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OPINIONS AND COMMENTS

December 9th

December 5th

November 30th

The good cop

What America needs, in this time of crisis, is more cops with guts like Chief Kroeker. If, in the 1930's, Germany had people like him who were willing to take a stand, Hitler would never have come to power.

November 14th

Bush orders secret military trials

Perhaps it is a good time to ponder the words of Martin Niemoller:
"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."

November 4th

... With apologies to Tom Sawyer.

November 2nd

Shades of Nixon

On November 1st George Bush signed an executive order making it more difficult for scholars and citizens to view the official papers of past and future presidents.

Richard Nixon wanted to keep these kinds of papers secret because he had a lot to hide. Nixon engaged in criminal activity while in the White House. Reagan, too, may have participated in illegal activity during the Iran-Contra fiasco, and the Vice President at that time was Bush the Elder. Is Bush trying to hide the crimes of his father? Is Bush trying to protect himself? What is Bush trying to hide?

October 26, 2001 1776 - 2001 The United States, as envisioned by Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington, ended on October 26, 2001. When George Bush signed the so called "USA Patriot Act of 2001" the United States officially became a police state. Non-citizens are specifically targeted by this law. They are denied the right of habeas corpus and can be detained without any "probable cause" for a period of seven days. These people can just disappear into the federal dungeons, and their family and lawyers will not have any access to them or even acknowledgment that they have been imprisoned. The Star Chamber, banned since 1641, is back! Furthermore, all persons living in the United States or elsewhere will, by law, be subjected to unrestricted surveillance by police, military, and intelligence forces. The constitutional requirement that search warrants be issued prior to such surveillance will be circumvented by using a special court which will rubber stamp any request made to it. (Past record: it has approved of "thousands" of government wiretap requests and denied only one.) You should now assume that all of your postal mail, e-mail, chat room postings, telephone conversations, and FAXes are being read or overheard by police authorities. Any right of privacy you may have enjoyed in the past has been canceled. Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, and the panicked sheep in Congress have started down the road towards turning America into a cross between Nazi Germany and the Roman Empire. Germany had the Jews, and America has the terrorists. "Terrorists" will now be used as an excuse to perpetuate any excess desired by the government. Caesar had the military superiority to crush any opposing force, and the United States is the only remaining "super power." America claims the right to attack or otherwise disrupt any country under the black and white Bush policy of "either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." All of the excesses of the cold war are coming back. The CIA has been instructed to carry out assassination campaigns against foreign leaders. Black lists of organizations are being drawn up by Attorney General Ashcroft. The return of McCarthyism is immanent. Anyone who dares to criticize the President or any government action will be viewed as a traitor for giving "aid and confort to the terrorists." A true patriot is someone who has the courage to say that tyranny is not an answer to terrorism. A tyrant, be he King George The Third or President George Bush The Second, has no proper place of power in America. Historians ask, "Where were the good Germans?" They should not ask of us, "Where were the good Americans?" UPDATE Also see: LA Times Detain http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-110401detain.story Washington Post Detain http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36356-2001Nov3.html FBI/CIA http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33340-2001Nov3.html

October 18th

Bush's Secret Message

Background: The Bush administration has tried to get news organizations to NOT broadcast the messages of Osama bin Laden under the pretext that these pronouncements might contain secret messages to his followers.

George Bush has been broadcasting a secret message to his supporters via his public broadcast appearances. At his recent news conference he referred to Osama bin Laden as "the evil one." This is a code word. It is a religious term with a specific denotation. The translation is this:

Osama bin Laden is the evil one
The evil one is Satan
Therefore, Osama bin Laden is Satan.

The word to fundamentalist Christians, especially those in the military, is that (contrary public relations statements not withstanding) this is a religious war against the devil. Therefore, you have carte blanche to do anything to rid us of Satan. The bombing of hospitals, schools, and civilians--all that collateral damage--is not something that you in the field have to worry about. After all, you are engaged in a holy battle with Satan. Killing Satan takes precedence over everything. The "collarerals" will be dealt with by the publicity department at the White House where there are hundreds of people working on manipulating the news. Forget the public pronouncements-they're for mere civilians-and remember the secret message:

Osama bin Laden is the evil one
The evil one is Satan
Therefore, Osama bin Laden is Satan.

Now, sally forth and act accordingly.