The Worst Decade in U. S. History

Having just passed the ten year anniversary of "nine-eleven" it seemed like a good time to reflect on events of the last ten years. Unfortunately, the more that I thought about it the more I realized that September 11, 2001 to September 11, 2011 is worse than the decade, in the last century, that saw the deaths of 56,000 young American men (plus two million Vietnamese) and the assassinations of two Kennedys, a King, an X, and the first (and only) resignation of a criminal U. S. President. It is worse than the decade, in the century before last, that saw the deaths of two-thirds of a million American brothers, from North and South (though it is noteworthy that two-thirds of those were from disease via unsanitary conditions), and the murder of a fellow named Lincoln.

While the number of U. S. troop casualties is a fraction of either of the other two previously mentioned decades the threat, to the very foundation of the United States, has never been more ominous. The constitution itself has been under siege for the last ten years. International treaties have also been accosted. And none of this from threats "foreign" but, rather, from the "domestic" cancer in Washington, D. C.

An obvious place to bolster my argument is a study from Brown University. By their calculations, which took into account ALL costs associated with the "war on terror," the price tag for U. S. Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS (mostly borrowed). Brown’s numbers did not include wars in Yemen, Libya or elsewhere.

The banks also left U. S. taxpayers holding a TWO POINT TWO TRILLION DOLLAR bailout bag from the catastrophic, and fraudulent, gambling debt that Wall Street bankers ran up. And a new report from MSNBC states that the banks asked for, and received, SEVEN POINT SEVEN TRILLION dollars from the "Federal" Reserve Bank - all on the "hush/hush" of course. 

So, from 2001 to 2011, U. S. citizens lost at least ELEVEN TRILLION DOLLARS. That’s nearly $35,500 for each-and-every man, woman and child.

I don’t suppose that anyone really wants to ponder the fact that Iraq had no terrorist connections to 9/11, no Weapons of Mass Destruction, no "yellowcake," nor were the materials for the "mushroom clouds," promised by Junior, Dick, and Condi, even present in Iraq. And I don’t suppose that anyone wants to think about the fact that an estimated two million Iraqis have been slaughtered. I guess that it’s not a good time to question why in the fuck Dick Cheney told the United States Air Force to stand down on September 11, 2001 either.

But while you, my tax paying friend, are on the hook for thirty-five-thousand dollars, that is not nearly the worst that the decade dished out. 

Three separate Federal and Supreme Court cases determined that various actions taken by George W. Bush were unconstitutional . . . not that they doled out any hard time. And it’s worth mentioning that all three cases regarded gross violations of human rights. Additionally torture (a heretofore offlimits "no-no") became such a common, Cheney-prompted occurence, that the current "debate" amongst republican presidential candidates seems more like a contest to see who would practice waterboarding the most. Torture is patently illegal both from a U. S. constitutional perspective and from the perspective of the international community (a la the Geneva Conventions). 

WHAT "rule of law?" 

The Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and various Executive Orders have infringed on every liberty that most Americans still think they have. Wiretaps are so commonplace now that authorities hardly have to ask permission. Congress is currently considering stacking another invasive law on top of the rest. S.1867 will allow the U. S. Military to come directly after U. S. citizens in their homes and places of business. I guess that they are trying to throw so many unconstitutional balls at the courts that, maybe, some whackjob judge will let one of the immoral intrusions stand. 

But, my dear potential "lone wolf"/"enemy combatant," the real chill was yet to come. While being detained, indefinitely and without charges (as provided for in the new unconstitutional laws), is bad . . . it is nothing. This very year the democrat in the White House called in a "hit" on a U. S. citizen. 

A pastor, and his two teenage sons, were murdered in cold blood at the command of the Commander-in-chief.

The Chief Executive (whether Bush or Obama) no longer has to get approval to 1) send our troops into war, 2) dole out trillions of dollars to criminal elements within Wall Street, 3) torture, indefinitely detain, or even kill U. S. citizens. 

George Washington, along with all of the other founding fathers, is rolling in his grave. 

Say "Hello" to The New World Order. 

Better yet . . . say "HELL NO!"