Tag Archives: government corruption

It’s an election year. His approval ratings are dropping. So it makes sens that Bush admits the CIA runs secret prisons: He says interrogations have thwarted attacks against U.S.. Now Bush is asking that Congress look into article 3 of the Geneva Convention and specifically define it stating that it is “vague and undefined.” What he is attempting to do is to get excused from violating international laws:

Nearing the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, Bush pressed Congress to quickly pass administration-drafted legislation authorizing the use of military commissions for trials of terror suspects. Legislation is needed because the Supreme Court in June said the administration’s plan for trying detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

An administration-drafted legislation would authorize the defense secretary to convene a military commission with five members, plus a judge to preside. It would guarantee a detainee’s access to military counsel but eliminate other rights common in military and civilian courts. The bill would allow reliable hearsay and potentially coerced testimony to be used as evidence in court, as well as the submission of classified evidence “outside the presence of the accused.”

But some senators have drafted another idea:
Republican Sens. John Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham have drafted a rival proposal. Unlike the administration’s plan, the senators’ proposal would allow a defendant to access to all evidence used against them. The plan by Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also would prohibit coerced testimony.

Ironically,
Also on Wednesday, the Pentagon put out a new Army field manual that spells out appropriate conduct on issues including prisoner interrogation. The manual applies to all the armed services but not the CIA. It bans torture and degrading treatment of prisoners, for the first time specifically mentioning forced nakedness, hooding and other procedures that have become infamous during the war on terror.

Democracy Now! has, as its lead story today, an analysis of Bush’s speech.

14 Points of fascism

(Each point is a link to information on how the Bush Administration fits it.)

1.) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2.) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3.) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4.) Supremacy of the Military
5.) Rampant Sexism
6.) Controlled Mass Media
7.) Obsession with National Security
8.) Religion and Government are Intertwined
9.) Corporate Power is Protected
10.) Labor Power is Suppressed
11.) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12.) Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13.) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14.) Fraudulent Elections

This site’s homepage also has a link to Rocky Anderson’s speech on August 30th with this narrative:

Read the Transcript of Mayor’s speech that scared the GOP so badly that they ran an ad 20 times a day to paint him as a “cut & runner”. 9-1

Yesterday I posted a piece on Bush’s visit to Utah for the American Legion Convention. Tonight was the initial planning meeting to decide what to do for this special occasion. It was nice to see new faces from a variety of policital arenas.

Most of the meeting was spent discussing the message to be presented in a rally. Initially I supported the single message of end the U.S. Occupation of the middle east, but at the same time went into the meeting with an open mind. After listening to many different veiwpoints, I have decided I like a more generic message to attract more people:

How Has Bush Let You Down?

With a slogan like this, everyone can come equipped with their own message.

The decision on the slogan has not been made by the group yet, but will be soon.

More to come……