There have been a copious amount of diaries on this subject lately, but I hope, dear reader, you can take the time to peruse one more. Here is the relevant definition of conspiracy from Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged:
a combination of persons banded secretly together and resolved to accomplish an evil or unlawful end.
I belive the operative word in the above paragraph is "secretly", so here's my question: Is it still a conspiracy if the people involved tell you what they plan to accomplish ahead of time, and then go on to carry out their nefarious ends? More after the flip.....
Many prominent republicans have long been advocating for the odious policies we have seen come to fruition under the Bush administration. The republicans desire for privatization of government functions,for deregulation of industry,for trickle-down economic policies,to expand the military budget, to basically corporatize everything, has been known for at least a generation now. They had been succesful to varying degrees in the past, but with the selection of Bush in 2000 they finally had an empty vessel to fill with their dangerous ideologies. I believe Dick Cheney said something to the effect of 'Now is when we get what is due to us' shortly after first occupying his current office.
Let's start with Grover Norquist. It is well known that he and his ilk have long advocated for a government of such a size that he could 'drown it in a bathtub'. Under the Bush administration we have massive tax cuts primarily for those who are members of 'Bush's base', and massive spending cuts for social programs coupled with evermore privatization of them. A republican congressman attempts to bribe another on the floor of the House of representatives to pass a drug bill which benefits big pharma, and generally makes things worse for the rest of us. We were led to believe that these policies would benefit all, but it turns out we were deceived. Should we be surprised when these things happen? Not if we were listening when they told us what they were planning.
How about the recent NSA spying scandal? The FISA court's creation was a response to the republican affinity for electronic surveillance three decades ago. And then a few years ago the Bush administration trotted out their idea for Total Information Awareness, complete with a fancy logo and slogans. It was almost like an ad campaign, to see how it would play with the public. As I recall, we didn't much care for it. Should we be surprised that they went ahead and did it anyway, aided and abetted by big telecom corporations? Not if we were paying attention to their actions over the last few decades.
Let's take a look at the 2004 election again. After the hanging chads and highly questionable supreme court decision
which installed Bush in 2000, the public demanded some sort of voting reform. Guess what? We didn't get very much. The republican-led congress squashed every effort to pass meaningful voting reform and instead gave us the watered down HAVA. Counties all across the country installed new electronic machines with no paper trail, and we were told not to worry. An email from the CEO of Diebold came to light in which he states the he would do everything he could to 'deliver the next election for Bush'. Why would a political party that had either held the bully pulpit or controlled the congress for all but two of the last 20 years want to suddenly change an electoral system which had served them pretty well over the last couple decades? I believe that a country which can build an alliance of many countries, send tens of thousands of soldiers and untold tons of military might halfway around the world to avenge the WTC attacks, all in a matter of a few months, could probably develop some sort of standardized voting system for national elections in a couple years. But this republican-led country didn't consider voting reform a priority. Should we be surprised that Bush suddenly took the lead late on election night in 2004, defying all the exit polls? Not if we saw their indifference to this issue over the last several years.
I briefly mentioned the WTC bombings in that last bit. This seems to get the most people upset around here. I'm sure most of you are aware of the Project for a New American Century. If you visit their website, you can see their mission statement plain as day. At some point they mention that their plans would be greatly aided by some cataclysmic, Pearl Harbor type event to set things in motion. And then less than a year into the Bush's term, just such a cataclysmic event occurs. Now I don't purport to know exactly what happened on that day, but judging by the utter mendacity of the current regime, I'm quite sure things didn't play out quite the way we've been told. Would you really be surprised, really, to find out that some members of our current government were complicit? I know I wouldn't.
Because they already told us what they'd like to do. And it isn't really a conspiracy if they tell you first.
The first few points I brought up are a little easier for most people to wrap their heads around, the second are more difficult for a lot of people to believe. But consider who we have holding the reins of power the last few years. Cheney and Rumsfeld have been around since the Nixon administration at least, but have always had cooler heads prevail for many of their worst ideas. I believe Cheney wanted to occupy Iraq the last time around, but had a president who denied him. We have Negroponte, who name was mentioned in the 80's involving the use of death squads in Latin America, was Ambassodor in Iraq when torture was being used, and is now in charge of all US intelligence. Elliot Abrams and others convicted during Iran-Contra now hold positions of power again. I could go on. These are not nice men and make no mistake about it, they are the ones calling the shots these days.
Many people don't want or refuse to believe that any American could do anything so terrible. We are better than that. We're a christian country. And on and on.. But guess what, Americans are human beings, and human beings have done terrible things to one another throughout all of recorded history. We aren't any different today.
But maybe you still think this particular administration could never be so heartless. Take a look at what George Bush had to say regarding his refusal to grant a stay of execution to Carla Faye Tucker while he was governor of Texas. I don't think the death of others really concerns them too much.
I'm not asking you to believe in every theory that gets mentioned on this site, but if you believe that the current regime is incapable of performing such deeds to reach their ends, you need to read a little more history, and see just what atrocities people are capable of committing.
It's not a conspiracy if you tell people about it ahead of time, and Dick Cheney is here to get his due.
What are you going to do about it?
