Moral High Ground

Does the US still have it? Are we the good guys?

First, the news:


Do we have the right to torture people? If so, do we still have the right to lecture China or North Korea on human rights? Shouldn't we practice what we preach? Or should we stop preaching?

This is why we have no credibility with the rest of the Western World.

Still waiting on the black hat order...

Some Quotes

Subject: Democracy...

“The two greatest obstacles to democracy in the United States are, first, the widespread delusion among the poor that we have a democracy, and second, the chronic terror among the rich, lest we get it.” - Edward Dowling.

“Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” - Louis Brandeis.

“Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.” - Aristotle.

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group,” - Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“Information is the currency of democracy.” - Thomas Jefferson.

“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” - John F. Kennedy.

“A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy” - Theodore Roosevelt.

“Democracy means the organization of society for the benefit and at the expense of everybody indiscriminately and not for the benefit of a privileged class.” - George Bernard Shaw.

“Democracy! Bah! When I hear that I reach for my feather Boa!” - Allen Ginsberg.

I could go on, but that seems to fulfill my intended message in a nutshell.

Blame Peak Oil

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, I have been wondering why. What are we doing there? Osama was not in Iraq, nor was Al-Qaeda. The inspectors never found any WMDs.

The continued occupation of Iraq is costing us a lot of money, but it looks like we have no plans to leave. Ever.

Why?

I went looking deeper for the answer, but nothing made any sense. Bush might be an idiot, but you don't commit the resources of the most powerful nation on the planet without a good reason, or nobody would go along with it.

I looked at the background of the President and Vice President, reading about their ties to the oil industry. Was it really all about the oil?

The answer I found was: Yes. Yes, it is all about the oil.

First, a little research. Check out these sites:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
http://www.theoildrum.com/
http://www.oilcrisis.com/
http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbert_peak

That should be enough to get you started, anyway...

The oil companies are aware of the problem, which means Bush and Cheney are aware of the problem of Peak Oil. They are lying about the reasons for the war because they don't want anyone to know the real reason.

The problem is that oil production is maxed out, and has already begun to diminish. All the cheap oil is already gone, and what is left is harder to reach or harder to refine. In other words, it will get more expensive. Many experts are predicting that there will be a fight for the remaining oil reserves, largely focused on the middle east.

The plan of the Bush administration, and the reason for the war, was to establish control over the middle east before the problem becomes obvious. They intend to control the oil until the last drop is gone. By whatever force is necessary. Whatever it takes.

They could have been using our nation's resources to find alternative energy sources, find a way to ease us out of our oil dependence. If we have enough of a head start we could change over to electric cars, solar and wind power, alternative fuels... We might have had a chance to get through this with our economy intact.

But that is not going to happen. It was never about doing what was best for the country. For the people. It was all about securing the incomes of the most powerful corporations in the world - the oil companies - for just a few more years. Eventually the oil will be gone, but by then the current CEO's will all be retired.

It was all about the oil. Still is.

For all Bush and Cheney care, the rest of us can GO TO HELL.

How badly have they screwed us? We have the largest national debt in history. The American dollar has become worth less than the Canadian dollar for the first time in about 40 years. Gas prices continue to rise. Global warming has finally been recognized as a serious problem, but the United States is still doing nothing about it.

And more American soldiers are dying in Iraq. Not for our freedom. Not to make America safer. But for the OIL.

And they will get away with it, because we will let them. They will leave office in 2009 and retire to their fortified mansions, secure with their oil company incomes. Mission Accomplished.