Interview with Author of "End of America" Available On the Web

As I write this I am listening to the interview with author Naomi Wolf which was broadcast on Democracy Now! on November 28, 2007.

I have read enough of the book to know this is the most important book I have read in 2007. Evidently many people agree as the book is now on the New York Times best-seller list according to the Democracy Now! website.

In the interview I am listening to Ms. Wolf is talking about torture. The Military Commissions Act of 2006, which remains the law of the land, gives the go-ahead to the Bush administration to commit acts of torture. We now know from writers such as Nat Hentoff, mentioned earlier on this blog, that torture has almost certainly continued in the very recent past and very possibly is being committed now.

One point Wolf makes is that you don't have to have the ovens in order to have fascism. Not every fascist or totalitarian state operates at that level of horror or depravity. Sometimes, it is more quiet and subtle. The corollaries between these dictatorships and the Bush administration remain, including secret prisons and mercenary armies. (When employees of Blackwater, Inc., operated on the streets of New Orleans following hurricane Katrina it was the first time mercenary soldiers had operated on U.S. soil since the Revolutionary War.)

I urge everyone to listen to this interview and to get and read "The End of America". Your freedom and mine will depend on how we react now.


The interview is here:

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/11/28/the_end_of_america_feminist_social

"The End of America" -- Continued

Naomi Wolf's "The End of America" continues to frighten and inspire. I am encouraging our locally-owned bookstore to sponsor on author's book-signing.

Every citizen should read this book!

Please check back here for most postings on this very important book.

The Future of America

Work demands have been very heavy over the last week and have included an interview for a new position.

I did, however, have time to purchase and begin reading an extremely important new book entitled The End of America; Letter to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf, mentioned on this blog earlier. In a real sense it is impossible to over-estimate the importance of this book. A clearer book on the federal government under G. W. Bush I have not read.

Because of the hour I am unable to write much more. However, I strongly encourage you, dear reader, to look the book up and purchase it. You will then have access to much information which can help you make sense of this very disturbing administration.

A Proposal to Repeal Earlier Expansion of Presidential Power

In a provision in the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, Congress expanded the circumstances under which the President could use the military for domestic law inforcement purposes. This provision, passed in the dead of night and almost totally ignored by the major media, was subsequently opposed by the National Governors Association and the National Guard association.



The House Armed Services committee under new chairman Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri has proposed a repeal of the expansion of Presidential power. The article at the link below gives more information. It is from Congressional Quarterly on line and was published on October 19, 2007. The repeal appears to be still in committee as of this writing. I will continue my research on this topic.



The proposed repeal is another example of good work on the part of the new Democratic Congress.





http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002609356.html

Warning to Patriots

Today I have read an article about a new book on the rise of fascist dictatorships. The interview is with Naomi Wolf.

The article is very interesting and I highly recommend it. The information here corresponds very much with my own research. Everyone in America and beyond who cares about democracy should read this article!

I will have more to say later.


http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112107R.shtml

Last evening's Bill Moyers Journal brought official word of the attempt by the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to allow a significant expansion of the reach and power of the already powerful corporate media in the United States. This outrageous power grab is being promoted at a time of high profits for newspapers (an average of 17% per year according to Bill Moyers).

Now Chairman Martin and his Republican cohorts are trying to push through on short notice the same sweetheart deal for big media which the public rejected in overwhelming numbers under the previous chairman, Michael Powell, in 2003. The proposed relaxation of rules would allow one company to own both a major newspaper and a major TV station in the same market. More details can be found at the link below.

Because Chairman Martin intends to railroad these rule changes through next month, Moyers is telling us we need to make our voices heard by December 11. Please do contact the FCC and your members of Congress as soon as possible. It is critical the policy-makers hear from us right away. A handy contact form is provided through the web site I have referenced below.

It is clear to me ownership rules need to be strengthened, not relaxed. These rule changes are a clear pay-back by the Bush administration to their corporate supporters in the huge media conglomerates. There are several links on the Moyers web page which I will be examining. One includes incidents of media companies providing favors to FCC members. If this information is true, we have corruption on a high order.

After you do contact the government officials, I would be glad to hear about it. (You may use the "Comment" button here.)

This is a time to stand together -- and -- take action.

Cheney Impeachment Up-date

This afternoon I spoke with the office of the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House, Mr. John Conyers. The subject of the conversation with the gracious woman who answered was the Cheney Impeachment matter. I was told that the matter would be dealt with after the first of the year, as there are only two weeks left in the current session.



The mere fact that the resolutions impeaching Cheney have been sent to the Committee on the Judiciary is, in itself, quite extraordinary. We have Rep. Dennis Kucinich to thank for this. It is clear to me that if there is a mass uprising of interest on the part of the American people the Judiciary Committee will be forced to at least hold hearings. And I believe any honest hearings by credible witnesses will establish that Richard B. Cheney should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, if not treason.



So we are in important times. Will you be part of solving the problems of our current executive branch? Your support of this impeachment effort is thoughtfully and urgently sought. Please call or write Rep. John Conyers and your own representative at your earliest convenience and respectfully express your opinion.

Explosive New Article by Elizabeth Holtzman

Please see the link below for an article by former Representative Elizabeth Holtzman on the possible culpability of Bush and Cheney on the issue of torture.





http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111407R.shtml

"Lions for Lambs"

The new Robert Redford film, "Lions for Lambs" debuted this past week-end. I was priviliged to view it along with a friend last evening. The film is extremely well-done with fabulous acting by Redford with Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. Focusing on the propaganda surrounding U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, the film throws light on the dilemmas faced by major media. The movie also contains a theme rare in films of today: pertinent and timeless advice for wayward youth.

All themes are handled intelligently, and, dare I say, entertainingly. "Lions for Lambs" is highly recommended.

The Missing Class

They amount to 57 million Americans. They are the near-poor as defined by statistics and author Katherine Newman whose book (with Victor Tan Chen) The Missing Class has just been published.

Katherine Newman was interviewed this evening on Bill Moyers Journal in a very informative conversation about these forgotten Americans. I am not ashamed to say I am experienced with this economic class of Americans. I know the particular struggles and the hardships.

Because of the hour I am unable to write more. However, I did want to make this posting now so readers would be able to look up the book and check it out. I will plan on writing more about it in a future post.


http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/11/the_missing_class_1.html

Is Iraq Another Vietnam?

I have just started reading an important new book about Iraq called Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam, a compendium of essays edited by Lloyd C. Gardner and Marilyn B. Young. I am only in the first chapter, having already completed the introduction.

The book is a collection of essays by writers such as Christian G. Appy, David Elliott, Elizabeth L. Hillman, and John Prados. In coming days I will relate more about what I am reading. So far the book is a well-written accounting of the history of the propaganda surrounding the Vietnam war and its aftermath as well as the Gulf War and the current Iraq war. Being dealt with in the early pages are the hubris of George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld who changed stories as events did not go their way in Iraq.

Certainly it is crucial to get the story straight when it comes to understanding why the United States attacked Iraq in 2003 and remains stuck there in the proverbial quagmire. I am looking forward to reading this book.

Multitude of News

This week has been one of fairly rapid developments. With a very busy week behind me, I only now have time to post here. As there is still a great deal going on, it seems wise to hold off on a serious post tonight.

This does not mean that I am prepared to offer an "unserious" post. But it does mean that I want to be thoughtful in what I do write. So with the readers' permission I will simply say for now that I am watching the Mukasey nomination, the Presidential race -- and I am still interested in having the truth about the last two elections come out. (See early posts on this web log.)

Best wishes,

The Musical Patriot

Mending the Government

Earlier this evening I finished reading John W. Dean's new book Broken Government. Of all the recent books recently released by former government officials this book and Al Gore's Assault on Reason are two of the most important. Over the coming days I plan to write more about Broken Government. I will do this in the form of vignettes. A fuller review must await another time, and possibly another place.

John Dean advocates a surprisingly simple solution for the broken government we have experienced for the last several years: cease electing Republicans. Dean states that the Republican Party of today is a party he no longer recognizes. In four chapters and two appendices, Mr. Dean examines the functioning of all three branches of the federal government under Republican rule. He finds said government not only wanting but, in many respects, dangerous. He finds the current form of far-right Republicanism with its anti-government mindset to be incapable of running the government. He cites particularly the failure of the technique of government shut-downs.

In this book John Dean has performed a tremendous public service. Both in laying out the recent history of the federal government and a proposed solution, he has provided a reason for hope amidst despair, a plan amidst chaos. For this he is to be commended and congratulated.

Broken Government; Fixed?

I am now in the final chapter of John W. Dean's book Broken Government. In finishing the previous chapter on the judiciary it became clear how close our judicial branch is to a radical transformation at the hands of judicial fundamentalists (to be distinguished from religious fundamentalists). Mr. Dean reports on the gradual but steady slide toward authoritarianism under the Rhenquist and Roberts courts.

By way of a fix, there are only hints so far. One point which made an impression on me was that the courts depend on the willing obedience of the people. Aside from this the courts have no enforcement ability of their own. In a future post I hope to tell more about this grave danger of an increasingly politicized judiciary.

Broken Government

After the next chapter I will be finished with the main body of John W. Dean's new book Broken Government. How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches. This is a most valuable book, coming as it does from an insider of the Nixon administration, many of whose actions are described in some detail. Although the title is a bit hyperbolic, the essential truth behind it is amply set forth.



I will have a more complete review later. However, this book is well worth reading, and may be essential reading for these times. I am going to be especially interested in Dean's suggestions for repairing the damage done primarily by Republicans over the last thirty-five and more years.