Re: Supressed? speech by Sen. Robert Byrd -- Reckless Administration May Reap Disastrous Consequences

[Tim May]

On Friday, February 14, 2003, at 01:04  PM, Trei, Peter wrote:

Reckless Administration May Reap Disastrous Consequences

by US Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Floor Speech - Wednesday, February 12, 2003

To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human
experiences.
On this February day, as this nation stands at the brink of battle, every
American on some level must be contemplating the horrors of war.

Yet, this Chamber is, for the most part, silent -- ominously, dreadfully
silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the
nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing.

But speaking out against the war is a violation of the Homeland Security Act, the PATRIOT Act, and is a violation of the sedition laws. (They got Debs put in prison for much less.)

This nation is about to embark upon the first test of a revolutionary
doctrine applied in an extraordinary way at an unfortunate time. The
doctrine of preemption -- the idea that the United States or any other
nation can legitimately attack a nation that is not imminently threatening
but may be threatening in the future -- is a radical new twist on the
traditional idea of self defense. It appears to be in contravention of
international law and the UN Charter. And it is being tested at a time of
world-wide terrorism, making many countries around the globe wonder if
they
will soon be on our -- or some other nation's -- hit list.

Only if they're weak. The U.S. doctrine combines the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force with the Bush Doctrine of only looking at weak nations. Nations with large nuclear, er, nucular, forces we leave alone.

(rest of speech elided)

About Byrd's speech, he is protected by the same Bush doctrine. If a less powerful person made these charges, he'd face a "talking to" by the FBI. And after PATRIOT II passes with an overwhelming majority, but after no debate, he'd face having his DNA removed with extreme prejudice at the least, deportation as the middle option, or a life sentence for violations of the Reich Protektion Act as the most severe (assuming he wasn't simply disappeared).

We live in fascist times.

--Tim May