All out war has been declared. You don't know which country I'm talking about, do you? That says it all.
The corporate
media does not understand the full story. It's the foundation of the wars currently raging.
President Bush and the White House Iraq Group had a choice. When Ambassador
Joseph Wilson came forward to counter Bush's SOTU speech, they could have rebutted
him with facts, making the issue about substance. In the light of day, Wilson
would then have had to prove his case, against which the Bush administration
had every right to fight back. It's the way politics works. Instead, the Bush
administration chose a covert campaign to bolster their case for the war in
Iraq, using Administration officials to disseminate their case quietly, maligning
American citizens, two people who have given their lives to public service,
in the process. This campaign reached into the deepest regions of one of our intelligence
agencies, the
CIA, targeting people who depend on government protection so they can in
turn protect we the American people. This is as serious as it gets.
Earlier today, I was privileged to join others in a conference call with Ambassador
Joseph Wilson. I have a take on the whole lawsuit that has nothing to do with
legalities. To me, this is about our rights and duties as citizens to keep our
government in check. John
Dean's latest book couldn't be more timely. The authoritarian
conservatives running the government and Congress just won't countenance
dissent. Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame Wilson are standing up to that authoritarian
power structure. It's imploded their lives, to a certain degree, changing them
forever, for sure. That they're willing to take on the authoritarian conservatives is a major strike for freedom. It's also a move The Founders would have backed
wholeheartedly.
As an aside, but not totally unrelated, it's good to remember that Senator Lieberman was another one of those people who cautioned we the people to shut up on Iraq. It's but one reason that the people of Connecticut are standing up against his re-election.
I also hate to burst anyone's bubble, but this is not about the Wilsons, at least not exclusively. It is if you want to think small, very, very small. This is a much broader issue
that affects our very democracy. If you don't think this is important you're
not tuned to your TV, laptop or computer; either that or you get your news from corporate media.
For a group who wants to spread democracy around the world, the conservatives don't seem
to have the first clue about what it means.
What kind of “public square,” as Wilson called it this morning on
our call, do you want? The Founders always envisioned the people having the
power. That's not what's going on today. It harkens back to the last time conservatives
were outed for their anti-democratic campaigns.
Anyone out there remember Donald Segretti? Come on, think back… Nixon, “rat—-ing”
his opponents, and utilizing everything having to do with black political ops. In 1974,
Segretti served time for spreading the rumor that Scoop Jackson had fathered
an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old girl. Nice
work.
Well, I'd like to reintroduce you to someone you already know very well. Meet
Segretti's modern day incarnation, Karl Rove. You'd think almost getting indicted
would have calmed his zeal for dirty tricks. Okay, so we all knew it wouldn't.
But this week Rove
sent out new talking points to hit back on Wilson and his wife. Rove does
his dirtiest work behind the scenes, just like the Prince of Darkness.
Everyone needs to understand that the Middle East nightmare playing out before
us has its roots in President Bush and his Administration not being able to
make an honest case for war; cherrypicking what the Senate would have at their
disposal, making sure the NIE was slapped together at the last minute, crafting
whole new intelligence divisions so they could get the evidence they wanted,
while systematically destroying the CIA, because the agents wouldn't give them
the evidence they wanted; from Drumheller to Scheuer to Larry Johnson and far
beyond, we now have the evidence.
Wilson – Plame is a flash point. It's a moment in time. But what their case
illustrates and represents is that the people currently running our government, in charge with protecting our democracy, are actually undermining it, beginning with the ability, no, the Constitutional
right of any citizen to stand up and talk back to the people WE put in power.
When you're looking at the wars raging across the Middle East this weekend,
think about the importance of discourse, dissent and the dissemination of information
to Congress, to our democracy. And then remember that we only remain free, safe
and a democratic republic when citizens as brave as the Wilsons are willing
to put themselves on the line against people who will do anything to not only
destroy their lives, but undermine the democracy our Founders gave theirs to
create.
Oh, and by the way, if you think the corporate media isn't important in all this, just take a look at CNN today. They're still spreading Karl Rove talking points straight from Dick Cheney's desk. You simply can't buy this kind of pr.
(CNN video link via TPM)
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