Silence is betrayal – impeach Bush 4029-2008

April 29, 2008                        Silence is betrayal – impeach Bush

In an unguarded moment, the Nation’s chief executive, George Bush, told millions of viewers on ABC News that he had approved torture of US detainees – including waterboarding. In his interview, Bush freely admitted that Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and George Tenet collectively approved the decision and by doing so, had committed high crimes – for which there is one Constitutional remedy – impeachment. This stunning admission flies in the face of previous public statements. There is no longer any need for an investigation following Bush’s admission of guilt. This finally clears the way for a senate vote for removal of Bush and Cheney and prosecution of Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and George Tenet who have violated their oath of office to uphold the Constitution. Our Nation is in urgent need to remove these lawbreakers from high office before they commit our Nation to more reckless adventures. Finally, we should heed the wise words of Dr. Martin Luther King who famously said, "A time comes when silence is betrayal.”

General Petraeus 4-25-2008

25, April 2008                           General Petraeus


Predictably, General Petraeus’s appearance before Congress offered nothing new, just more of the same rhetoric couched in muddled language which the late night comedians picked up and scorned with abandon. Petraeus dutifully delivered the White House scripted version allowing Bush to play for time until the end of his disastrous presidency. Bush vigorously supported what was essentially the White House strategy of, ‘staying the course’, assuring Petraeus that he had all the time in world to achieve a mythical victory. The Congressional hearings were largely for public consumption and accomplished little. This charade turned out to be another victory selling the war on a six month installment plan but a monumental failure for the American people, US soldiers mired in a quagmire and the Iraqi people who have lost so many loved ones in this illegal war of occupation. Meanwhile, the future for Americans is extremely gloomy. According to a BBC report large numbers of US citizens are seeking refuge in Canada. Tent cities have now been established in major metropolitan cities to accommodate US economic refugees. Every day brings us closer to our eventual demise and the Day of Judgment before our common Creator. I wonder how all those neocons, who have committed war crimes, in our name, will be judged.  

Monsanto’s corporate bullying 4-21-2008

21, April 2008                         Monsanto’s corporate bullying

While food shortages and costs continue to climb, agricultural companies, like Monsanto, post record profits.  Like their oil company cousins, Monsanto has quickly learned that scarcity can generate high profits. The stock has risen 95% percent during the past 12 months and a staggering 1,600 percent over the past five years. What is extremely troubling is Monsanto’s corporate bullying of local farmers and opposition to warning labels on milk cartons. Vanity Fair exposes these predatory practices in its recent article, “Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear.” The company forbids farmers from storing and recycling their seeds which they have done for millennia and insists they buy fresh seeds every year to ensure the company’s high profitability. 

To increase milk production, ‘Monsanto cows’ are injected with an artificial hormone which may prove to be a health hazard.. There seems to be little doubt that most consumers would prefer to drink the old-fashioned milk. I urge concerned readers to write to the lawmakers and insist such ‘tainted’ products be clearly identified. Our nation is going through an epidemic health crisis and can no longer trust corporations to serve our best interests. In the meantime, I suggest concerned shoppers purchase milk cartons labeled, “No RBGH,” which means “no bovine growth hormone.”  Finally, ‘little David’, Ben and Jerry’, deserve credit for challenging Goliath Monsanto to label their products free of the growth hormone.

Torture 4-9-2008

9, April 2008                          Torture                                                                                                          
The brutal treatment of prisoners is again in the public spotlight with the declassification of the 2003 torture memo.

According to British attorney Philippe Sands’s article in Vanity Fair (“The Green Light”), John Yoo and other high-ranking administration attorneys helped craft interrogation methods used at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and secret CIA prisons. Pentagon attorney Diane Beaver, stated that the interrogation techniques used were modeled on the TV program ‘24’.
It is extremely disturbing that John Yoo, a passionate advocate of torture, should be allowed to teach at students UC Berkeley. He should be fired, disbarred and tried on war crimes.
Many prisoners may well be innocent of any crimes such as German born who was kidnapped and brutally tortured (see March 31 ‘60’ Minutes).   Bent on retribution, and ignoring the FBI and German intelligence who found Kurnaz innocent, this Darth Vadar administration tortured him and robbed him of 5 years of his life  


The administration, recognizing the potential war crimes charges it could face, hastily adopted legislation in the Military Commissions Act granting immunity to those engaged in torture. Also, buried deep inside a bill currently before Congress, is a startling provision which would grant Bush and other members of his administration retroactive immunity from war crimes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHQ7Prwh7Gc).