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"I HOPE HE FAILS!"

When the Republicans' most flagrant spokesman Rush Limbaugh says, "I hope he fails", he is expressing the collective will of the party. The GOP is likened to a street gang of brawling thugs ransacking Obama's economic recovery. They are utilizing their echo chamber of right wing print and broadcast outlets to spew forth any illogical lie or fear tactic in hopes that they might catch on with the populace as did the Bush/Cheney WMD subterfuge. Republicans are hell-bent to regain power, and as for the welfare of average working Americans, let them twist in the wind.

Their present ploy is stirring up alarm over Obama's deficit spending and government intervention necessary to reverse the devastation of our Republican-raped economy. Republicans were OK with massive deficit spending on the war for oil in Iraq, tax cuts for the rich and subsidies for corporations as well as failing to oversee and regulate business; all of which scuttled the economy. But, they degenerate into the miserly party of "no, we can't afford it" when it comes to government spending on average working Americans in need. It is clear that the main mission of the GOP is to protect the wealth of the rich and corporate.

Republicans shutter as they strive to strike terror in the hearts of Americans with the charge that Obama is moving toward socialism. It is obvious from the current economic crises that pure laissez-fare capitalism doesn't work, and that our economy needs a shot of socialism in order to recover. When business fails to provide the needs of the people, government must step in.

Always remember which party took your job, rifled your money market account, stole your retirement and denied you of your college education. The GOP has to be decimated at the polls.

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HEAVENLY ECONOMIC MELTDOWN

It is as if America's current major economic meltdown is heavenly retribution for the destruction and carnage of the Iraq War. This religious metaphor however does have a basis in reality. Considering all the years of massive spending and debt creation for the Iraq War, at some point an economic meltdown was inevitable. It has been estimated that the Iraq War has cost $2 Billion a week, $12 Billion a month and will end up costing a grand total of $3 Trillion.

It is a carefully cultivated popular misconception that the Iraq War started in 2001 in response to the WTC attack. The truth is that it was in 1998 when this bloody, oil-grab crime was given birth by the Machiavellian mind of Dick Cheney. At that time, Cheney and his PNAC, a neo-con cabal which included future Bush White House officials and brother Jeb, lobbied President Clinton and Congress to preemptively hit Iraq.

His Afghanistan War is Obama's stimulus package for the Military-Industrial Complex. Government spending for disposable weapons enriches those in the war business, but does little for the rest of us. In addition to creating debt, war manufacturing doesn't produce useful goods that can be bought and sold in the arena of Capitalism to generate wealth and grow the economy.

Obama's war would likely be as expensive as the Iraq War. Nevertheless, Obama is now spinning the same golden-oldie recording of war drums for Afghanistan as did Bush and Cheney for Iraq and as did LBJ and Nixon for Vietnam. The lyrics are about protracted, non-winnable war with much loss of American life and limb as well as killer debt. Obama has to stop listening to the warmongers. Since we are broke and facing an out-of-control, mind-numbing national debt and mired in a deep economic meltdown, waging another Trillion Dollar war now would bring us to our knees. The terrorists plan to win the war on terror by sucking up our resources and imploding America from within. They would trap Obama in Afghanistan with endless waves of troops against which he would be forced to throw the lives and limbs of our youth, what's left of our economy, our liberties, our social programs and create a Vietnam era of turmoil. The warmongers say that we can't leave, but what we can't do is sacrifice America for Afghanistan.

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WALL STREET MOBSTERS

We all have heard the dictum that a businessman or lawyer could steal a whole lot more with a briefcase than could a mobster with a gun. The recent raiding of Wall Street bailout tax funds by executives for bonuses, golden parachutes, lavish vacations and private jets magnificently demonstrates the above. Our eloquent Vice-President said it for all of us, "Throw 'em in the brig!" These Wall Street bosses operated as if they were members of some sort of gentry and were not subject to the same laws as the rest of us. It isn't any wonder considering the aristocratic way the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans have catered to them with tax cuts for the rich and upward distribution of wealth, deregulation and lack-luster oversight as well as legislation tailor-made for profit with no concern for the resulting consequences to the American public. To maintain the moral fiber of our country, it is imperative that these thieves are treated as all other thieves and sentenced to real hard-time prisons and ordered to return the booty.

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"Free Trade" Pacts: Job Loss to Lost Sovereignty to Police State

Years ago, the world's corporate elite lusted over the wealth generated by the American economy. So, they devised the concept of globalization and created multi-national 'free-trade' pacts such as NAFTA, WTO and GATS, which allowed them access to our markets to partake of our wealth. Originally, it was done under the guise of restoring war-torn Europe and Asia, but these countries are now more than able to compete on their own without the help of "free-trade". But, yet these pacts are still in play today, growing in number and power to the detriment of the American people.

Most Americans are aware of the economic devastation that the "free-trade" pacts are doing to our country. Disloyal corporate heads are displacing hundreds of thousand American workers and replacing them with imported cheap foreign labor or exporting their good paying jobs to countries with pools of near-slave labor. Most of these Americans are then relegated to sub par jobs with their families in desperate straits. Some are even left homeless, living in their cars.

Many of America's brightest young people are bypassing college (men in particular) because of the massive number of high tech and science jobs being sent overseas or filled here with cheap foreign graduates. It is heartbreaking to think of what could have been for many Americans if not for the evaporating opportunities brought about by globalization.

The formally great United States is being deindustrialized by globalization. Since 1978, 14,449 US companies have been sold to foreign buyers for a total acquisition amount of $1,777,738,035,222. These American industries couldn't compete with the cheap goods protected by "free-trade" that were flooding US markets, and as a result they failed and were bought up by the foreign firms with their profits from their US sales. How many products stamped "made in America" have you seen lately in the stores? Ramifications include our cities being eroded by the mass exodus of their industrial base and our dependence on the rest of the world for our many needed goods, which has national security implications.

But it's even more crucial for Americans to become aware that these "free-trade" pacts are also undermining American sovereignty. In the case of the WTO, Congress is prohibited from passing legislation that violates its bylaws. In other words, our agreement with the WTO curtails what laws Congress is allowed to pass concerning US industrial policies. The WTO is fixed so that each member country has only one vote with no veto powers for anyone. Even though the United States is the benefactor, it only has equal footing with every developing country with cheap goods to dump on our markets.

WTO bylaws include:

• Congress must change US laws to conform to WTO statutes.
• All decisions will be determined by the votes of WTO members.
• The WTO will settle all trade disputes, monitor national responses and enforce its decisions. WTO rulings are final. The WTO can impose trade sanctions and fines on the US if we don't comply. If the US loses a WTO dispute, plaintiff nations may select which US industries will be sanctioned.
• All WTO members are subject to amendments voted for by two-thirds of the members.

China is a special case in point. Its unchecked flooding of our markets with cheaply made goods has created 26% of the US $725.8 billion trade deficit. The Economic Policy Institute reported that, between 1997 and 2006, the massive US/China trade imbalance took 2,166,000 US jobs, the bulk of which (1.8 million) were lost after China joined the WTO in 2001. Proponents of this affiliation wrongly claimed that China's trade surplus would decline and US employment would bounce back.

China subsequently bought up vast quantities of US government securities with the dollar profits from their trade imbalance. As a result, they have attained the ability to blackmail the US. A quick sell-off of these government securities would send interest rates spiraling up, possibly crash the dollar and spark a recession.

Furthermore, China has gained significant leverage over U.S. foreign policy. Under Bush, the U.S. trade deficit with China has soared astronomically, increasing our dependency on China as a source of foreign exchange currency into which the U.S. treasury sells its debt. With average Americans sans savings and strapped with huge personal debt and unaffordable mortgages, Bush's spiraling military spending cannot be covered by more taxes. Consequently, Bush is forced to obtain financing for his wars from foreign treasuries, particularly China. It was China that covered the largest part of the tab for Afghanistan and Iraq. And, if China were to cease buying U.S. Treasuries, Bush and Cheney's warmongering would be over. Bring home the troops!

The WTO and other "free-trade" pacts are developing into a virtual shadow, one-world dictatorship with the authority to override the sovereignty and laws of the U.S. and other countries and hamstring their ability to protect the most basic health and human rights of its citizens. In fact, corporations can complain they have lost 'potential future profits' from a government's enacted public welfare laws and the government can be ordered to pay compensation to the corporations.

It's their agenda to hand over every country's natural resources and government-provided public services such as water supplies, health care and public education to the international corporate sector to be sold as commodities for the highest profits the market will bear. Those who cannot afford these privatized services will do without. An example is Bush strong-arming Iraq's puppet government to cede 70% of Iraqi oil for privatization by the oil companies.

Soon, there will be no more democratic countries and the corporate elite will rule the world. A major step will be transforming the three sovereign nations in the North American continent into one super regional political and economic entity dubbed the "North American Union". Currently, it is masquerading as a tough replacement for NAFTA, which failed to boost Mexico's economy, and is being called the "Security and Prosperity Partnership". But, as early as 2010, boundaries will be redefined so immigration control will be around the three countries and not between them. Eventually, a non-elected governance board will be formed along with a tribunal with supremacy over the U.S. Supreme Court. Public discourse as well as a vote within each nation as to the will of the people is being disallowed. The "North American Union" will in the end be an enormous despotic police state in which civil liberties will be stripped from its citizens to squash dissent and anti-terrorism, as usual, will be the ruse.

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Bush and Cheney Lied to Congress and Committed other Impeachable Offenses

Never before has there been such a compelling case for impeachment and removal from office of the president and vice-president of the United States. Bush and Cheney have committed the most serious crimes known to law and history. Nothing in the experience of the impeachment power under the US Constitution compares.

Of course, the first and foremost reason to impeach Bush and Cheney is their pack of lies to Congress and the American people depicting an "all-powerful" Saddam Hussein being an imminent threat to the US in order to justify an illegal preemptive attack on Iraq. By lying to Congress, Bush violated US laws related to fraud and false statements (Title 18, Chapter 47, Section 1001) and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The truth is that while these two liars were still in the process of whipping up their climate of fear and hate to discourage dissent to their war goals, 30,000 US troops had already secretly fought their way in and took control of 15% of an impotent Iraq.

Bush and Cheney repeatedly spewed out the big lie that Iraq harbored weapons of mass destruction and that they knew where they were. They falsely claimed that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program for which it was importing aluminum tubes and uranium and warned of seeing mushroom clouds. They made the bogus charge that Iraq had produced thousands of tons of chemical agents and used mobile weapons labs. They fabricated the tale that the secular Saddam had ties with the al-Qaeda religious extremists. And, they mislead the public with mind-blurring rhetoric that implied Iraq had indirectly caused 9/11.

In their deceit, Bush and Cheney played fast and loose with intelligence. They failed to provide Congress with all the unfettered intelligence that they possessed. They deleted portions of reports such as the August 6, 2001, presidential daily brief. They supported their charges with unreliable evidence such as forged documents, plagiarized student papers and vague satellite photos. They pressured the CIA and other intelligence agencies to manipulate intelligence fixing it around the policy of going to war with Iraq (Downing Street Memo). They enlisted CIA head George Tenet to conjure up a bogus National Intelligence Estimate that corroborated their war policy. And, they created the Office of Special Plans inside the Pentagon, which "cherry-picked" and embellished findings supporting war while debunking whatever that didn't. This group resorted to taking information out of context, juxtaposing unrelated data and removing caveats such as "likely," "probably" and "may".

Bush and Cheney deceived the public with the misconception that their war in Iraq was in response to 9/11. The truth is 9/11 was just a "convenient" excuse to kick off their war that was in the works years before the Bush presidency. Back in 1997, Dick Cheney's group dubbed as the "Project for a New American Century" (PNAC)(Neo-Cons), which included Jeb Bush and subsequent major players in George W. Bush's administration, embraced the policy to conquer Iraq and turn it into a base of operations to control the oil reserves in the Middle East and Central Asia for privatization by the oil companies. Not long after, they unsuccessfully lobbied President Clinton and Congress to attack an already weakened Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein and build permanent U.S. bases.

The many individual members of Congress, state legislatures and city councils calling for impeachment have cited a long list of other potential impeachable offenses:

• Willfully violated their oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States
• Ordered the National Security Agency to violate provisions of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [50 U.S.C. Chapter 36], a felony, specifically authorizing the agency to spy on American citizens without warrant
• Committed war crimes as a result of new and unorthodox measures used by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism
• Exempted detained Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters from the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
• Authorized violation of the Torture Convention of the Geneva Conventions, a treaty regarded as supreme law by the United States Constitution
• Retaliated against critics
• Held American citizens and citizens of other nations as prisoners of war without formal charges, trial or legal representation
• Leaked classified national secrets to further a political agenda, exposing an unknown number of covert United States intelligence agents to potential harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to investigate the matter
• Authorized, ordered and condoned attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq on civilians, civilian facilities and locations where civilian casualties are unavoidable
• Violated international law by threatening the independence and sovereignty of Iraq by belligerently proclaiming his personal intention to change its government by force
• Authorized, ordered and condoned violations of rights of individuals under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eight Amendments to the Constitution and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international protections of human rights
• Authorized, directed and condoned bribery and coercion of individuals and governments to obtain war ends
• Was negligent in a slow response to the victims of hurricane Katrina before, during and after
• Demonstrated a pattern of abuse of office and of executive privilege and contempt for the Constitution and our democratic ideals while seeking to expand the powers of the presidency (imperial presidency)
• Illegally used government funds for domestic political propaganda related to the administration's Medicare package, paying commentator Armstrong Williams, etc.
• Used uniformed military personnel for Republican party political purposes
• Obstructed and hindered the work of Congressional investigative bodies
• Failed to take responsibility for, investigate or discipline those responsible for an ongoing pattern of negligence, incompetence and malfeasance to the detriment of the American people.
• Violated the letter and spirit of laws and rules of criminal procedure used by civilian and military courts, and violated or ignored regulatory codes and practices that carry out the law
• Failed to supply our troops in Iraq with adequate war materials such as body armor, armored vehicles and other equipment
• Allowed our maimed and injured troops to be subjected to abhorrent medical care at Walter Reed Hospital

Why would it be worth impeaching Bush and Cheney at this late date?

Our present national emergency must be ended post haste. Corruption is running rampant with Bush and Cheney covering their connection to it with subterfuge such as commuting the sentence of a convicted crony. Under this regime, America is turning fascist, seeking war and not peace and losing its moral authority in the world. Incompetent political appointees are in charge, profit-driven contracted corporations are doing the work of government (privatization), elections are being stolen by vote fraud and our welfare safety net is being dismantled. Thousands of soldiers are being killed and maimed while the war industry is reaping huge profits. Of course, impeachment would prevent any further crimes by these two men as well as their appointment of another extremist, non-constructionist jurist to the Supreme Court.

Bush and Cheney are lawless, dangerous men with war in their hearts. Despite their war in Iraq going way wrong, Cheney's "PNAC" stated goal of turning Iraq into a base of operations to control the oil reserves in the Middle East and Central Asia for privatization by the oil companies is right on track. The construction of permanent military instillations is moving forward.

They are now beating the drums for war against Iran in order to get their hands on its oil reserves, which are easily accessible on a small strip along the Iraq border. Many believe that such an attack would spark WWIII. In fact, the two men have promised a multi-generational "long war" for the future.

With their Patriot act, Military Commissions Act, Posse Comitatus Act and other laws and proclamations they have set up the mechanics for martial law and turning America into a dictatorship. With their lack of respect for the Constitution and hunger for power, it wouldn't be surprising that they went for it by orchestrating another 9/11 type of disaster rather than leaving office after 2008. Could their contracting Halliburton to erect hundreds of interment camps throughout the US be a forewarning?

Moreover, Congress is bound by law to force accountability for Bush and Cheney's impeachable offenses. Giving them a pass would destroy the Constitution, the rule of law and a chance for peace. Also, impeachment now would make future leaders think twice about taking a similar lawless and dictatorial path to destroy our democracy.

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Bush's Economy Is Poverty Stricken, Bleeding Jobs and Ready to Crash.

Bush boasts that the US economy has never been so robust with the Dow hitting over 13,000. This figure shouldn't be any surprise after he and his GOP cohorts pumped money into the top tier and the business sector via tax cuts, corporate grants and a war economy. Bush has been playing 'Republican Trickle Down', except there is little trickle down. The 13,000 Dow could be the boom before the bust.

Many low and middle-income Americans are noticing that the Bush economy is not really doing so well. They see jobs disappearing, wages slipping and opportunities vanishing. They see folks living in cars and eating dog food. There are thirty-seven million struggling below the poverty line soon to be joined by millions more of marginal earners after they are hit with bad luck. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine reported that with a gain of over three million, the number of Americans living in extreme poverty has grown more than any other group since Bush took office in 2000.

According to the US Conference of Mayors, many indigents asking for food hold jobs, but are paid so poorly they can't feed themselves. Yet, Republicans have consistently thwarted Democratic efforts in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage. The $5.15 wage has been stalled for nearly a decade and is now at its lowest level in real terms since 1956. Then, it was 50% of the average wage, but is now only30%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics official unemployment count is 7.6 million. Add another 1.5 million who are no longer counted because they've haven't found work for a long time. Add another five to ten million who are underemployed and can only find part-time work or are doing jobs below their potential. It totals up to twenty million out of work or making sub-standard pay.

Globalization is responsible for the lost jobs for Americans and the downward spiral for middle-class wages. With Bush's support, disloyal businessmen, eager to exploit the massive pool of cheap labor in third world countries, are dumping well-paid American workers and sending their jobs overseas as well as replacing them here with imported low-wage foreign workers.

Furthermore, it isn't just blue collar manufacturing jobs being affected. 560,000 American high-tech jobs were sent abroad while more of the same number of low-wage high-tech foreign workers on H-1B and other temporary visas were brought in according to The American Engineering Association in 2003. As a result, enrollment in science and high-tech college courses started to decline, which provided an excuse for employers to lobby for further increases of the low paid foreign high-tech employees allowed to work in the US under H-1B visas.

The Bush economy is ripe for a depression. Run-away spending for his tax cuts for the rich and his Iraq War has pushed the national debt up to $8.6 trillion. It is impossible for the United States to pay-off this mind numbing debt so instead China, Japan and the oil exporting countries are financing it.

The US dollar is still afloat only because of frenzied consumer spending, which makes up 70% of the GNP, and the fact that 70% of the worlds oil is traded with the dollar forcing central banks to amass it in huge quantities. However, both of those underpinnings are beginning to crack. Huge American personal debt and -1% savings rate are putting a drag on consumer spending. And, American insolvency has induced some oil trading countries to reconsider their allegiance to the dollar as the main oil currency and to replace it with the Euro and other currencies. As these reverses implode, our creditors will stop financing us and the world's central banks will jettison their hoards of collapsed dollars back to us causing the Bush depression.

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A Note to Bush's Conservative Christian Base..

So, what's the big deal? Why is the Republican Party so adamant about violating the separation of church and state by displaying the Ten Commandments in governmental facilities? The Commandments certainly are not reflected in Republican policies and practices. Various Republican politicians are involved in corruption and dirty tricks, engage in election fraud, alter the truth, commit adultery, cut aid to the needy and veterans and wage unnecessary wars. It seems that they are trying to garner support from religious people by politicizing the symbol of the Ten Commandments, but rejecting their substance.

It's beyond me how folks that fancy themselves as Christians could support George Bush and his war in Iraq. Since the war has lasted longer than WWII and the situation just gets worse and worse with victory nowhere in sight, it's clear that God is not with us in Iraq. How could He be?

First, Bush told a pack of lies about Saddam possessing weapons of mass destruction and connections to al-Queda to deceive Congress and the American people into an unnecessary war. Iraq had long been under control by embargos and U.S. Air Force flyovers and was no threat to its neighbors as well as us. Bush's unprovoked, preemptive attack was both internationally illegal and immoral with the pope and other Christian leaders condemning him at the war's onset.

Then, there are other atrocities. Bush employed illegal torture and violated human rights in military prisons around the world. He deployed tons of weapons made of 'depleted uranium' from toxic nuclear waste, which are slowly killing scores of exposed American soldiers and Iraqis. The U.N. has classified them as real weapons of mass destruction and are forbidden by international law. In his pursuit of one man, thousands of innocent Iraqi babies have been killed and maimed. Apparently, it's wrong to kill (abort) American babies, but it's OK to kill Iraqi babies.

This war is all about greed. Securing the Iraqi oil fields for privatization by the oil companies was the object in its neo-con inception back in 1998 and remains the reason for today's continued occupation, which is generating the insurgent attacks and providing a rallying point for extremist mullahs. As thousands of our American soldiers are being killed and maimed, munitions manufacturers and war contractors such as Halliburton are reaping huge profits. While Bush gives big tax breaks to the well-heeled, he shorts the troops with needed war supplies including armored vests and vehicles and provides miserable medical care to the maimed and wounded.

By now, most Americans have seen the light and disapprove of Bush and his war. But, his conservative Christian base is still hanging on. In the Bible, Jesus prophesized that one day there would be those who say that 'I am Christ but will reject my teachings'. This prophecy is being fulfilled here. Each conservative Christian needs to consult his conscious and compare Bush's actions with the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus Christ and reconsider his support. Rock bottom poll numbers should prompt a pullout from Iraq.

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Bush Sacrifice

Although the majority of his field generals, Congress, his dad's friends and the American people had rejected the idea, saying it wouldn't make any difference, Bush has started sending 21,500 additional troops into Iraq to escalate his bloody war. He acts as if he were a spoiled rich kid that doesn't take no for an answer and demands everything he wants. Of course, this is the case.

A person with such limited 'personal assets' would naturally be doomed to repeat his mistakes. He hasn't the capacity to think out of the box and go in a different direction. Instead, he had his speechwriters repackage the escalation of his failed modus operandi of killing off insurgents as a new idea. As a result, many of the 21,500 new troops will be killed and maimed unnecessarily.

And, once again he propagates fear to sell this folly to the American people. He warns that chaos would ensue if U.S. troops in Iraq were sent home. But, this chaos is already raging as his war morphs into civil war. Actually, Bush initiated the chaos himself back when he lied about weapons of mass destruction to justify preemptively attacking Iraq and securing the oil fields for the oil companies. Polls indicate that the Iraqis see us as occupiers, not liberators. So, the most effective thing that can be done to stem chaos is to leave.

Bush repeatedly exclaims that 'we are at war'. This is for military families and not big business. In WWII, many corporate executives became dollar-a-year men to avoid the image of profiteering from the war. Conversely, during Bush's war, CEOs are reaping head-spinning compensations of hundreds of millions of dollars. Furthermore, the practice of off-shoring good paying U.S jobs for corporate profit is still unchecked in spite of the war. Any loss of expertise, manufacturing capacity and any other weakening of the country is clearly an act of treason particularly in wartime. Consider the shameful scenario of reservists finally returning home to find that their jobs have been shipped off to China. Actually, China may become the big winner in this war when it calls in its markers for the trillions of dollars in Iraq War debt that it has covered.

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Hello 


The New Democratic Congress Must Demolish the "American Police State" that Bush Is Erecting.

It is paramount that the new Democratic Congress resists enticements from the corporate and military sectors to abandon its given mandate for "new direction" and degenerates into a mirror image of the old Republican "rubber stamp" Congress. This struggle is now being played out with anti-war Rep. John Murtha's bid to become House majority leader apposed by pro-war minority whip Rep. Steny Hoyer. Americans have voiced their demand that all of the Bush/GOP atrocities be vanquished, but particular importance is the dismantling, brick by brick, of Bush's "American police state" now under construction.

"Catastrophic Empowering Event" Initiating Bush's American Police State.

Throughout history, various politicos have utilized "Catastrophic Empowering Events" to incite their citizenry and coerce them into accepting undesirable agendas. Hitler torched the German Reichstag and blamed his opponents in a plot to eliminate them. FDR allowed the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor to thrust America into WWII. Then, there was George W. Bush and 9/11.

Back in 1998, Dick Cheney's group dubbed as the "Project for a New American Century" (Neo-Cons), which included Jeb Bush and subsequent major players in George W. Bush's administration, lobbied President Clinton and Congress to attack an already weakened Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein and build permanent U.S. bases in the oil-rich Middle East. As soon as Bush obtained the presidency in 2001, their quest for the long-sought-after Iraq War was on. But, Secretary of Defense Rumsfield bemoaned the fact that the American people probably wouldn't go for the illegal war without a "Catastrophic Empowering Event" to push it through. Then, with 'phenomenal luck', one of those events actually did happened just in the nick of time. It was as if government insiders were complicit with the 9/11 attacks so say the 'disputers' of the official story.

Disputing the Government's Official 9/11 Story

The official 9/11 account, which has been echoed throughout the mainstream media, is full of impossibilities and improbabilities according to the 'disputers'. The Bush administration claimed it had no prior warnings. However, the 'disputers' ask why then was Attorney General Ashcroft urged to stop using commercial flights and go private and why was there a 1200% increase in orders to sell-short airline stocks during the week before 9/11. Professional pilots have commented that they themselves couldn't fly the complex, computerized 757's without extensive specialized training and practice and that it was certainly impossible for foreign terrorists with nothing more than some flight lessons for small private aircraft to perform the flight maneuvers of 9/11. With Vice President Cheney controlling NORAD on 9/11, the 'disputers' believe that insider complicity was necessary for the terrorists to hit at a time the air force was in stand-down mode for war games simulating what was actually happening for real as well as the terrorists' hijacked planes going unfettered for over an hour without interception.

The 'disputers' say the facts don't support the government's official 9/11 story that the WTC towers collapsed because their steel super structures were softened by the jet fuel fires resulting from the plane crashes. Instead, the 'disputers' cite evidence that points to controlled-explosive demolitions set by government insiders as the real cause.

• If the government's story were true, the towers would have to bare the ignominy of being the only steel framed buildings in the world ever felled by fire.
• There is quite a distinction between the 2700 degrees (F) steel melting point and the 1800 degrees (F) at which jet fuel burns. The case for fire is further discredited because significant proportions of the fuel exploded outside the buildings and fireproofing covered the steel beams.
• The North Tower burned only for 1 hour and 43 minuets and the South Tower for only 56 minuets before collapsing. In contrast, Philadelphia's Meridian Plaza in 1991 remained standing after eight of its floors burned for nineteen hours with a hot fire.
• Experts say the towers' collapse had all the earmarks of controlled-explosive demolition as confirmed by on-the-scene first-response teams reporting hearing sounds of explosions, seeing ascending spirals of flashes going around the buildings and massive horizontal plumes of pulverized cement dust and other debris shooting out the sides of the buildings. (Only high explosives can pulverize cement into dust.)
• All the world watched as the North Tower only took 8.1 seconds and the South Tower took only 10.4 seconds to smoothly cascade straight down to their footprints. Obstructions (such as the floors below) would normally cause a slow, erratic fall with debris spewing every which way. So, the towers' picture-perfect falls were a good indication that a series of coordinated explosions from pre-positioned demolition charges cleared the way down. Incidentally, the Bush family through Marvin Bush has been in charge of WTC security since immediately after the 1993 failed terrorist bombing.
• The towers' huge beams just happened to be cut up in thirty-foot lengths, a perfect fit for the flatbed trucks that quickly whisked away debris to shipping points out of the country preventing a full-scale investigation. However, BYU physicist Dr. Steven Jones did managed to analyze some WTC physical samples and discovered the presence of Thermate, a substance, which is used in military demolition explosives for cutting steel. Incidentally, its yellow residue is clearly visible on shattered beams in Ground Zero photos.
• Also, there were goofs. A premature explosion with smoke and damage was observed in one of the basements prior to the plane hit. The NorthTower was the first hit, but the second to fall. A billfold in perfect condition attributed to terrorist Atta was found in the rubble implying a bumbled attempt to plant phony evidence.

The above was just a small portion of the extensive and extraordinary evidence maintained by the growing ranks of Americans disputing the government's official 9/11 story. This evidence is made up of hard facts, not conspiracy theories as characterized by government apologists, and must be truly investigated by the new Democratic Congress.

Bush's "Reform Movement" Exploiting Terrorism

Even before his 9/11 "Empowering Event" occurred, Bush started his "reform movement" (as Republicans call it) to increase his powers and turn America's free, open society with equality for all into a corporate, fascist dictatorship with a rich ruling class and an oppressed, poor working class. His first move was to start building a 'big brother' style system of severe surveillance upon Americans. As soon as he obtained the presidency in January 2001, Bush ordered the National Security Agency in the Pentagon to launch an illegal domestic spy program. But, after his 9/11 "Empowering Event" and with the benefit of terrorism as an excuse he was able to make huge strides in grabbing power, creating his imperial presidency and destroying the federal government's system of checks and balances established by the founding fathers.

• In just 45 days after 9/11 and without debate, Congress while under pressure passed the 2001 Patriot Act without prior access to the 2,200 page document before voting. The Bill of Rights, with the guarantee of free speech, peaceable assembly and security in one's person, papers and effects, became a mere list of privileges that the government could take away at any time. The Patriot Act also cancelled the rights to due process and a prompt and public trial and protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The federal government could now freely wiretap phones, enter homes and perform search and seizure without warrants as well as indefinitely detain citizens without charge.
• The 2002 Homeland Security Act was passed by a Congress again prohibited from seeing the 550-page bill before voting. The Department of Homeland Security was created as an intelligence gathering operation in which 22 federal agencies and their databases were merged to mostly spy on American citizens.
• In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security sent a memo to police departments through out the U.S. with orders to watch the masses for body language and to look out for anyone showing arrogance or expressing opposition for decisions of the government. It's no surprise that antiwar protestors nation-wide have said that they are being watched and harassed by police.
• In 2005, The Department of Homeland Security enlisted more than 50 corporations including Microsoft, Oracle and Verizon to watch and track the activities of Americans. The department's "Dataveillance" system is collecting copious information on all U.S. citizens of their patterns of behavior to assess motives and intentions.
• The Department of Homeland Security is now opening private mail and forcing Internet providers to overhaul their computer networks to make it easier for monitoring E-mail. Also, it has pressured Yahoo, Google and the like to turn over their databases in order to see what websites citizens are visiting.
• The Department of Homeland Security has hired General Yevgeni Primakov, Ex-head of the Soviet Secret Service (KGB) and Markus Wolfe, ex-boss of the East German State Security Police (STASI).
• The 2004 Intelligence Reform Act was passed by Congress while being denied access to some sections classified "top Secret" in the 3,000 page bill. The act created the Department of National Intelligence as a clearing-house for all 15 U.S. intelligence agencies. It mandated a counter-terrorism center, spy satellite network to monitor private communications and standardizing state drivers licenses and birth certificates creating a national ID system. There is talk of eventually implanting signal-sending ID chips under the skin of all Americans to be tracked by satellite.
• In June 2005, the National Security Service, a secret police unit to be operated by the White House with no Congressional oversight was created by George W. Bush by placing a portion of the FBI under his personal control.
• In October 2005, the National Clandestine Service a new department in the CIA was created by a Bush executive order to engage in covert operations within the United States.
• The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (dubbed the torture act) does away with habeas corpus. Anyone specified by the executive branch alone, could be arrested and held indefinitely without trial, access to the courts, and hope of appeal. Anyone could be declared an "enemy combatant" and then permanently detained and tortured, as defined by the Geneva Conventions, solely on the word of the president. It allows civilians to be tried by military tribunals instead of civilian courts and permits the use of evidence against them extracted under cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. All legal residents of the U.S. and foreign citizens living in their own countries could be subject to this law. Also, it provides for a "stealth pardon" for war crimes committed by those who allow the torture and abuse of detainees, such as in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Bush/Republican anti-terrorism measures have far exceeded the scope of protection from terrorists and have unnecessarily advanced into grabbing power and slashing civil liberties, which appears to be their true purpose in the first place. The American electorate has demanded that the new Democratic Congress restores the balance of powers in the federal government and firmly reinstates our Constitutional civil liberties.

Other affronts to our liberties as part of his "reform movement" include Bush twice taking the White House with the help of Republican vote fraud. Among other infractions in election year 2000, thousands of voters sharing the surnames of black convicts were removed from voter registration rolls in Florida. In 2004, the wide variances between some exit polls and the 'official' counts in favor of Bush were declared by experts to be statistically impossible. Also, Bush has expanded his powers by persistently using his Constitutional prerogative of 'signings', which are statements added to Congressionally passed bills to the effect that he personally isn't bound by them as he pens his signature. Furthermore, major telecommunication corporations have bribed Congress to do away with the Internet law of 'net-neutrality' to eliminate free speech on the Internet and shut down the online alternative news-sites critical of Bush and the Republicans. American voters insist that the new Democratic Congress investigates and outlaws the various means of election fraud such as hackable, paperless computer voting machines and maintains free speech on the Internet by supporting 'net-neutrality'.

Martial Law

To where is all the above leading? It would appear that the Bush administration is preparing for martial law. Bush has signed executive orders giving himself sole authority to impose martial law and suspend habeas corpus with no checks and balances during a national emergency. The Pentagon has ordered U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base to prepare a series of secret strategies for rapid military takeover of the U.S. upon Bush's orders. General Tommy Franks said in 2003 that after a major casualty-producing event in the Western world, Americans would "question our own Constitution" and consent to militarization of the United States for security. Homeland Security gave Halliburton a $385 million dollar contract to construct detention facilities around the country supposedly for a national emergency. Remember, Bush's predilection for interment camps was demonstrated during the 2004 Republican Convention when 1,806 protestors were rounded up, imprisoned without charges and kept in filthy conditions for 24 hours or more. The American electorate opposes martial law and demands that the new Democratic Congress rejects it.

"North American Union"

Bush isn't content with just turning the United States alone into a dictatorship. In March 2005, He emerged from a meeting at Baylor University with Mexican President Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Martin and announced that the North American continent was in the process of being transformed from three sovereign nations into one super regional political and economic entity dubbed the "North American Union". As early as 2010, boundaries will be redefined so immigration control will be around the three countries and not between them and legitimate traffic can be streamlined across their borders. Soon, a non-elected governance board for the "North American Union" will be formed along with a tribunal with supremacy over the U.S. Supreme Court and a customs and immigration service with authority over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the 'DHS'. Public discourse as well as a vote within each nation as to the will of the people has been disallowed. The formation of the "North American Union" has been under wraps with 'mums' the word from the mainstream media. Thus, very few Americans know about it. Even Congressional requests for information have been denied. The driving forces are military and corporate (Eisenhower's military-industrial complex) and their goal is to create an enormous despotic police state not for the benefit of the people but their self-serving pursuit of extreme greed and power. They will use anti-terrorism as the ruse and strip civil liberties from citizens to squash dissent. Americans clearly desire the continued existence of the democratic USA for themselves, their children, grandchildren and all their future prodigy and insist that the new Democratic Congress squashes Bush's fascist "North American Union".

Maintain A Backbone

The American electorate has handed a mandate to the new Democratic Congress. We are opposed to Bush's "staying the course" in Iraq and instead want quickly out of his illegal bloody war. Also, we are fed up with Bush's "cut and run" at-home agenda of power grabs and assaults on the Constitution and Bill of Rights under the guise of anti-terrorism. Actually, by slashing our liberties and building a police state, he only hands over victory to the terrorists because, as he says, "they hate our freedoms". We Americans have told Democrats that we don't want to live under the yoke of tyranny and insist they stand strong together as an entrenched unit protecting our free way of life against the corruptive influences of self-serving corporate and military interests.

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Republican Voters: Accomplices In the Bloody Iraq War and Other GOP/Bush Atrocities

A major issue considered by historians has been to whom does retribution belong, evil despots and their henchmen alone or their countrymen that put them into power as well? Was Hitler to blame for the horrors of the Third Reich or did the blame go to the German people of his era who allowed him to ascend to power? Historians generally gave the nod to the people.

And, so it is today. All Republican voters consequently share the blood of slain and maimed young American soldiers dripping from the hands of George W. Bush and his Congressional allies that they put into office. These voters cannot escape the guilt of Bush's unnecessary, never-to-end, illegal preemptive Iraq War that was ill conceived and executed as well as hyped by a pack of lies about "weapons of mass destruction". Furthermore, these delusional voters are inadvertently responsible for the poor care and treatment of our troops by Bush's military such as the ravaging health effects from deploying "depleted uranium weapons", shortage of top quality body armor and armored vehicles, not providing enough potable water and food, as well as extending stays of duty in Iraq.

Republican voters are partners in corruption as each of their votes represents an "OK" for the many Republican scandals such as Senator Trent Lott's bigotry, Senator Tom Delay's campaign finance scam, Senate Leader Bill Frist's insider stock trading, super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff bribing Republicans in Congress, Cheney aide Scooter Libby's CIA agent leak, Congressman Tom Foley's pedophilia, and Speaker Dennis Hastert's subsequent cover-up.

Republican voters are also unwitting collaborators and enablers of other atrocities by Bush and his Congressional allies including their Republican "reform movement". They have resoundly sided with corporate interests thereby undercutting working Americans. While enriching their very wealthy constituency, they have cut social programs for the needy including ones for veterans. Bush and his Congressional allies have bankrupted the country with their unprecedented astronomical national deficit putting us in hock with China and other foreign countries. Using anti-terrorism as a pretense, they have passed the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act and the Military Commissions Act, which have done away with most of our Constitutional liberties. They are well on the way to transforming America's free open society into a corporate/military fascist dictatorship. Furthermore, Bush has announced the on-going development of the "North American Union" that would do away with the United States and enjoin its territory with that of Canada and Mexico to form a super regional political and economic entity to be ruled by a non-elected governance board.

It is not surprising that many regular Republican voters are now expressing regret for their past votes and are offering apologies. They personally sense history's retribution for the above Republican horrors. Bush's Republican Congressional allies and their "reform movement" must be rejected at the polls this midterm election.

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Republicans Aren't the 'Good Christians' They Say They Are.

With eighty-five percent of Americans identifying themselves as Christian, today's Republican Party has found it politically advantages to portray itself as the 'party of Christian values'. Republicans attributed their 2004 victory to voters favoring them for their self-proclaimed religious principles over the Democrats, which they have labeled as secular, loose-living liberals.

But, hold on here, there's a big contradiction between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the actions of the Republican controlled US government engaged in slaughter and torture in a pre-emptive war brought on with lies. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, love our enemies, and not to punish and retaliate. Jesus was nonviolent; he healed people and raised them from the dead rather than engage in maiming and killing as the 'Christian' Republicans have done in the Middle East. So, who's lying, Jesus Christ or the Republicans? What are we to do, throw out our Bibles or vote out the Republicans?

The Republican Party procured its 'Christian' tag by currying favor from groups of religious/political extremists collectively known as the Religious Right. Republican politicians scrapped the separation of church and state and supported the inclusion of religious symbols and practices where they didn't belong. Public praying in schools, displaying the Ten Commandments on government sites and preserving the phrase 'in God we trust' as part of the pledge have become political and not religious causes. Republican politicians cherry-picked Biblical edicts and twisted them into their own negative versions. The Bible rebuked homosexuality, so Republican politicians treated gays with hatred and bigotry. The Bible says 'thou shall not kill', so they scuttled vital stem cell research and criminalized abortion while cutting aid to raise children. And, they conveniently left unmentioned Biblical edicts decidedly un-Republican such as Christ's admonishment for hoarding wealth and decree to give to the poor.

The 'party of Christian values' has come off as the 'party of hypocrites' when their very visible spokespersons were not banished for publicly flaunting aberrant personal behavior. Rush Limbaugh, an Oxycoten addict charged with prescription fraud, was recently caught possessing Viagra obtained with an irregular prescription. What's a divorced man doing with Viagra? And, Bill O' Reilly of Fox News paid millions to squash a sexual harassment suit while the good Reverend Pat Robertson on his TV show called for the assignation of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

It's shocking, but there has been quite a bit of deviant behavior prevailing throughout the rank and file of today's Republican politicians. They have taken on the holier-than-thou stance of the Religious Right and preached about their superior morals while personally engaging in corrupt, immoral and illegal activities. For example, a Republican judge was sentenced to 10-years probation for fondling a 10-year old girl. A Republican Party leader was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy. A Republican Mayor is serving 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls. (To see an extensive list, go to http://www.armchairsubversive.com/ .)

It wasn't always this way. During the latter half of the 19th century, the Republican Party did good things and supported high ideals. For example, Congressional Republicans passed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which outlawed slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law and secured voting rights for African-Americans. In the past, the Republican Party's core principles included good things such as fiscal responsibility, small government, keeping the government out of people's private lives, traditional family values and government serving the people and not the reverse. Furthermore, today's Republican politicians try to claim it's still true today. But, in truth, by the 1980's there had been a full-face reversal, not just a gradual evolution, of these ideals as the Republican Party detached itself from most of its own history and moved away from its traditional supporters. This dramatic change occurred when ruthless, self -serving politicians of a lower character took over. Corrupted, mean-spirited and hate-spewing opportunists now run the Republican Party. They revolve to and from the big-money corporate world with no goals beyond being elected and re-elected to grab the power and wealth it brings. (Haley Barbour, former RNC chairman turned tobacco lobbyist)

It is clear that today's Republican Party is definitely not what it says it is. So, we need to examine some honest-to-God real values that Republican politicians hold dear.

The Care and Feeding of the Super Wealthy:

The Republican Party has had one overriding goal: promoting the interests of wealthy Americans even if it hurts working folks and bankrupts the nation. Republicans have shown their preference for wealth over work, inheritance over initiative, and privilege over productivity. The latest Republican budget cut $50 billion from the sick and poor and added $106 billion in tax cuts for the rich (Reverse Robin Hood). They even cut funding for benefits for military families and veterans including health care and disability compensation for the sake of the tax cuts. It is no surprise that the income gap between the top 1% and the bottom 2/5ths has continued to grow.

Right Wing Extremism:

Republican conservatism has morphed into right wing extremism. Extremists now control the Republican Party and have redefined it as a bigoted, hateful and intolerant party. The Religious Right faction wants to scuttle the Constitution and transform America into a theocracy. The corporate faction wants to scuttle the Constitution and set up a fascist corporate dictatorship. Individuality and dissent have become intolerable. Bush says, "It's my way or no way." Cindy Sheehan is manhandled out of the Congress and arrested for wearing a peace T-shirt.

Dividing Americans:

Republican operatives have become tremendously skilled at using emotionally charged 'wedge issues' such as abortion, gay marriage and flag burning to polarize Americans into opposing camps. Certain issues seem to naturally initiate emotional, knee-jerk reactions and bypass reasonable thoughtful discussion. Republican leaders could care less about the meanings of these issues, but love them dearly because of their power to distract voters from hurtful Republican pursuits such as making the wealthy wealthier, increasing our national debt, dismantling the Constitution, and taking away government social services.

Deficit Spending and Trickle Down Economics:

Republicans have long claimed that they were the party of fiscal responsibility and routinely charged their rivals as being 'tax and spend Democrats' in order to discredit their welfare programs. In truth, however, recent Republican presidents have been the really big spenders topped by George W. Bush with his rubberstamp Republican Congress. He followed Clinton's almost zero debt growth, raising it by 7% and increasing the deficit to an astronomical eight trillion. Bush has embraced the Republican's 'trickle down' theory with his tax cuts for the rich. However, history has repeatedly shown that the theory doesn't work; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer as does the economy. On the other hand, Democrats follow 'growth economics' in which wealth 'bubbles up' from all Americans as it did during the Clinton boom years.

Racism:

Republican leaders have employed racism as the means to elevate the Republican Party to the status of the majority party. Although their tactics were naturally unspoken, white America quickly picked up on them. Republican politicians have been successful in alluring both wealthy and working Americans. The white rich have perceived people of color as cutting into their lavish life styles through taxes for Democratic social service programs. And, the white working classes have blamed minorities for their frustration of not being able to get ahead. (Solid Republican South)

Ignorance and Lies:

The Bush administration has taken Nazi leader Josef Goebbels' 'Big Lie' technique to new heights. They have created 'Truth' by repeatedly alleging notions until accepted as gospel. "Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals." "Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush wanted Iraq for a place to build a permanent base in the oil-rich Middle East." Most notably, the Bush administration campaigned the American people and Congress for an illegal, preemptive war against Iraq with fabricated bogus intelligence of Saddam's WMDs and connection to 9/11.

Warfare:

The Iraq War was in the works as far back as 1998. At that time, the current Vice President, Sec. of Defense and other Bush 'neo-con' aides as well as brother Jeb lobbied Congress and President Clinton for a more aggressive foreign policy in which an already weakened Iraq would be conquered and colonized to become a sphere of U.S. military dominance with four U.S. bases in the oil-rich Middle East. The war was discussed during Bush's first days in office at which time Rumsfield declared that a Pearl Harbor was needed to sell it to the American people. Then, just by eerie coincidence, the World Trade Center was struck by planes and subsequently felled by somebody so that terrorism could become the subterfuge for the long sought-after war. Now, Bush is risking setting afire all of the Middle East by his passive toleration of the Israeli/Hizballah conflict.

Corruption:

Corporate corruption has spilled over into the Republican Party. Corporate campaign financing has put ruthless politicians in control of the government, so corporations could control the government and not the other way around. Examples include House leader Tom Delay's garnering Illegal contributions and Senate leader Bill Frist being accused of insider stock trading. There were the no-bid contacts to war profiteer Halliburton formally headed by V.P. Cheney. Under his leadership, the company was accused of accounting irregularities, violations to UN embargoes by trading with Saddam and hundreds of millions in bribes to Nigerian officials. Bush covered for the intentionally created California electric energy crisis and the Enron frauds. There occurred Republican Party election fraud in Florida, Ohio and elsewhere that stole two elections for Bush. Our lack of universal health care, the Iraq War, the faulty election processes, etc. were all caused by excessive corporate control of American politics.

Corporate Profiteering and Globalization:

A major mission of the Bush administration and Republican controlled Congress has been to deregulate and increase profits of the corporate sector, and in this pursuit they have undercut working Americans. They have accomplished a whole litany of items on the corporate wish list. For example, they eliminated the 40-hour workweek with overtime protection for many Americans, killed job safety regulations and lowered pollution standards. They have forsaken democracy, sovereignty and the future of the U.S. by giving tax breaks to companies for off-shoring good American jobs. Recently, Bush took globalization to a new level by signing an agreement to form the 'North American Union'. This 'New World Order' scheme would mesh together Canada, the United States and Mexico into a super-regional political and economic entity. In this agreement, boundaries would be redefined, low-risk traffic across the borders would be streamlined, a super-regional governance board would be formed by 2010 and the Dollar would be replaced with the Amero.

The election this November is extremely critical. This year, we cannot treat it like a common sporting event in which we pick a team to cheer. Instead, we will be engaged in the crucial matter of determining our future fortunes. The corrupt politicians controlling the Republican Party are anti-American, global-corporatists that are moving our country towards disaster. We must vote them out of power!

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Working Americans Hit Hard by Backstabbing Republicans Controlling Congress
Warring Republicans
These disloyal Republicans are conspiring with enemy countries waging planned economic war against the United States. Working Americans are expendable cannon fodder in this war in which our economic sustainability and children's futures are at stake. Our global adversaries with the aid of their Republican foreign agents at this point have successfully crumbled the hot economy of the world's former superpower into a 'banana republic' economy.

Today's Republicans are adamant advocates of 'New World Order' one-sided, unenforceable global free trade agreements such as WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA pushed through Congress. These bought-off, cowardly Republicans are eager global corporatists that jump to the crack of the whip of a corporate world that no longer holds any allegiance to the United States and wants to grab it up. As a consequence, foreign firms are free to flood our markets with their subsidized, near-slave-labor made goods with which our industries cannot compete, forcing them to outsource or sell out. Then, the outsiders use the resulting profits to buy up our remaining industries. Even worse, these trade agreements require our government to subsidize foreign companies, already backed by their home countries, to come over here and set up large operations destroying surviving American owned corporations. Ultimately, large numbers of entire strategic U.S. industries have been outsourced and trillions of dollars of strategic U.S. assets have been transferred to foreign control.

Republican leadership has taken us to the state of inescapable near-total dependence on foreign lenders, employers and producers. The United States of America is the only large country in the world to rely on its global competitors to produce its goods and buy up its astronomical, Republican-engendered federal deficit to finance its government and military as well as keeping its economy afloat. Indeed, we are in a precarious predicament that has frightening national security cmplications.

American Dream Fading
Prospects for working Americans have plummeted since Republicans siding with corporate interests gained a stranglehold on Congress. Wages are stagnant while prices for health care, housing, tuition, gas and food have all soared. There are Americans who work two or three jobs, yet they still are unable to make ends meet. Thirty million American workers, 1 out of every 4, make less than $8.70 an hour, which is not enough to lift a family of four out of poverty. The Conference of Mayors is worried about the growing homelessness and hunger among low-income working families. But, still Republicans refuse to raise the minimum wage, despite new research proving it wouldn't at all hurt business or consumers.

Our largest companies that in past years used to be high-wage, unionized industrials are today low-wage, nonunion retailers. Most job growth is now in low-end occupations such as retail, health care, food services, and temp agencies; but they pay 21% less and offer fewer benefits than the good lost jobs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the wealth of the richest one percent has grown 109% from 1983 to 2001, while the bottom two-fifths fell 46%. To make matters worse, new government data shows that Republican tax cuts have shifted the overall tax burden to the middle class from the wealthiest Americans. And, 8 million workers have been robbed of their overtime pay by being reclassified as executives due to new work rules created by Republicans to protect corporate profits.

The U.S. labor picture is dismal. The supply of jobless workers is vast and growing and official government reports are skewed and cover only a small measure of true surplus labor. Furthermore, outsourcing U.S. jobs abroad taps into the surplus labor in near-slave-wage nations to become an effective part of joblessness here. Employers are getting away with paying such low wages because the labor supply is greater than the job market. The Economic Policy Institute says corporate profits have risen by more than 62% while workers' take home pay has dropped by 0.6% and CEO pay has exploded by 27% in one year.

Republican Slanted Priorities
Republicans in Congress blindly pass budget bills that put corporate interests first and working American interests last. In the past year, Republicans gave away $22 billion to HMOs and $14.6 billion to energy companies, which will add trillions of dollars to the record deficit over the next 10 years. On the other hand, they cut $12.7 billion from student aid, $39.7 billion from Medicare over the next five years, $1.6 billion from child support enforcement and $2.2 billion from the Department of Education for 2007. They also cut every job training program in the Department of Labor, and made cuts to social services programs in the Department of Health and Human Services for a total of $45.3 billion for the next five years. Incredibly, Republicans cut funding for appropriated programs for veterans by $6 billion below the level that the CBO estimates is needed to maintain current services as well as increasing their healthcare fees. And, al-Qaeda must be pleased with the Republicans' cut to Homeland Security by $6.1 billion below the present level.

Bush Rubberstamp
Congressional Republicans have grossly shirked their Constitutional duty of serving as a check and balance to the power of the president allowing him to act as if he were above the law. Without debate, they have blindly rushed through the Bush agenda which is typically the same as their own, pro-corporate and anti-worker. At the top of the list, they uncritically went for Bush's lies calling for his war in Iraq. Furthermore, the Republicans seemed to be wearings blinders concerning this war for they have done nothing about the missing billions lost to corruption, no-bid contracts and theft. And, they have ignored widespread prisoner abuse resulting from White House and Pentagon policies, citing critics for aiding terrorism. Don't forget their own members' corruption such as Tom Delay garnering illegal campaign contributions.

Other Bush policies that Republicans rammed through Congress include the bankruptcy reform bill that is a boon to the already enormously profitable credit card industry because it handicaps the ability of indebted folks to file for Chapter 7. They passed into law the Bush/Cheney energy plan that grants billions in tax breaks to the extraordinarily rich oil companies and does almost nothing to cut foreign oil dependence, promote renewable energy and counter global warming. They passed tort reform, limiting litigated payouts to $250,000, even though jury awards account for less than one percent of total health care costs. The Republicans slipped in a highway bill larded with wasteful projects, the Central American Free Trade Agreement throwing still more Americans out of work, a reauthorization of the Patriot Act gutting our Constitution and a telecommunications bill minus 'Net Neutrality' allowing for corporate takeover of the internet.

Vote this November
These Republican laws were bought and paid for by the defense industry, banks, oil companies and other multinational corporations. This November, voters must kick the Republicans out of power in Congress or we will be in danger of losing our democracy and living under total corporate rule.

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Bush Envisions an Era of American War

Our Heroic Soldiers' Selfless Sacrifice

The wages of Bush's Iraq War can be found not only in grieving hearts and cemeteries, but also in the wards of Walter Reed and other U.S. military hospitals. There, thousands of wounded American soldiers from Iraq pass through for a respite on their way back to civilian life. But, it can't be normal life as affirmed by the all the terribly broken bodies with stumps, missing limbs and mangled faces. Soldiers wrapped in blood soaked bandages keep their eyes covered in agony, soldiers who will never walk again are frustrated with their state of constant dependence and soldiers with leg braces and neck supports struggle to take a few stumbling steps. They have just cheated death, but many will never be done fighting Bush's war because their situation will be for a lifetime.

This degree of sacrifice is only justified in the defense of country and not for any other presidential agenda. Unfortunately, that is not the case here considering that Bush used fabricated, bogus "intelligence" to make his case for war.

Tribulation of the Innocent

Thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians also have been hit with the same carnage, as they became collateral damage in Bush's war to topple one man. But, unlike the American wounded, Iraqis can find little care from their war-torn hospitals because they have no medicines, no services, no sheets or pillows, no beds, no nurses and no ambulances. Life in Iraq is dire with its ravaged infrastructure and ruined social system. Citizens cannot walk freely in the streets, food rations are essential and unemployment is at 70 percent. In this land drenched in oil, fuel shortages have raised the cost of food. Restaurant owner, Qassim Abdul Hamed, said that there is no recourse to the law anymore. He cannot say a word as he is forced to serve free meals to the Iraqi police because they have guns. His 22-year-old waitress, Munaim Abid Hassan, said she is working her one job here to feed 12 people in her family. Hassan went on to say, "We used to love the American people, but not any more. Hatred is spreading all over now, and everyone wants revenge on them. Bush is bringing disasters to the people of your own country, not only to Iraqis."

Entrenched Encampment

Despite the fact our presence in Iraq is a source of instability and anger of the Iraqi people and a powerful recruitment tool for the Iraqi insurgency, Bush is digging in for the long haul. Giant defense contractor KBR has been granted various Pentagon contracts, the latest of which worth $8.5 Billion, and is everywhere transforming decrepit Iraqi military bases into fortified American enclaves, complete with Pizza Huts, Burger Kings and DVD stores. KBR has extended runways, built hangers and erected a permanent military microwave and fiber-optic communication system. Also, reportedly they have been constructing up to 14 enduring bases that represent long-term encampments, or small American cities, that could house as many as 100,000 troops indefinitely.

In May 2005 the Washington Post reported that eventually American troops in Iraq would be consolidated into four large air bases. Plans are to construct long-lasting facilities with concrete block that can withstand direct mortar attack. These bases would act as fortified strategic hubs from which logistical support and emergency combat assistance could be launched.

So, how long will we be mired in Iraq? Rumsfeld said four more years. Retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni said at least ten more years. Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski said the neoconservative architects of the Iraq invasion definitely foresaw a permanent large-scale presence for protecting Israel and as launch pads for operations in Syria and Iran. In other words, the real agenda here is to turn Iraq into a permanent base of operations in the Middle East.

The "Long War" Declared

Back in February of this year, the Bush administration renamed its "GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR" to the "LONG WAR". In its quadrennial defense review to Congress, the Pentagon claimed the threat from worldwide Islamic militancy has escalated to a "generational" time frame requiring a large-scale war of long duration fought on many fronts, hence the name change. However, the Bush administration failed to admit that it was they themselves who started this thing they cannot finish with their preemptive invasion and unrelenting occupation of Iraq, which has proven to be a catalyst for terrorist acts and recruitment.

Gone is talk of swift victories. Rumsfeld suggested that western democracies should envision themselves embroiled in a life or death struggle comparable to those against fascism and communism. And, of course, the Pentagon proposed a whopping 2007-defense budget of more than $550 Billion to equip the U.S. military and its allies for Bush's "LONG WAR".

Conditioning America with Fabricated Fear

Bush's biggest battle will be how to make the case that his "LONG WAR" is necessary and how to get Americans used to the idea of fighting a war that won't end in their lifetimes. He usually presses his agenda with fear mongering. For example, when he starts to get some serious flack, Bush will air an audiotape purportedly of Osama bin Laden threatening some new act of terrorism in order to line up the public in his direction. However, America's top bin Laden expert, Professor Bruce Lawrence who is head of Duke University's Religious Studies department and who recently published a book of translations of bin Laden speeches, says these tapes are bogus even though they are regularly certified by the CIA, the probable producer. Lawrence said the last we seen of the real bin Laden came in his 2001 post-9/11 statements to Pakistani journalists in which he insisted that he had no involvement in the U.S. attacks. The next video was of an obvious bin Laden imitator, 50 pounds too heavy with different features, claiming responsibility for 9/11 this time. The biased U.S. press gave it a pass even though it evoked widespread hilarity, which is probably why only audiotape has been used since and no new image of bin Laden has ever surfaced again. In fact, Professor Lawrence believes that bin Laden has been dead since 2001, but is still used as a boogieman in Bush's phony war on terror.

The Real Terror - Disappearing Oil and the Worthless Dollar

Bush's real boogieman is 'peak oil'. We are now within the range of the maximum extraction rate of the world's remaining, non-replaceable oil supply. Beyond this peak extraction rate, there will be a steady decline of reserves, making oil ever more valuable and expensive. To further exacerbate this crisis, the demand for oil from third world nations is increasing exponentially as they industrialize, driving the price of oil up to new heights.

A real terror in Bush's "war on terror" is the end of cheap oil because it means the collapse of not only the U.S. economy, but also the world's economy as well. That is why oilmen in high places in Bush's administration orchestrated 9/11, the new Pearl Harbor. They needed to get the American people to back the invasions of Afghanistan then Iraq and eventually accept Bush's "LONG WAR" that won't end in their lifetimes (WWIII). Bush will never leave Iraq and is turning it into a base of operations to control the oil reserves in the Middle East and Central Asia, thus halting the political rise of China and India and ensuring a "new American century" of unchallenged profit and privilege.

Another real terror is that the U.S. dollar is utterly worthless. It is underwritten by a national debt that now exceeds $8 trillion resulting from Bush's wars and tax breaks as well as a trade deficit that exceeds $600 billion per year resulting from Bush's support of unfair "free" trade. Berkshire-Hathaway chief, Warren Buffett, recently noted that the rest of the world owns $3 trillion more of us than we own of them. " In my view, it will create political turmoil pretty soon."

Soon Iran

The only thing that keeps the greenback afloat is that oil is traded in U.S. dollars exclusively. But, on March 20 the Iran Bourse will formally open and allow countries to break this monopoly of the U.S. dollar. The central banks across Europe and Asia will trade part of their stockpiles of U.S. dollars for euros. There will be a global sell-off of the debt-ridden dollar. And, this worthless paper will come flooding back to the U.S. sending markets crashing and the U.S. economy into a downward spiral.

It is no surprise that step-by-step Iran has been set up for war. Bush will undo the Iran Bourse not by occupying all of Iran with his over-extended military, but instead with the "Khuzestan gambit". Under the pretext of disarming Iran's nuclear program he will bomb major military installations and weapons-sites, secure the sensitive Straits of Hormuz and cut off the Iranian military's oil supply by occupying the Khuzestan province, a sliver of land on the Iraqi border that contains 90% of Iran's prodigious oil wealth. U.S. control of the massive oil fields of both Iraq and Iran will force the oil-dependant countries such as China, Japan and India to continue to stockpile our greenbacks, insuring that the system of trading worthless dollars for valuable commodities, labor and resources will continue.

Vote this November

The determination to consolidate the oil reserves in the Caspian Basin was made more than a decade ago by Vice President Cheney's "neocon" Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and is articulated in its policy papers. If you want to stop the warring ways of George Bush and the White House "neocons" and avoid their "LONG WAR" you need to vote against all candidates that support them this November.

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Bush/GOP Supporters and the Phenomenon of Delusion

George W's poll numbers are tumbling as more and more Americans are seeing through his lies and are shaking off their blindness to the devastation he and his Republican co-conspirators are bringing down upon our great republic and our personal lives. It is a gleam of clarity for these millions of Americans, an experience liken to seeing flashed across their TV screens the images of destruction wrought by hurricane Katrina.

They have become fed up with the shameful Bush/GOP legacy: Elections stolen by dirty tricks, unanswered 9/11 anomalies, Patriot Act obliterating parts of the Constitution, fabricating bogus intelligence to sell the illegal preemptive Iraq War, thousands of American soldiers unnecessarily killed and maimed, Osama bin Laden still at large, stratospheric national debt putting us in hock with China so the GOP wealthy base could have a big tax break, $45 Billion cut from social programs, cutting aid to veterans, shorting supplies to the troops while fattening the coffers of corporate war profiteers, acting as if above the law and so on.

It has become clear to these Americans that the Bush/GOP regime is not about conventional politics. Instead, various GOP politicians arrogantly speak freely of their 'movement' and their 'new wind blowing across America'. In truth, they are talking about crushing democracy, trashing the Constitution, eliminating checks and balances, and limiting the American dream to the top tier. They want to turn America into a Fascist state, in which the corporate sector and the very wealthy grab all the power and wealth of the nation, becoming the governing class, while relegating impoverished and expendable rank and file Americans to virtual serfdom.

In spite of the enlightenment of the millions now disapproving Bush, there are still many good Americans tenaciously supporting the lawless Bush/GOP regime. For example fervent anti-abortionists continue to endorse Bush in spite of all his baby killing in Iraq. Apparently, it's wrong to kill (abort) American babies, but it's OK to kill Iraqi babies. What is the psychology behind this illogical mind twisting that keeps these folks in such a state of delusion?

First, the overwhelming ignorance of the facts is a primary factor in this collective psychosis. The facts simply are not being accurately reported in the media. In addition, a lack of desire to know the real facts, and avoiding the responsibilities that come with knowing exacerbates the disorder. (The Downing Street 'smoking gun' memo: "The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy of removing Saddam, through military action, justified by claims of terrorism and WMD's".)

We face a conspiracy of silence from the biased mainstream media, which is very much part of the corporate sector. They are running a propaganda campaign championing the pro-corporate Bush/GOP regime as well as censoring reports of its crimes in the media's ever diligence to not offend their corporate advertisers. For people who form their beliefs on discourse from this source, it is inevitable that at least half of everything they think is wrong. The media lies about facts relating to specific situations, both current and historical, including 9/11. The lies have become so pervasive that they are no longer obvious. (right wing talk radio, Rush Limbaugh)

The size of the lie determines its chances of being accepted by the public. Hitler said, "The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one." (unanswered 9/11 anomalies)

Censorship, brainwashing and intimidation from the media create an environment of passivity and fear in subtle yet powerful ways that keep the delusions going with the complicity of those being deceived. (fabricating bogus intelligence)

Described below are some psychological phenomena, very much useful to the Bush/GOP regime, which enable their lies, crimes and treasons to go unnoticed and unchallenged. Many people accept being deluded for reasons that may be conscious or unconscious.

Disbelief

• Many people won't believe alternatives to the official story because they didn't read about it in the New York Times or hear it on CNN. (unanswered 9/11 anomalies)
• Denial is widespread when the enormity of a situation is so unprecedented that people lack past experience to base acceptance. For example, many European Jews failed to recognize their impending extermination. To quote an old German adage: 'Things whose existence is not morally possible cannot exist.' (Bush stealing the 2000 and 2004 elections)
• Many people are 'mystified' when a plausible misrepresentation of reality in which forms of exploitation are presented as forms of benevolence. (Bush's 'Clean Air Act' increasing pollution) (Bush's 'Save Our Forests Act' permitting logging in national forests) (Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security)

Conformity and Herd Mentality

• 'Unity' in a community comes as the phenomenon of 'One Mind' develops.
• 'One Mind' is each individual in a community aligning their thoughts with what the other members are thinking. This occurrence is motivated by the sense of comfort it provides.
• It can be described as collective hypnotic induction, which creates an illusion of a consensus that is hard to challenge.
• Many people lead their lives enslaved by artificial belief systems imposed by others. The few that are courageously critical are not heard, or else they are severely shamed, ridiculed and viciously accused of causing problems. (thousands of American soldiers unnecessarily killed and maimed)

Learned Helplessness

• Psychologist Martin Seligman's theory of 'Learned Helplessness' explains how when one's repeated actions have no effect, people learn that what they do doesn't make a difference and give up, even in situations where they can potentially make a difference. (Bush stealing the 2000 and 2004 elections)

Cowardice

• The thought of challenging powerful, dominating authority with the prospect of losing is overwhelming. It is too big for most individuals at this level. This fear becomes part of the problem and rewards domination.
• As long as people remain silent and isolated from one another, they don't realize the protection of collective action - safety in numbers.
• 'The Passive Bystander Effect' (psychologist Stanley Cohen) Individuals wait for someone else to act and diffuse their personal responsibility into the collective responsibility of the group. Also, the larger the group the lower is the likelihood that any individual person will spontaneously take action himself.
• More information alone is unlikely spur action. People need the social support and the validation of others. They will not accept the reality of the problem unless they see others engaging in emotionally charged debate, protest, and meaningful, visible alternatives. (The alternative media)(Air America)(Impeachment efforts by a few in Congress)

Denial and Psychic Numbing

• It is frightening, unsettling, and intolerable for many Americans to question these core beliefs about our leaders and to accept the reality of extensive fraud. Also, ignorance is bliss, but for the moment, and knowledge implies responsibility, which may be feared and avoided. (Bush stealing the 2000 and 2004 elections) (Bush's AWOL from the National Guard and cocaine use)

Avoidance and Compartmentalization

• People want to retreat, to focus on their own survival, family, daily life and pleasure, which are manageable.
• Stanley Cohen in his book States of Denial wrote that the capacity to deny particular levels of awareness is the normal state of affairs for people in an information-saturated society. In order to deny the moral implications of something it is necessary at some level to recognize its existence. It is a state of simultaneous 'knowing and not-knowing'. (Bush's reluctance to accept Global Warming)

The delusions of normalcy created by these avoidance mechanisms in the short run minimize pain. But, in the long run they result in a 'Spiral of Silence' (Elizabeth Noelle Neumann) that plays right into the hands of the Bush/GOP regime in their destruction of our great republic and our personal lives.

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Underlying Republican Racism Sporadically Surfaces.

This veiled bigotry was recently betrayed by a racist slip from Republican matron Barbara Bush on NPR implying that the predominantly African-American New Orleans hurricane victims were welfare abusers after her son's administration was initially reluctant to send in federal aid resulting in unnecessary deaths and misery. George Bush eventually did send in troops however not so much for rescue, but to shield business properties from lingering residents.

Another surfacing of Republican bias was the on-air racist gaffe by GOP luminary Bill Bennett suggesting that crime reduction could be achieved by aborting more African-American fetuses.

And, a major outing of Republican racism occurred in 2002 when Senate GOP leader Trent Lott lost his post by praising 100 year old Strom Thurmond saying that if his 1948 segregationist presidential campaign were successful, "we wouldn't have had all of these problems over all of these years".

After the Democratic Party championed civil rights in the 1960's, Thurmond turned Republican, as the solid Democratic South in retribution became the solid Republican South and remains so today.

Since then, Republicans have made use of racism in their propaganda machine. Much of the hatred for their conceived enemy, the 'liberals', around which they have rallied their supporters, has been racial hatred. Look at the mileage they have gotten out of the term 'Welfare Queen'. Republican policies have made average Americans poor and have kept them down, and then they spewed hatred at them. Republicans have bristled at the thought of giving aid to down and out folks. They claimed it was bad for their character. But, as they proceeded to undercut social programs for the needy they had no qualms about giving billions in tax dollars as corporate welfare and tax breaks to their base, the wealthy. In affect, they have looted the U.S. treasury for their cronies.

Although, African-Americans have made great strides since the civil rights movement, racism remained a moving force in America. And, the effective use of it by the Republican Party partially explained the success of George Bush and other GOP candidates and the public's acquiescence to their devastating agenda.

Where's the outrage over Bush's lies to con the nation into an illegal never-ending war in Iraq causing the unnecessary death and maiming of thousands of American soldiers and making us more susceptible to terrorism? Where's the outrage over Bush's cutting aid to military families and veterans and coming up short with vital equipment for the troops in his war? Where's the outrage over Bush's unprecedented, stratospheric federal deficit that has put us in hock to China? And, where's the outrage over Bush's ransacking labor and his support for outsourcing good jobs and insourcing cheap workers? It goes on and on. It is if George Bush was put into power to bring America down.

The GOP has long employed racism as a wedge to divide America. However, Republican racism may now be losing its grip. Polls indicate that the country is waking up as Bush's approval ratings are plummeting. With the Bush movement generating so much pain, Americans are realizing that they are all in the same boat together.