Article: We Don't Have a Lot of Time Left

It seems that America is swiftly running out of time. The preponderance of evidence clearly shows that this administration has systematically lied to the American people and has had laws passed that has effectively muzzled free speech under the First Amendment. The list of actions that this administration has taken is a lengthly one. I am not, by any means, going to go over every detail of every action that the President and his Administration have taken. The reason I am citing them here is to build my case and make my point.

1. The Patriot Act. "This Patriot Act" was developed before the 9/11 tragedy. Why would the Administration write a law that restricts the freedom of every American prior to the terrorist attack?
2. The spying on American citizens by the NSA. Why would this President spy on anyone outside the provisions of the jurisdiction of the FISA Court, which gives the Attorney General up to 72 hours after the wiretap unless the Administration was wiretapping for unlawful reasons, or for reasons that could be an embarrassment to the government? Why was it a problem for the Attorney General to get a warrant after the wiretap? Was it because the wiretaps did not meet the criteria for a warrant?
3. The Military Commission Act of 2006. The government removes the writ of Habeas Corpus, a legal term that means "body of evidence" which means that the government must show you the facts and explain why they are holding you and gives you the right of a defense. This law was the basis of The Magna Charta signed by the King of England and is the heart of our legal system. For the first time in our history, an American citizen may be deemed a "Terrorist" and have his rights removed, and be detained without charges for as long as the government wishes.
4. The Anthrax Scare. The anthrax found in the letter to Tom Daschle had weapons grade anthrax inside of the envelope. Weapons grade Anthrax that could only have been produced at a United States facility because of its sophistication.
5. The 7 minute "book reading" by the President. After Bush was told that "The Nation is Under Attack Sir", the President sat in his seat for a full seven minutes before he acted. Did he already know the attack was coming?
6. The lies about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the claim that he had WMD's.
7. The "Rendition" flights of possible terrorists. People being kidnapped by American covert agencies and being placed on a chartered plane and taken to a country that allows torture and then tortured.
8. The "Unitary Power of The Executive" that Bush claims when he uses "signing statements in order not to obey the parts a law that he doesn't like. He has used more signing statements than all our former President's put together.
9. The Downing Street Memo's that proves Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were trying to get both of their nations to go to war in Iraq also before 9/11.

These are just some of the things that this administration has done. There are theories that the government was behind 9/11. That commissions attended by Cheney and Bush declared that the only way to get this nation's citizens to support going in to the Middle East would be an attack on the United States like "Pearl Harbor".

As I write this article, Bush is asking Congress for a larger Army. There are two carrier groups poised off the coast of Iran. He is contemplating a "surge" of up to 30,000 more troops. It is well known and finally verified that Israel does indeed possess nuclear weapons, and that they said they would attack Iran if it makes a nuclear weapon. This President is a "lame duck" President that probably realizes he faces investigation by Congress on some of the issues I've listed above. He and Cheney do not have much to lose, and everything to gain by attacking Iran for some kind of "attack" on our ships or something else as provocative. It is commonsense to figure out that Israel and Great Britain would be allies in a war such as this. If Israel did indeed sign on, this could easily escalate into Word War III. It would be foolhardy to go to war with Iran with our armed forces streched so much. Bush however, doesn't "get it" like Hitler didn't "get it" when the Eastern Front was collapsing.

I realize that Congress is not in session and that we must wait until the 110th Congress to convene before anything can be done to remove this President or cut the funding for this war. In the meantime, there are possibilities that Congress could convene in a special session if it were thought that the President was going to attack Iran. It would be a good idea that a group of influential Congressman and Senators see the President and explain to him that we have absolutely no interest in attacking Iran and that if he goes ahead and attacks Iran anyway, then all options are "on the table".

Frankly, I believe that we are running out of time. I would be very happy if this was not the case, but I believe it is. I hope I'm wrong. To wake up and hear on the radio or TV while you are making the coffee that Iranian jets have just attacked the American aircraft carrier Eisenhower, and that hundreds are dead, and that we retaliated with a salvo of Tomahawk missiles and that B-52's are at this moment dropping bombs on Tehran and on suspected nuclear facilities is not an outrageous scenario. I waited until after Christmas to write this, and I'm glad that I'm finally getting it into print. Frankly, I have done just about everything I can to stop this. I will continue to write about events and also voice my opinions. I hope I will never have to say I told you so. I hope I write a column that says "Boy, I was a Jackass on that Iran Prediction!" Let's see. Meanwhile don't let up on your elected officials. Don't let Bush start another war. Enough is enough.