BuzzFlash
presents Southern Style
by Rebecca Knight
Spin Cycle
By Rebecca Knight
June
13, 2002
"Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous."
-William Proxmire
Okay, I admit it. I don't trust the Bush administration. Why would any American? They have given us ample reason to mistrust them. They don't want us to know through open investigations what intelligence failures resulted in the 9/11 attacks. They don't want Congress to know anything about the Cheney energy policy discussions. They didn't want Tom Ridge to testify before Congress about Homeland Security. They kept it secret for eight months that W had been warned in August that there might be terrorist attacks using airplanes. It tends to make one suspicious.
Well, this American wants to know what's up? What's going on behind closed doors? It seems when critical questions are about to be asked or information is about to be provided, something new occurs to distract from the situation at hand. Wagging the dog comes to mind. Political motivation comes to mind. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are in a permanent spin cycle and it is a dangerous one.
Remember during the 2000 campaign how forcefully Bush decried the poll-driven presidency of Bill Clinton? On Meet the Press, Bush confessed to Tim Russert, "I've been, frankly, amazed at the amount of polling that goes on to determine the behavior in the White House." So, Bush made a pledge to govern "not by polls and focus groups, but by principle." Well, Shrub's actions speak louder than his words. In the first three months of 2002, Bush's three principal pollsters collected more than $236,000. Extrapolate that figure across the rest of the year and they can expect to collect more than $944,000. And that's not all. So far this year, the RNC has spent $317,100 on polling, which would project to about $1.3 million -- and because polling will only intensify as the November elections heat up, the actual numbers are certain to be much higher.
You know that Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Andrew Card, etc. watch the poll swings and negative reports in the media with great intensity. That is their job. And a big job it is, trying to keep W in line. So, if you are wondering what is the motivation for the sudden reversal by Shrub on developing a cabinet level department of Homeland Security or the announcement of the arrest of the "dirty bomber," just consider that the news has not been so swell lately.
The Congressional investigations of 9/11 are proceeding. FBI whistleblower, Coleen Rowley, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and received much praise for her honesty and integrity. Another FBI agent, Robert Wright, held a press conference critical of the FBI with backing from Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch.
A press conference was held by the organization unansweredquestions.org regarding 9/11 recently, which C-Span refused to air. The organization will have a transcript posted on their web site soon.
Judicial Watch is suing for access to documents about last fall's anthrax attacks. They want to know why White House staff members began taking the antibiotic Cipro on Sept. 11, weeks before anthrax attacks were made public. Larry Klayman, chairman of Judicial Watch, said, "We believe that the White House knew or had reason to know that an anthrax attack was imminent or underway."
It was disclosed that the Republican Party is advocating a form of "blacklisting" by compiling political dossiers on lobbyists. Activist Grover Norquist is behind the project intended to effectively control access to the White House, Congress and federal agencies based on campaign contributions and other favors. Judicial Watch demanded that Republicans and the White House cease and desist from illegal, discriminatory practices.
The GAO report on the alleged trashing of the White House by the Clinton administration was released. Bush and company had painted a very damning picture of how sleazy the Clinton staffers had been in taking their leave of the premises. The investigation was requested by Republican Congressman Bob Barr, the first elected official to demand the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Barr must be extremely disappointed with the GAO report, which concluded that the conditions of the White House when the Clinton staffers moved out was typical of conditions when administrations change and no worse than the conditions found when Bush 41 moved out. Of course, the Bush gang is denouncing the report, which cost $200,000 of our taxpayer money.
So what response does the White House give to all these negative reports? They spin. They divert attention by raising new issues or new terrorist threats. How about that flip-flop on a cabinet level position for Homeland Security? Recently Tom Ridge recommended Bush veto any Congressional legislation that would do the same thing!
Surprise! Spin time to divert attention! Bush goes on national television to announce that we do need Homeland Security to be a cabinet level department after all. It will be the largest restructuring of government since 1947 with up to 170,000 employees and a budget of up to $38 billion. Oh, but they don't intend to budget the money for it in fiscal 2003. Hmmm, do you think that has anything to do with the impending November elections?
Then we have Ashcroft announce the arrest of another terrorist. Wow! This was huge because Ashcroft made the announcement all the way from Russia, of all places. The so-called "dirty bomber" was apparently planning an attack on Washington. Then another oops moment occurred when it was disclosed that actually the "dirty bomber" was arrested on May 8. And it turns out that the dirty bomb plot was just in the discussion phase.
The "dirty bomber," Al Muhajir, is an American citizen and is being held by the Defense Department as an "enemy combatant," which under the rules of war allows him to be questioned without the usual protections afforded in the U.S. judicial system, like having an attorney present. If Bush holds true to this word, a military tribunal cannot try Al Muhajir because Bush said American citizens would not be tried in military tribunals that were created after Sept. 11 for the purpose of trying foreign terrorists outside the U.S. court system.
Bush continues to make public statements under the pretense of preparing Americans to face the reality of terrorist attacks, but is that what is really happening? Or are his admonitions simply used to keep us in a state of fear so that his administration can excuse its actions? Just consider this recent Bush statement: "We face cold-blooded killers that hate the freedoms we cherish. And with the spread of chemical and biological and nuclear weapons along with ballistic missile technology, freedom's enemies could obtain catastrophic power. And there's no doubt that they would use that power to attack us and to attack the values we uphold."
I found it surreal to see John Ashcroft on national television live via satellite announcing the arrest of the "dirty bomber" all the way from Russia. Bush appeared at a Missouri fundraiser in front of a board labeled "Protecting the Homeland." That is also surreal. It would have been much more appropriate for the board to have read "Protecting America" or "Protecting the Nation."
Okay, first it was anthrax, then the sneaker bomber, then nerve gas, and now the dirty bomb. Are these really valid warnings or is the Bush administration only hyping things to keep their critics in line? Isn't it bad enough that we have to fear terrorists? Must our own government also keep us in a state of fear? We get it! Enough already!
The most deeply felt concern should be what may be the ultimate agenda of the Bush administration. Could they be taking incremental steps to a police state? It would not take much. Bush signed a document declaring a state of emergency on Sept. 14, 2001, entitled "Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attack."(1) This document was the first step towards the use of 14 executive orders already in place giving FEMA(2) and other governmental organizations, without Congressional review, the power to:
- take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports
- seize and control the communication media
- take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels, and minerals
- take over all food resources and farms
- mobilize citizens into work brigades under government supervision
- take over all health, education, and welfare functions
- designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons
- take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft
- allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations
- allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways, and public storage facilities
- specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis
- grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President
- assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over a fifteen year period
- allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency and the action cannot be reviewed by Congress for six months.
Why would this be of immediate concern? Because Bush has already announced the development of a military policy of strike first, moving away from long established policies of containment and deterrence. The new doctrine will be laid out by Bush's National Security Council as part of the administration's first "National Security Strategy" being drafted for release by early this fall. The document, without abandoning containment and deterrence, will for the first time add "preemption" and "defensive intervention" as formal options for striking at hostile nations or groups that appear determined to use weapons of mass destruction against the United States. The guy is a warmonger!
These are dangerous times we are living in, more so than ever before. It is time for a full out letter writing campaign, my friends. I will be writing all Democratic Congressmen and Senators today to express my fears and disgust.(3,4,5) Please take the time to do so also! If you think it appropriate, please send this column to them.
Americans had better wake up before the Bush spin cycle does us all in!
* * *
(1) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-4.html
(2) http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/fema.html
(3) http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
(4) http://www.house.gov/writerep/
(5) http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
* * *
Rebecca Knight is a native Tennessean, who grew up in Nashville. She currently resides in a small town about sixty miles outside of Nashville. She attended the University of Tennessee at Martin. She has also lived in North Carolina and Kentucky. She may be reached at tennessee_gal655@yahoo.com.
© 2002 by Rebecca Knight
* * *
