Are you ready to be bugged and tortured by George W. Bush?

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Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:27:15 -0800

Are you ready to be bugged and tortured by George W. Bush?

 

 

 

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2006/1303

 

 

Columns

Harvey Wasserman

 

Are you ready to be bugged and tortured by George W. Bush?

January 19, 2006

 

It's not really terrorists George W. Bush wants to bug and torture.

It's YOU.

 

It's not really terrorism he wants to fight. It's opposition from

people he can't control.

 

It's not really US security he wants to protect. It's the power of his

regime.

 

The Constitutional debate about whether these executive privileges are

allowable in war is a smoke screen.

 

This isn't about war: It's about dictatorship. It's about making power

permanent by using private information against you, and by terrifying

you with torture.

 

Team Bush believes it rules by Divine right. It has already re-defined

" terrorist " to mean anyone who questions its power. It will use

" anti-terrorist " wiretapping as a tool against anyone who dares oppose it.

 

All serious indicators show that " information " extracted by torture is

virtually worthless in fighting terrorism. So is the information taken

from wiretapping huge numbers of people, which Bush has been doing

since before 9/11.

 

So ask yourself: if granted the power to torture, do you trust the

Bush Administration---or any regime- - to refrain from torturing its

political opponents? If granted the power to record private phone

conversations, do you trust Karl Rove to not use this material against

his political opponents?

 

Who will Bush go after first? Al Queda or the Quakers? Bin Laden or

Cindy Sheehan?

 

If Bush gets away with this, then it's simple: if you are too

outspoken in opposing this regime's destruction of social security, or

the natural environment, or the economy, you will sooner or later be

subject to torture.

 

If Bush's phone buggers pick up information or statements taken out of

context that can incriminate or make you look bad, Rove will not

hesitate to leak them to FOX and use them for partisan purposes.

 

The Constitution of the United States is absolutely clear about

banning these abuses. The patriotic Americans who demanded the Bill of

Rights knew these powers must be outlawed to retain any hope of

preserving our freedom and democracy. That's why they did so, clearly

and explicitly.

 

Those who support giving Bush these powers are undoubtedly ready and

willing to be tortured and bugged themselves.

 

As for the rest of us, there can be no compromise with tyranny.

 

--

HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE US is available at www.

harveywasserman. com, as is HOW THE GOP STOLE AMERICA'S 2004 ELECTION

& IS RIGGING 2008, written with Bob Fitrakis.