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AlterNet: It’s Treason: Dems Stay Silent on Bush White House Crimes

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marmar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-16-07 09:07 AM
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AlterNet: It’s Treason: Dems Stay Silent on Bush White House Crimes
It’s Treason: Dems Stay Silent on Bush White House Crimes

By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet. Posted November 16, 2007.

Lying to the people and the Congress was the most despicable violation of the rule of law by Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, but many more followed.



Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

--Article III, Section 3, United States Constitution (emphasis added)



The mainstream Democrats -- represented, say, by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, and Christopher Dodd -- have not levied war against the United States. Their treason lies instead in committing the second offense: They adhere to enemies of the country, giving them aid and comfort.

The enemies are President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. Like no other president and vice president in history, these men attacked their country.

It was not our geography George Bush and Richard Cheney invaded. Instead they abandoned and subverted the bedrock institution of our constitutional democracy: the rule of law. By word and deed, Mr. Bush repeatedly and arrogantly sets himself above the law, claiming obedience to be a matter of presidential choice. Mr. Cheney orchestrates, coaches, applauds and iterates.

This cannot stand if the country we know and cherish is to survive. George Bush and Richard Cheney are literally enemies of the state; long before now and by any measure of constitutional justice, they should have been impeached and removed from office.

Abjectly, continuously and stubbornly refusing to hold them accountable, however, the mainstream Democrats adhere to this criminal president and vice president: Nothing they have asked for has been denied, no barriers placed in their way. That is giving them aid and comfort, and that is treason. George Bush and Richard Cheney took the country to war illegally, with a deliberate, carefully designed and executed package of fear-mongering propaganda: lies, distortions and deceptions. No informed citizen entertains the slightest doubt about this.

Lying to the people and the Congress was the most despicable violation of the rule of law by Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, but many more followed: torturing prisoners, denying habeas corpus, spying on U.S. citizens, nullifying new laws with "signing statements" and so on and on. The litany of impeachable offenses is long and painful, but the so-called "War on Terror," these men insist, makes all of it acceptable, even necessary. Nearly six years have elapsed since the Bush administration first defeated the rule of law. For most of these years, a Republican Congress saw fit not to intervene, or even to question this behavior, so effective was the administration's propaganda campaign and so firm were the bonds of partisanship. But now the mainstream Democrats control the Congress. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/67707/




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Mnemosyne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-16-07 10:35 AM
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1. .
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Beam Me Up Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-16-07 10:57 AM
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2. I particularly agree with this statement:

The rank-and-file Republicans who continue to believe Mr. Bush's lies about the "War on Terror" will not vote for a Democrat. The rank-and-file Democrats who see through the lies are increasingly enraged by the insipid waffling of their mainstream candidates. And roughly half the American people don't bother to vote at all, repelled by the tawdry attack ads and negativity of bitterly partisan, superficial, sophomoric and issue-avoidance politicking.

If the mainstream Democrats do nothing to change this, they will wind up where they're headed -- disappointed and defeated in 2008 -- and they will deserve it. Only by exposing and acting on the truth about the war can they change any Republican minds, regain the support of disenchanted Democrats and attract the politically inert, indifferent Americans. A new style of politics needs badly to be engaged, one that is dedicated not merely to winning elections, but to a genuine concern for truth, for justice, for the rule of law and for integrity in public service.

The most direct and honorable way of invoking such a style is by impeaching George Bush and Richard Cheney. Never in our history have the high crimes and misdemeanors been so flagrant, and the people of our country know it.
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Enrique Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-16-07 11:00 AM
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3. why aren't any progressive dems charging mainstream dems of treason?
by this author's reasoning, that makes Kucinich, et al, just as guilty as the mainstream dems. They're not holding the mainstream dems accountable.
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L. Coyote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-16-07 12:33 PM
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4. It is also about covering up the 2000 coup by election theft.
There is no way that the 2000 theft could have withstood scrutiny if not for the junta's "War on Terror" altering Bush's rapid slide in 2001.

"The "War on Terror" is a conscious and ingenious masquerade for the geostrategic pursuit and control of Middle Eastern oil and gas resources."
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benld74 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-16-07 01:49 PM
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5. Treason is the ONLY crime mentioned in the constitution
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