It’s a Start

Standard

I recently read a report written by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. called The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War and Illegal Domestic Surveillance.

So far, I think it’s a pretty solid representation of the White House’s and GOP’s violations. If you take the time to read through the sources, they are reliable, and the report overall is well written.

If you don’t read anything else, at least read the intro, where you’ll find things like:

The media, though showing some signs of aggressiveness as of late, is increasingly concentrated and all too often unwilling to risk the enmity or legal challenge from the party in charge.
…
As Martin Luther King told us, “there comes a time when silence is betrayal.” None of us should be bullied or intimidated when the executive branch charges that those who would criticize their actions are “aiding the terrorists” and “giving ammunition to America’s enemies,” or when they warn that “Americans need to watch what they say,” as this Administration has done.

If you haven’t seen Good Night, and Good Luck, you’ll see some parallels between the current administration, its “free press” and how things were arranged during the rise of McArthyism.

To me, this all has been disturbing for some time. Even talking to my family and friends is tough, because they, like so many people are unwilling to let go of the infallibility of the president and the ivory tower he lives in.

I’m not sure where the “it’s completely wrong to question things” mindset comes from, but it is sickening. I’ve even been called a “hippie” just because I think something feels very wrong about how a single political party backed by narrow-minded numbnuts is trying to nullify our nation’s checks and balances.

Call me a hippie, I guess. Call me worse if you want. Doesn’t change the fact that some people in Washington DC are circumventing the laws they swore to respect and uphold.

Nice job, Rep. Conyers. At least someone is willing to write “news that matters”.

2 thoughts on “It’s a Start”

  1. Well you DID go to the Country Fair and all… 🙂

    As for the minority report, Congressman Conyers sounds like a fairly reliable resource. His biography is pretty damn impressive as well, he’s been a member of the House since 1964, making him the second most senior Representative. I can’t imagine what it must be like for people like him to watch many of the things that were so painfully fought for over the years simply overlooked, and in some cases completely reversed by this administration. It must be heartbreaking.

    But in this age of apathy and indifference throughout the country, it is the passion that men and women like Rep. Conyers display that gives us hope for a brighter day.

    At the very least we owe it to those that have fought for our freedom and rights throughout history to become educated on the issues that our nation faces today, both externally and internally. Kudos to posts like these.

    Rep. Conyers said it himself:
    “Whereas the so-called “mainstream media” has frequently been willing to look past the abuses of the Bush Administration, the blogosophere has proven to be a new and important bulwark of our Nation’s first amendment freedoms.”

Comments are closed.