f you haven't been watching the political arena lately, you may not have noticed that the U.S. Congress last week handed President Bush a bill that, if signed, would spell the end of America as we know it.

Called the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the bill abandons the Geneva Convention (formed after Hitler's atrocities in WWII), legalizes the torture of U.S. citizens, suspends all civil rights for prisoners and allows the President to declare virtually anyone to be an "enemy combatant" -- artists, writers, scientists, protestors or anyone who does not agree with the pro-war stance of the current regime.

It would also retroactively grant blanket immunity to all U.S. military personnel who have committed war crimes under the Geneva Convention. Such immunity would extend to present and future war crimes as well. In other words, the United States will now officially harbor and support war criminals. In the context of international law, the United States is effectively declaring itself to be a criminal state that will respect no international law.

Just as frighteningly, the new Act would utterly nullify the courts and make it illegal for the judicial branch of government to interfere with the imprisonment and torture of anyone, thus affecting a dangerous power shift from the judicial branch of government to the executive branch.

Hitler followed the same strategy in centralizing his own power, and by nullifying the courts while taking over the media, he was able to propagandize his war, arrest all dissenters, and concentrate power in his own hands. The ultimate result was an unjust war and a humanitarian disaster that haunts the world to this day.

The United States is now firmly on the same path. These are dark times for our nation, and future historians will no doubt look upon this historic vote as the trigger that thrust the United States into a full-fledged police state, complete with secret arrests, government spying on citizens, and the mysterious "disappearance" of those who dared to speak out against the dictator.

 

A disgraced nation

What the U.S. Congress has done is beyond shameful. The rest of the world now sees the United States as a rogue nation, led by a power-grabbing madman who has, in six short years, taken us to the threshold of Police State tyranny, all while claiming to be protecting the Constitution.

Read the Military Commissions Act yourself! Here's a passage that nullifies the judicial branch:

"No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any claim or cause of action whatsoever, including any action pending on or filed after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, relating to the prosecution, trial, or judgment of a military commission under this chapter, including challenges to the lawfulness of procedures of military commissions under this chapter."

And here's another passage that rebukes the Geneva Convention:

"No person may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto in any habeas corpus or other civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States is a party as a source of rights in any court of the United States or its States or territories."

It makes you wonder. What kind of evil nation would reject, with such legal precision, the humanitarian protections of the Geneva Convention? What kind of U.S. Attorney General would allow a new law to nullify the federal courts? And what kind of traitorous Senator or Congressperson would vote for such a law in the first place?

Even twelve Democrats voted for the bill. The names of these traitors to our nation are:

Tom Carper of Delaware
Tim Johnson of South Dakota
Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey
Menendez of New Jersey
Bill Nelson of Florida
Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Senator Pryor of Arkansas
Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia
Ken Salazar of Colorado
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut

And, of course, most Republicans voted for the bill as well. That's because their strategy for winning elections is to frame all reasonable men as "cut-and-run" sissies who don't have the backbone to bomb civilians, torture young children and imprison their own people under a system of legalized tyranny.

It is no exaggeration to say that every lawmaker who voted for this bill should be arrested and tried for treason. Failure to do so, in fact, is itself a crime against the United States of America.

By the way, this is NOT about Republican vs. Democrat. It's about the structure of power in this country and the dangers of consolidating political power. If these laws are left in place, any future President (even a Democrat) could use them to terrorize the nation and erect an impenetrable dictatorship. The real danger is not found in any one politician, but rather in the existence of a great political imbalance that invites dictatorship and nullifies the checks and balances that have kept our nation relatively free for so long. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

A repeat of Nazi Germany

Ever wonder how German citizens in the 1930's allowed the rise of a brutal dictator and the emergence of a military dictatorship? Actually, you're watching it happen right now in the United States. This is exactly how it happened in Nazi Germany.

The comparison is no longer metaphorical. It is literal. The U.S. government is following the recipe to the letter: The selling of fear to create a reaction where citizens demand greater "security," the centralization of power, the suspension of civil rights, the defiance of accepted international law, the control of the press through threats and propaganda, the excusing of war crimes committed by our own military leaders, the arrogance of believing the whole world should think, and act, and govern just like us. These are the ideas of madmen, and yet today, they are now official policy of the United States government.

Chavez, the President of Venezuela was absolutely right in his recent United Nations speech (which almost everyone vilifies in the mainstream media, but no one has actually read). Read the speech yourself and then ask yourself, doesn't Chavez make a lot more sense than Bush? Read it at
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000893.html

It's not just Chavez, either. Practically the whole world can see what's happening. The citizens of Canada, Australia, South America, Asia, India, the UK and yes, even Germany can see the United States government is fast becoming a radical military dictatorship, nullifying its own founding principles and diving head first into a bottomless pit of war, fear mongering, aggression and counterfeit righteousness.

 

Things you need to see

I've created a political cartoon entitled, "Freedom Flakes" that illustrates much of this in a single cartoon. View it at http://www.CounterThink.org/020440.html

Read the NY Times editorial, "Rushing Off A Cliff" at
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/opinion/28thu1.html

Read Alex Jones' analysis of how this law gives the Bush Administration the right to sexually torture U.S. children at
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/290906sexuallytorture.htm

Frequent http://www.Truthout.org and read the op-ed pieces there. These are from some of the best political writers on the 'net.

Tune in to http://www.OpEdNews.com and read the articles there.

Read anything by Noam Chomsky. I recommend his latest book, "Failed States: The abuse of power and the assault on Democracy." Although the book's material is presented in a technical, academic tone, this book is a major eye opener, especially if you haven't lived outside the United States and you still think U.S. news reports the truth. Another book I recommend by Chomsky is, "Manufacturing Consent," which explores the role of the mainstream media in controlling the people for political gain.

And most importantly, if you are an American citizen, vote the criminals out of office in the next election. This includes voting against anyone who supported the Military Commissions Act of 2006, regardless of their party affiliation. These politicians only get away with this because the voters let them. By exercising your vote, you exert real influence over the future of this country.

Even if you believe the elections are rigged (hint: they are), your voting action at least registers in the consciousness of other voters. (Intention is a powerful thing.)

Read the 20 Amazing Facts about voting in the USA at
http://www.nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html

 

The time has come to take a stand

If we don't take major action right now to save our nation from tyranny, we will all soon be prisoners under our own government. The disappearance of dissenters, ramping up of secret police operations and the suspension of all remaining freedoms will begin shortly thereafter.

This is not conjecture, nor exaggeration, nor worst-case scenario. This is reality. This is happening right now, right under our noses. You are witnessing the planned destruction of a free nation, piece by piece, and the rise of an evil empire that can only result in mass suffering, death and despair.

This new evil empire has no respect for human life, civil rights or international law. But it does have nuclear weapons and insane leaders who are no doubt willing to do anything to further consolidate power and control over the resources of the world. This is precisely the recipe for disaster, and do not be surprised if these madmen resort to the unthinkable in order to win more elections and further centralize their power. Pay careful attention to events in the weeks before major elections, as these war mongers know full well that a carefully-planned "terrorist attack" on U.S. soil in the weeks before an election would turn the tide in their favor.

Read about "false flag" operations at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag

These people will stop at nothing, I believe, to stay in power. And as we have seen throughout history, the greater the concentration of power, the more cruel and insane every government becomes. Remember: It is the distribution of power among separate branches of government that has kept the United States so free for so long, and yet today, our legislative branch (the Senators and Congresspeople) have voted to make themselves irrelevant, effectively ceding all power to the executive branch (the President and his soldiers) by the simple fact that the President can now have any lawmaker arrested and imprisoned if they do not vote in alignment with the President's wishes. Dissent is now illegal.

Unless this decision is vigorously opposed and reversed, this nation is lost. We are at a crossroads, a crucial turning point for the future of our nation, and if we do not halt this madness, impeach this President and arrest all those who would so easily trample upon the freedoms we have held so dear for so long, then we are no wiser, nor any freer than the German citizens of the 1930's who watched their own country devolve into the infamous Nazi empire.