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by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
April 14, 2006
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"If it's 10:AM in Casablanca what time is it in New York? ...
They're sleeping in New York... They're asleep all over America."Humphrey Bogart, in Casablanca
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Are you awake yet, America? I'm wide awake, and worried. Are you worried with me, wondering what's next? Are you terrified?
If you're not scared silly, that frightens me even more.
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Some people are seriously suggesting that the Constitution should be ignored, because it puts people's rights above Presidential power. Can Americans truly be this stupid?
Do you know what it means when a government promises liberty and justice for all, and seriously tries to follow through on that goal? It means everything.
Do you know what government looks like, when people's rights are deemed un-important? That's the USSR. Communist China. North Korea. Are you ready to see that, to live that, right here
in America?
The United States of America is not magically immune to totalitarianism, and we're flirting with it. It can happen here, and we're approaching the brink.
The only difference between freedom and tyranny is what leaders can get away with. And many Americans, it seems, are willing to let George W Bush get away with anything and everything he wants. You should shudder in fear, as I do, when Americans -- Americans! -- argue that their own rights are un-important, or that their leaders should be above the law.
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It's amazing to me, how quickly so-called "patriots" are willing to surrender Amerca's freedom. You might as well piss on dead soldier's graves, if you're willing to hand over everything they fought and died for. Patriots don't meekly and obediently surrender the nation's liberty on demand.
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A wall along the Mexican border?
An alleged “war on Christianity”?
The gay agenda against heterosexuals?
These are not at all the real issues facing America, but such "issues" mysteriously arise from nowhere, suddenly monopolizing all the political talk shows and editorial pages.
It’s hard to know which issues are actual issues, which are lies, and which are smokescreens to distract us while Bush, Cheney, and the rest of these lying crooks pull another fast one on the Constitution.
Do we still have the rights you were once promised as American citizens?
Ask Attorney General Gonzales -- you know, the guy who wrote the torture memo, and now says “Warrants? We don’t need no steenking warrants.”
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If you've been following American politics for longer than Bush has been President, you've noticed that everything has changed since he took office.
Just a few years ago, for example, scandals led to investigations. If some official or transaction was publicly known to have a hint of an ethical question, Congressional leaders would huff and puff and hold hearings. Or the media would be all over it, and within a few days or weeks or maybe months, heads
would have to roll. Someone would resign or be fired.
Not so long ago, a nomination could be derailed for hiring an illegal alien as a nanny. Congressmen could be in very hot water for writing a few bad checks. A Vice President had to resign because of income tax evasion. Gerald Ford pardoned President Richard Nixon for his crimes -- a shadow of George Bush's crimes -- but at least Nixon was forced to resign. Those were the days when public officials would at least be slapped on the wrist for their ethical lapses.
That doesn't happen any more. Unless someone is actually indicted, like Lewis Libby, you get to keep your job even if you're the Secretary of Defense and you're lackadaisical about armoring the troops during wartime, even if your every war plan just makes the war go worse and worse. If you're a high-ranking intelligence official who's repeatedly caught off guard by utterly predictable developments like an Iraqi resistance to occupation, or a Hamas victory in Palestine, you don't lose your job -- au contraire, you get promoted to Secretary of State. You get to remain as Vice President -- or President -- even when it's obvious that you've blown a CIA agent's cover.
Shame doesn't happen any more, and the 'news' seems to spend inordinate time covering pretty white women's disappearances, or movie stars' marriages, or kittens stuck up a tree. Film at 11!
But when it comes to high-level misdeeds, incompetence, lies and malfeasance, it's increasingly rare to see any serious investigative journalism at all. And on those odd days where there is actual journalism, any questions asked are simply ignored or sidestepped with plain bull and balderdash, until the scandal is quickly forgotten.
Political leaders have always struggled with the truth, of course, and the truth was usually bruised. Now, though, the truth has been bludgeoned to death, and lies dominate the political landscape. The biggest, most implausible whoppers go virtually unchallenged, and nobody gets fired for telling lies, no matter how huge. Quite the contrary, in the Bush-Cheney administration, telling the truth seems to be the only misdeed that gets anyone fired.
It's obvious that American government at the highest level is now comprised entirely of world-class liars, yet no matter who lies and how often, the news media continues reporting what these government officials say, as if their word is credible. The nightly news is a quick summary of the lies of the day, unquestioned, and in lieu of an honest discussion of issues, the plainest of facts are treated as if they are matters of dispute.
Iraq, straight-faced liars tell us, is a happy place, and we only think it’s a hellhole because of lying journalists. Bush says this, and journalists report it without question.
Also, global warming is not happening. Calling for the troops to come home will sap their strength quicker than Samson’s haircut. Evolution is “just a theory.” God does hate homosexuals, 'cuz it's in the Bible. The economy is booming, because millionaires say it is. And Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction -- because Bush and Cheney said he did, and they’re good Christians.
For all intents and purposes, truth and ethics are on an extended holiday together, or gone forever. The Senate Ethics Committee has been all-but-officially shut down, and hasn't done any wrist-slapping at all, even as the news swirls daily with accounts of unethical Senators. The House Ethics Committee is almost as silent.
All the rules that US politics and government have played by, have
quietly disappeared. American politics and government is now, in
essence, a game with no rules -- or a game where the most powerful players write the rules as they go, and break any rules they don’t like, with utter impunity.
Absent any rules, nobody knows what's coming next ... except that it's going to be worse.
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It's impossible to have an informed debate on any issue, when every issue is defined by lies. On most issues, both sides have completely different 'facts'. An 'informed citizen' is anyone who's up to date on the latest lies, and when two lies are at odds a third lie smoothes the wrinkles. Whether we know it or not, most political discussion is just a battle of propaganda points. All common ground for reasonable debate has been dug away and replaced with lies, leaving no foothold for genuine political discourse.
A wall along the Mexican border? An alleged “war on Christianity”? The gay agenda against heterosexuals? These are not at all the real issues facing America, but such "issues" mysteriously arise from nowhere, suddenly monopolizing all the political talk shows and editorial pages. It’s hard to know which issues are actual issues, which are lies, and which are smokescreens to distract us while Bush, Cheney, and the rest of these lying crooks pull another fast one on the Constitution.
Do we still have the rights you were once promised as American citizens? Ask Attorney General Gonzales -- you know, the guy who wrote the torture memo, and now says
“Warrants? We don’t need no steenking warrants.”
So are you scared? You ought to be. I’m having a hard time sleeping at night, because every morning when I wake up things have gotten a little worse, and the America I once knew seems more and more a memory.
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So all the rules of American politics and government have been vaporized, lies are swallowed whole, and checks and balances are gone. Constitutional constraints on Presidential power are openly ignored, and the President brags about it. If you want American troops to come home alive and well you don't support the troops, and if you're reluctant to hand over your rights you're anti-American.
And now it's whispered that Bush's upcoming attack on Iran will include nuclear weapons.
With nuclear weapons, this administration can do for the entire Middle East what it's already accomplished in Iraq -- sheer bloody burning hell.
Are Bush and Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice, nutty enough to do it? Are American military commanders brainwiped enough to follow such an order? If World War III is triggered, will Bush pump his fist in the air and say it "feels good," as he said when he launched the 2003 attack on Iraq?
Who can guess just how insane these people are? Perhaps the nuclear strategy is a Karl Rovian ploy, just more disinformation, so when the US attacks using "only" conventional bombs to rain death down on Tehran and the rest of Iran, Americans will be relieved instead of outraged.
Of course, even if Iran is attacked "only" with conventional weapons, that nation will be covered with America's radioactive "depleted uranium" munitions. Nukes or no nukes, Bush and Cheney aren't content to kill Iranians today; their intent is to continue killing with radiation, for generations. And of course, this is done with full knowledge that American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will also be sickened by the uranium.
The Bush-Cheney administration won't say any of this openly, of course. All this talk about war with Iran is just "wild speculation," the President said on Monday, but in five years in office, denials are the only reliable confirmation this White House has ever offered.
They haven't been honest and up front about anything. They've lied about big things -- Saddam Hussein's toppled statue -- and about the tiniest things you can imagine, from Roses are red, violets are blue to the weather. And when they're not lying, every aspect of this administration is shrouded in secrecy, executive orders, and Baryshnikov-level dancing past even the simplest of straight questions.
Yet they ask America to trust them. And most of us seem to say, OK.
We have a maniac in the White House, a clearly insane man who has surrounded himself with people far farther from sane than he is -- and Bush always takes their advice. The Bush-Cheney administration has the opposite of the Midas touch --
everything these people touch turns to crap: Iraq and New Orleans, the economy and the environment, national
security and foreign policy. The mere hint that these boobs are ready for another war ought to keep you sleepless all night.
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How many people have to die, before Americans wake up?
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© by the authors.
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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Previous articles by Helen & Harry Highwater:
Comparing Bush and Hitler, and the monsters behind the curtain
by Helen & Harry Highwater
CNN is committing treason
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Is the President an adult?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
We interrupt the bad news for a brief pep talk
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Stand up for something, damn it
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What kind of 'patriot' supports a tyrant?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Time to oppose the phony opposition
by Helen & Harry Highwater
President Charles Manson
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What's for dinner at the Hanoi Hilton?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The bully at the bully pulpit
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Truth or dare, America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Bush administration spying targets reporters, activists
by Helen & Harry Highwater
No, Virginia,
we're not libertarians
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Letter to the editor
by Proud American, with a response from Helen & Harry Highwater
A whisper of optimism
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Muhammad Ali is a scumbag
by Helen & Harry Highwater
On behalf of God Himself, I endorse Alito for Supreme Court
by Helen & Harry Highwater, as Jerry Falwell
The old guy in a sweatshirt
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The emperor wears no mental clothes
by Helen & Harry Highwater
I'm filing bankruptcy
by Helen Highwater
Our long national nightmare is just beginning
by Helen & Harry Highwater
"Mission accomplished" for FEMA
by Harry Highwater
Police roadblock freedom in America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our phone number
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Fuck you, George W. Bush
by Helen & Harry Highwater
A forgotten man, one of many
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The daily compromise
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Are you for freedom, or against it?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The unspoken subtext of Karl Rove's treason:
Support your local CIA
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Cabbages don't count
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Back to basics: Question authority
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Anatomy of another lie
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Constipated and liquefied logic
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Be careful crossing the street, ya damn kids!
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Monsters in America,
from Deep Throat to James Watt to Christopher Cox
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Mainstream media:
Completely on board with Bush administration lies
by Helen & Harry Highwater
A Pope to be ashamed of
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What can we do about the stolen election?
by Atomicktom and
Helen & Harry Highwater
The President who cried "wolf!"
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Defeating terrorists without wars
by Helen & Harry Highwater
If you're not for Bush, you're French ... or al Qaeda
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Rescuing America from tyranny
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Separation of church and state
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Who would Jesus vote for?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Godless hippie scumbag
traitors who hate the troops
by Helen & Harry Highwater
To tell the truth
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What kind of bloody savages
would kill people and drag
their corpses along the road?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our serial killer nation
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Judging Judging Amy
by Helen & Harry Highwater
An apology and an endorsement
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Rights, responsibilities, and acknowledgement
by Peace-Thru-Reason and
Helen & Harry Highwater
Los Angeles Times memo orders reporters to fudge the truth
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our perspective on Terri Schiavo
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Who deserves freedom of speech? And who doesn't?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Two years of lies about Sept. 11
The new Warren Commission
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Criticizing Israel
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Is it terrorism to be a patriot?
Or is it just like Red Dawn, only with turbans?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Bush knocks on Armageddon's back door
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Why I won't be at the victory parade
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Company fined $6,000 for
answering customer's questions
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Clint Eastwood, and US foreign policy
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Do you love America? Do you?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Google refuses our ad
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Reasonable deaths in a nonsense war
by Helen & Harry Highwater
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I can't afford therapy, but boy do I need it. So as an affordable alternative, I pound my anger into a weekly column here.
Fair warning: My parents were repressed -- using any bad words would get my mouth washed out with soap, literally. I still remember the sickly flavor of DoveTM. So as an adult, vulgarity helps with the healing. If naughty language offends you, beat the rush and get offended now.
This page is for my own good, not yours, so you may not like it, but I don't care.
About the authors
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Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.
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We appreciate the heck out of everyone who helps.
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