Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?

Over the past eight years, our government spied on us in defiance of the 4th Amendment. Our government detained people without due process or Grand Jury indictment subverting the 5th Amendment and precautions against government excesses and intrusions. Our government denied the guarantees of the 6th Amendment to a speedy and public trial. Our government inflicted cruel and unusual punishment in contravention of the 8th Amendment.

Our government took us into two wars without bothering to get a declaration of war from Congress as required by Article I of the Constitution. Our Supreme Court intervened in a local election subverting the democratic process in violation of Article III of the Constitution. Our president betrayed his oath of office to “ . . .preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” as required by Article II of the Constitution.

Just when it appeared that our government holds all of our Constitutions, treaties, traditions, rights and values in disregard or outright contempt, we are told that there is a sacred, inviolate, binding rule. That revered right is the “Contract.” It doesn’t matter how unjust a contract is or whom it harms, it must be honored our politicians tell us with a mixed air of self-righteousness and helplessness. So when incompetent, corrupt financiers driven by greed and gluttony gambled with the fate of our economy and lost, they made sure they had contracted large rewards for themselves even if their actions resulted in huge failures including the possible destruction of America as we know it. Our “law-makers” respond that they are powerless to reverse or limit those contracts. Our politicians can tear up the Constitution, defy international treaties and torture and murder innocent people, but they can’t violate a contract?

What if Congress had not been spooked and stampeded, betraying its fiduciary duties, into giving hundreds of billions of our dollars, no strings attached, to greedy, gluttonous, irresponsible financial institutions? How would those institutions have met their sacred, contractual obligations to pay promised, unconditional bonuses to their most highly-paid employees?

What made the United States unique and great was its attempt to make a constitution, not a monarchy, nobility or banking oligarchy, supreme. We’re not there yet. So far, the United States boils down to two qualities: the right to make a profit and the sanctity of the contract.

Obama Can't Investigate Bush

An investigation of the crimes of the Bush Administration would expose the decay that permeates the entire U.S. system. The rot pervades the political, economic, social and cultural institutions.

Currently, the Republican philosophy is the dominant U.S. philosophy. The Democrat Party exists solely to provide the illusion of choice. Essentially, the U.S. has a one-party political system. The two parties vary no more than a coat change in the middle of winter.

If one of the primary parties is destroyed, Americans might demand a second party. That second party could actually challenge the current structure, which is no different than a feudal noble-peasant system. Today, a few Americans enjoy exorbitant wealth and privilege, while the rest live in destitution or on the brink of it and one step away from incarceration. One arbitrary decision by a corporate executive or other member of the ruling class could dump any peasant into poverty.

The current political balance is praised by neo-conservatives as “The End of History.” Margaret Thatcher made “TINA” a frequent element in her speeches. “TINA” is the acronym for “There is no alternative,” a phrase authored by neo-conservative Francis Fukuyama in his book “The End of History.” Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were convinced that the natural instincts and behaviors of people meshed with the capitalist economic system creating a harmony with security and order.

To get the people to accept a wealthy and privileged class, it is necessary to create a diversion. The two party illusion controls the debate so critical to the preservation of their system. The two parties confront each other over trivial and insignificant matters to divert attention from critical issues. The media are a critical part of the conspiracy. For instance, George Bush said Saddam Hussein expelled the weapons inspectors in 1998. In reality, they left after President Clinton warned them that the U.S. and U.K. were planning a massive strike against Iraq. Neither the “opposition party” nor the media corrected this well-documented lie that was one of the justifications for the invasion in March 2003. The public had forgotten the event and trusted those other sources to inform them of any contradictions.

If our political system were like a shack on four stilts, two of those stilts have been removed by Bush and Cheney. Prosecution of Bush and his officials for their numerous hideous crimes, treachery, subversion and treason, would destabilize a third stilt and the whole structure would collapse.

In America, subverting the Constitution and committing genocide is excusable. Fondling an intern is not.