dynamite question on c span

[historian]

Someone brought up the question of the reagan attack on lybia in '86 and the immediate disinformation program which followed. Baker was finally forced to testify and used churchills quote "In times of war, the truth is so precious it must be protected by a body guard of lies." The person wants to know if this is happening again and why isnt anything being said about it?

[veganwitch]

1. because the truth shall set you free

and get a certain group of people in trouble, and they dont want that to happen.

hopefully with the books that are coming out, people (besides us lefties who have always said this admin was corrupt) will start questioning bush.

i also found this interesting

a clarke quote from the yahoo news story.

"I've done 30 years in the government. I've done my public service. Now I want to get the facts out," he told ABC.

it seems like doing public service means not telling the truth. you lie or hide things from the people and its only when you stop doing your public service do you let the truth be known.

[RainDog]

2. Until the military and pentagon budgets are subject

to Congressional oversight, we will not have democracy in this country.

I've been reading Chalmers Johnson's book, The Sorrows of Empire, and the way in which the budgets for all the various military units, under whatever name, are accountable to the American people, until we KNOW that our money has been and is being used to overthrow govts, destablize other democracies which after more left-leaning than America...

we will not have democracy in this nation.

The sad thing is that Johnson isn't optimistic (and there is no reason to be at this point) that we will be able to preserve democracy as we now openly act as an imperial power.

He notes that only the USSR made the decision to let go of empire and seek recociliation with the rest of the world.

All other empires have become the targets of those they have abused, and the payback ain't pretty.

of course, Americans remain willfully ignorant of the abuses of power "in our name," while serving as the patsies of people like Bush, etc. who could care less whether or not they have a decent job, wage, health care, family life, or freedom to assemble.

I don't want America to fall hard, but if we don't wake up, that will be our fate. It is always the fate of empires.