By Caleb T. Maupin
Published Jun 29, 2008 5:48 PM
Left-leaning pundits, such as those on Air America Radio and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, call for support of the Democrats on the basis of “defending our civil liberties.” Olbermann, Democratic senators John Kerry and Barack Obama, and Air America commentators have all ridiculed the Bush administration for expanding the police state through wiretaps, illegal detentions, torture and extraordinary rendition.
However, a bill was recently passed by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives which made the wiretapping of all private phones legal. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the bill, saying it was needed to protect U.S. citizens from terrorism, her rhetoric not unlike that of President Bush himself.
Not only the rightist Republicans, but many Democrats, the so-called opposition, voted in favor of this bill, which gives the Bush administration permission to listen in on the phone conversations of individuals without a warrant.
This is nothing new for the Democratic Party. COINTELPRO started under Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, then continued under the Democratic administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. The FBI illegally tapped thousands of phones, organized break-ins and even set up leaders of the Black Panther Party to be killed as well as harassing socialist and communist groups and leaders.
The Democrats wrap their rhetoric in the blanket of the U.S. Constitution, but they have done nothing to stop the raids and harassment of the immigrant community by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, even though the Constitution makes it clear that all persons are subject to due process of law.
The definition of “persons,” according to the ruling class politicians of the Democratic and Republican parties, has never been very inclusive. The very document which these Democrats wrap themselves in defined Black people as three-fifths of a human being when it was written.
It seems that if the U.S. populace wants to protect itself from the force of state repression, the Democratic Party is not where they should be placing their hopes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Mr. Maupin,
This is not a comment per se on the article above but on the youtube debate you recently participated in.
I couldn't find your email address so I decided to tack on my comments on your blog.
Regarding the debate, I didn't see the other side but it appeared you did well! Well done, for the most part. I admire your zeal (and your admiration for classical socialist art without a sense of irony).
Did your opponent, the apparition "Tim", argue in favor of capitalism from a strict Judeo-Christian POV? I appears that he did.
If so, that's dicey, in my opinion. Not only would he have to defend the capitalist system but a Christian world view as well.
In a debate setting, this places one immediately in a position of weakness. I would have kept those two topics separate.
You made some weak arguments, however, when you were talking about population decline and the supposed demographic vigor of Belarus.
Check the facts from the UN.
Belarus is in fact experiencing a net population decline similar to Russia, Italy, Spain, etc., due to higher abortion rates and less co-habitation.
To lay my cards on the table, I am a Christian, primarily, but one with a high respect for classical liberalism. I work for a global computer manufacturer but I also freelance as a writer for a cable TV show (Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts).
To me communist/socialism is not the answer for what ails mankind, for a whole host of reasons, primarily:
1) The dismissal of religion within socialist/communist countries,
2) the tendency towards totalitarianism within socialist/communist nations,
3) global immigration patterns - where are poor people heading when given the chance? Primarily, towards free, rich western nations, not places like North Korea, China, Cuba, etc. People know were their bread will be buttered... ;-)
4) "communism/socialism" has killed more people in the 20-21st century than "capitalism" has. you add up the non-combat related deaths during Mao's China and Stalin's Soviet Union (I will be willing to take Hilter's Germany off the table for the sake of argument) vs. the comparative non-combat related deaths in the Capitalist West...no comparison...its hideous what happened over there...
Mr. Maupin,
This is not a comment per se on the article above but on the youtube debate you recently participated in.
I couldn't find your email address so I decided to tack on my comments on your blog.
Regarding the debate, I didn't see the other side but it appeared you did well! Well done, for the most part. I admire your zeal (and your admiration for classical Soviet art, but without the irony).
Did your opponent, the apparition "Tim", argue in favor of capitalism from a strict Judeo-Christian POV? I appears that he did.
If so, that's dicey, in my opinion. Not only would he have to defend the capitalist system but a Christian world view as well.
In a debate setting, this places one immediately in a position of weakness. I would have kept those two topics separate.
You made some weak arguments, however, when you were talking about population decline and the supposed demographic vigor of Belarus.
Check the facts from the UN.
Belarus is in fact experiencing a net population decline similar to Russia, Italy, Spain, etc., due to higher abortion rates and less co-habitation.
To lay my cards on the table, I am a Christian, primarily, but one with a high respect for classical liberalism. I work for a global computer manufacturer but I also freelance as a writer for a cable TV show (Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts).
To me communist/socialism is not the answer for what ails mankind, for a whole host of reasons, primarily:
1) The dismissal of religion within socialist/communist countries,
2) the tendency towards totalitarianism within socialist/communist nations,
3) global immigration patterns - where are poor people heading when given the chance? Primarily, towards free, rich western nations, not places like North Korea, China, Cuba, etc. People know were their bread will be buttered... ;-)
4) "communism/socialism" has killed more people in the 20-21st century than "capitalism" has. you add up the non-combat related deaths during Mao's China and Stalin's Soviet Union (I will be willing to take Hilter's Germany off the table for the sake of argument) vs. the comparative non-combat related deaths in the Capitalist West...no comparison...its hideous what happened over there...
Post a Comment