Ignorant Republican Attacks "Existentialism"

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

The GOP has run out of strawmen --"phony wars", "pot" "evolutionists", and "secular humanists" to demonize, attack and/or ridicule. Now they've taken aim at a mainstream philosophy with roots in the enlightenment, a philosophy defined by 'personal responsibility', an attribute with which goppers have precious little or no experience.

I expect nothing else, certainly nothing more, from a party whose existence depends upon blaming everyone and everything but itself for its own many crimes and failures --political and personal.

But --the GOP is not a political party, it's a cult, possibly a criminal conspiracy. It ought to be investigated by a Federal Grand Jury for the probable cause that it routinely violated anti-racketeering laws. It dares to attack a mainstream political philosophy with roots in Cartesianism ['I think, therefore I am!'] ; Voltaire's famous statement: "I have no name but the name that I have made for myself" and Satre's: "A man is nothing else but what he makes of himself!"

The GOP hates 'existentialism' because they have made of themselves 'crooks' and have no one but themselves to blame for it. Bertolt Brecht had their number: "A man who does not know the truth is just an idiot but a man who knows the truth and calls it a lie is a crook!"

The GOP are Crooks!

But --alas --I have grown accustomed to endemic stupidity and ignorance from a party that is also characterized by greed and arrogance.

Now Starting: The War on Existentialism

In a stirring speech yesterday, former Missouri Senator Jim Talent said that not only does global terrorism demand a stronger a more efficient military, but also that it is part of an "existential threat to America."

"These people are reading Jean-Paul Sartre to their children," the fiery Talent railed. "We cannot have that influence our society."

"American demands a philosophical undermining that is grounded, epistemologically-speaking, in a fervent belief in God and his infinite capacity to bless us at the same as damning half our citizens to hell. The Terrorists want to spread their message of mortal isolation, forlornness, and the accidental nature of existence upon us, but we must fight them!"

When asked if he had any experience with existentialism, Talent replied, "I read The Stranger once, and all I wanted to do was tell him he wasn't a stranger to Jesus."

Existentialist Noble Prize Winner Jose Saramago replied to Talent's ramblings saying, "Entre os fataés eventos desta presente guerra, entendo serà de V.m. sem duvida havido por digno de maior ponderaçaõ, o que aconteceo na Cidade de Genova, no dia dez do corrente; eu, que com horror vi o principio, e o fim delle, faltaria aos empenhos da nossa boa amizade se deixasse de participalo a V.m. com individuarlhe as cauzas de que se originou, e narrarlhe sinceramente os factos mais essenciaes de que se compoz."

To which Talent replied: "Yes, that is exactly the kind of filth I want to fight."

It will be a long struggle, defeating existentialism. We'll have to burn a lot of books. Killing philosophers should be easy, but what if Woody Allen has to go as well?

Either way, if the threat to America is, as Mr. Talent says, existential, I'm sure our brightest minds will find some way to fight it, just as we did that pesky War on Drugs that finally went away.

To start with, Talent used the term "existential" incorrectly. Most certainly, in context, he means "existentialist" threat. The quagmire of Bush's creation in Iraq is an "existential" threat whether Talent is an "Existentialist" or not.

Goppers, like Bush, "don't do nuance". But Talent's mistake can be dismissed. It's just a product of an inadequate education or willful stupidity. It's the GOP; take your pick. Remember, this is a party that waged war on public education. Education lost.

I find it incredible that Talent bothered to read 'a' book. That he might have read 'at' the Bible is not surprising. But it is strange that he would have attempted "L'etranger" or, for Talent, "The Stranger". Why does a fundie bother to read a book when it is so much easier to blame others or call them names?

I am frankly fed up with stupid people telling me and the nation what to do. As far as I am concerned, Talent can just fuck off! While defending Talent's right to be stupid and his First Amendment right to say stupid things, I likewise defend my own right to be intelligent and call him an idiot. So here goes: Talent is a typical GOP idiot, a typical GOP bigot, a typical GOP ignoramus, and, because he has chosen to be a gopper, he is responsible --existentially --for the choice that he has made. Talent and Talent alone is responsible for having chosen to be a part of an organization that appeals to crookedness, thrives on corruption and promotes lies. Absolutely unforgivable is the fact that the GOP is --at its black heart --elitist but ignorant, if not endemically stupid.

Existentialists are free because, by definition, they accept responsibility for what they are. By contrast, the GOP has defined itself by blaming black people, liberals, progressives, academics, writers, artists, actors, environmentalists, young people, rock n' roll, 'liberal media' (an oxymoron) a 'world wide communist conspiracy' recently replaced by an Islamic conspiracy to commit acts of 'terrorism' on American soil. Bush's theory of 911 was a 'conspiracy theory': 14 Arab hijackers --whose very existence cannot be proven --were said to have hijacked flights that did not exist causing the demolition of buildings that could not have been penetrated by any aircraft not made of hardened industrial steel. Clue: NO airliner aircraft is made of hardened industrial steel. On 911, Bush provided the GOP with a scapegoat --Muslims!

There is no freedom without choice, no choice without responsibility. Even concentration camp victims of Hitler found freedom in incarceration. Victor Frankl purposefully chose his own attitude in the face of death. Existentialism is the philosophy of freedom, courage and choice --the courage and freedom to make a choice and the courage to take responsibility for its effects. It takes great courage to accept responsibility for what you have made of yourself. It takes only cowardice of the GOP kind to blame everyone but themselves for the fuck ups they have made of both themselves and the nation.

Talent is not a free man; Talent is a tool!

Now --if you wish to become expert on Existentialism, you must start with Descartes' cogito: I think, therefore I am. In Southern parlance: if you ain't thinkin', you ain't livin'. Even a gopper has no choice but to admit his/her own existence, given that the gopper in question has a pulse. One's own existence cannot be doubted. Everything else follows from that. Then read Soren Kierkegaard, a "Christian" existentialist. What could Talent possibly have against a fellow Christian? Perhaps, the fact that Kierkegaard dared to be intelligent while Talent and his fellow minions dare to show themselves in public.

Then there is the monumental volume Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, an atheist existentialist. If you have time for only one book about existentialism, read Existentialism and Human Emotions by Sartre. It can be summed up in a single clause:

A man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.''

--Jean-Paul Sartre

It must surely be the many corollaries to that which bother idiots like Talent. It means simply that they --Republicans --can no longer get away with blaming others, indeed, the entire world for their failures as people, their failures as a party, their failures in positions of governmental responsibility for which they are singularly unsuited.

Let us assume that Talent was born with at least an average intelligence. In that case, Talent alone is responsible for the sorry mess that he has made of himself, the cesspool that his party made of Washington, the hell hole that it made of Iraq.

An addendum: 20 things you have to believe to be a Republican today

1. 1. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
2. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
3. Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
4. "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all humankind without regulation.
6. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
7. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
8. Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
9. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
10. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
11. HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
12. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
13. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
14. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
15. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is a solid defense policy.
16. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
17. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
18. You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.
19. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the 1980s is irrelevant.
20. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist; but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
    --20 things you have to believe to be a Republican today

The Ballad of the Existentialist

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With Bush in their pocket, the Carlyle Group buys the "Birth Certificate of Democracy" --the Magna Carta

Freedom's most valuable document, the Magna Carta, has been sold at auction to David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, a web of Bush supporters if not co-conspirators. This sale of the very origins of our democratic heritage to the Carlyle Group is symbolic of the GOP sell out to the Military Industrial Complex, the merchants of war and death. [ See: Bush Advisers Cashed in on Saudi Gravy Train; Meet The Carlyle Group, Former World Leaders and Washington Insiders Making Billions in the War on Terrorism; The Bush-Carlyle Connection]

Something akin to this occurred March 28th, 193 AD when the Praetorian guards, literally, sold the Roman empire to the wealthy senator Didius Julianus for the bargain price of 6250 drachmas. Our modern day "Didius" has fared better than Julianus, who didn't live out the year. Unless he is brought to trial for capital and war crimes, our own "Crawford Caligula", looks forward to a peaceful retirement where he can exorcise his aggressive demons with a chainsaw and mesquite trees.

The 1297 copy of the Magna Carta is more than an English royal document; it is considerably more than a mere symbol of freedom. It brought a King "to book" for his abuses and established the principle of habeas corpus. Habeas Corpus, as you may recall, was recently abrogated upon a decree by George W. Bush, likewise owned by the Carlyle Group. He was, until now, their trophy. The sale price for Magna Carta was $21.3 million including commission at Sotheby's in New York. We haven't yet determined what price Bush commanded.

Before penning the Declaration of Independence--the first of the American Charters of Freedom--in 1776, the Founding Fathers searched for a historical precedent for asserting their rightful liberties from King George III and the English Parliament. They found it in a gathering that took place 561 years earlier on the plains of Runnymede, not far from where Windsor Castle stands today. There, on June 15, 1215, an assembly of barons confronted a despotic and cash-strapped King John and demanded that traditional rights be recognized, written down, confirmed with the royal seal, and sent to each of the counties to be read to all freemen. The result was Magna Carta--a momentous achievement for the English barons and, nearly six centuries later, an inspiration for angry American colonists.

--Magna Carta and Its American Legacy

I find it tragically ironic that the sale of this venerable document should have gone to the Carlyle Group, a cabal of right wing militarists, neo-fascists, and elitists who have little regard for the principles it established at Runnymede. George W. Bush himself typifies a medieval approach to government. His regime is a subversive throwback to an pre-Magna Carta era characterized by arbitrary, tyrannical rule. In King John's day, the rights of common people cannot be said to have been abused; they didn't even exist. Like King John who was forced to sign the great charter, Bush assumes the power to rule by caprice, by whim, by prejudice. He is, by any definition, a tyrant.

Sotheby's chairman David Redden called the Magna Carta "the birth certificate of freedom". Perhaps! But it is in any case a dramatic reminder of what has been lost to Bush's assault on the rule of law. English nobles literally forced King John I to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. It is, therefore, a document "of unprecedented value to Western civilization". In it there is a line in Latin which reads: "No one is above the law."

If the Magna Carta is not the birth certificate of Democracy, it is the death certificate of despotism. It spells out for the first time the fundamental principle that the law is not simply the whim of the king. The law is an independent power unto itself. And the King could be brought to book for violating it!"

—Simon Schama, History of Britain

Magna Carta is among the most influential developments in the history of constitutional law and may be found throughout the extensive body of common law, English law, and various US documents including, most notably, the US Constitution. Let's put this in the vernacular and in perspective. I have almost 1000 years of settled law on my side. Bush has jack shit!

It is impossible to over-emphasize the significance of Magna Carta whose principles appear throughout the histories of democracies since the English Petition of Right, the Mayflower Compact, The Virginia Declaration of Rights, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, The Nuremberg Principles, and every US Supreme Court decision that has upheld the right of persons to be free of arbitrary rule, to be secure in their homes, to be free of unreasonable arrest in the absence of probable cause.

By contrast, totalitarian states have their philosophical roots in Hegelianism, a straight road to both Nazism and Stalinism. You will find GOP die hards on this dark side of the road. Because the Bush administration is aligned with medievalist and state absolutist ideologues, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden cannot be sufficiently condemned or excoriated for having denied that "probable cause" was the demonstrable standard that must be met before the state may proceed, in any way, against an individual. Clearly, Hayden had not bothered to read the Fourth Amendment. He was not merely wrong. He was pig-headed, testy, arrogant, imperious. He's also an idiot.

Two words --probable cause --stand between you and a tyrant! I simply cannot and will not recognize the legitimacy of any Bush decree, lie, or obfuscation to the contrary. Bush is an outlaw who has our every law and tradition aligned against him.

The Military Commissions Act of 2006, for example, is, of course, unconstitutional. But worse --it is seditious and revolutionary, abrogating habeas corpus, the presumption of innocence and the rule of law itself.

With a bill as pernicious as this one, it is difficult to settle on a single worst provision. The restrictions on the right of habeas corpus probably qualify, but the bill's over broad definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" runs a close second. ...The bill's different treatment of citizens and aliens reflects political calculations, not legal ones. As the UK House of Lords found in 2004 in ruling against indefinite detention, such a distinction cannot be justified under international law.

--The Military Commissions Act of 2006: A Short Primer, Joanne Mariner, Findlaw

Bush has simply declared himself free to ignore those laws he doesn't like, free to enforce only those laws he does like. By his own admission, he may simply ignore the McCain amendment outlawing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees. He should have been impeached at that very moment. Sadly, Congress was already complicit or, at the very least, compromised. In the meantime, despite the unconstitutional machinations of this criminal regime, the US is still bound to Geneva. Violations thereof which result in death are capital crimes. Bush is in a heap o' trouble.

Bush will ignore such laws because he wishes to continue to preside over "procedures" which satisfy his various perversities. He authorizes procedures that are cruel, inhuman, and degrading. Bush has a personal problem not unlike that of Larry Craig and numerous others in this sorry party. Bush is a pervert; he cannot escape his history --the glee with which he described a mass summary execution, the delight he found in ramming firecrackers up toads so that he could watch them explode in mid-air. Bush is a latter-day Richard Topcliffe, a monster who presumes to occupy the our oval office. His delight in aggressive war, mass destruction and sadistic torture practices has nothing to do with national security. We are less safe! The world is a more dangerous place for as long as Bush has power.

Bush, thus, provides potential "terrorists" a cause celebre. Certainly, terrorism is always worse under GOP regimes. Not content to have thumbed his nose at our laws, traditions, and country, Bush is hell-bent on making it the object of hate and derision. Bush is a lawless menace to civilization, a cretin, a throwback, a liar. It must be shouted from the rooftops. Bush's "administration" is nothing less than rule by decree, a tyranny, inconsistent with the rule of law itself. It is subversive and treasonous. Every American --especially those in government --should simply ignore him, his orders, his illegal decrees. Render this squatter irrelevant.

There is, by contrast, another road that runs straight from Magna Carta to our own Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, the principle of Habeas Corpus.

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.

--Magna Carta

Bush claims that he may simply dismiss every US law and the mountainous body of US case law inspired by that principle. He need only declare anyone with whom he disagrees an "enemy combatant". US actions following this heinous absurdity fly in the face of every principle mentioned and linked to in this article. At least 1,000 years of law, heritage, English Common Law and US Case Law affirming the very rule of law say that Bush is dead wrong!

The history of the Magna Carta is the history of a would-be tyrant who had presumed to rule arbitrarily and absolutely. English barons were having none of it. The barons reserved for themselves sweeping powers of appointment, clearly, a check on what might have been the absolute power of the King.

We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.

--Magna Carta

It is tempting to find in that clause the birth of the separation of powers. By appointing justices, the barons took the powers of a judiciary away from King John. Bush has all but reversed this historical trend. He has assumed for himself a judicial power to decree who is and who is not a "terrorist".

In the meantime, Democrats debate how many angels may dance on the head of a pin, failing to challenge the biggest red herring in US history: terrorism. Democrats bought into the paradigm and lost by doing so. Hilary, for example, supported both the phony war on terrorism and the failed war against a phantom menace in Iraq. She has no moral authority, no moral high ground from which to launch the counter-attack against Bush. Democrats, America's last hope, have betrayed the nation and shot themselves in the foot. To whom will the people turn when power has abandoned them?

By doing nothing, Democrats conferred legitimacy upon an illegitimate usurper. Sen. Joseph Biden, though he now says has no confidence in "this President", attacked only Bush's lack of a plan --not the fraudulent nature of the war itself. As far as I know, no Democrat has dared call Bush's regime "illegitimate" though it most certainly is. Voters are left no other choice but to support a Democratic nomination. Slim hopes beat none at all, I suppose. Is it too much to ask that our "leaders" at least give lip service to the legitimate concerns of a disaffected people?

Political rhetoric is just more of the same when, in fact, nothing is the same. How could Democrats have missed the sea change that has taken place, the fundamental challenges to Constitutional government? Where is the outrage? Where is courage? What are the implications? Simply, the Bush junta has subverted the US Constitution and some 1,000 years of progress. Are we to expect a nation of some 300 millions to just walk willingly into a tyrannical dark age?

Habeas Corpus

An update:

A 1950 Plan: Arrest 12,000, Suspend Due Process

A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the long-time director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans that he suspected of disloyalty.

Hoover sent his plan to the White House on July 7, 1950, 12 days after the Korean War began. It envisioned putting suspect Americans in military prisons.

Hoover wanted President Harry S. Truman to proclaim the mass arrests necessary to “protect the country against treason, espionage and sabotage.” The F.B.I would “apprehend all individuals potentially dangerous” to national security, Hoover’s proposal said. The arrests would be carried out under “a master warrant attached to a list of names” provided by the bureau.

The names were part of an index that Hoover had been compiling for years. “The index now contains approximately twelve thousand individuals, of which approximately ninety-seven per cent are citizens of the United States,” he wrote.

“In order to make effective these apprehensions, the proclamation suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus,” it said.

Habeas corpus, the right to seek relief from illegal detention, has been a fundamental principle of law for seven centuries. The Bush administration’s decision to hold suspects for years at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has made habeas corpus a contentious issue for Congress and the Supreme Court today.

Additional resources:

• Text: Hoover’s Letter to Eisenhower’s Special Consultant (December 22, 2007)
• Documents: The Intelligence Community, 1950–1955 (state.gov) (pdf)
• Purpose and Effect of the Preamble to the Consitution
• Senator Feinstein Warns Against the Bush Administration's Efforts to Vastly Expand Executive Power
• The Death of Habeas Corpus
  
• UN panel issued a stinging report of US torture policies
• Bush Challenges Hundreds of Laws
• Now We Know How A Dictator Can Game The Presidency
• Evesdropping on America
  
  
  
  
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Bush's Utter Failure Proven in Government's Own Stats and Charts

Terrorism is always worse under GOP regimes. Likewise, budget deficits are always worse under GOP regimes. Likewise, oil prices are always higher under GOP regimes. I've got the government's own numbers and those of the Brookings Institution to prove it all. Unless you are a GOP insider, a Wall Street co-conspirator, or a part of the endemically crooked Military/Industrial complex, the GOP has bent you over and screwed you. Anyone supporting the GOP is either a GOP insider, a crook or an idiot.

We haven't seen incompetence on this scale since Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Ronald Reagan or Bush Sr.

Check out these budget deficits below, caused primarily by profligate tax cuts which have never stimulated the economy and have, in fact, never trickled down. Notice that the worst deficits --like terrorism --are worse during GOP regimes.

According to supply-side theory, these actions should have nudged the economy in the right direction, not plunged it into the worst recession in 40 years. Other problems involve timing: Reagan's first tax cuts went into effect in 1982, but this was also the summer that the Federal Reserve Board slashed interest rates and expanded the money supply. Most economists believe the Fed, not Reagan, was responsible for the following recovery. Finally, the recession of 1990 began four months before Bush broke his "no new taxes" pledge. The recession began in July 1990; Bush signed his tax increases into law in November 1990.

And supply-siders are careful to note that Reagan's was the longest peacetime expansion since World War II. In truth, the Kennedy-Johnson expansion was longer: 106 months compared to Reagan's 92.1

--The Reagan Years

Moreover, the Fed's "peace time expansion" following Ronald Reagan's "depression" of almost two years was uneven. The worst income disparities in American history had already been triggered. As if by design, the Reagan's rich base got even richer and everyone else began to lose ground. They are still losing ground despite a all to brief respite in Bill Clinton's second term. The GOP has ruined the American economy, perhaps forever.

Historic Budget Deficits

The budget shown below --your money squandered by Bush.

Below is a chart of oil prices adjusted for inflation. It was never just about oil. It was about the price of oil The GOP wants to keep those prices high and will go to war to do it. Like terrorism deficits, oil prices are always higher during GOP regimes. Hey, Heritage Foundation! You wanna debate me on that point? Make my day!

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The Existentialist Cowboy

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Magna Carta: "No one is above the law"

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

That applies to George W. Bush whose medieval approach to government administration is a subversive throwback. Bush assumes the power to rule by caprice, by whim, by prejudice. He is, by any definition, a tyrant. The impending sale of a 13th century copy of Magna Carta, called by Sotheby's chairman David Redden "the birth certificate of freedom", is a dramatic reminder of what has been lost to Bush's attacks on the very rule of law.

I can perceive nothing but a certain conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of the commonwealth.

They invent and devise all means and crafts, first how to keep safely, without fear of losing, that they have unjustly gathered together, and next how to hire and abuse the work and labour of the poor for as little money as may be. These devices, when the rich men have decreed to be kept and observed for the commonwealth’s sake, that is to say for the wealth also of the poor people, then they be made laws.But these most wicked and vicious men, when they have by their insatiable covetousness divided among themselves all those things, which would have sufficed all men, yet how far be they from the wealth and felicity of the Utopian commonwealth? Out of the which, in that all the desire of money with the use of thereof is utterly secluded and banished, how great a heap of cares is cut away! How great an occasion of wickedness and mischief is plucked up by the roots!

--Sir Thomas More (1478–1535), Utopia

An original copy of the Magna Carta is to be sold by a New York auction house to the highest bidder. Some history. English nobles literally forced King John I to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. It is, therefore, a document "of unprecedented value to Western civilization". In it there is a line in Latin which reads: "No one is above the law."

If the Magna Carta is not the birth certificate of Democracy, it is the death certificate of despotism. It spells out for the first time the fundamental principle that the law is not simply the whim of the king. The law is an independent power unto itself. And the King could be brought to book for violating it!"

—Simon Schama, History of Britain

Magna Carta is among the most influential developments in the history of constitutional law and may be found throughout the extensive body of common law, English law, and various US documents. Let's put this in the vernacular and in perspective. I have almost 1000 years of settled law on my side. Bush has jack shit!

It is impossible to over-emphasize the significance of Magna Carta whose principles appear throughout the histories of democracies since the English Petition of Right, the Mayflower Compact, The Virginia Declaration of Rights, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, The Nuremberg Principles, and every US Supreme Court decision that has upheld the right of persons to be free of arbitrary rule, to be secure in their homes, to be free of unreasonable arrest in the absence of probable cause that a crime has been committed.

By contrast, totalitarian states have their philosophical roots in Hegelianism, a straight road to both Nazism and Stalinism. You will find GOP die hards on this dark side of the road. Because the Bush administration is aligned with medievalist and state absolutist ideologues, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden cannot be sufficiently condemned or excoriated for having denied that "probable cause" was the demonstrable standard that must be met before the state may proceed, in any way, against an individual. Those two words --probable cause --stand between you and a tyrant! I simply cannot and will not recognize the legitimacy of any Bush decree, lie, or obfuscation to the contrary. Bush is an outlaw who has our every law and tradition aligned against him.

The Military Commissions Act of 2006, for example, is, of course, unconstitutional. But worse --it is seditious and revolutionary, abrogating habeas corpus, the presumption of innocence and the rule of law itself.

With a bill as pernicious as this one, it is difficult to settle on a single worst provision. The restrictions on the right of habeas corpus probably qualify, but the bill's over broad definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" runs a close second. ...The bill's different treatment of citizens and aliens reflects political calculations, not legal ones. As the UK House of Lords found in 2004 in ruling against indefinite detention, such a distinction cannot be justified under international law.

--The Military Commissions Act of 2006: A Short Primer, Joanne Mariner, Findlaw

Bush has simply declared himself free to ignore those laws he doesn't like, free to enforce only those laws he likes. He stated that he might simply ignore the McCain amendment which outlaws cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees. He should have been impeached at that very moment. Sadly, Congress was already complicit or, at the very least, compromised.

There is only one reason Bush would want to ignore such a law: he wishes to continue to preside over "procedures" which violate the US Constitution and laws. He wishes to continue to authorize procedures that are cruel, inhuman, and degrading. I think Bush has a personal problem. I think Bush is, like Larry Craig and numerous others in this sorry party, a perver. Bush cannot escape his history, the glee with which he described a mass summary execution, the delight he found in ramming firecrackers up toads so that he can watch them explode in mid-air. This is a latter-day Topcliffe, monster who presumes to occupy the our oval office. His delight in aggressive war, mass destruction and sadistic torture practices has nothing to do with national security. We less safe and the world is a more dangerous place for as long as Bush has any power at all.

Bush, thus, provides potential "terrorists" a cause celebre. Certainly, terrorism is always worse under GOP regimes. Not content to have thumbed his nose at our laws, traditions, and country, Bush is hell-bent on making it the object of hate and derision. Bush is a lawless menace to civilization, a cretin, a throwback, a liar. It must be shouted from the rooftops. Bush's "administration" is nothing less than rule by decree, a tyranny, inconsistent with the rule of law itself. It is subversive and treasonous.

There is, by contrast, another road that runs straight from Magna Carta to our own Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, the principle of Habeas Corpus.

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.

--Magna Carta

Bush claims that he may simply dismiss every US law and the mountainous body of US case law inspired by that principle. He need only declare anyone with whom he disagrees an "enemy combatant". US actions following this heinous absurdity fly in the face of every principle mentioned and linked to in this article. At least 1,000 years of law, heritage, English Common Law and US Case Law affirming the very rule of law say that Bush is dead wrong!

The history of the Magna Carta is the history of a would-be tyrant who had presumed to rule arbitrarily and absolutely. English barons were having none of it. The barons reserved for themselves sweeping powers of appointment, clearly, a check on what might have been the absolute power of the King.

We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.

--Magna Carta

It is tempting to find in that clause the birth of the separation of powers. By appointing justices, the barons took powers of a judiciary away from King John. Bush has all but reversed this historical trend. He has assumed for himself a judicial power to decree who is and who is not a "terrorist".

In the meantime, Democrats debate how many angels may dance on the head of a pin, falling to challenge the biggest red herring in US history: terrorism. Democrats bought into the paradigm and lost by doing so. Hilary, for example, supported both the phony war on terrorism and the failed war against the phantom menace in Iraq. She has no moral authority, no place from which the launch the counter-attack against Bush. Democrats, America's last hope, have betrayed the nation and shot themselves in the foot.

By doing nothing, Democrats conferred legitimacy upon an illegitimate usurper. Sen. Joseph Biden, though he now says has no confidence in "this President", attacked only Bush's lack of a plan, not the fraudulent nature of the war itself, As far as I know, no Democrat has dared call Bush's regime "illegitimate" though it most certainly is. Voters are left no other choice but to support a Democratic nomination. Slim hopes beat none at all, I suppose. Is it too much to ask that our "leaders" at least give lip service to the legitimate concerns of a disaffected people.

Political rhetoric is just more of the same when, in fact, nothing is the same. How could Democrats have missed the sea change that has taken place, the fundamental challenges to Constitutional government? Where is the outrage? |Where is courage? What are the implications? Simply, the Bush junta has subverted the US Constitution and some 1,000 years of progress. Are we to expect a nation of some 300 millions to just walk willingly into a tyrannical dark age?

The Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus

Habeas Corpus

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How to Succeed in GOP Politics Without Really Trying

Rule number one: lie your ass off. Mitt Romney exemplifies this perfectly when he states that George W. Bush has kept us safe for six years. Romney, a practiced GOP liar, was not caught crossing his fingers. Learn from the masters and practice in front of a mirror like Ventriloquists.

It does not matter to you that terrorism is worse under Bush as it has been worse under every other GOP regime since WWII. Your goal is to exploit terrorism and get votes. And if you're going to exploit the issue properly check out FBI stats compiled by the conservative Brookings Institution. Those stats will prove what you, as a good gopper, must lie about: Terrorism is Worse Under GOP Regimes. Another story you must ignore is: The Heritage Foundation Picks a Fight with the Cowboy. Learn the facts and ignore them. Think about it: if terrorism should actually decrease, how the hell are you going to exploit it? Your assignment as a gopper, therefore, is to lie about this issue.

Forget Mr. Smith Goes to Washington! Mr. Smith talked about real issues. You must never do that. Real issues are reported by terrorist loving commies and (eeek!!!) liberals like the Huffington Post that dares to publicize a fact that, as a GOPPER, you must ignore or lie about: The Rich Are Getting Richer Faster. For a gopper, that's not an issue, it's a birthright as an elite.

If you wish to be a successful GOP candidate, you simply must get this through your head: it doesn't matter that the rich are not only getting richer but they are getting richer faster, presumably even faster than they did under Unca Ronnie Reagan who made them feel good about being greedy, ruthless bastards. What you really need to know to get their money into your coffers is a simple principle that even a gopper should understand: always promise more tax cuts. Clue: that's how you buy their vote. It's the perfect pay off. Therefore, always promise more tax cuts for the rich.

It worked for Ronald Reagan, the cue card reader, and it worked for George W. Bush who can't even read a cue card. Unca Ronnie didn't care that the tax cuts would not trickle down. He would be out of office or in the ground when the time came to pay the piper. Truthfully, the piper is being paid now. But Unca Ronnie is not around to take the heat, so don't sweat the small stuff. As a GOP candidate, what you want is a vote now! Mitt Romney understands this. That's why he repeats the same tired lie: Unca Ronnie's tax cut caused "the economy to soar!" Now --that's what goppers call knowing how to pull off the big lie. Learn it well and you too can be a successful gopper candidate!

Hold your nose and kiss up to the Religious Right --especially when the right is wrong. Pretend to be a God-fearin' Christian. Be seen in church! But don't fall asleep! If you are afraid you might, learn to sleep with your eyes wide open. It will appear that you are enraptured or having a religious experience.

Here's a technique that GWB has down pat: pretend to pray while grimacing or pulling weird faces that convey to fundies a "profound experience". If this is difficult, try imagining that you are constipated. This should come naturally for the mentally constipated GOP. Getting into character is the essence of method acting.

Give serious consideration to the proposition: why bother winning elections when you can steal them? Stealing an election eliminates guess work, makes your consultants look like geniuses, and gets you into a public office where you can steal a lot more than just votes! Comprende?

Subscribe to what goppers like to call a core "value". Sure, sure, it's all bullshit but, until you've looked at the research, you have no idea how many potential GOP voters will fall for it. It doesn't really matter what sins you commit or crimes you perpetrate if you have the votes to make it all legal after you've already done it. That works for Bush! Larry Craig, however, requires another strategy. He must be publicly contrite so that he can get back into the stall and do his foot taping "thing".

Don't waste time with issues. Smear your opponent instead. Corollary: it doesn't matter whether or not what you've said is true. Just keep repeating it. Eventually, you will come to believe it yourself. Goppers like to feel good about themselves even when they shouldn't.

Appeal to the lowest common denominator. Give the unwashed masses bread and circuses on the one hand, rob them of real jobs on the other. The last thing you want is a lot of working stiffs trying to join your country club. Keeping the riff raff out depends on how you perform. Making good on campaign promises doesn't matter as long as you can exploit a national emergency where all is either forgiven or forgotten, preferably forgotten. Make sure you get video taped in New Orleans --then get the hell outta there before you get your get your hands dirty or your feet wet.

Learn the art of lying from the master: Ronald Reagan. He managed to bankrupted the nation but millions still believe he was a fiscal conservative. Mitt Romney is still getting a lot of milage by raising Unca from the dead. It's bound to be worth a few votes and, if Huckabee manages to out lie him, he'll need everyone of them. Huckabee has learned his lessons well. On three occasions, he claimed to have had a theology degree. He didn't, then or now.

It doesn't matter that every big media conglomerate is now owned by corporate cronies of the GOP. That means that they are on your side, if and only if, you play their game, their way. Nevetheless, demonize the media! Let them take the heat for your screw ups! Put their feet to the fire. They will forgive you because they understand "the show". They're in on it, for cryin' out loud. The "folk", who don't understand "the show", will idolize you. With FOX on your side, who needs a PR firm?

At last, have your picture taken with Bush. If he's not available, a cardboard cutout is every bit as good!

Finally --learn how to kiss black babies and smile!

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