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Shortly after the end of World War II, the American public, although shaken by the viciousness of the war, were secure in their belief that nothing like the take-over of the German government by Hitler and a group bent on world conquest could ever happen in this country. After all, we were a carefully constructed democracy with numerous safeguards, which would prohibit anything like that from happening. Now, fifty-eight years later, we see the first signs of history repeating itself.
During the just completed century, the United States stood as the voice of reason in a world ripped apart by two major conflicts and numerous smaller wars. We were admired by much of the world because our people were free and could govern themselves. We were a prosperous country and immigrants from all over the world came here to make a better life for themselves and the generations to follow. We were the shining example in the world that, indeed, democracy could work and when it did, it was a glorious thing to behold.
Then, the original and wonderful concept of free enterprise, on which our country was built, was slowly transformed into a quest for great wealth by a select few and to hell with anyone who got in the way. Wholesale layoffs created hundreds of thousands of jobless citizens while, at the same time, corporate executives voted themselves huge bonuses, most of which had no bearing on how well their company was doing. Many corporations were now run strictly for stockholders, with the employees and, yes, even the customers of those companies, a distant afterthought. Stocks were artificially inflated, books were juggled and profits at any cost replaced the previous goal of making a good product or providing quality service for a fair profit. A work environment that fostered the retention of employees was no longer a consideration. And the direction of our country began to turn.
Along with this, a second phenomenon occurred. Hard-line religious groups flush with money from the weekly offerings of their faithful flocks (and large television audiences) began to blur the constitutionally guaranteed line between church and state. They backed candidates for public office who publicly paid homage to their religious right wing beliefs. They began to back legislation at the state and national levels, which made illegal, acts and behaviors, which failed to conform to their rather narrow definition of right and wrong. More and more religion crept into our government and candidates for office, seeing the handwriting on the wall, began pandering to these groups in their campaigns. And the direction of our country turned even more.
The final piece in this puzzle of tyranny fell into place slightly over two years ago with the election of Republican George Bush as president of our country. Election is no doubt too strong a word to use as Bush was appointed President by a narrow 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court after much dubious shenanigans before and after the election by his campaign staff and by some Florida State officials.
Much of this skullduggery was accomplished before the voters even reached the polls. Katherine Harris, Florida Secretary of State during the 2000 elections, hired a company called ChoicePoint to remove 57,000 names of convicted felons from the states voting roles. Problem was, ninety percent of those 57,000 were actually innocent of any crimes. To further complicate this end run around a free election in Florida, the majority of those removed were Democrats and over half of those were black. Simple math shows that, since George Bush won the state of Florida by less than 600 votes (and received only eight percent of the black vote), those 50,000, mostly Democrat voters who were fraudulently removed from the voter's roles, would have given Al, Gore a decisive win in Florida. Gore would be President today, and the damage to our country done by the Bush administration would have never happened. And what happened to ChoicePoint? This database company (with many prominent Republicans on their board) was given a large government contract (because of the passage of the Patriot Act) and now offers more than 20 billion pieces of information on American citizens to various law enforcement agencies. This is as classic an example of a closed loop as you'll find. Fix the election so that a candidate favorable to your company wins and then sit back are reap the rewards of your actions.
Still, by hook or crook (mostly crook), George Bush was in and almost immediately he set out to please those who helped get him close enough to be appointed president. Those two groups were the religious right and large corporations, particularly the major oil companies. Environmental laws and pro-choice laws were weakened. A tax cut for the wealthy was rushed through the congress and within less than two years the huge budget surplus Bush had inherited from the Clinton administration was gone and, in its place, was an ever growing, seemingly without end, deficit. Finally, helped by a Democratic party that suddenly seemed to lose both its voice and spine at the same time, Bush gained control of the Senate to compliment the House of Representatives, which was already in the hands of the Republicans. And the direction of our country turned yet a few more degrees.
On September 11, 2001,the World Trade Center was viciously attacked by terrorists, and the events which unfolded after that, were as remarkable as they were tragic. The new Attorney General, John Ashcroft, who had already stated he answered first to God and then to his country, pushed through a congressional bill known as The Patriot Act. Never has anything been more poorly mislabeled than The Patriot Act. It wasn’t patriotic at all, but instead, a bold grab at rescinding the civil rights, which our citizens had enjoyed since the formation of our country. Due process of law was suspended for hundreds of foreign prisoners who could be held (without charges filed against them) for an indefinite period of time. Ashcroft quickly assured us that this would never happen to any American citizen. Shortly after he made that remark, several U.S. citizens were detained in exactly the same manner. The rights previously accorded such heinous individuals as Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Timothy McVeigh and Ted Bundy were now withheld from anyone (foreign national and citizen, alike) deemed unworthy, by our government, of receiving them. In an end run around the U S. constitution, wire taps and other surveillance methods, which had been illegal for years were now legal and could be used to spy on our citizens. The hard earned privacy enjoyed by the people of this country was no longer quite as secure as it had once been. The excuse given for the Patriot Act was that we were at war. Of course we were not at war (not yet, anyway) as we had been attacked by a group of religious zealots (this time not the home grown variety, but a group from the Middle East) who swore they were taking revenge for Allah. Led by Osama Bin Laden, these thugs represented no country or government but were operating strictly to fulfill their own warped agenda. Simply put, they were fueled by a bizarre over-development of their religious beliefs. Sound familiar?
Still, George Bush said we were at war and by God (pun intended) he was going to give us one. He sent the armed forces to hunt down Osama Bin Laden. Trouble was, they couldn’t find him. OK, King George said, Lets hunt down that evil dictator, Saddam Hussein from Iraq because I think I know where he is.
Saddam Hussein was one of two-dozen or so evil dictators around the planet. He lacked any hint of humanity, he was cruel and oppressive to his people, and best of all, for Bush’s purpose, he was available. You know, if you can‘t get the prettiest girl in school to go to the prom with you, sometimes you just take whoever is left
After much saber rattling, Bush defied the United Nations as well as many countries around the world and attacked Iraq. He called it a crusade, thereby putting a religious spin on the invasion of a Middle Eastern country. He tried to tell us we were part of a vast multi-national coalition of the willing, but in truth, American forces made up over 85% of the so-called coalition and British forces comprised another 14%. In three weeks Baghdad fell at a cost of hundreds of American lives and thousands of Iraqi lives (many of them women, children and other innocent Iraqis). As I write this, we are now almost in control of the country of Iraq. And the direction of our country has turned even more.
We satisfied the major oil company interests as we now control the Iraqi oil fields. Just last week we announced a retired executive from Shell Oil would be put in charge of the northern oil fields and a retired executive from British Petroleum would be placed in charge of their southern oil fields.
We have already begun to award contracts to American companies for the reconstruction of Iraq, which to me is the largest catch 22 I’ve ever heard. First, we tear down their country with our military might and then we award White House cronies and contributors the contracts to rebuild it. A seven billion dollar, no bid contract was awarded to Halliburton, Vice President Cheney’s old employer (he was CEO). The country we said we came to liberate has been totally cut out of any say in how their oil fields will be run, as well as any rebuilding contracts for their own country.
We are now looked upon as a bully and an aggressor by much of the world. Right-wingers in this and other countries are jumping for joy, flush with victory over the winning of the war in Iraq. Of course, with our military power, winning the war in Iraq was never in doubt. What is in doubt is what we will do now that Saddam Hussein is either dead or has high tailed it out of the country. The real questions are:
- How will we stop Osama Bin Laden (where ever he is) as well as the new Osamas who will spring up, fueled by our invasion of a Middle Eastern country?
- What guarantees do we have that conquering Iraq will bring stability to that part of the world?
- Are we safer from terrorism or more in jeopardy from it because of our aggressive actions in Iraq?
Finally, under the guise of national security, free speech in our country has been assaulted as never before. Well-known actors such as Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Mike Farrell, Sean Penn, as well as other actors, musicians, ex-presidents, and average citizens have been assailed as being un-American for voicing opposition to George Bush and to an unwise, unjust and immoral war. The very free speech we say we were trying to instill in Iraq has been attacked in our own country. It’s now frowned upon by right wing pundits to say the wrong thing and we are cautioned that this type of talk is not acceptable. I often receive e-mails warning me that I should not write what I write. Remember, in the beginning of the Nazi empire, the first right curtailed was the right of free speech. We may not like what people say, but in a true democracy, we have no right to silence them. Those who speak out against war and aggression are the real modern day patriots because they are not afraid to tell the truth.
And so in a nation previously so well protected from zealots of all kind, we find our safeguards are not as strong as we had once imagined and powerful men with their own dubious agendas really can turn a country in the wrong direction. And what we said could never happen, has already begun. Even while we say we’re promoting democracy in other countries, it is slowly slipping away from our own. For years we have looked at our government as a barrier between us, and tyranny. Now, they may well be the cause of it. And the direction of our country keeps turning and turning and….
ADDENDUM, May 15, 2003
It is now one month after American forces occupied Baghdad. To date, we still have no idea as to the location of Osama Bin Laden, we can't find Saddam Hussein and not a shred of evidence as to the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (The chief reason stated by George Bush for invading Iraq) has been found. The bottom line is, we fought a war that didn't need to happen to get rid of weapons of mass destruction we can't prove exist, and to rid the country of a leader who we can't find dead or alive.
Meanwhile, John Ashcroft is already talking about Patriot Act II, which will further erode the civil rights of American citizens while George Bush is stumping the country to promote a second big tax cut for the wealthy. He again claims this tax cut will jump start our miserable economy even though the first tax cut two years ago (also advertised to boost the economy) had no such effect. And the direction of our country continues to turn.
©2003 by Ken Kreps. This article may not be re-published in electronic or print media without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Kreps lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife. He has written a number of published articles, essays and short stories, as well as numerous consumer and business pieces. Ken has also written scripts for Imagination Theater, an award winning audio drama series heard on over 150 commercial radio stations across the nation.
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