- No Justice, No Peace!
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- There's a piece of classical music called "Fanfare
for the Common Man" written by Aaron Copland, that lasts only two
minutes and fifty-seven seconds, but in that music can be heard the plight
of most of us, that still have to fight to live.
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 The music captures the gravity of Roman
Gladiators, waiting to discover life or death in literally the next few
moments of their lives. The sounds of the trumpets lift the human spirit
against deep and thunderous drums that seem to speak of death. The powerful
composition is majestically brief, almost a parable for the lives of too
many ordinary people in the world today. Especially now, in a country that
can't seem to decide between becoming a full-blown Empire, or just a place
where people can live their lives without having to fear the midnight knock
upon those meager doors, that separate the most of us, from the hostile
streets outside.
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- What brought us to this place of alien values? How have
we managed to stand society upon its head? Today we live in an asylum that's
being run by those who used to be the inmates. This was once a country
of laws and not of men, or so they like to tell us. Now this is nothing
but a holding camp where those we failed to punish years ago, have now
come back to steal whatever's left of what we call our lives.
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- When this nation first began the government was charged
with keeping the streets clean, staying out of the way, and providing an
army to defend us in a time of war. "All rights not specifically given
to the government were reserved to the people." And now people speak
of the freedoms we're "allowed" to have, as if we were children
being rewarded for good behavior. What happened to us between the time
we came of age, after WWII, and that Morning in America of Ronald Reagan's
that brought us "Greed is Good!" Some say we just 'grew up,'
but to others this is the death of promise, and the beginning of collapse.
The truth is probably somewhere in between.
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- There are two unresolved wars on-going, no victories
in sight, and more to come unless we stop the bandits and seize the ship
of state. It would seem the public should have a lot to think about. But
to watch us as we go about our lives, there is little evidence of that.
This depends of course, on what is being looked at, and how secure the
position of the watchers really is. There are of course the unemployed
and there are those who still have the outlines of a life, and who can
still pretend there is a future. Then there are the others but they're
doing very well thank you no need to study them.
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- When this nation was formed we wanted a government that
served the people, and not the other way around. And for a while we did
have that, until greed and corruption overtook the process. Now we live
in a place where we must ask permission daily even for all the little things
we used to do without a second thought.
- This happened here because we just became too busy, to
deal with all the questions and the costs of modern life, so we passed
more and more of the public's business to what we called the government.
This worked for a while, until some decided that since we didn't really
seem to care about the "work" our servants did, perhaps the time
had come for the servants to take the country, and put both it and us under
their command and control. That was the coup that's been ongoing since
Newt put out his "Contract on America," and for the people it's
been only ugly since that day.
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- Government was created to work for us. But this government
thinks they own us, every one. They own our thoughts, or preferences, our
jobs, if are lucky enough to have one, and they also feel completely clear
about the fact that they now interfere in everything we see or do or think
or write. They decide on how our money will be spent, they make all our
rules and regulations 'for' us. Congress used to do this, but since that
seems to take too long, now Bush just issues presidential edicts
makes it easier you know now that we're always in a state of war,
we have no need for congress or the courts.
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- About the courts: they don't get much of a say any more,
too many "liberal judges." Imagine everyone accused of a crime,
has to be charged, and there has to be evidence or they have to let the
suspect go? And if they're charged then each suspect has the right to an
attorney? Wow. That'll never work in Ashcroft's NEW America where everyone
is guilty, and we have no time to bother with paperwork anyhow, because
you know "We're at WAR!"
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- Don't you feel much safer now, now that we've streamlined
the entire judiciary and the Criminal Justice System as well? We've learned
from the 9-11 hearings that all the problems with catching criminals is
that the bad guys had too many protections. But Ridge and Bush and Ashcroft
fixed all that, they simply eliminated those nasty amendments that guaranteed
all the rights of the accused to be protected from an overzealous government.
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 Now the only enemy we need to
fear is the government itself, because all the trails of suspicion about
9-11 lead straight back to them. Just as all the open questions of conflict
of interest in Cheney's sweetheart deal with the energy companies, that
took place just two months after he took office, still haven't been resolved.
It's reminiscent of the words we chanted at the Fairmont at that time:
"He's in bed with Corporate Crime, Cheney should be doing time!"
That was a long time ago, but nothing's changed, so much for the impartiality
of what used to be called The Supreme Court of the United States: what
a farce they've turned out to be!
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- So where does all this leave us? We've allowed our country
to be taken in a bloodless coup. Further we've allowed the USA to become
the New World Empire for the 21st Century, without so much as even a debate
about the wisdom of that move. Oh yes, that was also because "we were
at WAR" and whenever that happens suddenly everyone in congress becomes
an idiot. No one wants to actually discuss what might be about to happen,
so they all just vote "Yea!" and crawl away to bourbon and cigars,
or whatever they were doing before they "had to vote."
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- This would've all been over now, if the Bush administration
had anybody with a brain working on all the various wars from our new department
of international intimidations and reprisals. That's a basement spider-hole
in the Department of Offense, where they do all that really intelligent
planning. That would be the planning that results not in victories, but
in defeats that will last for decades. Buried neatly in the floor beneath
it all, lies what used to be the Diplomatic Corp, their coffins having
been sent over in the middle of the night, protected by mercenaries from
our decapitated Department of State.
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- Why are we so fascinated by total war and complete destruction?
What is it about this new century that seems to have no room for anything
that has to do with ordinary life? Some civilizations chose to build their
empires, while we have chosen only to destroy, for the contracts of course.
"Nation-building's not our job," says our macho leader, and since
he talks to god, it is assumed he must be right.
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- What about that long shadow of history that preceded
this ship of fools? Is there nothing that these American and British and
Israeli Barbarians have learned from all that time and all those battles
from our mutual past? The winged Victory of Samothrace, sculpted around
the 4th Century BC has come to represent a universal understanding of Victory,
and she is headless. Contrast her with the remains of Defeat, also headless,
because in neither case is there any advantage to be gained by all the
slaughter that is what wars are always--all about. How is it that these
would-be striders of the globe, our self-appointed leaders, have never
thought on that? Could this be because they have no real experience in
life or love or anything that matters much beyond their next deposit in
their offshore bank accounts?
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- We have placed ourselves "in-charge" of both
Iraq and Afghanistan, after a major expense in blood and treasure, and
there is virtually nothing to show for all that wasted life, all that war-torn
hell. The oil pipelines have all been, a bust, and our diplomatic efforts
have long since disappeared, into that famous fog of war. Is there a pattern
here? Is war the only reason for everything that these imposters chose
to do? Looks like it.
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- Where does this leave us, what about our lives, our ambitions
and our dreams? None of the things that an elected government is charged
with doing has been done by this administration-could that be because they
weren't elected? Congress has been permanently sidelined. They still continue
to mutter to themselves, appearing on talk-shows as if they were still
alive and viable, but what they do has nothing to do with what is needed,
by those who still have to find a way to live to see tomorrow.
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- Have you noticed that almost nothing works in America?
From the smallest of services, to the largest issues of the day, the systems
created to handle all of this, and us, are simply broken, obsolete or gone.
The only thing remaining is us, the rabble, standing here without enough
jobs, without enough food, without even access to an education. Of course
an education doesn't matter too much any longer, as there are no jobs to
get, so why spend a fortune on a school, Besides the government will use
you as cannon fodder soon, or something of equal importance to them, but
you won't be able to survive on whatever they're promising. Doesn't matter
anyway, they've broken every promise they ever made to anyone about anything.
That could easily be the hallmark of this administration.
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- "We lie more and better than anyone ever has! So
vote for us again, and let's see what will really happen once we've been
unleashed, to work our will upon the public without any fear of any real
reprisals"
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- Your government in action, and never forget that all
that money that they're burning at the rate of $1.25 billion a week (in
just one of the two wars), that's money that you gave them. Imagine a blank
check to use as they see fit, with no oversight by anyone, except of course
themselves. And you are going to let the top two leaders of this coup,
testify together, before a committee, without even being sworn in? People
used to ask, "Just how dumb do they think we really are?"
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- Looks like that question has been asked and answered
clearly. Question now is, will anyone begin to change the way we treat
these bastards, one and all? Maybe people do get the kind of government
they deserve, but if we don't stop this one pretty soon, there won't be
much of a country left to fight about. Bush & the Bandits are just
beginning to understand the meaning of the title of this article, because
of what they're just beginning to discover in Fallujah, in Afghanistan,
and elsewhere. Without Justice there can never be peace for anyone-anywhere.
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- kirwan
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