Anonymous Report This Comment Date: July 22, 2007 12:57AM
Thom Hartmann began his program on Thursday by reading from a new Executive
Order which allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes
with its Iraq policies.
He then introduced old-line conservative Paul Craig Roberts -- a former
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan who has recently become known
for his strong opposition to the Bush administration and the Iraq War -- by
quoting the "strong words" which open Roberts' latest column :
"Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the
US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran."
"I don't actually think they're very strong," said Roberts of his
words. "I get a lot of flak that they're understated and the situation is
worse than I say. ... When Bush exercises this authority [under the new
Executive Order] ... there's no check to it. It doesn't have to be ratified by
Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state
actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total,
absolute, one-man rule. ... The American people don't really understand the
danger that they face."
Roberts said that because of Bush's unpopularity, the Republicans face a total
wipeout in 2008, and this may be why "the Democrats have not brought a halt
to Bush's follies or the war, because they expect his unpopular policies to
provide them with a landslide victory in next year's election."
However, Roberts emphasized, "the problem with this reasoning is that it
assumes that Cheney and Rove and the Republicans are ignorant of these facts, or
it assumes that they are content for the Republican Party to be destroyed after
Bush has his fling." Roberts believes instead that Cheney and Rove intend
to use a renewal of the War on Terror to rally the American people around the
Republican Party. "Something's in the works," he said, adding that the
Executive Orders need to create a police state are already in place.
"The administration figures themselves and prominent Republican
propagandists ... are preparing us for another 9/11 event or series of
events," Roberts continued. "Chertoff has predicted them. ... The
National Intelligence Estimate is saying that al Qaeda has regrouped. ... You
have to count on the fact that if al Qaeda's not going to do it, it's going to
be orchestrated. ... The Republicans are praying for another 9/11."
Hartmann asked what we as the people can do if impeachment isn't about to
happen. "If enough people were suspicious and alert, it would be harder for
the administration to get away with it," Roberts replied. However, he
added, "I don't think these wake-up calls are likely to be effective,"
pointing out the dominance of the mainstream media.
"Americans think their danger is terrorists," said Roberts. "They
don't understand the terrorists cannot take away habeas corpus, the Bill of
Rights, the Constitution. ... The terrorists are not anything like the threat
that we face to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution from our own government
in the name of fighting terrorism. Americans just aren't able to perceive
that."
Roberts pointed out that it's old-line Republicans like himself, former Reagan
associate deputy attorney general Bruce Fein, and Pat Buchanan who are the
diehards in warning of the danger. "It's so obvious to people like us who
have long been associated in the corridors of power," he said.
"There's no belief in the people or anything like that. They have agendas.
The people are in the way. The Constitution is in the way. ... Americans need to
comprehend and look at how ruthless Cheney is. ... A person like that would do
anything."
Roberts final suggestion was that, in the absence of a massive popular outcry,
"the only constraints on what's going to happen will come from the federal
bureaucracy and perhaps the military. They may have had enough. They may not go
along with it."
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: July 22, 2007 04:00AM
damn son! you need a hobby.
jgoins Report This Comment Date: July 22, 2007 11:56AM
Just wait until January '09 to see if Bush leaves office before comparing him
to Hitler. Only then would he be concidered a dictator, when there are no more
elections.
zxz555 Report This Comment Date: July 22, 2007 01:36PM
Surely politics is a good enough hobby to have. And it`s dirtier than porn.
Jgroans, Bush does not need to stop elections to maintain power, manipulation
and deceit can be used to greater effect over the long term. Since when was
western politics an honest race? We don`t have elections that elect the winner
as the party with the most votes, instead it is a complicated system designed to
maintain a two party system and thus a small elite. Bush is going to get away
with it unless Americans riot in the streets nationwide. The next lying,
corrupt creep after him will do the same and get away with just as much. Look
at Blair, he has walked out the door with a smile on his face and wave goodbye.
They are already worse than Hitler in some ways, Hitler had ideology, Bush &
Blair have $$$ and nothing more.
In the future the system will change but it will take another war or famine or
some other great catastrophe. Global warming might be the answer to our
problems...
ORLANDO399 Report This Comment Date: July 22, 2007 05:34PM
Stop crying!I guess you demofags forgot about 98,when the demofags not the
republicans passed a law forbiding the cia and the fbi to share each others
notes,if this didnt happen chances are theyre wouldnt have been a 9-11.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: July 23, 2007 05:06AM
If Bush-Cheney didn't take the office then 9/11 (The New Pearl Harbor) wouldn't
have happened!
And quit crying about "when the dems"....... fucking pussy!
jgoins Report This Comment Date: July 23, 2007 12:16PM
You know, changing my name has no effect on me so go ahead with your little
jokes. In order for someone to be a dictator, they will have to remain in
office beyond their term and rule by force. Bush will be leaving office in
January '09 so he cannot be a dictator. You will get your wish in the next
election and we will have a weak kneed president who will allow the Islamic
terrorists to grow and bring about more attacks on us. You are right though,
there will be changes made but you will not like the method in which changes are
brought about. There will be a lot of blood shed and much of it will be here in
our country and around the world. Hope you enjoy it.
