CosmeticDemocracy.com

By Alan Kobrin

One thing everyone has to agree that this Administration certainly gets right: our national honor is at stake.

Our ability to to create and implement successful strategic policies that address urgent issues such as institutionalized violence and terror, nuclear proliferation, and global climate change is on the line. We are at risk of losing respect and goodwill. Much of this will be determined by how our nation deals with the difficult and dangerous situation in Iraq.

We will see the worst of this fallout, however, not because of seeking a rapid end to US troop involvement in Iraq. U.S. prestige, honor and credibility will be damaged for the foreseeable future if we do not hold accountable those people who used every artifice, true or not, legal or not, to get our nation into an unnecessary and illegal conflict no one wanted except a small circle of ideologues with illusions of grandeur and little concern for the lives of others.

At the center of this ideological operation sits Dick Cheney whose disdain for public participation in governance goes back decades when he and Donald Rumsfeld tried to deep-six the Freedom of Information Act during the Ford Administration. As he himself admits, he feels it is time to “work in the shadows.” His taste for an authoritarian “imperial presidency” that scuttles any real balance of powers dates from Nixon’s days.

When it is one day revealed through the use of that very Freedom of Information Act, it is likely we will see that he personally gathered such responsible and democratic stalwarts as Enron’s Ken Lay to lay out, in secret, what he euphemistically called a national energy policy–otherwise known as the War on Iraq.

Enough evidence already exists that at least some of those closed-door “energy policy sessions” had to do with maps of Iraqi oil fields and the doling out of oil concessions to various companies. Nice turn of American Ingenuity to resolve our problems without having to leave the lucrative hydrocarbon business behind. It just happened to involve someone else’s oil. No problem for Mr. Cheney.

Getting into the White House has its perks. Like moving with real soldiers around on a map, or writing no-bid contracts to friends.

Did we remind everyone yet of Cheney’s Halliburton background? Well, these things mentioned here alone should be enough to question not only Dick Cheney’s dedication to and passion for democracy, but also his, shall we say, cool and neutral examination of the circumstances in the Middle East that might require urgent military action because of perceived threats from the Saddam Hussein regime. I would say minimally that his judgment on the question at hand might have been clouded.

There is every reason to believe he was never straight forward with the American people about a real justification for war with Iraq. All announced threats were unproven innuendoes, pushed hard by the White House in spite of contrary information coming from onsite inspectors and our best intelligence. The climate of fear which resulted from 911 was steadily nourished by this Administration to get support for their planned invasion of Iraq. Rational thinking, any thorough investigation and openness were tossed into the trash heap.

Our nation’s security, contrary to Cheney’s assertions, has never been so compromised, as it is now, whether by creation of new enemies through preemptive use of force, the use of torture, the stretching thin of our military including the use of our National Guard abroad, or by the obscenely expensive and morally outrageous privatization of vital military services.

Yes, this nation faces a crisis of credibility and honor.

We will further erode an already badly battered image abroad, lose allies, escalate military confrontations, recruit anti-American forces, create a global distrust and distaste for American-styled “democracy”, and deal a terrible blow to the rule of law both here and abroad if we do NOT impeach Mr. Cheney for all that he has done to seriously and deeply damage this nation, its people and its Constitution because of his own hubris and narrow exploitative view of human life.

It is therefore in the highest interest of this nation to go forward with the articles of impeachment brought about by Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

Impeach? Yes, of course. Anything less would make this Congress and the American people complicit in all that has gone on to damage the national fabric and our place in the world.

A line of light silt and dust is pushed off the stage by a wide broom leaving traces behind, then scooped up into a pan, then dropped unceremoniously into the plastic can in the corner.

Lights come on brighter as players take their places, shuffle papers, check their mike units, and look nervously at their watches. The show is about to begin.

Debates, televised across the nation, polls, running totals of donations, swing states, tv & radio ads, candidate visits, the approaching election dates. The required essence of a democratic society. Right? With all the players and pieces in place, the show goes on.

Is that what democracy is (or what it’s become)? The ingredients of a prolonged electoral show? Or is it something else? Is there something missing, perhaps forgotten?

While some of those recognizable elements may be important in the carrying out of the process, the true essence lies elsewhere for sure. It’s an invisible spirit, a shared belief and desire for the best in us as humans to come forth from our minds and hearts and find sufficient common ground to move forward together in fairness, and not at each other’s throats like cave dwellers fighting over a scrap of meat.

Sad to say, what we have in America today is much more of the show than the substance. Those in positions to lead (or at least give orders and wield power) are more than happy to content themselves with promoting the two-dimensional cardboard cut-out of the figments of democracy to substitute for the real thing. It is a far easier task when one has near total dominance of the means of public communication to produce the look and feel show of democracy than have to contend with messy thoughts and desires of actual people who may in fact hold ideas very different than those producing the show do.

As long as at least some of the public are willing on selected dates to line up and deposit what they believe are their choices into some device, it’s enough to present something for the world to see. Candidates. Electoral Calendar. Speeches. Fundraisers. Campaigns. Are any of the deep concerns of the citizens being discussed or debated? Perhaps. It’s not a prerequisite in a Cosmetic Democracy.

Why are we all dancing around the real motivations for our invasion and occupation of Iraq and our whole new “foreign policy”?

Some time back I read Helen Thomas’ article, “Bush’s Iraq Rationalization is Lame”. In it, I like the way she reminds fellow journalists that they have some objective things to take care of, and sets an example of doggedness and fight that is all but gone from the press corps.

Yet…I still don’t really hear anyone, Helen included, talking DAILY about a DAILY realities: WHY we are REALLY there!

Enough talking about “mistakes”: should there have been more troops, fewer troops, fight them over there, fight them here, spread democracy, etc.—writing about those things just buys—lock, stock and barrel—into the phony premises put forward by this Selected Administration in the first place—that they took us there with Our Blood and Our Gold to Do Good. If you swallow that, you’ve swallowed the whole thing.

What on EARTH does it take for a few courageous writers to start from a clean slate and say the reason we are there in Iraq, is for the 14 permanent bases, the megaEmbassy, and all that that means in terms of regional control (and beyond) capability. Nothing else!! All the rest is crochet work, pretty and noble words to make those paying for this misadventure feel good—or at least unsure enough of themselves not to say anything to the contrary. THAT is why Iran is next. Who CARES who lives or dies—it’s a long-term fight for endless US/corporate domination of resources in many regions in a time of scarcity.

C’mon! They are not building “democracy” in Iraq—anyone with half a brain knows that, yet look at all the debate and intense TV scrutiny over their armed “elections.” Purple fingers, indeed. They exist to distract, to create a warm feeling, but mostly to buy time—building (construction) time. Hell, they don’t know how to “build democracy” here, much less there! They do know how to tear it apart, though. That being said, however, incompetence never was their problem. Take notice—they do well only those things they CARE about (y’know: profits, control, ownership, snooping, punishment). The rest…well, you’ve seen Katrina, our public schools, health care, our railroads, port security….

The only thing that counts in Iraq for those NeoCons who occupied America in 2000 are the Bases. Get it? That is the ONLY reason there are that many (or few) troops on the ground there. They calculated what would be enough to protect the contractors at work, until the base-building job is done. That’s all. All on our nickel (middle class America’s nickel, that is, with largely lower class and immigrant cannon fodder). Iraqis? Screw them! Civil war, schmivil war, the more they die, the less we have to kill them to keep our bases strong.

We torture men, women and children; we blow up whole families or melt them with white phosphorus. Why should we care if they get to participate in their own government? Officials in Ohio don’t seem to care if people here do.

Stop and think about that. If your only goal and objective was to set up Fortress America in Iraq, then, when asked “Do we have enough troops?”, sure, the answer is “Yeah!” Enough for the intended job.

Of course, that story they could never sell to a Congress that is still more or less elected, nor sell to an American public that just wants to feel either good or safe, preferably both. So they told us this was to protect us. Ha! But…first we had to be scared enough to believe them. Hmmm,…can anyone say 911?

There is no reason to believe any one of the so-called “justifications” (WMD’s, Saddam, al Qaeda, etc)—nor for journalists and politicians to waste too many more precious words using available evidence to disprove them. With THEIR control of the media, they aren’t at all worried about facts, proof or making sense—they just repeat, ad nauseum, their own make-believe cover-up “story”.

We all knew that this Plan existed years prior to 911, and that that attack served as a catalyst to get popular domestic support (and to start the free-for-all free-fall in our Treasury). Al Capone must be yukkin’ it up, looking down on his prodigies at work.

So why not tackle that REAL geopolitical gorilla sitting on top of the Empire State Building—the one no one seems to notice. We KNOW why BushCo took us there—it exists in maps and blueprints, plans and timelines. You can see it on the web! It’s part of our secret “Energy Policy.” All the rest is distraction. The main topic that has occupied nearly all mainstream US journalism for the past five years…is the very nature of the Distraction!!!!

So, decent, good, honest, perceptive journalists—and others—need to FOCUS ON and REPEAT the One and Only Story there is: the geopolitical reasons proposed in the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). AAAALLL the rest is a WASTE of time—and besides the NeoCons just keep refuting it—incessantly, on over 90% of the airwaves.

PNAC is there for all to see: anyone can read about their objectives and many of their intended means. That IS their goal. The rest are fairy tales. It is not hard to prove, either. Just look at ONLY those things which have succeeded so far in our so-called Mid East policy: the establishment and protection of a permanent US military and intelligence presence in Iraq and elsewhere. THAT’S where they put their expertise, their boldness, and OUR resources. That is the only part going more or less according to plan.

PNAC even spells out the need for 911 in order for the plan to work (”a new Pearl Harbor” was needed, they said).

And—why isn’t this obvious—THAT is the reason there is no Plan to leave soon. It’s not about Iraqi Police or Army readiness. It’s about Base Readiness. We can’t leave now—the 52nd state isn’t ready yet.

It has nothing to do with Iraqis taking over their own defense. It has nothing to with any of the material of countless editorials and letters to the editors, not the insurgency, nor Valerie Plame, yellow-cake, aluminum tubes, nor gassing people,…NADA!

You know, if NeoCons were really the courageous tough guys they’d like us to believe they are, they’d lay this whole thing out in the open for discussion and debate. They would work hard to convince us of their positions, and let Americans decide if this is what they want to do. But noooo…they could never take such a chance. As Cheney aptly puts it, they work “in the shadows.” THEY know what is right for us and won’t let a little thing like democracy get in the way.

Soooo…EXPOSE this, already!! Journalists, Congresspeople, someone!!

This is actually happening to us. People in the tens of thousands are dying, being maimed, poisoned. We are destroying our Constitution and losing our most basic rights and are accepting theater instead of elections. PLEASE, it is time to talk ONLY of what they are VERIFIABLY trying to do, and none of that other…stuff.

This dancing around the Truth is only an enabling and collaborative act, and speeds up the full takeover of what once was a Noble Experiment of a nation.

JOURNALISTS’ #1 TASK: Talk about the Bases, the Bases, the Bases: the money going in—and out. Who is building them? Who is profiting? How much is this costing? Where is the money trail? Where are the “missing” billions? Where is the investigation and TRIALS about those holding the missing billions? How does base construction compare ($$, time, energy) with Iraqi infrastructure construction? How does the “Downing Street Memo” notion of shaping the facts to the plan fit into all of this? Why aren’t they putting Iraqis to work on those projects? Why do the bases and embassy resemble the Mall of the Americas? Who’s going to live there? How will this be paid for? NOW, talk about 911! WERE there war games going on at the time? Yes or No. Where were NORAD, the planes and that training and preparedness that were supposed to protect us? Why was no one fired? Why were we so quick to dispose of evidence in New York and Washington? And so on. YOU’RE the journalists. YOU think of the questions!!

This IS your story. And if it is not, then PROVE that it’s not—by investigating ALL of these questions and denying in fact and figure that the above are NOT the real and only underlying reasons for all the treasons in Iraq.

Tell your colleagues, “Enough of Jon Benet, Paris Hilton, and the like—there’s this gorilla out there waiting for you.” Go get ‘im! This is a story America desperately needs to know about, if it is to survive.

Impeachment has to happen for at least two reasons.

First, it is the appropriate remedy called upon to redress crimes that have likely been committed by high elected officials.

Secondly, it may be the last best defense for our nation to avoid the all-out unthinkable catastrophe that would be a strike (nuclear or otherwise) against Iran in the coming days by an increasingly unstable and cornered Administration.

Questioning the “political expediency” of impeachment always seemed disturbing because it permits our elected officials discretion to go after potentially serious crimes—or not—as the electoral calendar, but not the public interest, dictated. Law applied only when convenient, ceases to be Law. If We, the People, through our representatives, allow the most serious crimes committed in the history of our nation to go unexamined, much less unpunished, we will have no legacy to pass on to our children. Effectively we will have allowed America to die.

The current moment makes this remedy even more urgent. As important as impeachment would be to re-establishing the ground rules of civilized behavior in our nation, and as much as it already can be seen as a question of life and death for countless future victims, it has now become a tactical move for the very survival of the United States as many of us would like to see it.

Impeachment may well be the only means left for an immediate shift in momentum. The movement of personnel and materials into a new theater of war in the Mideast gives the Administration clear inertia for carrying out its plans. There is little time to alter any course through normal voting channels, even if it is to cut off funding. That takes time and the Administration has already declared itself ready and able to proceed with or without funding cuts.

It is no longer a question of whether this Administration acts from serious intelligence-gathering or from listening to experts, or even listening to the people it legally represents. It clearly marches to the beat of its own drummer, to a cadence we are not privy to hear. We cannot count on either their good faith or their good sense. In this constitutional crisis of power, all available means are called for to restore Constitutional Balance of Power, to keep this Administration busy explaining, and move them into a more defensive posture, running to their lawyers, and ducking cameras and subpoenas.

This may be the last chance the American people have to use our available legal powers to stave off an unprecedented catastrophe. Time is running out. This unresponsive and largely irresponsible Administration seems determined and desperate to act out the Plan they have never bothered to disclose to us, mere citizens.

If there were ever a time for national resolve, this is it. Starting the impeachment process now—independent of the chances of its successful passage—will give courage to the beleaguered and bewildered 70% who want this war to stop. It gives breathing room to develop an appropriate exit strategy from Iraq. It will renew US stature in the eyes of the world. It means America at last will be standing up together and fighting to redeem its heritage as a democratic republic of the People, and secure its future from threats, be they foreign or domestic.

We must get our Congress & People to act NOW as if our lives depended on it–for they do.

Spread the word — time is running out.

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Alan Kobrin