Scott details the President himself admitting he declassified the NIE, which outed Valerie Plame in retaliation for her husband’s book criticizing the Administration for its Niger claim, which claim was a bold-faced lie. Then he (the Pres.) acted as if it were all a surprise to him, and let the machinery of proof grind away, unsuccessfully, to determine who really did expose Ms. Plame-Wilson. In the end, W allowed Scooter Libby to take the fall, knowing all the time he was going to pardon Libby before leaving office.

One huge omission in the McClellan book was any mention whatever of the historically unprecedented excesses in the Power Grab of the Millennium, also known as the Patriot Act. It’s more than obvious that McClellan knew of the elements in Patriot, just a few of which are:

Remember, these are in effect NOW, as you read this !

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the communications media. So much for the first Amendment.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations. Like Auschwitz?

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals. What? Why is this relevant?

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms. Why is this relevant?

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision. (Like prison work gangs? Why?)

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons ! “Let me see your papers.” (Gestapo)

And of course, one of the biggies:
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to establish control over all wages, salaries, credit, and the flow of money, plus control of all energy sources (electric, gas, coal, wind) in any undefined national emergency. This enslaves us. Totally.**************It also provides that when the President declares a state of emergency, Congress cannot review the action for 180 days.***********

And what does it take for these eventualities to occur? Well, this will shake you: if for example Al Qaeda flies a plane into LAX and kills a couple thousand people – a tragedy, but confined to LA - ONE MAN in America can declare that we are in (are you ready?) “A STATE OF EMERGENCY.”

Those are the magic words. At that instant, all of Patriot, a lot of which is much worse than the few examples I’ve included, goes into effect. Does this sound like the careful planning of a Democracy for an emergency? Another “Executive Order” confiscates all your guns, another totally guts habeas corpus, another silences Free Speech ! Sound like a Democracy?

According to John Dean – the White House lawyer who was involved during Watergate and who blew the whistle - this mess is Worse Than Watergate, the title of his book.

Now, a week or so after the appearance of the Mcclellan book, Congressman Wexler wants him to testify under oath. When McClellan was asked by Blitzer if he would, on television, he didn’t answer, so we’ll see. If Wexler, or John Conyers, or Carl Levin, or any of the Chairmen don’t absolutely require MCClellan to testify under oath, we can all drop our heads in humiliation.

McClellan admits he was a bit queasy about the things he told the Press Corps in the runup to the war, but was outvoted and intimidated by higher echelon staffers, (his phrase) so he “went along.” Caught up in the fever of the permanent campaign mode he broadcast statements that he personally didn’t believe, out of a misguided loyalty to Bush, who had snowed him with his “bipartisan” approach.

OK – everything McClellan told us up to this point was bad indeed. But this next one is so monstrous it’s hard for me to write it. How any individual could have this thought and then act on it is a mystery to me.

McClellan quotes Bush as saying – indicating – suggesting, whatever – his firmly held belief that Presidents are later considered great only if they were wartime presidents. Thus, one of his main reasons for war – with Iraq or any other country - was to support and in fact create and favorably enhance his legacy. So he set about to do all those things he did – all those deaths, all those lies, all that money squandered - to convince the UN, the Congress, the American people and the World, that the ONLY response to Saddam’s dangerous stance was a shooting war and invasion. Anything less was to invite nuclear holocaust on America’s soil. Rubbish !

So – let’s see – at the present count, over 650,000 souls have been wasted so that one failed businessman, one introverted egomaniac with money and connections could create a decent legacy of his time as President ????? Add to that the million others who have been grievously wounded. Add to that the families of all those who are grieving. Add to that the cost in treasure and international reputation suffered by America.

Anyone reading this who doesn’t want this creature tried for war crimes at The Haig is - I don’t know how to characterize such a person - you do it.

For the Alert:

Shift subjects now. Please recall my previous listing AMERICANS CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. That one simply pointed out the rapidly escalating truth that we can’t simultaneously maintain the American standard of living and allow speculation and profit-taking in the several elements that are necessary for human life. There is no debate on these statements:

· You cannot live without electricity
· You cannot live without insurance
· You cannot live without gasoline
· You cannot live without water

It’s almost beyond belief, but a few years ago we heard that a failed republican named Santorum floated a bill to privatize 911 Emergency calls. In other words, if you hadn’t paid your 911 bill for the month, and your Dad was having a heart attack, you couldn’t call 911. With the lock step mindset in the republican Congress at the time, I was actually surprised that it was voted down. Such is the thinking of this crowd.

WE HAVE TO SHOW THE COURAGE TO STAND UP TO CONGRESS – AND SENATE – ON THE SUBJECT OF DE-REGULATION. There is only one reason these people vote FOR de-regulation of any commodity – money.

Please see cftc.gov and see how speculation is allowed, even encouraged, in Oil and gas and electricity, the very building blocks of everyday human life. Michael Greenberger, Director of cftc (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) says he has strong doubts that Oil should be at the price it now commands. So with Oil prices well over $125 a barrel and gasoline at $4 and rising, it is getting clearer every single day that my warning in my previous blog was right on the mark. (Americans Can’t Have it Both Ways.)

The fact is staring us in the face. We can’t have it both ways. It’s only a matter of time until a continuation of this folly, on this scale, will result in an upheaval of major chaotic proportions. We can’t allow selfish speculation to force people to choose between gasoline and food. Or choose between electric power and food. Every sober, mature person knows that’s coming if we keep up this misguided activity. The best analogy I can make is that this crowd wants to privatize Fire Departments. That way, if they get a fire alarm, and the fire turns out to be in the poorest part of town, with not only black but unemployed people at the house, they just ignore it. The Fire Captain sees no ISS tag on the burning house – thus the inhabitants have no record of paying their ISS fee - thus don’t “qualify” for “Incendiary Suppression Services” -- and the Fire trucks leave. Just business, right?

THE INHUMAN COLLISION BETWEEN THE FAMILY’S NEED FOR AFFORDABLE ELECTRIC & GAS POWER AND THE SPECULATION THAT GENERATES PROFIT IN THOSE COMMODITIES HAS ARRIVED. IT ISN’T NEXT YEAR – IT’S HERE.

It’s now well known by even the most politically unaware among us, that money is what gets laws passed, not the will of the voter. Therefore, writing your Congressman has become a 1920s suggestion. If you and I and a million others in our state write our congressman and plead for regulation of electricity, for example, and simultaneously the industry errand boy (aka “lobbyist”) treats our congressman to a weekend in the Bahamas and at the end hands him a $10,000 check – who is the congressman going to vote for? This is logic 101 – isn’t it?

REGULATION IS NOT A CURSE WORD. IT IS NOT SOCIALISM. IT IS NOT “UNPATRIOTIC.” IT IS NOT A “LIBERAL CONSPIRACY.” THE PRIVATE SECTOR CANNOT OVERSEE INDUSTRIES BETTER THAN THE PUBLIC SECTOR, AND PIGS CAN’T FLY.

We MUST adopt the mantra ‘PROVE IT” on all of these and a zillion others that the automatons in Washington D C keep piling on us every day, with the immeasurable assistance of the media. Lack of oversight is the reason. Most thoughtful adults in my circle ask themselves: How could the Justice Department – the nation’s top cops – that group whose sole job is to protect the meek from the mighty; rescue the minority, the unconnected and the poor from outrages – how could a Justice Department worthy of the name possibly be so corrupt as it has been under Gonzales and Rove et al?

The answer is Oversight. Lack of it.

One way to arrest these steamrolling tactics by government, and it’s almost too late, is to apply the unyielding stance of PROVE IT to all the outrages perpetrated upon us by the republican machine, both in the past and of late. This won’t be something for the faint of heart. Democrats by definition are gentle, willing to mediate, congratulate, and generate agreement in order to effectuate solutions to issues. Not so the Rs. Dozens of them will immediately adopt a number of talking points that utilizes the same identical words, for effect. (Didn’t Scott McClellan admit that?) They will smear Democratic candidates, or anyone who has a forum who may oppose their attempts at total control. Therefore, faced with that situation, I believe that asking them to prove these things they spew out as truth will help us get to some sort of reconciliation sooner.

PLEASE be reminded of this: The average American apparently doesn’t have the time or the inclination to keep up with all the issues. Mr and Ms America have family matters that take up most of their time and attention. Only the very exceptional keep up with all the outrages by elected representatives, not to mention outrages by the representative who was NOT officially elected.

You are now, and have been, since the 1940s, totally controlled by your own language. This is not exciting news. Every real student of that history knows it. The most powerful tool they use is the euphemism, the hypnotic synonym, so our most powerful defense of it has to be – OK, PROVE IT.

Just think of this strategy for a moment, and place yourself in the shoes of the representative who’s trying to convince the populace of a falsehood, with skillful use of euphemisms. If you were that person trying to pass laws using lies, how would you handle these responses:?

“If we don’t kill Saddam, America is in danger.” PROVE IT
“Fight ‘em over there so we don’t have to over here.” PROVE IT
“Iraq has weapons of mass destruction aimed at U.S.” PROVE IT.
“If we pull out U.S. troops, there will be chaos.” PROVE IT.
“Iran represents a grave and gathering threat to the U.S.” PROVE IT.
“We know he’s reconstituted his nuclear program.” PROVE IT.
“Iraq tried to buy significant quantities of Uranium from Niger.” PROVE IT
“Iraq’s aluminum tubes are for nuclear weapons.” PROVE IT
“Saddam can reply with missiles in under 45 minutes.” PROVE IT
“Saddam has 3 Million doses of Botulinum toxin ready to spread.” PROVE IT
“When the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.” PROVE IT
“We (U.S. soldiers) will be treated as liberators.” PROVE IT
“Gasoline is high because of supply & demand.” PROVE IT
“Our enemies hate us because we’re free.” PROVE IT

And by the way, after we declare PROVE IT, we don’t let the subject be changed immediately to American Idol or the Playoffs – we repeat the question and again and again and force an answer. I know, we’re in a deep hole, but it takes a lot of digging to get out. Remember, we fiddled while the hole was being dug for us.

FINALLY –
We’re at the mercy of spineless, sycophantic TV news commentators who bow down to their Corporate giant employers, and slant any and all news to suit the employer. Everyone knows that. Most recently, however, all male commentators must in all honesty, genuflect to three courageous females: Jessica Yellin, Katy Couric and Ashleigh Banfield. These three didn’t do much last week or so – all they did was to defy the status quo and announce for the record that their delivery of the news was directed, bent in favor of the employer, instead of just announcing the news itself, down and dirty. Katy Couric actually pointed out that, back when she was still with NBC at the outbreak of the lethality, she was told by those “upstairs” to go easy on war reporting, e.g more favorable language, or none when it would benefit the company. But the jelly-spined males in the news today (with one bright, notable exception) cling to Politically Correct euphemisms, which support the war effort and the Administrations pronouncements, such as The Surge, General Petraeus, Iran Is a threat, General Petraeus, Can’t Pull troops out, General Petraeus etc. ad nauseum. You know who they are: names like Mathews, Blitzer, Gregory, Russert, Brokaw, Williams, Gibson etc. Yuk.

It’s obvious - to engage in actual combat against an opposing army takes a lot of courage. Charging forward into rifle fire, machine gun fire, artillery explosions, mines, bombing etc is superhuman in fortitude, I’ll grant that. If they come at you with all those indices, that takes the courage of a Lion. But for us to knuckle under and whimper a surrender to middle-aged, out of shape, alcohol-bloated, overweight superego windbags, who happen to be in control of a microphone subsidized by corporations, who whirl you around and tie you up with your own language is, it seems to me, the very definition of cowardice.

We need to demand of them, in perpetuity, PROVE IT, so that we can get back to some controlled OVERSIGHT.

Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Swungnotes.blogspot.com