Sunday, May 23, 2004
America deserves better #3
Dear friends, Feb 27/04
Letter 2 dealt with 2 of the events that finally pushed me to action. Here
I'll deal with the other 3.
1)Trent Lott and deception
On "Late Edition" on Sunday 11 Jan. one of Wolf Blitzer's guests was Trent
Lott. Wolf got on the subject of no WMD found in Iraq. Trent replied that
some troops (Polish I think) had just discovered a cache of artillery shells
loaded with blister agent, as an example of Saddam developing chemical
weapons. On the evening news it was noted that the shells were more than 10
years old. The "misleading" never stops.
2)The Bush plan for illegal immigrants.
I know that illegal immigration is a major problem, and you can't just
round up some 8 million people and return them to their countries of origin.
I don't have the answer, but neither does Bush. However he reveals a plan
apparently decided in the dark, no bipartisan discussions, no consultation
with learned sociologists, no input from source countries, and no way it
will work. The timing? Just before he attends The Conference of the
Americas.
The plan would call on all illegal immigrants to declare themselves, in
return for which, if they have jobs and clean records, they will get to stay
in the country legally for 3 years and may get an extension for another 3.
Then they return home, probably with the wife and kids they have brought in
or acquired. Oh yeah! How many do you think will sign up to pay taxes and
get sent back home?
The reason for the plan is that "we need these people to do jobs Americans
just won't do. Yet we see them working in hotels, restaurants and
construction, the same jobs done by Americans for better paying employers.
Pay a decent wage to everyone and Americans will do all of these jobs, but
some of Bush's big business buddies won't be happy. The plan is a cynical
way to let marginal employers exploit poor immigrants at unacceptably low
wages. Also it is a pretty inept way to try to attract Latino votes. More
deception!
The plan did not include action to effectively block further illegal
immigration. If we can't send people home after 3 years can you imagine how
many more will flood in? Did you know that 90% of the population growth in
the USA during the last 10 years was immigrants (legal and illegal) and the
"American" children they had after they got here? We no longer need, nor can
we afford the huddled masses, and we can't support the recent rate of
population growth unless we intend to become the next China. However, if
this plan were to be approved it would be another administration that would
have to deal with the consequences, so "hell, lets get the donations and the
votes now".
3)Duck gate
This one put the icing on the cake for me. Antonin Scalia is a Supreme
Court Justice, and in early Jan. the Supreme Court agreed to hear Cheney's
appeal of a lower court ruling that he had to turn over records of his
closed door meetings with energy industry executives and lobbyists, during
his chairmanship of the National Energy Policy Working Group. Then 2 weeks
later Scalia and Cheney spent a week duck hunting together at a private
reserve in Louisiana.
Maybe nothing transpired during this week together, but Cheney has lied
outright on TV to the American public on at least 3 occasions that I have
seen, and the local sheriff reported that the duck hunting was lousy.
Cheney has refused to turn over the records, even to the OMB, in spite of
the fact that Congress funded the Working Group, on the grounds that to do
so would damage the principle of executive privilege. Executive privilege is
probably necessary regarding confidential discussions that involve
intelligence and national security. There is no reason why proper
discussions of a national energy plan requested by Congress should not be
available to Congress and to the American public. Making such
non-confidential deliberations public would actually strengthen the
principle of executive privilege, properly invoked. And that begs the
question of how proper the discussions were.
Cheney's refusal to release the documents suggests that there is something
to hide, and meeting with Scalia, given the timing , is, at the least, a
further impropriety.
Enough! America deserves better, defeat this administration.
Sincerely yours,
Murray
PS: The WMD thing has now gone from "we know he has them and we know where
they are", to "we know he has the capability", to "we know he had the
intention", and now gets to "we may have destroyed them during the war or he
may have moved them (to Syria or the Bekaa Valley). Think about the
specialized labs, plant and equipment, to say nothing of the people, needed
to produce and weaponize chemical and biological agents. The safety
equipment alone is very extensive, very specialized, and very hard to
acquire. Mr. Kay's 2000+ inspectors, during more than 6 months of searching,
with unlimited access to possible informants, were unable to find a trace,
not just of the weapons, but also of the plant, equipment and people. How do
you suppose all that got destroyed or moved? How dumb do they think we are?
Letter 2 dealt with 2 of the events that finally pushed me to action. Here
I'll deal with the other 3.
1)Trent Lott and deception
On "Late Edition" on Sunday 11 Jan. one of Wolf Blitzer's guests was Trent
Lott. Wolf got on the subject of no WMD found in Iraq. Trent replied that
some troops (Polish I think) had just discovered a cache of artillery shells
loaded with blister agent, as an example of Saddam developing chemical
weapons. On the evening news it was noted that the shells were more than 10
years old. The "misleading" never stops.
2)The Bush plan for illegal immigrants.
I know that illegal immigration is a major problem, and you can't just
round up some 8 million people and return them to their countries of origin.
I don't have the answer, but neither does Bush. However he reveals a plan
apparently decided in the dark, no bipartisan discussions, no consultation
with learned sociologists, no input from source countries, and no way it
will work. The timing? Just before he attends The Conference of the
Americas.
The plan would call on all illegal immigrants to declare themselves, in
return for which, if they have jobs and clean records, they will get to stay
in the country legally for 3 years and may get an extension for another 3.
Then they return home, probably with the wife and kids they have brought in
or acquired. Oh yeah! How many do you think will sign up to pay taxes and
get sent back home?
The reason for the plan is that "we need these people to do jobs Americans
just won't do. Yet we see them working in hotels, restaurants and
construction, the same jobs done by Americans for better paying employers.
Pay a decent wage to everyone and Americans will do all of these jobs, but
some of Bush's big business buddies won't be happy. The plan is a cynical
way to let marginal employers exploit poor immigrants at unacceptably low
wages. Also it is a pretty inept way to try to attract Latino votes. More
deception!
The plan did not include action to effectively block further illegal
immigration. If we can't send people home after 3 years can you imagine how
many more will flood in? Did you know that 90% of the population growth in
the USA during the last 10 years was immigrants (legal and illegal) and the
"American" children they had after they got here? We no longer need, nor can
we afford the huddled masses, and we can't support the recent rate of
population growth unless we intend to become the next China. However, if
this plan were to be approved it would be another administration that would
have to deal with the consequences, so "hell, lets get the donations and the
votes now".
3)Duck gate
This one put the icing on the cake for me. Antonin Scalia is a Supreme
Court Justice, and in early Jan. the Supreme Court agreed to hear Cheney's
appeal of a lower court ruling that he had to turn over records of his
closed door meetings with energy industry executives and lobbyists, during
his chairmanship of the National Energy Policy Working Group. Then 2 weeks
later Scalia and Cheney spent a week duck hunting together at a private
reserve in Louisiana.
Maybe nothing transpired during this week together, but Cheney has lied
outright on TV to the American public on at least 3 occasions that I have
seen, and the local sheriff reported that the duck hunting was lousy.
Cheney has refused to turn over the records, even to the OMB, in spite of
the fact that Congress funded the Working Group, on the grounds that to do
so would damage the principle of executive privilege. Executive privilege is
probably necessary regarding confidential discussions that involve
intelligence and national security. There is no reason why proper
discussions of a national energy plan requested by Congress should not be
available to Congress and to the American public. Making such
non-confidential deliberations public would actually strengthen the
principle of executive privilege, properly invoked. And that begs the
question of how proper the discussions were.
Cheney's refusal to release the documents suggests that there is something
to hide, and meeting with Scalia, given the timing , is, at the least, a
further impropriety.
Enough! America deserves better, defeat this administration.
Sincerely yours,
Murray
PS: The WMD thing has now gone from "we know he has them and we know where
they are", to "we know he has the capability", to "we know he had the
intention", and now gets to "we may have destroyed them during the war or he
may have moved them (to Syria or the Bekaa Valley). Think about the
specialized labs, plant and equipment, to say nothing of the people, needed
to produce and weaponize chemical and biological agents. The safety
equipment alone is very extensive, very specialized, and very hard to
acquire. Mr. Kay's 2000+ inspectors, during more than 6 months of searching,
with unlimited access to possible informants, were unable to find a trace,
not just of the weapons, but also of the plant, equipment and people. How do
you suppose all that got destroyed or moved? How dumb do they think we are?
