Emerging From The Darkness

This is how they, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney will be remembered. They have brought shame to America's door, they have brought war, starvation, suffering and death to an unknowable number of human beings. Menace, brutality, contempt for their own people, their laws, constitution and the world. This is their work, they have done these things.

Going back to the days of chaos following the attack on the World Trade Centre one of the abiding tokens of that time will be a phrase uttered by Vice President Cheney in a Meet the Press interview with Tim Russert and at Camp David on September 16, 2001.

"...We also have to work, though, sort of the dark side..."

One which fairly represents what the White House and the American Government have done and stood for during this Bush Administration.

The excerpt in context

MR. RUSSERT:

When Osama bin Laden took responsibility for blowing up the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, U.S.embassies, several hundred died, the United States launched 60 tomahawk missiles into his training sites in Afghanistan. It only emboldened him. It only inspired him and seemed even to increase his recruitment. Is it safe to say that that kind of response is not something we're considering, in that kind of minute magnitude?

VICE PRES. CHENEY:

I'm going to be careful here, Tim, because I--clearly it would be inappropriate for me to talk about operational matters, specific options or the kinds of activities we might undertake going forward. We do, indeed, though, have, obviously, the world's finest military. They've got a broad range of capabilities. And they may well be given missions in connection with this overall task and strategy.

We also have to work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will. We've got to spend time in the shadows in the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies, if we're going to be successful. That's the world these folks operate in, and so it's going to be vital for us to use any means at our disposal, basically, to achieve our objective.

The Dark Side

The true content of what Vice President Cheney has said and done in office may never be fully known by the public or brought to justice. However there is enough information in the public domain to damn Vice President Cheney , President Bush, their administration and their weakining of the already ailing  American system of justice. They have manipulated it seemingly at will.

See the articles of impeachment for George W. Bush

See the articles of impeachment for Richard B. Cheney

Top of the list of charges were the lies told to start a war with Iraq and the authorisation of the use of torture which Cheney has subsequently admitted, also involvement in a list of constitutional violations involving warrantless wiretapping amongst others.

Using the pretext of national security along with an assertion that the vice presidents office was not part of the executive branch hence not within the remit of Congressional scrutiny Cheney was able to bar any meaningful oversight. The commitment to secrecy contained within the interview and subsequently within the Vice Presidents office are legendary, one of many dead spots in the lawful and orderly conduct of the affairs of state. The product of what went on there was enough to create passionate calls for his impeachment from Senators and Representatives notably Kucinich who to his eternal credit got the charges on the Congressional record, all shamefully unheeded and left to rot in the House.

 If anything defines the subversion and suppression of the American system of justice and the rule of law it is the failure to impeach. There is no way round this one; Charges brought to the house of representatives of war crimes, crimes against the constitution and crimes against its own people have to date been obstructed. Collectively the representatives elected to uphold the law and the constitution have not done so. The system of justice has been subverted, publicly. The consquences for the cohesion of society will be immense.

This is how they, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney will be remembered. They have brought shame to America's door, they have brought  war, starvation, suffering and death to an unknowable number of human beings. Menace, brutality, contempt for their own people, their laws, constitution and the world. This is their work, they have done these things.

TheIr images forever the face of a detested regime.

Emerging From The Darkness

Looking at the Obama Transition website www.change.gov the contrast could not be more vivid. There is a sense of energy dynamism and purpose on every page. One sentence on one page in particular is jaw dropping. It sits humbly on the donors page amidst the talk of strategy and Tactics but is the most profound in terms of the honesty, openess and integrity of Obama's future administration.

"The Obama-Biden Transition project only accepts contributions from individuals' personal funds -- we refuse all donations from corporations, labor unions and PACs. Individuals may not donate more than $5,000. We also refuse all contributions from registered federal lobbyists and registered foreign agents."

This is a statement of intent.

Unnaccountable, undemocratic, backchannell communication with government and its administration at all levels by Wealthy Corporations, foreign agents, Wealthy individuals and families, is the single most corrosive cause of corruption. Left unchecked is burning through, in its entirity, the fabric of the American Republic and its institutions. If this policy were to be carried through to all branches of the administration, Congress and Senate it will cut off at a stroke a good portion of the illegal access to power and influence cultivated by America's emerging Plutocracy enjoyed through their ambassadors the Lobbyists.

I wish you well President Obama, we are all hoping.

Noli nothis permittere te terere.

The full Interview transcript can be found HERE
You can view a revealing analysis at the Frontline website

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future