Dave Lindorff: Cowards & Traitors & the American People Who Enable Them

[Demeter]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/440

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Dave Lindorff, co-author of "The Case for Impeachment"

As the Bush administration prepares for an illegal and predictably disastrous attack on Iran in the coming weeks (quite possibly with the use of nuclear weapons), and as Congress, the corporate media and the American people carry on as though nothing was happening, it is becoming clear that American democracy and its tradition of constitutional government and rule of law are under attack by two vile and insidious organizations...It's hard to say which party is more criminal and disgusting. Certainly the Republicans, who are an integral part of the Bush/Cheney/Rove drive to establish a one-party state and a dictatorial presidency, are traitors to the constitution and violators of their oaths of office to uphold and protect that document.

But so are the Democrats! It is certainly cowardice and even treachery to be in opposition and then to be unwilling to act in defense of country and Constitution. But perhaps an even greater crime is to run for and win public office pledged to fight on behalf of those who elected you, and then to betray your voters by doing nothing when it really matters. And on the important issues of war and peace, protecting basic civil liberties, and challenging the crimes of a presidency run amok, that is what the Democratic Party's elected officials have done: nothing.

And what of the American people? We have become the "Good Germans" of yore, not just turning our heads, but actually cheering as a president systematically chops gaping holes in the nation's founding document, spits on the sacrifices of generations of revolutionary and civil war fighters and the soldiers who died in two world wars, and makes a mockery of the two-centuries-old tradition of tri-partite government.

Germans who lived through the 1930s and early '40s at least had an excuse for their inaction: opposing the Nazis was to put one's life, and the lives of one's family in grave jeopardy. But we Americans, as we permit torture in our name, permit the jailing of children at Guantanamo (yes, some of those "evil-doers" the president mentions were less than 12 when they were carried over to Cuba from Afghanistan in orange suits with their heads in bags), permit the stripping of citizenship rights from native-born Americans, permit the kidnapping and deportation to other nations of American citizens, permit spying on the conversations of defense attorneys' conversations with their clients, permit warrantless presidential spying on our own and our neighbors' communications, permit the launching of undeclared wars on innocent peoples, as we in short permit the deconstruction of all that this nation stands for, we face no real personal danger should we stand up and say "No!"

We are not arrested or jailed for calling the president a tyrant or a traitor. We are not put on the rack for protesting a criminal war. We are not harassed for defending the victims of Bush's torture and kidnap policies. None of that happens, at least not yet.



A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Dave Lindorff is co-author with Barbara Olshansky of "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office" (St. Martin's Press, June 2006). His work can be found at www.thiscantbehappening.net.

[indepat]

1. Thanks for ratifying more succinctly essentially what I've been saying

on the DU board for a long time.

[kaneko]

2. In this post

I would definitely stress AS YET.

[Phredicles]

3. Very recommended.

[thingfisher]

4. cowards and traitors

But so are the Democrats! It is certainly cowardice and even
treachery to be in opposition and then to be unwilling to act
in defense of country and Constitution. But perhaps an even
greater crime is to run for and win public office pledged to
fight on behalf of those who elected you, and then to betray
your voters by doing nothing when it really matters. And on
the important issues of war and peace, protecting basic civil
liberties, and challenging the crimes of a presidency run
amok, that is what the Democratic Party's elected officials
have done: nothing.

Time to admit that the Demonothings bear as much
responsibility for our present crisis as the Repugs. Simply
replacing the Repugs with Dems will not really change the
dinamics of power. Both parties are subject to the same
corporate interests that fund the campaigns of office seekers
from Maine to California. Greed is what motivates our office
holders.
These greedy bastards are supposed to 'represent' their
constituents while in office. Constituents used to mean
average joe citizen, but there are more important and wealthy
constituents who get all the time and attention - Corporate
America. Who gives a rats ass about joe shmo and his struggle
to survive on 9 bucks an hour (besides joe shmo)! He doesn't
have any clout even if he does designate a dollar of his tax
money to the campaign fund!
We need to strip the corporations of their status as defacto
citizens and put the power of free elections back in the hands
of the real citizens!