Watching Democracy Die

Tuesday, while I was blogging about pop culture idiocy with a side of bigotry, what is already the ghost of our Democratic Republic took yet another, and possibly the final step toward dictatorship when George Bush signed into law what is being commonly called “Torture Legislation” and formally as the "Military Commissions Act of 2006"

"The president can now -- with the approval of Congress -- indefinitely hold people without charge, take away protections against horrific abuse, put people on trial on hearsay evidence, authorize trials that can sentence people to death based on testimony literally beaten out of witnesses," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said in a statement.

We’ve become accustomed to thinking that whatever laws and statutes George W. Bush signs into law, from the old school Patriot Act to this new school “Torture Legislation”, that these laws only apply to “terrorists” and that we must have all these new laws to capture and kill the bad guys.

We can no longer stand idly by with our heads buried in the sand. We must be aware that these laws apply to you, me and every single citizen of the United States. These laws are not meant to capture terrorist. These laws are meant to oppress the American people while squashing any means of dissent or revolution. These laws are meant to establish America not only as a superpower but as world sovereign.

We are no longer a nation fighting the good fight for freedom, democracy, peace and end to poverty. We are a nation of people who are turning a blind eye to our government while destroy the very foundations of American Liberty for the sole purpose of keeping power, money and global resources in the hands of a privileged few. What's more we are allowing our government for the first time ever to sanction detention without trial, torture and even murder with the blessing of Congress and by association, the American People.

I no longer have faith in our government or the election process. I never wanted George Bush to be president and he and the GOP have run America into the ground while lining their own pockets.

Millions are suffering in America and across the globe. Thousands have been mercilessly slaughtered in Iraq. Our troops are still fighting and dying a needless and shameful war while America actually interferes with the peace process. The Republicans explain and explain that it’s all for our own good to protect us from the terrorists. They swear up and down on a stack of bibles that if it weren’t for them, the terrorists would have attacked us again and what’s more, we’d have war here, on our own soil. We’re killing thousands overseas so we don’t have to face war at home, remember?

We must return to being a nation that has nothing to fear but fear itself. We must again, learn how to speak softly and carry a big stick. We must learn anew the language of diplomacy and understanding.

Because never has America been so clueless while the outlook was so bleak. If George Bush can suspend the right of habeas corpus because we are at war (I know Lincoln did it to and it was wrong then and it's just as wrong now), then what if he determines that we don't need a 2008 election because the country is at war and America can't afford to fight the war without him at the helm?

No, before that happens, George Bush, Dick Cheney and the entire line of succession down past Dennis Hastert must be impeached. Hastert, thank god, may be taken down by his knowledge of the Foley scandal, but the rest must be removed from office as soon as humanly possible.

If you plan on voting for any Republican candidates this fall, in the name of God, why?

UPDATE

These are the scum sucking, cowardly Senators who voted for this atrocity and don't deserve the office they hold.

YEAs ---65
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)


The following Senators are the last of the patriots left in the Senate who voted against this:

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)