Escalating Tyranny In America

Escalating Tyranny In America By Stephen Lendman 2-16-13

America's no democracy. It wasn't established to be one. It never was and isn't now. Latter day framers today would be called a Wall Street crowd. They included money-lenders, investors, speculators, merchants, politicians, planters, and lawyers. High-mindedness wasn't on their agenda. They wanted America run by people who owned it. They made sure it turned out that way. Wheeler-dealer government is policy. The "supreme law of the land" is whatever presidents and sitting governments say. Wealth and power alone mattered. It's more than ever true today. Popular interests are entirely excluded. Government of, by, and for the people never existed and doesn't now. Constitutional rhetoric is window dressing. It's self-serving for powerful interests. They're accountable to themselves alone. Rule of law principles are null and void. Democracy is illusory. America's been on a fast track to tyranny for years. Post-9/11, things hardened exponentially. Police state America is real. Duopoly power assures it. Monied interests have full control. Homeland repression is policy. Resisters are threatened. They can be arrested, abused or murdered. Obama appointed himself judge, jury and executioner. That's how tyranny works. Obama's rogue agenda threatens world peace. He's waging political, financial, social, and hot wars. He targets humanity. He's eroding fundamental freedoms. They're fast disappearing. Progressive Radio News Hour regular Paul Craig Roberts says "it has happened here." Institutionalized tyranny is real. Dissent is targeted. So are whistleblowers. Permanent war on humanity is policy. So are extrajudicial killing, torture, guilt by accusation, indefinite detention, military tribunal justice, lawless surveillance, warrantless wiretapping, unchecked secrecy, manufactured threats, criminalized peace and social justice advocacy, and compromised academic freedom. The criminal class in Washington is bipartisan. Obama nominally heads it. He governs to the right of George Bush. He's arguably America's worst ever president. He elevated rogue leadership to a higher level. He's a war criminal multiple times over. He governs lawlessly for the monied interests that own him. Whatever they want they get. Militancy and anti-progressivism defines his agenda. He's lawless, belligerent, and pro-war. He's hard-right, reactionary, and pro-corporate. He's anti-democratic, anti-dissent, anti-freedom, anti-civil and human rights, anti-environmental sanity, and anti-government of, by and for the people. He spurns fundamental freedoms and social justice. He usurped unbridled power. He's advancing mass impoverishment, corruption and grand theft at the highest federal and corporate levels. He's a moral coward. Arguably he's amoral. He's a serial liar. He broke every major promise made. He represents the worst of rogue leaders. Law Professor Francis Boyle told Progressive Radio News Hour listeners he should be impeached. He urged House Republicans to so. He belongs in prison, not high office. He's heading America for WW III. If he's not stopped, it looms. Humanity may not survive his second term. No president should have unbridled power. Obama uses his recklessly. No one is safe anywhere. Voltaire once said it's "dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." It's dangerous living in America at the wrong time. Repression targets popular anger. Supporting right over wrong is threatened. Full-blown tyranny is a hair's breath away. International, constitutional, and US statute laws are null and void. Equity, justice, and other democratic values long ago were abandoned. Corporate empowerment and advancing America's imperium alone matter. Anyone can be targeted for any reason or none at all. They can be indefinitely detained without charge or trial. Baseless suspicions alone matter. Constitutional protections don't apply. Unchecked power is policy. Obama has diktat authority. He has final say. He afforded himself unchecked power. Patriot Act provisions established domestic terrorism. It did so for the first time. It turned lawfulness on its head. Evidence isn't needed. Accusations suffice. US citizens and permanent residents are vulnerable. They're unjustly targeted for supporting right over wrong. They're guilty if (wrongfully) accused of intimidating or coercing a civilian population, influencing government policy by intimidation or coercion, and/or affecting government conduct by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. Sweeping federal powers reflect policy. Obama takes full advantage lawlessly. He targets global justice advocates, freedom-fighters, whistleblowers, civil libertarians, environmental and animal rights activists, unwanted immigrants, and Muslims for political advantage as well as praying to the wrong God. Anything goes replaced constitutional protections. No one's safe anywhere. Doing the right thing is criminalized. Challenging state lawlessness risks arrest or death. It's not hard imagining where this ends. Police state crackdowns escalate. Resistance is called dangerous to national security. Dissent is endangered. So are fundamental freedoms. They're fast disappearing. Full-blown tyranny looms. Obama's policies advance it. On August 25, 2011, the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms headlined "2001-2011: A decade of civil liberties's erosion in America." Former Nazi leader Herman Goering was quoted, saying: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace-makers for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger." Professor Gary Orfield co-directs UCLA's Civil Rights Project. In May 2003, he said: "The loss of civil rights often begins with the reduction of rights in a time of crisis, for a minority that has become the scapegoat for a problem facing the nation." The situation can become particularly explosive in a time of national tragedy or war." "But when civil rights for one group of Americans are threatened and the disappearance of those rights is accepted, it becomes a potential threat to many others." He expressed concern about targeting America's most vulnerable. He said Muslims and Arabs are endangered. They're scapegoated in the name of national security. They're terrorized for political advantage. US-style fascism is real. It's wrapped in the American flag. Big Business/Big Government/Big Brother rule. Machiavellian ruthlessness is policy. Bipartisan complicity enforces it. Obama's nominally in charge. He usurped unprecedented powers. Police state control is policy. Merriam-Webster calls it: "a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administration and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures." Iron fist harshness targets challengers. It's a short leap to anything goes. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) says Washington "consistently (doesn't) recognize the protections afforded by the US Constitution and international law, and in doing so, it has failed in its responsibility to maintain a democratic society that is both open to, and accountable to, the people." Anti-government criticism is endangered. It's criminalized if Washington says so. Obama did what his supporters thought impossible. He exceeded the worst of George Bush. He governs like a tinpot despot. The worst is yet to come. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html