It's not Democrat vs. Republican, folks

We have been critical of the current administration in these postings. Most of those who have sent us comments seem to think this is a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It is not.

While my fellow contributors Joe Mayer and Jim Klobuchar are old-fashioned, life-long progressives, Tom Maertens was neutral in his capacity as a Foreign Service officer and State Department official. On Capitol Hill he worked for both Republicans and Democrats. Only after his retirement did he realize he had to speak out against the policies and corruption of the current administration.

In my younger years I was a Republican, and like the rest of my family supported the war in Vietnam. Only after I matured did I realize that its madness was destroying two countries. I remember the elation I felt when Lyndon Johnson, the staunchest of Democrats, announced he would not run in 1968. Since then I have voted Republican, Democrat and independent.

Opposing the corruption, hypocrisy, and destructive policies of the current administration and Republican-controlled Congress is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue. Those of us who contribute to this website are the staunchest of patriots. We are all well versed in the founding of this country and its history since. And that's why we are speaking out. This country's birth and its great leaps forward in the past would never have come about without dissent, whether it was against the British control over the colonies, the sin of slavery, the unfettered capitalism of the early 20th century and the Vietnam War, or is manifested by opposition to the Iraq War, dismantling of social nets, Executive Branch hubris, elevation of the very rich at the expense of the rest of the country and unsustainable budgetary deficits of today.

This is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It is, however, an issue of whether our republic continues to evolve and grow, or whether it descends like the precious few democracies of the past into the rubble of self-inflicted corruption and authoritarianism.

This is why we cannot sit idly by and this is why we are making our voices heard.

Fortunately, we are not alone. There is a growing number of former intelligence and military officers, State Department officials (like Tom Maertens), and officials from the current and previous Republican administrations who are speaking out about the policies and practices of the current administration. The article below is just one more example.

Cheney Spearheaded Effort to Discredit Wilson

By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Thursday, 09 February 2006

Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley led a campaign beginning in March 2003 to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for publicly criticizing the Bush administration's intelligence on Iraq, according to current and former administration officials.

The officials work or had worked in the State Department, the CIA and the National Security Council in a senior capacity and had direct knowledge of the Vice President's campaign to discredit Wilson.

In interviews over the course of two days this week, these officials were urged to speak on the record for this story. But they resisted, saying they had already testified before a grand jury investigating the leak of Wilson's wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, and added that speaking out against the administration and specifically Vice President Cheney would cause them to lose their jobs and subject their families to vitriolic attacks by the White House.

The officials said they decided to speak out now because they have become disillusioned with the Bush administration's policies regarding Iraq and the flawed intelligence that led to the war.

See the whole story here.

LP