July 29, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

FRESNO'S AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS

It may not be specifically politically related, but I wanted to comment briefly on the aggressive, moronic drivers I see in Fresno now. It's becoming difficult to drive in Fresno without at least one moron, usually driving a huge SUV or pickup, riding my car's rear bumper. I've had occasions when the driver behind me has moved within inches of my car, deliberately and provocatively, committing an act of aggression. I'm driving the speed limit. I haven't done anything to these people. But they are playing a form of Russian roulette that puts my life in danger. I know I'm not the only one because I've seen recent letters to the editor in The Fresno Bee from other people dealing with these creeps. Maybe penalties for rear end collisions due to aggressive tailgating should be increased. Maybe it should be classified as attempted murder because it's the use of a big machine to endanger the life of another person. A few years in prison would get these creeps off the streets for a while.

BUSH FOLLOWING GRANDPA'S FOOTSTEPS

You don't get taught in history class that there were plans for a right wing coup to overthrow the United States government in 1933. Many big businessmen, including George Bush's grandfather Prescott Bush, wanted to use World War I veterans to establish a fascist government in the United States. FDR cut a deal with the plotters not to prosecute them for treason in return for their support of the New Deal. As this article points out, George W. Bush has done his grandpappy proud in his transfer of wealth to the very rich, the prosecution of an immoral war, and assault on the Constitution and civil liberties. The article by David Swanson is at www.smirkingchimp.com:

The BBC report provides a good account of the basic story. Some of the wealthiest men in America approached Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, beloved of many World War I veterans, many of them embittered by the government's treatment of them. Prescott Bush's group asked Butler to lead 500,000 veterans in a take-over of Washington and the White House. Butler refused and recounted the affair to the congressional committee. His account was corroborated in part by a number of witnesses, and the committee concluded that the plot was real. But the names of wealthy backers of the plot were blacked out in the committee's records, and nobody was prosecuted. According to the BBC, President Roosevelt cut a deal. He refrained from prosecuting some of the wealthiest men in America for treason. They agreed to end Wall Street's opposition to the New Deal.

Clearly the lack of accountability in Washington, D.C., did not begin with Nancy Pelosi taking Dubya's impeachment off the table, or with Congress' decision to avoid impeachment for President Ronald Reagan (a decision that arguably played a large role in installing Prescott Bush's son George H.W. Bush as president), or with the failure to investigate the apparent deal that George H.W. Bush and others made with Iran to not release American hostages until Reagan was made president, or with the failure to prosecute Richard Nixon after he resigned. Lack of accountability is a proud tradition in our nation's capital. Or maybe I should say our former nation's capital. I don't recognize the place anymore, and I credit that to George W. Bush's efforts to fulfill his grandfather's dream using far subtler and more effective means than a military coup.