Today is as yesterday was. Some of the players remain the same. Vice President Dick Cheney helped to expand Presidential power three decades ago. Today, he pushes the envelope further. As Americans stand on the brink of self destruction, we might ponder the past. Perhaps we can learn from it. Bill Moyers, of Public Broadcasting Services offers a bit of perspective. He asks us to . . .
Remember"The Lives of Others" - the movie that won this year's Academy Award for best foreign language film . . . a story of life under East Germany's secret police. The critic Roger Ebert said: "The movie is relevant today, as our government ignores habeas corpus, practices secret torture, and asks for the right to wiretap and eavesdrop on its citizens. Such tactics, he said, did not save East Germany; they destroyed it, by making it a country its most loyal citizens could no longer believe in." You want to say it couldn't happen here but we've been close before. During the cold war with the Soviet Union and then the hot war in Vietnam, a secret government mushroomed in this country.
In a powerful program aired on October 26, 2007, Bill Moyers observes that the times are not a changin'. He reminds us, on December 22, 1974 The New York Times published an exposé by Seymour Hersh, The article alarmed Americans. The evidence revealed could not be ignored. Americans were not safe. Their own government threatened their security.
A Senate Select Committee headed by Senator Frank Church [Democrat, Idaho] was established. The purpose was to investigate allegations; the Fed's were spying, and plotting against citizens of this country. As we review the findings, we understand. What occurred thirty years ago is but background for the present.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney espouse the theory of the unitary executive. That means the President's orders can't be reviewed, questioned, or altered by the other two branches of government. He alone can say what the law means, or whether or not it will be enforced or ignored. In effect, George W. Bush says his powers must be unilateral and unchecked.
Critics claim the President has used the war on terror to put himself above the law and that he has created a secret presidency of classified decisions and orders, that approve extraordinary renditions, torture, illegal detentions, and wiretapping without warrants with the collaboration of big telecom companies. This boundless secrecy and surveillance evokes images counter to American values.
In October 2007, Jim Hightower wrote, Is a Presidential Coup Under Way?" Perhaps it is. Might we consider, when Richard M. Nixon was in office Dick Cheney was a fledging. Cheney learned from the master and embraced his lessons.
One of the people who argued most vociferously that a president could exceed the laws was a former White House Chief of Staff who had been elected to Congress. His name. Dick Cheney.
Today, with the power of the Vice Presidency in hand, Cheney reiterates as he executes his convictions.
Once more we discover, the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], National Security Agency [NSA], Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] and other Federal Agencies were and are involved in numerous illegal affairs.
In the mid 1970s, plots to assassinate foreign leaders were real and realized. Detention, confinement, or kidnapping of those the Administration thought to be a threat were condoned. Warrantless entry into offices and homes was sanctioned by the White House. Federal Intelligence Officers searched for files against their "enemies" and claimed it was their right to do so.
Chemicals intended for biological warfare were illicitly warehoused. Mail, to and from Americas was opened. Wiretapping was common. Intelligence was gathered without legal authority. A minimum of nine thousand, nine hundred [9,900-plus] files were amassed. Any American involved in the antiwar movement was likely under surveillance. Internal Revenue files were reviewed without cause. The Executive Branch of the American government trusted no one.
Does all this sound familiar?
Dear reader, I invite you to view the program, read the full transcript, or comment. The parallels may pull you in; they may turn your stomach. I think you may find the Power and the Presidency very interesting.
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