Freedom Rider: John Conyers and the Bush
Dictatorship
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot
easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." - George
W. Bush
According to an old saying, many a truth is
often said in jest. Not enough people took notice on December 18, 2000 when
George W. Bush said those awful words. On that date the president-elect went to
Capital Hill for a get acquainted session with Congressional leaders. He
emerged from that meeting with his well known smirk, and gave Congress and the
American people the finger. No one should be shocked when a man who tells jokes
about dictatorship turns into a dictator.
Without fanfare, or announcement of any kind, the
president recently signed a directive which states that in case of a
"catastrophic emergency" the "President shall lead the activities of the
Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government." What is a
catastrophic emergency? Well, it is anything that Bush says it is.
"The president can usurp the constitutionally guaranteed
powers of Congress and the judiciary because of an attack on Iran or a surge of
casualties in Iraq."
The document, National
Continuity Policy, was signed by the president on May 9, 2007 and
unceremoniously posted on the White House website. It defines catastrophic
emergency as "any incident, regardless of
location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or
disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment,
economy, or government function."
That language describes hurricanes, earthquakes, black outs,
flu epidemics, terror attacks, or mass demonstrations. If location doesn't
matter, the president can usurp the constitutionally guaranteed powers of
Congress and the judiciary because of an attack on Iran or a surge of
casualties in Iraq. L'etat c'est Bush.
The president announced that he is crowning himself king and
thereby making his sick wishes come true. What should be a headline in every
major newspaper in the nation has been covered only by the Boston
Globe. None of the television networks have said a word nor has a peep been
heard from Congress.
This announcement is consistent with other Bush
administration actions. In 2006 the federal government awarded a contract to
KBR, a subsidiary of Cheney's Halliburton, to build "detention
centers" in case of a national immigration emergency. Homeland Security has
already established an immigrant detention facility in Texas, the T. Don Hutto
center, that has incarcerated entire families, including children. When U.N.
human rights investigator Jorge Bustamante showed up for a pre-arranged visit
he was refused entry and turned
away.
"None of the television networks have said a word nor has
a peep been heard from Congress."
Congress has also been silent about this blatant
power grab and usurpation of its authority. The National
Emergencies Act gives Congress the right to prevent open ended declarations
of states of emergency, but that act's existence is not very comforting. If
Congress won't even speak up about the National Continuity Policy, why would
they speak up if Bush declared an emergency and told them to go to hell?
Congressional Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi would once again
go along to get along as the Bushites began a reign of terror against
democracy.
Reid and Pelosi have their own little reign of
terror in Washington. They have cracked the whip and told progressives to shut
up and toe the party line. John Conyers is one of their victims. He has been in
Congress longer than all but a few of his colleagues and has been called the
conscience of the Congressional Black Caucus. He now serves as Chairman of the
House Judiciary committee. Ever since the Republican victory in 1994,
progressives have hoped for a return to Democratic control and with it the
return of stalwarts like John Conyers to committee chairmanships.
While Democrats were in the wilderness, Conyers spoke
often about impeachment and unequivocally stated that he intended to hold hearings
as soon as he had the opportunity. In 2005 Judiciary Committee staff issued a
report recommending that Congress establish a select committee to investigate
whether or not the President Bush and Vice President Cheney had committed impeachable offenses.
Once Conyers had that power, he refused to use
it. He was forced into silence by Pelosi, who said that impeachment is "off the
table." Conyers had a strange
defense. He called himself a liar:
"In this campaign, there was an orchestrated right-wing
effort to distort my position on impeachment. The incoming speaker has said
that impeachment is off the table. I am in total agreement with her on this
issue: Impeachment is off the table." Just to make certain he wasn't
misunderstood, Conyers added, "Impeachment would not be good for the
American people. The country does not want or need any more paralyzed partisan
government."
It is time to stop letting Conyers and the rest of his
colleagues off the hook. They too are complicit in the ever increasing erosion
of our civil rights and civil liberties. A coordinated impeachment effort might
slow down or even stop the Bush coronation.
"Once Conyers had that power, he refused to use it."
The long years of waiting for Conyers, a
committed progressive for decades, to chair the House Judiciary Committee were
wasted. His most recent statement is not much better than his self-repudiation
after the November 2006 election. He now claims to have "been supportive
of that movement (for impeachment). I encourage that nationwide." Well,
that is awfully big of him.
The next round of demonstrations in Washington
should be directed at the Democrats, including members of the Congressional
Black Caucus. Democratic timidity only encourages the Republicans. When a
hurricane, terror plot or bird flu pandemic begins, we may as well pack our
bags and join immigrants at the Hutto detention center. Immigrants were just
used for practice. Bush is preparing for the real thing and there isn't anyone
in a position to stop him who is willing to do it.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an
edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her
work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive
page.
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