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Political Free-Fall In The United States

Secret Plans for Iran War and
Election Fraud Charged

Impeachment Demands

Michael Collins
“Scoop” Independent News
Washington, DC

Americans strongly oppose the Bush administration and show signs of mounting anger. Popular anger is clear from the very low Bush approval ratings in the mid to low thirties. Only 27% of Americans think that the country is headed in the right direction, while 60% or more think it is not. These shocking right/wrong direction figures have been constant since October 2005.

The consistently low approval ratings ranging from 31% to 35% represent the lowest levels for the Bush presidency to date. The approval of performance is matched by a very low approval of Bush as a person, an inauspicious combination of negatives for any political leader. It is rare that the public moves in tandem from disapproval of political leadership to disapproval of the leader as a person. Yet that is precisely what we are seeing right now.

Further evidence of American anger was revealed in a July survey or 1010 Americans by the Scripps Howard/University of Ohio Poll. 77% of Americans say that “friends and acquaintances” have become “much angier” at the federal government and 54% of the sample said they are feeling much angrier at the government. Over a third, 36%, of respondents say that this statement was “likely” to “very likely:” People in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East..

In addition to theses formal poll numbers, other recent evidence suggests that public confidence in the basis for American governance, the election system, is in complete and total free fall. A recent Zogby Poll in Pennsylvania asked, “Do you think that the 2004 election was stolen?” 40% of the respondents said “Yes.” Aside from the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a split state reflecting the divide in the last presidential election. 40% of a population holding the belief that the government is controlled by election thieves is a devastating indictment of those who rule. That figure raises the question, how long can the purported election thieves govern with any degree of authority?

A less scientific poll on MSNBC with 270,000 respondents shows that 87% of those answering the poll questions think that Bush should be impeached.

Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment?
* 273895 responses
Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
87%
No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors."
4.3%
No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.
7.2%
I don't know.
1.8%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904

The United States is in a volatile condition, ready to erupt. The old structures have little influence and new forces propel public opinion and policy choices. The corporate media (CM) continues to give Bush a “get out of jail free” card on almost every scandal. The CM either refuses to cover the news or covers scandals for a brief period prior to stumbling into a “short attention span theater” featuring journalistic amnesia. American journalists show a stronger resemblance to Guy Pearce’s "Leonard" in Memento than to their imagined role model, Edward R. Murrow.

Americans now have to develop their political judgments by performing archeological digs which delve far deeper than the fragments and smattered sound bites of inconsistent corporate media coverage. To a greater degree, public opinion and consensus is formed in discussions with neighbors, co-workers, and within community organizations, unions, churches, and political parties. Parallel news paths like internet news organizations, news aggregators, email distribution lists, and web pages now show vastly increased activity and influence. In the absence of an open and honest news media, where else could the requisite facts and analyses arise creating the demand for a Bush impeachment other than these virtual and physical public squares?

Causis Belli for Impeachment

As though conspiring to generate even more opposition, the Bush White House and its neoconservative functionaries are now accused of readying a long planned war against Iran. National security expert James Bamford, author of Puzzle Palace (on the National Security Agency) and Pretext for War just published an article in Rolling Stone Magazine which details the plans.

It was a role that AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) was eager to play. Rosen, recognizing that Franklin could serve as a useful spy, immediately began plotting ways to plant him in the White House—specifically in the National Security Council, the epicenter of intelligence and national-security policy. By working there, Rosen told Franklin a few days later, he would be "by the elbow of the president."

Knowing that such a maneuver was well within AIPAC's capabilities, Franklin asked Rosen to "put in a good word" for him. Rosen agreed. "I'll do what I can," he said, adding that the breakfast meeting had been a real "eye-opener."

Working together, the two men hoped to sell the United States on yet another bloody war. A few miles away, digital recorders at the FBI's Language Services Section captured every word.

James Bamford is one of America’s most esteemed journalists. His prodigious work on national security issues has been very well received. He is a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former investigative producer for ABC News. His name attached to this description of events carries considerable weight.

Since the American people think in a general way that there has been “deception leading to war” (from the MSNBC poll), this story elaborates the details of a painfully brutal and costly betrayal.

Endgame

The disturbing story in the detailed Bamford article concludes with these words:

In the end, the work of Franklin and the other members of Feith's secret office had the desired effect. Working behind the scenes, the members of the Office of Special Plans succeeded in setting the United States on the path to all-out war with Iran.

This is the type of scandal that is both profound and, at the same time, readily available to the public at large. It has direct outcomes that will further infuriate Americans. In addition, the FBI tapes Bamford referenced are” the goods,” comprising the smoking gun for this misguided package of pseudo intellectual superstition and delusion; representing nothing more than a combination of contrivance and misinformation.

Will this be the scandal that shoves Bush and his group from office?

It is difficult to tell. There may be another poorly managed natural disaster while Bush strums his guitar and eats cake elsewhere. The Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argument that the 2004 election was stolen may ultimately tip the scales. Kennedy is calling for whistle blowers to come forward and expose election fraud. In addition, he has filed a major law suit questioning the honesty and legitimacy of elections. The public may wake up to the fact that there has been zero growth in private sector jobs since the Bush crew took office and that their economy bears little or no relationship to the padded profits of favored corporations and their executives. Or we may see all of the above in a perfect storm devastating any last remnant of Bush support outside the most radical elements of the right who are ghoulishly awaiting rapture from above.

Whatever form the final events take, right now, based on the best evidence available, George W. Bush has reached the end of his ability to govern effectively. Even the worst case scenario, an attack on the nation, will do little to preserve him. Prior to the 2004 election, the Republicans knew that another “911” type attack would actually hurt the president and his party and they know it now as well. Bush’s reliance on the very worst policy theorists and implementers, those entirely incapable of true diplomacy, has generated dire consequences for the nation. He and his crew will go and go soon. It’s an American tradition.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence.
The unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America

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Copyright. Permission to reproduce in whole or part with attribution to the author and a link to “Scoop.”

Michael Collins is a writer who focuses on clean elections and voting rights. He is the editor of the election fraud web site, www.ElectionFraudNews.com. He has written articles on a number of topics for “Scoop” Independent News including: The Disenfranchisement of Katrina's Survivors; The Unanswered Question: Who Really Won In 2004? ; Secret Vote Counting, a scathing critique of HAVA; and Kennedy's Challenge, a detailed response to Salon’s attack on the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. article on stolen election 2004. Special thanks to Stella Black for editorial assistance.

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