Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Another section of the Chapter suggests that it was the plan of the Bush administration to have the international community take up the peace keeping operations as soon as Baghdad fell.  What kind of drugs did Bush do when he was young that he thought the allies that he had taunted and dismissed since his inauguration  would come in to rescue his sorry ass?

At the end of chapter 4 I found myself thinking about a small wood carving my mother gave me long ago.  You know the one.  One monkey has his mouth covered, one has his eyes covered, one has his ears covered.  Cheney is the one with his mouth covered, Rumsfeld has his eyes covered, and Bush has his ears covered.

Three incompetent, mean spirited people become one ignorant being.  Not unlike Truman Capote's description of the murderers in In Cold Blood.  Neither individual would have committed the act alone but together they formed a super persona.  

I don't know if the Three Stooges was supposed to be satire or comedy.  I do know that current history will not be written as a tragedy for the American people.   In literature a tragedy requires that the hero knows his fate and proceeds anyway.  Like Martin Luther King who said: "I might not reach that place with you."  Knowing his fate, he continued toward his goal.

This war for the American people will be a farce.  We are supposed to be a democracy.  Yet most Americans' did not want to go to war without the United Nations.

We are supposed to be governed by a Constitution.  Yet, with the exception of Russ Feingold, every Senator voted in favor of war and against their oath of office:

"I do solemnly swear ( or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;  that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

Why do I say they acted against their oath of office?  Where to start.   How about Article 1 Section 8: "The Congress shall have Power . . . . To declare War."  This responsibility Congress abdicated early with no debate reportedly so the Democrats could get onto the mid term election.

How about defending us against domestic enemies.  There was a ton of information before the war began that the President was acting illegally.  Senator Rockefeller chose not to inform the American people of illegal activity.  Scott Ritter was speaking up daily saying there were no weapons of mass destruction.

How about Article 1 Section9 "The Privilege of the Writ of habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."   9/11 was not a "rebellion" or an "invasion"  it was an attack.  The only reason this government had to suspend habeas Corpus was to cover its own incompetence.

How about Article 1 Section 9 "no Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law: and a regular Statement and Account of the receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time."  The Pentagon has never provided Congress with an audit of its monies.  Halliburton has yet to be held accountable for the no bid contracts handed out in the post war Not planning.

How about the phrase "purpose of evasion" in the oath of office.  This is  violated every day when a member of Congress casts a vote to ensure his own political future over the well being of the Country.

I posted here a while back that one possible exit strategy for Iraq would be to create full employment for Iraqis and for the U.S. to secure the borders.  We are well beyond that now.  Anyone in Iraq with an education or a vocation is heading out of Country as fast as they can arrange transportation.  The only people left are not unlike the people left in New Orleans and Falluja.  Those without the means to escape.

There are only two strategies left.  One to increase the number of troops until security can be provided and then to do a house to basement search to remove all weapons.   We don't have the troops to do this.

Leaving  one strategy.  To leave now.  As Murtha has said.  I would suggest one humanitarian gesture.  We set up a double audited (the U.S. and the U.N. to verify how funds are spent and to issue more funds when certain criterion is met) trust fund for Iraqis to draw from.  Say, initially, $25 Billion.  To build schools, roads, to replace the infrastructure we the American people though our corrupt but elected government destroyed (we did elect the members of Congress who did give Bush the authority to do this).

When I read books I usually keep notations that I think I might want to refer to in the future.  Chapter 4 is filled with notes of incompetent people who remain with the administration and competent people fired.   One person incompetent but gone is General Tommy Franks.  Franks came from Central Command which is responsible for the Middle East but based in Florida.  A General is responsible for his troops.  Responsibility in the military requires a workable plan and a back up plan.   But Franks left Iraq to take up the well rewarded talk show circuit while leaving his troops to deal with his lack of planning.

It would seem that the destruction of the Military has been accomplished as easily as bankrupting the treasury.  Fools rush in . . . . . .  Leaving one to ponder, can a wise man survive in this Idiot's government.