Running Out Of Options
Senator Dick Durbin stood up on the Senate floor the other day and shared a secret with us. He acknowledged ( admitted?) that, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he was privy to top secret intelligence before the attack on Iraq that contradicted what the White House was selling to the public. Now, Senator Durbin was not alone in this. There were other Democrats on that committee in the autumn of 2002. By the way, when one states ' White House' one also means the media- rather, the ' mainstream media'. For, as Bill Moyers' 90 minute documentary of April 27 showed us, the mainstream media marched lockstep with this administration's machinations. Anyhow, back to Sen. Durbin- am I the only one who sees something rotten here? OK, so Durbin could not reveal the facts to the public at that time- he was under a sort of gag rule by the Congress. Yet, he had the right and the obligation to let the whole country know that " What I am hearing in closed session is not what the White House is telling us." Perhaps, if all Senators with good conscience would have done that, then maybe, just maybe, the Bush/Cheney cabal would have been forced to back off on the attack of March 19th, 2003. Shame on you Dick Durbin. Shame of all who knew the facts at that time and remained silent!
Anyone of rational thinking, fair play and good sense knows the Republican Party is not even one iota of the party of Lincoln. We all realize just how brutal and regressive the Bush crew has behaved. Yet, as far as the Democratic party, I for one am emotionally and physically drained by it. In 2004, most of the progressive minded community ' bit our tongues' and voted for Kerry- just to put an end to the era of neocon tyranny. Kerry offered absolutely no hope for we Americans who get up and go to work each and every day. None. He was simply there to offer Band-Aid relief to the wounds caused by Bush and his minions. Well, that failed. Did the Democratic National Party, with their DLC and DNC, and all those other self serving committees and groups, did they reach out to working Americans and offer us economic salvation? Did they say: " This ( so called) War on Iraq was wrong from day one, should never have been started, and let's investigate who caused it" ? What they did was continue to vote funding for this illegal and immoral occupation each and every time it came up. Finally, using such political brilliance, they now tie in a ' withdrawal timetable ' with approval of another (approximately) $ 100 billion to perpetuate the mess in Iraq . Everyone says " Its for the troops , we need the money for them." Hogwash! If any American truly cared about the troops, they would demand that they be shipped home tomorrow. Kerry himself, during better days ( for him) of rationale and conscience, stated in 1971: " Who will be the last man to die for a mistake?" Sorry, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, I'm not buying your ' clever political strategy ' today. You know you will support more funding requests, because the media has already propagandized the majority of Americans into believing " we just can't leave Iraq in the condition it's in." What you both could have done, years ago, was to mount a campaign, through your free use of the media ( ever hear of press conferences and talk shows?) to galvanize a national surge ( good word right?) for inquiries into the run-up to the attack on Iraq. Ever hear of the Downing Street Memo ? It became public over 2 years ago , and you Dems did nothing! Now, George Tenet is mentioning it in his new book, during his sudden and too late " time to hang out some dirty laundry folks " campaign vs. Cheney. Why did your party, my party, do nothing? You folks still refuse to urge Democrats nationwide to assemble on the street corners of America to both protest the occupation of Iraq, and demand hearings on the run-up to the invasion. Finally, Ms. Pelosi, Mrs. Clinton et all, why not have your children immediately sign up and volunteer to serve in Iraq until the withdrawal is completed? Ladies, ' put up or shut up ' !
We are truly running out of options here in this great land of ours. Whether it be in our personal lives, or our public ones, there really is only one alternative for survival: The Truth. Stop looking for leaders, folks. Start becoming one!
P A Farruggio
April 29, 2007
