When is a crime so great it shouldn’t be acknowledged?



Wurm

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Aug 6, 2004
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by Robert Shetterly


Before the votes were even counted, a strange chorus arose, like toads from the swamp, from every point on the Democratic compass --- so persistent, one might even think it choreographed --- croaking in a dire basso, “Now’s the time to work on fulfilling the Democrats agenda, not the time to hold anyone accountable for the massive corruption or the extraordinary lies that got us into this mess.” Let’s be moderate, let’s be wise, the toads all intoned, let’s don’t disintegrate into partisan bickering about who’s responsible. And, pullleeeease, don’t even utter the word impeachment. No, no, no, let’s repeal the tax cuts for the rich, raise the minimum wage, enact universal health care, raise the mileage on our cars, sign on to the Kyoto Protocol, reduce the debt, fund our schools, fix social security, and work in a bi-partisan way toward an exit strategy from Iraq. All very sensible. Every single one of those things needs to be fought for if we want to have economic and social justice.

But, that’s not enough. I thought one of the corner stones of our democratic republic was the rule of law. Transparency. Accountability. We hold people accountable so every bozo with a zip gun won’t stick up a 7-11 for fifty bucks or start a pre-emptive war by lying to the people. We sent a Japanese soldier to prison for twenty-five years after WW II for waterboarding a United States soldier; we hung Adolph Eichmann. I’m trying to imagine what our response would have been after that war if the Nazis had said, “Look, we lost the war, our cities are rubble, our people starving, we have no infrastructure, don’t waste your money on some stupid, inflammatory trials at Nuremberg about the people who started this war or thought the Holocaust was a cool idea. Sure, mistakes were made, but let’s just get on with re-building.” Very sensible.

Massive crimes have been committed. Our administration has ridden roughshod on our Constitution as though it were a hobbled and blind cow. What-might-have-been looks like a bomb crater. So irresponsible and massive are the crimes that the perpetrators have changed the laws to avoid being held accountable for crimes against humanity. So irresponsible that their failure to act to mitigate global warming endangers the very survival of human life on our planet. Hundreds of thousands of people are unnecessarily dead, many more hundreds of thousands maimed and wounded. The incredible debt undermines our economy and will plague our children. When is a crime so great that it shouldn’t be acknowledged? Or prosecuted? Do we pat Rummy & Dickie & Georgie & Connie on the butt and send them to the bench with a, “Nice game, kids. Let’s all be good sports and let someone else have a go at it”? Live and let live.

Behind all the outrageous events of this era --- Iraq, global warming, the debt, election fraud, war profiteering, failure to create alternative energies, species extinction --- is a culture of non-accountability, cronyism, and obscene profit. How will it stop? Raising the minimum wage by $1.50 over three years might not do it. Arrogance, deceit and blatant crime are responsible for these crises. Not poor execution. Accountability is the way out. There is no reason why we can’t pass fair, life-saving legislation at the same time. We can walk and chew gum. We have grown so accustomed to living in a world of euphemism and double speak, so accustomed to not calling reality by its name, that we think there is no reality except what we can get away with, the reality that sells the product or “develops the resource.” Not true. Nature won’t be fooled. And we only imperil ourselves and our cherished institutions if we don’t hold ourselves accountable. It’s not about partisan revenge, it’s about naming the crime. Some very bad people have broken our laws, dashed our hopes, mortgaged our futures, broken our hearts, and betrayed our country. They need to pay the piper. If we don’t hold them accountable, who will we allow to hold us accountable for making things right?

It’s a platitude to say that political progress is the art of compromise. We compromise in order to share as much justice and opportunity as evenly as we can. But when great crimes have been committed by our elected leaders, we shouldn’t compromise with our sense of justice. It’s hard to admit because as citizens we are responsible, too. But that responsibility demands an accounting, demands an earning back of national integrity by investigating the depth of the crimes. That’s called maturity. Our leaders have inflicted an enormous trauma on Iraq and on us. We will all be much healthier if we heal by inquiry and justice rather than repression.

Exactly.
 
Eldrack said:
No, he's actually making a reasonable response.

And btw, why are you still posting?
Do you care to discuss the thread topic, or is this more of the 'baiting' that you said you like to do?
 
Wurm said:
Do you care to discuss the thread topic, or is this more of the 'baiting' that you said you like to do?
How about addressing some of the previous lies that you posted.

1. The Republicans would steal this election. False statement made by Wurm.
2. The US would be at war with Iran. Another false statement by Wurm.
3. You wouldn't post for a month if #2 didn't occur. Another lie. You accuse Republicans of lying, but you seem quite adept at that as well.

Could go on and on but I grow bored of Wurm's lies.
 
These guys really should be accountable for their heinous crimes but alas they are so numerous that the full investigation would take ten years. I beleive my hero Sen.'s Waxman & Levin have idea's to investigate the crimes of the highest magnitude. E.g-Conspiracy & Defrauding the U.S. Government by war-profiteering among others ;) Those have a nice "ring" to them. There are ongoing proceedings relating to the Repub's "culture of corruption" that will play out in the future resulting in convictions no doubt. So much for the party of moral values (those in the leadership) :p
 
That's right. Full investigations, and prosecution of those implicated - with the many subpoenas that would be required from the certain Bu$hCo stonewalling that would ensue - would take quite some time & effort. But as the article above and many others have pointed out, it has to be done if this country is ever to call itself a law-abiding entity in the future.

It is not a matter of choice or discretion, it's really a matter of duty to the Constitution of those now elected to Congress. It has been the duty of those in the previous Congress as well, but they have abdicted that duty.

The first item that the new Congress should start with is 9-11. If they began there, much of the modus operandi of what came later would be made clear. For instance: not long ago, it was shown that the Pentagon lied to the 9-11 Commission on several points. There are dozens of other points that were ignored by that commission that should be investigated, and this time Bush and Cheney should be put under oath and questioned in public.

I don't think it will ever be re-opened and investigated thoroughly because I believe there were Dems involved as well as the other side.

Then of course there is:

2. Deceiving Congress and the people in taking the country to war in Iraq.

3. Directing an illegal domestic wiretapping program and other surveillance of Americans.

4. Permitting and condoning the use of torture or cruel treatment of detainees.

5. Showing reckless indifference to human life in the face of Hurricane Katrina.

6. Inadequately equipping U.S. soldiers.

7. Insufficiently planning for the occupation of Iraq.

8. Covering up his war deceptions with the leak of misleading classified information, leading to the outing of a CIA agent.

Bu$hCo and the previous Repig Congresses have a LOT to answer for.
 
Wurm said:
That's right. Full investigations, and prosecution of those implicated - with the many subpoenas that would be required from the certain Bu$hCo stonewalling that would ensue - would take quite some time & effort. But as the article above and many others have pointed out, it has to be done if this country is ever to call itself a law-abiding entity in the future.

It is not a matter of choice or discretion, it's really a matter of duty to the Constitution of those now elected to Congress. It has been the duty of those in the previous Congress as well, but they have abdicted that duty.

The first item that the new Congress should start with is 9-11. If they began there, much of the modus operandi of what came later would be made clear. For instance: not long ago, it was shown that the Pentagon lied to the 9-11 Commission on several points. There are dozens of other points that were ignored by that commission that should be investigated, and this time Bush and Cheney should be put under oath and questioned in public.

I don't think it will ever be re-opened and investigated thoroughly because I believe there were Dems involved as well as the other side.

Then of course there is:

2. Deceiving Congress and the people in taking the country to war in Iraq.

3. Directing an illegal domestic wiretapping program and other surveillance of Americans.

4. Permitting and condoning the use of torture or cruel treatment of detainees.

5. Showing reckless indifference to human life in the face of Hurricane Katrina.

6. Inadequately equipping U.S. soldiers.

7. Insufficiently planning for the occupation of Iraq.

8. Covering up his war deceptions with the leak of misleading classified information, leading to the outing of a CIA agent.

Bu$hCo and the previous Repig Congresses have a LOT to answer for.
Indeed. They wouldn't be able to cry "foul" because they spent $250 million tax-payers money to prove that, yes, our last President was in fact attracted to women :p Nice going Repub's :rolleyes: They have bankrupted the country w/ their rapacious legislation benefitting the select-few of our society. The funny part is, those of thier ilk who believe that they are "rich" when they have a net worth of $1 milion-that's funny :) Do you know how much the President errr...I mean the Vice President's net worth is :confused:
Bush, Cheney’s tax returns made public
Vice president reports higher adjusted gross income of $8.8 million
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12318056/
 
davidmc said:
Indeed. They wouldn't be able to cry "foul" because they spent $250 million tax-payers money to prove that, yes, our last President was in fact attracted to women :p Nice going Repub's :rolleyes: They have bankrupted the country w/ their rapacious legislation benefitting the select-few of our society. The funny part is, those of thier ilk who believe that they are "rich" when they have a net worth of $1 milion-that's funny :) Do you know how much the President errr...I mean the Vice President's net worth is :confused:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12318056/

Kind of forgot about the 6.87 million donation to charity! Can you believe it! Evil Cheney donated over 6 million to charity. He is indeed the anti-christ.
 
Colorado Ryder said:
Kind of forgot about the 6.87 million donation to charity! Can you believe it! Evil Cheney donated over 6 million to charity. He is indeed the anti-christ.
When millions are counted in terms of 100's, it puts less of a dent in one's savings. Also, donations are tax-deductible ;) I would suspect that the "anti-christ"...errr...or rather-as I like to refer to him as-"The dark Lord" is well aware of this fact :rolleyes:
 
his charity during his lifetime cannot offset his wake of inflicting man-made disasters.

as for the apropos reference, for a title, i am leaning towards "despot"...

esp. considering the antonym of of despotism, which just happens to be "democracy".

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Despotism


Just checking in, carry on.


davidmc said:
When millions are counted in terms of 100's, it puts less of a dent in one's savings. Also, donations are tax-deductible ;) I would suspect that the "anti-christ"...errr...or rather-as I like to refer to him as-"The dark Lord" is well aware of this fact :rolleyes:
 
davidmc said:
When millions are counted in terms of 100's, it puts less of a dent in one's savings. Also, donations are tax-deductible ;) I would suspect that the "anti-christ"...errr...or rather-as I like to refer to him as-"The dark Lord" is well aware of this fact :rolleyes:
His tax return had a AGI of about 8 million. He donated 6 million to charity. He may be the dark lord. But I wonder if George Soros donates 75% of his AGI to charity.
 
On ****(less) Cheney's income, far more important is where he gets it from, and the enormous conflict of interest/cronyism derived.

You get 3 guesses, and the first 2 don't count. Hint: it starts with an "H".
 
Colorado Ryder said:
I wonder if George Soros donates 75% of his AGI to charity.
Soros is famously known for "breaking the Bank of England" on Black Wednesday in 1992. With an estimated current net worth of around $8.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 27-richest person in America.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker wrote in 2003 in the foreword of Soros' book The Alchemy of Finance:

"George Soros has made his mark as an enormously successful speculator, wise enough to largely withdraw when still way ahead of the game. The bulk of his enormous winnings is now devoted to encouraging transitional and emerging nations to become 'open societies,' open not only in the sense of freedom of commerce but - more important - tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior."
and
As of 2003, PBS estimated that he had given away a total of $4 billion. The OSI says it has spent about $400 million annually in recent years. Notable projects have included aid to scientists and universities throughout Central and Eastern Europe, help to civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, worldwide efforts to repeal drug prohibition laws, and Transparency International. Soros also pledged an endowment of 420 million euros to the Central European University (CEU). The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus and his microfinance bank Grameen Bank received support from the OSI.
 
George Soros is one of the great humanitarians of the late 20th century.
As alluded to by Dave, his funding of charity work in Eastern Europe is well known, as is his funding of education throughout Western Europe.
The man is a philanthropist.

Kinda ironic (moronic!) that someone would even try to question George Soros track record.
 

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