US Congress remains in a state of mental paralysis
Michael Payne | 06.03.2007 01:43 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Terror War | World
Is this U.S. Congress a modern-day version of the German Reichstag, the governing body that watched in silence and total submission as a powerful war machine was assembled and then launched those preemptive attacks that led to the horror of World War II?
Last Nov. 7, the American electorate stated in the clearest terms that “enough is enough, we want change and we want it now.”
Bush and Cheney not only have ignored that loud and powerful voice but they now have even more ambitious plans for dominating the Middle East. The new Democratic majority is still searching for its identity and is feverishly trying to pass non-binding resolutions. It stands the chance of being blindsided by a preemptive attack on Iran.
Iran is now directly in the crosshairs of this war machine, and this Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, cannot seem to address this potential disaster, even when the future of America and the entire world is at stake. They did not have the foresight to prevent the first Iraq debacle and they are now on course to make the same mistakes again relative to Iran. Let there be no doubt that the American people now, after almost four years of enduring a catastrophic foreign policy, want to bring an end to this incompetence and madness.
The GOP in Congress has now begun the process of committing political suicide in the 2008 elections. This gang of completely tone-deaf Republicans, which the American electorate chastised in the November 2006 elections, has learned not one single lesson from the beating that was administered to them. Instead of listening, absorbing how the vast majority of Americans now feel about the direction America has taken and their anger over the insane Iraq war, they have decided to yet again to “stay the course “ and go down with the decider-in-chief. In doing so, these thickheaded disciples of war face political suicide in 2008 when many GOP senators and representatives come up for re-election. The American electorate will be waiting, ready to administer another well-deserved beating. These GOP lemmings are ready to go over the Iraq cliff following their delusional drum major.
Each day I read more and more articles in which knowledgeable Middle East journalists and analysts are predicting that this administration is poised to attack Iran in the very near future. This unimaginable, unthinkable event, if it happens, will: 1. Ignite a massive Middle East conflagration and 2. Congress will then have no choice whatsoever but to initiate impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush, for certain, and quite possibly against the de facto president of the United States, Dick Cheney.
Cheney, the puppeteer-in-chief, and Bush the puppet decider continue to thumb their noses at the entire nation, which they no longer serve but are hell-bent on dominating. They now have most clearly stated that they will not only continue to stay the course but that they will escalate it as they see fit, no matter what the Congress or the American people desire. Cheney has said that they will not be stopped.
As they see Iraq completely coming apart, and our military slowly, but surely, being decimated by the never-ending deployments and re-deployments, Bush & Co. are showing signs of panic. Their dreams and plans of controlling the rich resources of the Middle East are now in a state of disarray and extreme danger of totally failing. The virus of the Vietnam experience has now infected their Iraq adventure and so, in a repetition of history, they will not only stay the course, but they will up the ante. These reckless, oil-thirsty gamblers are totally jeopardizing the future of the entire Middle East, the United States and, yes, the entire world.
As we know, when a powerful animal is mortally wounded and cornered, it becomes extremely dangerous. And so this totally incompetent, but now decidedly wounded, cabal of neocons sets it sights on Iran, the next Saddam-like bogeyman, the next obvious target for the Bush doctrine of preemptive war. We are now watching the Bush & Co. propaganda machine of misinformation revving up, fabricating the same type of reasons for attacking Iran that they used to justify the attack on Iraq. They are trying to plant the same insidious seeds into the mind of America that they planted prior to the invasion and occupation in Iraq. We are now continually hearing all about Iran’s plans to develop WMD, i.e., nuclear weapons, their involvement in furnishing weapons to the Iraq insurgency, and of their goal to destroy Israel. And so, “we must prepare to strike Iran before they strike us. We have to fight them over there so that we do not have to fight them here.” Can the 30 percent of Americans that still support Bush & Cheney, those we refer to as “sheeple,” continue to feed at the trough of slime, lies and smokescreens?
This is déjà vu all over again as Bush & Co. are on course to repeat history. They will repeat history as Captain G.W. Bush of the modern-day SS Titanic steers this nation directly into the field of icebergs and brazenly states, “Full speed ahead, damn the icebergs, damn the opinions of the American electorate and the entire world,” as he stays the course, escalates it and forces America and the world into a disaster of the worst magnitude.
It now appears with each passing day that an attack on Iran, while unfathomable to the 70 percent or so of Americans who no longer support Bush in any way, could take place in the next month or two. Already positioned in the Persian Gulf is the U.S. aircraft carrier group, the Dwight D. Eisenhower, while a second battle group, the John C. Stennis, has just arrived. Newsweek reports that a third carrier group will soon leave for that region. Just recently Bush nominated Admiral William J. Fallon for the position of commander of U.S. Middle East forces. Fallon, an expert in Naval air and amphibious operations, was initially a strange choice to lead a ground war, but now we understand his entry upon the scene completely. All the pieces are rapidly being put into place. Iran is clearly in the crosshairs.
If that catastrophic preemptive event happens, then I predict that the American people will completely erupt, the slow-moving turtle-like Democratic majority will finally say, “Enough is enough,” the lemming-like Republicans will completely cave in, and, without a doubt, impeachment proceedings will be initiated for Bush. As the Middle East then explodes into a hellfire, there will be no more time to initiate futile debates, and political maneuvering will end when America and Congress will act and act quickly. Impeachment proceedings will be brought against Bush and, hopefully, a group of Republican senators will head for the White House to give this completely failed leader an ultimatum: resign or face sure impeachment, just as a group of senators did with Nixon in the Watergate scandal.
Let’s hope that this nightmare scenario never takes place, for if it does, we will witness a war like nothing we have ever seen or even imagined. We do not need this, the world does not need this and so it must be stopped, but how? I know not what it will take to motivate Congress to somehow rise up and stop this next act of insanity before it begins. If the Democrats can somehow convince enough Republicans to support legislation to ban any action against Iran without congressional approval, it would be a major step to sidestep disaster. However, Bush & Co. have shown in many other actions that they will not be stopped by anyone, so this monumental disaster could be on the way.
Even if this nightmare scenario is followed by impeachment or resignation, the damage will have been done and the Middle East will erupt in flames. This will be a total no-win situation with no good way to stop a massive regional war, as those whose lust for oil cannot be satiated will never back off. And as the situation escalates, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and possibly others nations in that region will have no choice but to take sides, be it siding with Sunnis or with Shiites. There will be no winner, only losers, as the world will be at the brink of World War III.
Is this U.S. Congress a modern-day version of the German Reichstag, the governing body that watched in silence and total submission as a powerful war machine was assembled and then launched those preemptive attacks that led to the horror of World War II?
Bush and Cheney not only have ignored that loud and powerful voice but they now have even more ambitious plans for dominating the Middle East. The new Democratic majority is still searching for its identity and is feverishly trying to pass non-binding resolutions. It stands the chance of being blindsided by a preemptive attack on Iran.
Iran is now directly in the crosshairs of this war machine, and this Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, cannot seem to address this potential disaster, even when the future of America and the entire world is at stake. They did not have the foresight to prevent the first Iraq debacle and they are now on course to make the same mistakes again relative to Iran. Let there be no doubt that the American people now, after almost four years of enduring a catastrophic foreign policy, want to bring an end to this incompetence and madness.
The GOP in Congress has now begun the process of committing political suicide in the 2008 elections. This gang of completely tone-deaf Republicans, which the American electorate chastised in the November 2006 elections, has learned not one single lesson from the beating that was administered to them. Instead of listening, absorbing how the vast majority of Americans now feel about the direction America has taken and their anger over the insane Iraq war, they have decided to yet again to “stay the course “ and go down with the decider-in-chief. In doing so, these thickheaded disciples of war face political suicide in 2008 when many GOP senators and representatives come up for re-election. The American electorate will be waiting, ready to administer another well-deserved beating. These GOP lemmings are ready to go over the Iraq cliff following their delusional drum major.
Each day I read more and more articles in which knowledgeable Middle East journalists and analysts are predicting that this administration is poised to attack Iran in the very near future. This unimaginable, unthinkable event, if it happens, will: 1. Ignite a massive Middle East conflagration and 2. Congress will then have no choice whatsoever but to initiate impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush, for certain, and quite possibly against the de facto president of the United States, Dick Cheney.
Cheney, the puppeteer-in-chief, and Bush the puppet decider continue to thumb their noses at the entire nation, which they no longer serve but are hell-bent on dominating. They now have most clearly stated that they will not only continue to stay the course but that they will escalate it as they see fit, no matter what the Congress or the American people desire. Cheney has said that they will not be stopped.
As they see Iraq completely coming apart, and our military slowly, but surely, being decimated by the never-ending deployments and re-deployments, Bush & Co. are showing signs of panic. Their dreams and plans of controlling the rich resources of the Middle East are now in a state of disarray and extreme danger of totally failing. The virus of the Vietnam experience has now infected their Iraq adventure and so, in a repetition of history, they will not only stay the course, but they will up the ante. These reckless, oil-thirsty gamblers are totally jeopardizing the future of the entire Middle East, the United States and, yes, the entire world.
As we know, when a powerful animal is mortally wounded and cornered, it becomes extremely dangerous. And so this totally incompetent, but now decidedly wounded, cabal of neocons sets it sights on Iran, the next Saddam-like bogeyman, the next obvious target for the Bush doctrine of preemptive war. We are now watching the Bush & Co. propaganda machine of misinformation revving up, fabricating the same type of reasons for attacking Iran that they used to justify the attack on Iraq. They are trying to plant the same insidious seeds into the mind of America that they planted prior to the invasion and occupation in Iraq. We are now continually hearing all about Iran’s plans to develop WMD, i.e., nuclear weapons, their involvement in furnishing weapons to the Iraq insurgency, and of their goal to destroy Israel. And so, “we must prepare to strike Iran before they strike us. We have to fight them over there so that we do not have to fight them here.” Can the 30 percent of Americans that still support Bush & Cheney, those we refer to as “sheeple,” continue to feed at the trough of slime, lies and smokescreens?
This is déjà vu all over again as Bush & Co. are on course to repeat history. They will repeat history as Captain G.W. Bush of the modern-day SS Titanic steers this nation directly into the field of icebergs and brazenly states, “Full speed ahead, damn the icebergs, damn the opinions of the American electorate and the entire world,” as he stays the course, escalates it and forces America and the world into a disaster of the worst magnitude.
It now appears with each passing day that an attack on Iran, while unfathomable to the 70 percent or so of Americans who no longer support Bush in any way, could take place in the next month or two. Already positioned in the Persian Gulf is the U.S. aircraft carrier group, the Dwight D. Eisenhower, while a second battle group, the John C. Stennis, has just arrived. Newsweek reports that a third carrier group will soon leave for that region. Just recently Bush nominated Admiral William J. Fallon for the position of commander of U.S. Middle East forces. Fallon, an expert in Naval air and amphibious operations, was initially a strange choice to lead a ground war, but now we understand his entry upon the scene completely. All the pieces are rapidly being put into place. Iran is clearly in the crosshairs.
If that catastrophic preemptive event happens, then I predict that the American people will completely erupt, the slow-moving turtle-like Democratic majority will finally say, “Enough is enough,” the lemming-like Republicans will completely cave in, and, without a doubt, impeachment proceedings will be initiated for Bush. As the Middle East then explodes into a hellfire, there will be no more time to initiate futile debates, and political maneuvering will end when America and Congress will act and act quickly. Impeachment proceedings will be brought against Bush and, hopefully, a group of Republican senators will head for the White House to give this completely failed leader an ultimatum: resign or face sure impeachment, just as a group of senators did with Nixon in the Watergate scandal.
Let’s hope that this nightmare scenario never takes place, for if it does, we will witness a war like nothing we have ever seen or even imagined. We do not need this, the world does not need this and so it must be stopped, but how? I know not what it will take to motivate Congress to somehow rise up and stop this next act of insanity before it begins. If the Democrats can somehow convince enough Republicans to support legislation to ban any action against Iran without congressional approval, it would be a major step to sidestep disaster. However, Bush & Co. have shown in many other actions that they will not be stopped by anyone, so this monumental disaster could be on the way.
Even if this nightmare scenario is followed by impeachment or resignation, the damage will have been done and the Middle East will erupt in flames. This will be a total no-win situation with no good way to stop a massive regional war, as those whose lust for oil cannot be satiated will never back off. And as the situation escalates, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and possibly others nations in that region will have no choice but to take sides, be it siding with Sunnis or with Shiites. There will be no winner, only losers, as the world will be at the brink of World War III.
Is this U.S. Congress a modern-day version of the German Reichstag, the governing body that watched in silence and total submission as a powerful war machine was assembled and then launched those preemptive attacks that led to the horror of World War II?
Michael Payne
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