August 8, 2002
The Writing On The Wall Series #9: The Bush Dynasty's Legacy: War, Lies and Corruption
Hello everyone
This infamous family, from the time of the Reagan presidency, when Bush senior was really calling the shots, up to now under W (with his father still calling the shots), has left a trail of deaths, destruction and corruption around the world, and the unmistakable stench of oil, the defining factor of most US policies and addicting source of hard cash for the some of the wealthiest crooks on Earth.
Read on...
Jean Hudon
Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator
http://www.cybernaute.com/earthconcert2000
THIS COMPILATION IS ARCHIVED AT http://www.cybernaute.com/earthconcert2000/Archives2002/WritingWall9.htm
"We come together to fight him (George W Bush) so that we can save our world's environment and world peace."
- Doris "Granny D" Haddock, 92 years (Taken from "Fight Like Hell For Your Values" below)
CONTENTS
1. High treason in the U.S. government
2. ATTACK ON IRAQ IS FOR OIL
3. Oppose Anti-Consumer Bankruptcy Bill
4. Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800
5. Into the Buzzsaw - a book on the Myth of a Free Press
6. The long term strategy of Israel and how it affects the U.S
7. Fight Like Hell For Your Values
See also:
World Wide "Stop-War-Now" Petition
http://www.stopwarnow.org
Recommended by Amethyst Freeman <rainbowangelstribe@yahoo.com>
Help from the Hill? (August 5)
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13768
As a rule, both the joint Chiefs of Staff and the Central Intelligence Agency's leadership prefer that Congress stay out of their affairs. Indeed, an ideal Congress for many denizens of this realm would be one that simply holds open the cash spigots while Langley and the Pentagon set their own agendas. That makes it particularly alarming to see that as the Bush administration lays its plans for Iraq, career military and intelligence officers are increasingly -- and desperately -- looking to Congress to help stave off what they fear will be a disaster. A number of military and intelligence hands worry that the administration's proactive strategy against Iraq will prove fatally shortsighted. Not only is Congress the body with the constitutional mandate to declare war, say advocates of congressional intervention, but the complexity and volatility of the region fully warrants a serious debate in the Capitol. "Congress ought to be having a wide-ranging policy debate," says one veteran CIA official, "because pretty soon, if [President George W.] Bush takes the preemptive route, this will happen without any debate whatsoever, and all the debate will be post-action -- including debates over events that have potential for disaster in both the short and long term." CLIP
On Ousting Saddam: How Others View It
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6124
Editorialists Across The Globe Frown On Bush War Plans -- Editorialists around the globe oppose a US-led attack on Iraq. But their concerns have little impact at the White House.
Nuke the cows: beef irradiation and its consequences (August 04, 2002)
http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=561&mode=thread&order=0
(...) Irradiation has additional consequences that aren't completely understood. It is axiomatic that any new technology should be considered dangerous until it is thoroughly tested and found to be safe. Irradiation creates substances called free radicals that are thought to kill antioxidants and weaken the immune system. It also can create harmful by-products, such as benzene and formaldehyde. It depletes vitamins A, C, E and B complex. In vegetables, it has the same effect as cooking; that is, it destroys enzymes essential to digestion found only in raw foods. Also, some studies suggest that irradiation may cause long term genetic defects. As with genetically modified foods, little is known about the far-ranging effects of irradiation, and little conclusive research has been done to prove that it is safe. The purpose of the FDA and USDA is to make sure the food that gets to consumers is beyond the experimental phase and generally accepted as safe. If these agencies allow things like irradiation to get to consumers, sometimes unlabeled, then they're not doing their job. Wegmans is telling only one side of the story in promoting irradiation as a scientific miracle. If they genuinely care about food safety, they will let their customers know the risks associated with irradiated beef.
The History of the Development of AIDS - The Evidence of the Laboratory Birth of AIDS
http://www.boydgraves.com/timeline/
1.
From: http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=444
High treason in the U.S. government
Q: Just who is a terrorist?
A: Anyone (non-U.S. citizen or U.S. citizen alike) Attorney General Ashcroft designates as one.
Q: On what evidence can Ashcroft designate someone as a terrorist?
A: Mere suspicion and hearsay.
Q: What legal rights and Constitutional protections does someone detained on the grounds of being a suspected terrorist have?
A: Next to none.
It may be difficult for some hard-core, patriotic Americans to believe the veracity of the preceding question and answer series, but the answers to the questions are based upon the implications and dangerous ramifications of the USA PATRIOT Act (USAPA) that was passed last October by so-called congressional representatives who never bothered to read or debate it.
It slipped through at the midnight hour under the cover of darkness, voted on by men and women engulfed in a terrifying atmosphere of shock, fear, mass media hysteria, and suspiciously targeted anthrax mailings.
U.S. government officials would have us believe that this 342-page, complexly nuanced document was allegedly crafted after September 11 in the time span of a little over a month. To accomplish this feat would have required the in-depth study of fifteen other lengthy acts and statutes which it modifies and amends.
The act's extremely clever yet highly misleading acronym USA PATRIOT, which stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism," is an obvious attempt to intimidate and brand as "unpatriotic" and treasonous anyone who might dare to question its alarmingly overreaching provisions.
In light of the egregious evisceration of the Bill of Rights that this law undertakes, those who blindly supported and signed this blatantly unconstitutional act into law should be collectively condemned and charged for high treason to the Constitution and the people of the United States of America.
CLIP
Anyone participating in activist groups such as Greenpeace, Earth Liberation Front, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or in protests like the 1999 demonstration in Seattle against the WTO could find himself suddenly stripped of his rights by the simple act of being declared a "terrorist" in keeping with the definition of this law. Under section 803 of this Act, even the simple act of giving food or shelter to a friend who may have been involved in any of the aforementioned activities could, in turn, have you incriminated and branded as a "terrorist" as well. The USA Patriot Act absolutely shreds to bits the fourth amendment. CLIP
2.
From: http://www.world-action.co.uk/oil.html
ATTACK ON IRAQ IS FOR OIL
U.K. ITV TELETEXT - 7 AUGUST 2002:
'CRUDE LIES OVER IRAQ: BENN'
Veteran left-winger Tony Benn has accused Britain and America of "utter hypocrisy and crude lies" to justify a war against Iraq. The retired Labour MP said a U.S. threat of war was motivated by its desire to gain control of Iraqi oil rather than concern over weapons or human rights. "We are on the eve of a war of a terrifying kind," he said. Pressure on Tony Blair's government not to join in any U.S. war on Iraq is mounting as more senior military and political figures join the fray. Former MoD chief Sir Michael Quinlan said the justness of any action would be "deeply questionable" and warned it could lead to huge public division. He urged the PM to withhold support for a "unnecessary and precarious" gamble.
THE BIGGEST BUSINESS IN THE WORLD: WAR
http://www.world-action.co.uk/business.html
The title is by World-Action. The following is by Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things, winning the Booker Prize, six million copies sold, translated into forty languages.
When he announced the air strikes, President George Bush said: "We're a peaceful nation."
"This is the calling of the United States of America. The most free nation in the world. A nation built on fundamental values that reject hate, reject violence, rejects murderers and rejects evil. We will not tire."
Here is a list of the countries that America has been atwar with - and bombed - since the second world war:
China (1945-46, 1950-53)
Korea (1950-53)
Guatemala (1954, 1967-69)
Indonesia (1958)
Cuba (1959-60)
the Belgian Congo (1964)
Peru (1965)
Laos (1964-73)
Vietnam (1961-73)
Cambodia (1969-70)
Grenada (1983)
Libya (1986)
El Salvador (1980s)
Nicaragua (1980s)
Panama (1989)
Iraq (1991-99)
Bosnia (1995)
Sudan (1998)
Yugoslavia (1999)
Certainly it does not tire - this, the most free nation in the world.
Added by World-Action:
Afghanistan (2001-2002)
Then IRAQ?
Then .........?
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See also:
FOR THE SAKE OF LIFE WE MUST COME ALIVE
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020807~space.asp
It's really all about oil. It's about control and domination. The New World Order. Corporate globalization. It's about empire.
3.
From: "Leonard" <lspade@theveritasgroup.com>
Subject: Oppose Anti-Consumer Bankruptcy Bill
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002
As you know, one of our greatest social rights is the right to declare bankruptcy and avoid the debtors prison fate that enslaved England until not so long ago. With a fresh start some of our
most famous successful people were able to make their mark. We need to protect our people from the avarice and greed that motivates this bill.
Thank you,
Leonard
---
From: ActForChange <actforchange@act.actforchange.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Subject: Urgent Alert!
With daily announcements of corporate abuse, layoffs, and stock market dives, Congress couldn't have picked a worse time to advance a bankruptcy overhaul bill that would make it harder for ordinary Americans to escape crushing financial debt. The bill's backers, mainly credit card companies and banks, claim that the legislation will promote personal responsibility. But, while some people do go broke because of irresponsible spending, most are forced to declare bankruptcy due to unforeseeable circumstances, such as divorce, a death in the family, or a long period of unemployment.
To watch a fun Flash video about the bankruptcy bill and then tell your senators to oppose this anti-consumer legislation, go at http://www.actforchange.com/bankruptcy5
To take action directly go at
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=13629
Oppose the Anti-Consumer Bankruptcy Bill
4.
Sent by American Patriot Friends Network <APFN@apfn.org>
Posted at http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?id=149495&article=31612
--- Original Message ---
Subject: [Meria] Todays show is AWESOME
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002
From: meriaheller@aol.com
Meria With Kristina Borjesson "Into The Buzzsaw
http://audio.netradiolive.com:8080/ramgen/meria/080602.rm
8/6/02 Kristina Borjesson, Editor of "Into The Buzzsaw"
http://www.meriaheller.com/books.html
The book that exposes the myth of a free press joins me for an enlightening interview covering all the topics of today and yesterday. What is the buzzsaw? What restrictions are investigate journalists under and WHO put them there? Kristina ended up in the buzzsaw over her investigation of TWA Flight 800, with over 600 eyewitnesses and yet the spinmeisters sold us a "bill of goods". Was it the same for our stolen election? 9/11? Why haven't we seen any arrests of Enron CEO's? What do we get told about our foreign policy? Are there still POW's in Vietnam? Does the CIA run the biggest drug business in the world? What ARE we doing in Columbia? This book hosts articles by the best, highly celebrated writers on the planet on the REAL news and why we aren't able to hear it or read it. Do Donahue & Bill Moyers have to deal with that "line in the sand" drawn by the powers that pay them? Why is this book banned in the UK? As Gore Vidal writes in the forward of the book "In the hundreds of wars that the United States has fought since the Union was invented, at every time of true crisis a small group can always be counted upon to use the crisis of the day to stifle free speech". Now that we are facing what could be the beginning of WW3, what is the media's responsibility and culpability? Fascinating, fast paced chat between two powerful informed women. Don't miss this one!
READ ALSO:
Interview with KRISTINA BORJESSON: The Myth of a Free Press
http://www.paraview.com/features/free_press.htm
THE MERIA HELLER SHOW - Now in Over 60 Countries! check it out at http://www.meria.net
---
Into the Buzzsaw exposes the death of investigative journalism in America. Kristina Borjesson, an Emmy and Murrow Award-winning investigative reporter and veteran of CBS and CNN, has written a must-read book for Americans who want to know what happened to investigative journalism - and the truth. "Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press" contains urgent essays by 18 mainstream reporters who tried to investigate major stories like TWA Flight 800 (Borjesson), CIA involvement in the drug rade (Michael Levine and Gary Webb), the No Gun Ri massacre in Korea (Robert Port), and Monsanto's bovine growth hormone (Jane Akre). Pursuing stories that challenged corporate and government power led these journalists "into the buzzsaw," and they were lucky to come out alive. To read about the death of investigative journalism - and truth in America - buy this important book.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573929727/democratscom
Relevant Website: Sawbusters, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping journalists who are up against the buzzsaw - GO AT http://www.sawbusters.com
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18 Tales of Media Censorship
Michelle Goldberg, AlterNet - April 1, 2002
Between them, the authors of the incendiary new book "Into the Buzzsaw," out this month from Prometheus, have won nearly every award journalism has to give -- a Pulitzer, several Emmys, a Peabody, a prize from Investigative Reporters and Editor, an Edward R. Murrorw and several accolades from the Society of Professional Journalists. One is veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration and a best-selling author, another is a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.
GO HERE FOR THE FULL STORY: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12753
"Into the Buzzsaw" Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press Edited by Kristina Borjesson, Foreword by Gore Vidal
Prometheus Books, 2002 ISBN: 1573929727 Current Events, 275 pages Hardcover, $26.00
“If members of the general public read this book, or even portions of it, they will be appalled. To the uninitiated reader, the accounts of what goes on behind the scenes at major news organizations are shocking.”
-- Publisher’s Weekly
http://www.paraview.com/borjesson/index.htm
Forbidden Truth
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=iso-8859-1&l=any&q=Forbidden+Truth
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STOPPING THE POP-UP THIS MESSAGE BOARD!
http://disc.server.com/Indices/149495.html
Without Justice, there is JUST_US! American Patriot Friends Network http://www.apfn.org/apfn.htm
---
See also:
Trouble Ahead: Congress' New Bankruptcy Law
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6095
An Interview With Elizabeth Warren by Steven Rosenfeld -- "The bill doesn’t have one single provision that is going to crush debtors. Instead, it has a thousand paper cuts that are going to bleed debtors until they can’t get any relief."
Congress Smooches The Besmirched Banking Industry (EXCELLENT ARTICLE ON THIS!)
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6094
Less Lovin' For The Little Guy by Arianna Huffington -- Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that will make it harder for people to start afresh after they declare bankruptcy while, not coincidentally, adding billions of dollars to the bottom line of banks and credit-card companies. (...) The victims of corporate pillage, meanwhile, are not having it so easy. Faced with scrambled nest eggs, sinking pension plans, shaky health coverage and a gloomy job market, record numbers of average Americans are taking it on the chin -- and in the wallet. A key indicator of just how bad things have gotten for the little guy is the record number of Americans -- 1.5 million -- who filed for personal bankruptcy in the year ending March 31st. That's one out of every 69 U.S. households. And since bankruptcies invariably lag behind current economic conditions -- they are the fiscal equivalent of those guys in the circus who follow after the elephants with a shovel, trying to deal with the mess the parade has left behind -- the odds are high that 2002 will be an even better year for bankruptcy attorneys. The first quarter of this year has already seen a record 369,237 filings. And it's important to note that only 3 percent of these filings are by people who abuse the system by living extravagant lifestyles and then leaving their creditors holding the bag. The majority are actually low- to middle-class people who can't pay their bills because they've lost their jobs or been hit with crippling medical bills or been enticed into running up unmanageable credit card balances by easy-credit come-ons and here-today-gone-tomorrow "teaser" interest rates.
CLIP
5.
From: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/TWA800.htm
Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800
Anomalies within the Official Crash Investigation of TWA Flight 800
Flight 800 Independent Researchers Organization
Chair: Thomas F. Stalcup, 1269 E. Orange Ave., Tallahassee FL 32301
stalcupt@yahoo.com
May 3, 1999
Many anomalies and inconsistencies remain within the official investigation into the crash of TWA Flight 800 (F800). The failure of the FBI to identify the closest vehicle (a surface vessel) to the plane at the time of the crash, the questionable conclusions drawn from explosive residues found in the wreckage, and the secrecy of eyewitness testimony are among the items discussed in this report. A pattern of concealment and/or disregard of crucial pieces of evidence not supporting a ‘preferred’ theory of mechanical malfunction is identified. These anomalies are relevant to the House Subcommittee on Aviation’s goal of the NTSB's re-authorization and should prompt an independent investigation into the crash of F800
Ships in the Vicinity
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) radar analysts have identified[1] the tracks of four surface vessels within a six mile radius of F800 at the time of the accident. These tracks, confirmed by the FBI[2] as surface vessels, were detected by the radar site closest to the crash in Islip, NY. The surface vessel nearest to the tragedy maintained a 30 knot heading away from the falling debris and thereby has been named the 30 knot track.
The 30 knot track is a radar tracked surface vessel recorded on the Islip, Long Island radar[3].
1. Confirmed a surface vessel by the FBI[2] and NTSB[4], it was in the area, later designated as the debris field, moments before debris began to fall. It left the scene at ~30 knots (35 mph) rather than assisting with search and rescue.
2. Its position just before F800's breakup is consistent with the origin of a 'flare' type object which rose from the ocean surface, according to eyewitnesses.
3. Its speed (30 knots) and direction (away from the accident scene and land) are inconsistent with the many citizen mariners who sailed to the area to aid in the search and rescue effort This was sufficiently suspicious in itself, but compounded by the fact that the FBI recorded no eyewitness statements that were forthcoming from anyone aboard this vessel.
4. Despite FBI assertions to the contrary, we are not aware of any extensive NTSB or FBI effort to trace this vessel.
5. To date, this vessel has not been identified by the FBI or NTSB as stated in the following letter from Lewis D. Schiliro, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, FBI.
In a July 27, 1998 Letter[2] from Lewis D. Schiliro, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, FBI, responded to an April letter to the FBI from Congressman James A Traficant, (D) Ohio.
"… Question 2: In its analysis of radar tapes, has the FBI been able to positively identify every single aircraft and surface vessel that was in the proximity of TWA Flight 800 at the time of the accident?
FBI Answer: No…in January, 1997 the FBI first noted the presence of a surface vessel... between 25 and 35 knots... Despite extensive efforts, the FBI has been unable to identify this vessel."
The NTSB allowed the FBI, with little or no experience in airline safety, to independently follow leads and conduct interviews with strained inter-agency relations throughout the investigation. Claiming[5] to have "left no stone unturned..[and]..during the 24-Hour period: 371 vessels identified," the FBI failed to identify the closest surface vessel to the crash. The identities of the remaining three vessels have not been released to the public.
Explosive Evidence in Wreckage
PETN and RDX
The explosives PETN and RDX were detected[6] and confirmed to exist by the FBI between rows 15 and 25. Later, however, the FBI stated[7] that these traces were consistent with explosives allegedly spilled during a canine training exercise a few weeks before the crash.
CLIP
6.
From: http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=559&mode=thread&order=0
The long term strategy of Israel and how it affects the U.S.
August 03, 2002
By Raff Ellis YellowTimes.org
Guest Columnist (United States)
(YellowTimes.org) – Often times, while reading the headlines or watching the news, one has to ask, "What could the Israelis be thinking?" What could possibly be the point of the seemingly indiscriminate carnage and destruction? Rooting out the terrorists or revenge is often the official explanation. But tiny babies are not terrorists yet they are killed by the dozens. Olive trees are not terrorists yet they are uprooted by the hundreds. Homes are not terrorists but they are destroyed by the thousands. Buildings and factories are labeled bomb factories and are shelled into oblivion. One need only examine these actions to discern the overall strategy of the country that is behind them.
The Israelis have always lusted for land acquisition. For evidence of this you may note that as far back as 1973, Ariel Sharon himself enunciated the settlement policy for the West Bank. He said his aim was to create facts on the ground, facts that would not be able to be undone 25 years hence, and 200,000 odd settlers later this is exactly what has happened.
The initial invasion of U.N. mandated Palestinian areas in 1948, the Sinai invasion in 1956, the 1967 war and the 1983 Lebanese incursion manifest a strategy that is expressly meant to expand Israeli borders and acquire resources. The only time Israelis were forced to give up territory was after the original Sinai invasion in 1956, subsequently reoccupied in 1967, and the 22 yearlong occupation of South Lebanon. It is not in their plans to give up either the Golan Heights or the West Bank, or to settle for just those territories. Their foot-dragging approach to the farcical peace negotiations bears witness to their real objectives.
The current onslaught in the West Bank is meant to do one thing: make life so miserable for the indigenous inhabitants that they will have no choice but to leave. Palestinians are made homeless by the thousands. Curfews restrict movement for even the most basic necessities: work, food and health care. How long can people exist under such conditions, especially given the seeming indifference of the rest of the world?
The controlling Likud Party has announced plans to immigrate one million more Jews, and the consequent need for water resources to support these immigrants has as its sub-mandate the conquest and annexation of additional land. Hence, no matter how many negotiations are started or abandoned, there will be no Palestinian State.
What of the United States' role in all this? An examination of its moves since the infamous September 11th attack shows that George W. and Company are surely making it up as they go along. In the aftermath of the World Trade Center destruction, and after Bush and Cheney emerged from hiding, the president announced that he supported a Palestinian State. This statement was prompted by the initial belief that the lack of progress in Middle East peace talks was the root cause for the attack.
The Israeli lobby saw the WTC incident as an opportunity to justify its strategic designs, and sprang into action launching a frenetic public relations' action. Arafat was labeled Israel's bin Laden, and Palestinian resistance organizations were accused of being in cahoots with al Qaeda and a threat to the U.S. It didn't take long before the administration backpedaled from its initial statements while Israel opted into "the war on terrorism."
The U.S. began smoking out bin Laden and his terrorist band, a notion that appealed to the resurgent patriotic fervor that gripped the nation. The Taliban provided an opportunity for tangible results, something the folks back home could appreciate on the nightly news: you know, precision bombing and all that. The elusive bin Laden was not good sound bite material. Now that the Taliban have been dispatched, a perpetual "war on terrorism" has expanded into the next best thing: Saddam Hussein and Hezbollah. Many experts believe that a dramatic military action will take place before the November elections to keep the war momentum going and the poll numbers high.
A cursory look at the product of Israeli lobbying effort reveals a foreign policy strategy that is designed to isolate the U.S. from all countries in the Middle East. Banging the drum for an Iraqi invasion, resolutions condemning Syria and Iran, labeling Hezbollah as one of the foremost terrorist organizations in the world, the vilification of Arafat and the P.L.O. and the public relations campaign against Saudi Arabia are all examples of furtherance of this long-term strategy.
Controlling oil supplies is of course the linchpin in any U.S. strategy it cobbles together. So, it is not far fetched to see that the long-term contingency plan for Israel, along with the American presence already there, is to invade the Saudi oil fields when the time is ripe. The Saudis control half of the spare production capacity of O.P.E.C., and they've gone on record to say that shutting off oil is not in the cards this time around. The destabilization of their regime would be a prima facie cause for military intervention.
Without the projected oil pipeline through Afghanistan and the continued oil supply from the Arab States, America would have a hard time justifying its adventures in the Middle East. For the Israelis, however, their long-term expansion is driving their strategy and it has co-opted U.S. policy to insure success. As this strategy goes forward, one has to wonder what the economic and political reverberations throughout the rest of the world will be.
Raff Ellis encourages your comments: guestbox102@YellowTimes.org
7.
Recommended by Coeta Mills <CoetaMills@aol.com>
From: http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/6120
Tucson: 'Fight Like Hell For Your Values'
Granny D's Speech Calling For Corporate Reform
Doris Haddock is better known as Granny D., a 92-year-old grandmother who walked across America on behalf of campaign finance reform.
Doris "Granny D" Haddock speaking at the Rolling Thunder Chautauqua in Tucson, Arizona, July 27, 2002.
CLIP
At the turn of the 20th century, it was the abusive practices of banks and railroads and other corporations that swept reform across America. Farmers and small business people didn't do that for any other reason except that their livelihoods were fully at stake.
What happened as a result of that uprising, in a nutshell, was that the powers of government were expanded to keep the powers of the corporation in check -- to keep corporations from overwhelming our human values and our ability to provide good lives for our families as free people.
What has happened in the last few years, in another nutshell, is that the government's ability to prevent corporate giantism and its abuse has been undermined and nearly emasculated for the benefit of the corporations who underwrite the political careers of their puppets in Congress, in the White House -- Democrat and Republican White Houses -- and in the state houses. The crisis this time around is more dangerous, for it is not just our ability to prosper that is at stake, but our ability -- and nature's ability -- to survive at all.
Alaska's glaciers are melting. Seas are rising. Droughts and their fires sweep across our purple mountains and our fruited plains. Any mountain with coal under it is being sheared off and dumped in the next valley. More explosives are used against the Appalachian Mountains every four days than we used in all of our recent Afghanistan campaign -- and why? So we can burn more coal in an already carbon-saturated environment. No respected scientist doubts any longer that we are destroying the planet rapidly. We have an obligation to our children. We will have to stand in front of our Maker -- will we not? -- and explain how we properly cared for the great gift of life we were given -- the birds and fishes and flowers of this Eden.
Even in this solar state, where is your solar energy? Your utilities are now opening another giant coal mine, this one across the line in New Mexico. What kind of madness is that? Isn't it enough that you are destroying the lives of Hopi and Navajo up on Black Mesa -- destroying their land and draining their water -- so that you can heat your pools and cool your dog houses?
CLIP
I know you are fighting these fights. But they can wear you down, as they never seem to stop coming. I want you to understand that the American Dream is not a leaky old boat that always needs fixing. It is not an old house that always needs repair. No, this high-reaching society of ours is not in trouble from its own age or infirmity. It is in trouble because it is under attack. We are engaged in a cultural war, and we had better wise up to it and get rid of the leaders who are very clearly not on the people's side.
The corporate elites who have declared war on us give no quarter. They will shut down the factories we need without blinking. They will refuse us the medical care we need without blinking. They will burn coal when the sun is all around us -- because there is more money in it. They will push for growth when they should be pushing conservation. They will finance the careers of politicians who will make nice speeches to us but will participate in our destruction without blinking.
Dear friends, we have our families to save. We have out planet to save. We have our water and our air and all the creatures of nature -- including ourselves and our friends -- to protect. What a great and glorious fight we are in. But let us know we are in it. We did not declare this war against corporations and their wealthy elite, but they have declared it against us. Let us go for victory. Let us limit the size of these beasts, limit their political participation, limit their ability to ruin our family business and our needed jobs. They act like dictatorships, not only to their own employees, but to all of us. They are a hazard to us and they must change or go.
CLIP
Here is a man in our White House who was not properly elected but who calmed us by assuring us that he would bring us together. He brought us together all right. We come together to fight him so that we can save our world's environment and world peace. We have come together, Mr. Bush.
