Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 17:37:15 -0000
From: leecallan@hotmail.com ("Sharon Lee Callan")
Subject: [lpaz-discuss] DEMOCRACY: IF YOU IGNORE IT, IT WILL GO AWAY
To: lpaz-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Reply-To: lpaz-discuss@yahoogroups.com
DEMOCRACY: IF YOU IGNORE IT, IT WILL GO AWAY
n a message dated 6/18/01 5:19:24 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
MsTerri26 writes:
>Subj: I LOVE THIS Date: 6/18/01 5:19:24 AM Pacific Daylight Time
>From: MsTerri26
>
>
>
>by Ed Reiman
>
>A pledge of allegiance fo today --
>
>"I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States
and to the
>Republic for which it stands: One nation, indivisible, with
Liberty and
>Justice for all."
>
>Ladies and gentlemen, I come here today to speak as a father
and veteran.
>
>I would not presume to speak for all veterans... I'm just one
man who
>served in our most tragic conflict. I did nothing remarkable
in Vietnam; I
>did my job and came home to build a life and be a good
citizen.
>
>I am also speaking as the father of two wonderfu young people
-- a son who
>will graduate from college next month, and a daughter who will
graduate
>from college a year from May. Today I speak for them and
millions of young
>people who will soon take the reins of our nation. They will
either inherit
>a country that belongs to them, or one that belongs to the few
who have
>recently grabbed power through the Supreme Court, a clearly
flawed
>electoral process, and the damnedest smoke-and-mirror job in
the history of
>American politics.
>
>And I am here to tell Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Henry
Kissinger, George
>Shultz, James Baker and the rest of the Committee running this
country --
>and the corporations that own them (like Boeing, Lockheed
Martin, TRW, and
>others) -- We know who you are, we know what you've done and
how you did
>it, and -- if we have our way -- this is your last hurrah!
>
>And I am here today to tell Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter
Jennings --
>on the souls of Edward R. Murrow, Eric Sevareid, Chet Huntley,
and other
>past giants of the press -- that they must do a better job.
For our
>country's sake, they must. They can help us take our country
back, or they
>can let the tyrants will out.
>
>Simply stated: I want our country back.
>
>I want it back for us and for our kids.
>
>I want back the assurance that my vote will be counted, and
that my voice
>is heard between elections. Once-upon-a time my voice was
heard, and I did
>believe that my vote would be counted. Not now.
>
>Why do I feel so strongly?
>
>In 1966, I raised my right hand and swore, in part, to ". .
.protect and
>defend the Constitution of the United States. . .". I went to
Vietnam to
>uphold that oath in 1967. Many of you were caught up in the
same set of
>circumstances. I'm glad we made it through, and I still grieve
for those
>who didn't.
>
>It turns out we were being misled by incompetent and -- in
some cases --
>arguably criminal public figures, who had anything but this
country's best
>interests in mind -- and they sure as hell didn't care about
us or the
>people of Southeast Asia.
>
>The press and a misinformed electorate played along for too
many years.
>
>From about 1960 through 1968 our government and a gullible,
compliant press
>"sold" us on the idea of our involvement in Vietnam. After
"Tet" of 1968,
>the mainstream press finally began asking serious questions,
and
>"grown-ups" began to join the young in protesting the war. A
confused and
>bewildered nation elected Dick Nixon on his lie about a
"secret plan" to
>end the war, and the press danced along with the lie. But the
war dragged
>on another four bloody, useless years.
>
>Finally an irate public -- aided by a free press -- forced an
end to the
>war.
>
>During those bright and shining months the press did its job
and "We The
>People" -- through an independent Congress -- were heard. We
can make it
>happen again.
>
>Now we jump ahead thirty plus years.
>
>George W. did not run for President, nor was he elected.
Rather, the Bush
>name was successfully packaged and "marketed." Hundreds of
millions of
>dollars -- the bulk of which came from a mere handful of rich
individuals,
>a couple hundred corporations, and a small group of
ideological
>organizations -- sold us a product called "Bush." It could
just as well
>have been a new brand of dog food. The corporate media simply
carried
>commercials for the sham.
>
>And a credulous, compliant press helped in the marketing of
this
>unqualified ne're-do-well to an exhausted and battered
American electorate.
>Now that he's been appointed President, these same journalists
continue to
>validate him by reporting "President Bush said today (you fill
in the
>blanks)."
>
>Horse feathers.
>
>G.W. hasn't said anything coherent - that was not written for
him - from
>the moment he was selected to run by the millionaires' club
that got him
>appointed. Every time he's left the script, he's made a fool
of himself and
>our country.
>
>Right now this country is being run by a detached, un-elected
committee
>whose policies are being delivered by a mouthpiece from Texas.
The more
>appointments they make, the more detahed they get from us,
and the more
>profound the damage they do. And heed this: their second and
third-layer
>appointees are more dangerous than themselves.
>
>Again we are being sold a "cold war," and again we are being
led by
>"cold-warriors." Some are sworn appointees and some are just
"advisors."
>Some are merely right-wing radio hosts. And some were in key
positions
>during the Vietnam debacle nearly 35 years ago (yes, Henry
Kissinger is
>back, thought I would argue he should be in prison). None were
elected, and
>the mainstream press asks few hard questions about them. "We
the people"
>cannot question them directly -- they will not let us. The
press must do
>that for us, but by-and-large they don't.
>
>They tell us who our "enemies" are, or who our "strategic
partners" are,
>and the press marches along in step. The faceless and nameless
define
>"threats" and recommend weapons and strategies to answer them.
The press
>only reports but rarely questions.
>
>We are about to militarize space at the direction of Don
Rumsfeld, when
>even the Pentagon says a missile attack is the least likely
threat to our
>nation. TRW, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and a hundred other
sub-contractors
>will get a cash infusion of $250 billion to half-a-trillion
dollars, and
>someone will still be able to float a crude nuclear device
right into your
>beautiful bay in a rusty freighter.
>
>The $60 to $100 billion-dollar figure Rumsfeld is so quick to
throw out is
>a godforsaken lie and he knows it.
>
>So whom is Rumsfeld working for? You? Me? Our service people
now in
>uniform? Our kids (God forbid they should be called)?
>
>Mr. Bush -- and I refuse to call him "President" -- doesn't
have a clue
>about any of this without cue-cards or a TelePrompTer text. In
your wildest
>dreams, can you imagine the boy arguing with Don Rumsfeld on a
defense
>policy, or Henry Kissinger on a foreign policy issue? John
Kennedy stood up
>to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, just about the whole Congress,
and most of
>his own advisors, and averted World War III during the Cuban
missile
>crisis. GW would have been a deer caught in the headlights.
>
>So a committee is running this country, and a handful of
corporations and
>rich individuals own the committee.
>
>They are the ones I want my country back from.
>
>And as a veteran I ask these questions:
>
>When a few hundred individuals -- through the shear force of
their money --
>can buy a presidency, would the United States be worth
fighting or dying
>for if the call came again?
>
>Would our young men and women be defending our country and
Constitution on
>our behalf, or on behalf of an un-elected committee for the
benefit of
>defense contractors or oil companies?
>
>Should there be even a shadow of a doubt? Of course there
should not be,
>but as long as Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld and their
appointees are
>running this country, there sure as hell is a doubt - a huge
doubt.
>
>But until we -- and I mean all of us -- young and old -- right
now, right
>here -- pledge to vote in every national election (even if we
have to knock
>down doors to do it), things won't change. Less than fifty
percent of us
>voted, and only about one-half of those who did vote swallowed
the Bush
>illusion hook, line and sinker.
>
>You can take this to the bank: It was un-cast votes that put
Dick Cheney in
>the oval office.
>
>And until we strengthen our dedication to changing the
electoral process in
>which offices -- including the Presidency -- can be bought by
the highest
>bidder (under the guise of "free speech"), I will weep for my
country and
>for the young people who will inherit it.
>
>Until the press once again does its job in helping us
determine who is or
>is not qualified -- in character and intellect -- to become
the leader of
>the free world, guys like "G.W." will happen again and again.
>
>Make today the beginning of the end of a system that is
killing our
>American dream.
>
>And let us send this message to our flaccid, ineffective
press: REGAIN YOUR
>COURAGE. A nation that does not believe you is far more
dangerous to your
>future than a hostile government.
>
>And let us send this message to the men and women in Congress
(from both
>parties) who are not already bought off: FIND YOUR GRIT. The
"Bushies" are
>on the thinnest of thin ice. Some are inches away from
criminal
>prosecution. Help the press expose them, and trust us to do
the rest with
>our votes.
>
>And let us send this message to this shadow government: We are
taking our
>country back. "We The People" have become your worst
nightmare. Listen
>closely Dick, Donald, Henry, George, and the companies who own
you: We know
>what you did, and we know what you are doing. You're on notice
that from
>this moment forward (as the song says) :
>
>"The times they are a-changing"
>
>***
>Veteran and member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Ed
Reiman is also
>one of the founding members of Vietnam Veterans of America
Chapter 144. He
>gave the keynote speech at the opening ceremony for the
traveling Vietnam
>Veterans' wall, sponsored by the VVA. During the 80s he was a
volunteer
>facilitator for veteran counseling groups, working with team
leader Steve
>Tice. Mr. Reiman returned to Vietnam for the first time in
November 2000 in
>the aftermath of Election 2000.
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