Defend the Reputation of Our Country

"President Bush just signed into law a bill that eliminates the right of accused prisoners to challenge their detention in court. It also eliminates that same right for immigrants and non-citizens - including 12 million permanent residents - if they are declared "unlawful enemy combatants." The law lets President Bush decide what is and isn't torture (presumably because he's shown such good judgement and foresight in the past?). And our government is moving to legalize massive wiretapping programs on American citizens.

"It's like a nightmare we can't wake up from. Government spy agencies are running an extensive network to keep tabs on the civilian population. People are being grabbed off the street and 'disappear' into a network of secret prisons run by secret police. Prisoners are not told why they are arrested, how long they will be held for, what they are charged with or if they will ever see their day in court. The government is maintaining it doesn't use torture, it just uses 'aggressive' interrogation techniques: you know, things like waterboarding, sensory deprivation and confinement in coffin-size rooms for months on end. The government is creating its own kangaroo courts where prisoners can be sentenced to death based on coerced testimony. Human rights organizations around the world are up in arms demanding that basic rights be respected, but Congress and the Administraton are maintaining that the old rules just don't apply.

"Ten years ago, you would have thought I was describing Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Twenty-five years ago, it would have been Idi Amin's Uganda. Fifty years ago you would have sworn I was talking about the excesses of Stalinism.

"What has happened to us that in 2006 you now I am talking about the United States?

"What ever happened to checks and balances in government? Why are both Democrats and Republicans in Congress sanctioning the Bush agenda, which legalizes spying, detention and torture? This is an embarrasment and an outrage. The world is looking at us horror.

"How is it we have come through two national elections which fully half of the country suspects were stolen? How is it that the national treasury has been raided to enrich the elite, while programs benefiting the rest of us have been gutted? Who was it that lied to us and dragged us into an unjustified invasion and occupation of another country? Who is it that is spending more on the Iraq war than on the rebuilding of Lousiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina? And who is it that is tearing up the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

"I know many people are appalled with what's happening to our country. I've met them as I've campaigned around the state. I've spoken with single mothers that can't afford health care for their children. I've listened to Stoughton residents who couldn't get help from FEMA when their homes were destroyed by a tornado. And I've heard World War II vets rage that 'This is not the same country I fought for.'

"But where is the outrage among our elected representatives? Why has the so-called opposition party been so quiet while much of this has been going on?

"If we can impeach a sitting President for sullying the reputation of an intern, why can't we impeach a President for destroying the reputation of an entire country?"