Big Brother's Smoking Gun
Today, a survey came out revealing unflattering information on the justice department. The American Library Association conducted a survey of libraries across the country, and information showed over 268 different cases where the Justice Department requested data concerning citizens reading habits. This goes in the face of 48 states, which have laws against such behavior, and 2 more which frown upon it. In reply, the Justice Department claimed the information was "manufactured as a result of misinformation." They irony of the Justice Department wailing about misinformation is staggering.
Is this surprising after Bush pushed the Patriot Act, creating a grey area over a huge number of formally illegal investigative practices? I truly believe some people just assumed the government would be tactful, respectful, and use the power mindfully. Try pleading that case in Guantanamo Bay. To assume that the Justice Department has your best interests at heart is no different than assuming the same of your insurance company, or your HMO.
A perfect example is the aforementioned Guantanamo Bay. Despite worldwide requests for its shutdown, and amid a smearing, orgy of evidence pointing towards malpractice, the Justice Department has turned a blind eye to the world, again. Instead, they replied with hideously backwards logic, suggesting that if Guantanamo Bay was shut down, another prison of its likeness would have to be built elsewhere. Basically, they’re asserting the idea that this Stalin’esqe approach to justice is a necessity. The very idea that as a country America can only prosecute international criminals with torture and forced confessions can make a person sick.
So why would the Justice Department stand up pig-headedly against a worldwide assault? Look no further than Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney. Its no secret Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton up until his nomination as Vice President, however I’m sure he wishes the $500 million contract Halliburton received to build a new prison could be kept secret. This of course pales in comparison to the $7 billion no-bid RIO contract KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, was granted in Iraq (making the total Iraq-war Halliburton business $18 billion), but the feeling is that of throwing gasoline on the fire.
Conclusions can’t help be drawn that motive and precedence points towards Halliburton, and ultimately Cheney. With a track record like Halliburton’s, the company can be seen as a usual suspect for any shadowy support of business, no matter how damaging, as long as they see dollar signs:
Early 90’s - Pleaded guilty to accusations of violating trade barriers in Iraq and Libya
2001 - Acknowledged opening an office for the subsidiary HPS in Tehran, despite economic sanctions in Iran
2003 – Publicly acknowledged paying a Nigerian official $2.4 million in bribes for tax favors
2002-2004 - Forced to pay $4 billion in asbestos related legal action
Obviously, if the money is there Halliburton has no morals when it comes to opportunity. And what better opportunity then a major manufacturing contract to construct another prison. Icing on the cake is the fact that the prison is designed to imprison non-other then the grey area suspects the Justice Department can hold inevitably, all while maintaining patriotic invincibility. Is it so hard to believe then, that Cheney, who has been called the prime minister of this administration, is capable of trying to look up our library records? On a much more important note, we can now recognize the ‘prime ministers’ outlook on personal liberty as not a sacrifice for increased security, but a sacrifice for increased investment in security. It is time to close Guantanamo down, time to get FBI agents out of our libraries, but more importantly its time to realize that a guilty-for-now justice system is not a system at all. It is a business venture.
"All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field."
-Albert Einstein
-Information on Halliburton and Dick Cheney obtained from Wikipedia
Is this surprising after Bush pushed the Patriot Act, creating a grey area over a huge number of formally illegal investigative practices? I truly believe some people just assumed the government would be tactful, respectful, and use the power mindfully. Try pleading that case in Guantanamo Bay. To assume that the Justice Department has your best interests at heart is no different than assuming the same of your insurance company, or your HMO.
A perfect example is the aforementioned Guantanamo Bay. Despite worldwide requests for its shutdown, and amid a smearing, orgy of evidence pointing towards malpractice, the Justice Department has turned a blind eye to the world, again. Instead, they replied with hideously backwards logic, suggesting that if Guantanamo Bay was shut down, another prison of its likeness would have to be built elsewhere. Basically, they’re asserting the idea that this Stalin’esqe approach to justice is a necessity. The very idea that as a country America can only prosecute international criminals with torture and forced confessions can make a person sick.
So why would the Justice Department stand up pig-headedly against a worldwide assault? Look no further than Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney. Its no secret Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton up until his nomination as Vice President, however I’m sure he wishes the $500 million contract Halliburton received to build a new prison could be kept secret. This of course pales in comparison to the $7 billion no-bid RIO contract KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, was granted in Iraq (making the total Iraq-war Halliburton business $18 billion), but the feeling is that of throwing gasoline on the fire.
Conclusions can’t help be drawn that motive and precedence points towards Halliburton, and ultimately Cheney. With a track record like Halliburton’s, the company can be seen as a usual suspect for any shadowy support of business, no matter how damaging, as long as they see dollar signs:
Early 90’s - Pleaded guilty to accusations of violating trade barriers in Iraq and Libya
2001 - Acknowledged opening an office for the subsidiary HPS in Tehran, despite economic sanctions in Iran
2003 – Publicly acknowledged paying a Nigerian official $2.4 million in bribes for tax favors
2002-2004 - Forced to pay $4 billion in asbestos related legal action
Obviously, if the money is there Halliburton has no morals when it comes to opportunity. And what better opportunity then a major manufacturing contract to construct another prison. Icing on the cake is the fact that the prison is designed to imprison non-other then the grey area suspects the Justice Department can hold inevitably, all while maintaining patriotic invincibility. Is it so hard to believe then, that Cheney, who has been called the prime minister of this administration, is capable of trying to look up our library records? On a much more important note, we can now recognize the ‘prime ministers’ outlook on personal liberty as not a sacrifice for increased security, but a sacrifice for increased investment in security. It is time to close Guantanamo down, time to get FBI agents out of our libraries, but more importantly its time to realize that a guilty-for-now justice system is not a system at all. It is a business venture.
"All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field."
-Albert Einstein
-Information on Halliburton and Dick Cheney obtained from Wikipedia
Nathan Lotz at 11:14 AM
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