M
metanoia2k
Guest
In 1837, Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, wrote
a wonderful fairy
tale which he titled The Emperor's New Clothes. It
may be the very
first example of the power of political correctness.
It is the story of
the Ruler of a distant land who was so enamored of his
appearance and
his clothing that he had a different suit for every
hour of the day.
One day two rogues arrived in town, claiming to be
gifted weavers. They
convinced the Emperor that they could weave the most
wonderful cloth,
which had a magical property. The clothes were only
visible to those
who were completely pure in heart and spirit.
The Emperor was impressed and ordered the weavers to
begin work
immediately. The rogues, who had a deep understanding
of human nature,
began to feign work on empty looms.
Minister after minister went to view the new clothes
and all came back
exhorting the beauty of the cloth on the looms even
though none of them
could see a thing.
Finally a grand procession was planned for the Emperor
to display his
new finery. The Emperor went to view his clothes and
was shocked to see
absolutely nothing, but he pretended to admire the
fabulous cloth,
inspect the clothes with awe, and, after disrobing, go
through the
motions of carefully putting on a suit of the new
garments.
Under a royal canopy the Emperor appeared to the
admiring throng of his
people - - all of whom cheered and clapped because
they all knew the
rogue weavers' tale and did not want to be seen as
less than pure of heart.
But, the bubble burst when an innocent child loudly
exclaimed, for the
whole kingdom to hear, that the Emperor had nothing on
at all. He had
no clothes.
That tale seems to me very like the way this nation
was led to war.
We were told that we were threatened by weapons of
mass destruction in
Iraq, but they have not been seen.
We were told that the throngs of Iraqi's would welcome
our troops with
flowers, but no throngs or flowers appeared.
We were led to believe that Saddam Hussein was
connected to the attack
on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, but no evidence
has ever been produced.
We were told in 16 words that Saddam Hussein tried to
buy "yellow cake"
from Africa for production of nuclear weapons, but the
story has turned
into empty air.
We were frightened with visions of mushroom clouds,
but they turned out
to be only vapors of the mind.
We were told that major combat was over but 101 [as of
October 17]
Americans have died in combat since that proclamation
from the deck of
an aircraft carrier by our very own Emperor in his new
clothes.
Our emperor says that we are not occupiers, yet we
show no inclination
to relinquish the country of Iraq to its people.
Those who have dared to expose the nakedness of the
Administration's
policies in Iraq have been subjected to scorn. Those
who have noticed
the elephant in the room -- that is, the fact that
this war was based on
falsehoods have had our patriotism questioned.
Those who have spoken
aloud the thought shared by hundreds of thousands of
military families
across this country, that our troops should return
quickly and safely
from the dangers half a world away, have been accused
of cowardice. We
have then seen the untruths, the dissembling, the
fabrication, the
misleading inferences surrounding this rush to war in
Iraq wrapped
quickly in the flag.
The right to ask questions, debate, and dissent is
under attack. The
drums of war are beaten ever louder in an attempt to
drown out those who
speak of our predicament in stark terms.
Even in the Senate, our history and tradition of being
the world's
greatest deliberative body is being snubbed. This
huge spending bill
has been rushed through this chamber in just one
month. There were just
three open hearings by the Senate Appropriations
Committee on $87
billion, without a single outside witness called to
challenge the
Administration's line.
Ambassador Bremer went so far as to refuse to return
to the
Appropriations Committee to answer additional
questions because, and I
quote: "I don't have time. I'm completely booked, and
I have to get
back to Baghdad to my duties."
Despite this callous stiff-arm of the Senate and its
duties to ask
questions in order to represent the American people,
few dared to voice
their opposition to rushing this bill through these
halls of Congress.
Perhaps they were intimidated by the false claims that
our troops are in
immediate need of more funds.
But the time has come for the sheep-like political
correctness which has
cowed members of this Senate to come to an end.
The Emperor has no clothes. This entire adventure in
Iraq has been
based on propaganda and manipulation. Eighty-seven
billion dollars is
too much to pay for the continuation of a war based on
falsehoods.
Taking the nation to war based on misleading rhetoric
and hyped
intelligence is a travesty and a tragedy. It is the
most cynical of all
cynical acts. It is dangerous to manipulate the
truth. It is dangerous
because once having lied, it is difficult to ever be
believed again.
Having misled the American people and stampeded them
to war, this
Administration must now attempt to sustain a policy
predicated on
falsehoods. The President asks for billions from
those same citizens
who know that they were misled about the need to go to
war. We
misinformed and insulted our friends and allies and
now this
Administration is having more than a little trouble
getting help from
the international community. It is perilous to mislead.
The single-minded obsession of this Administration to
now make sense of
the chaos in Iraq, and the continuing propaganda which
emanates from the
White House painting Iraq as the geographical center
of terrorism is
distracting our attention from Afghanistan and the 60
other countries in
the world where terrorists hide. It is sapping
resources which could be
used to make us safer from terrorists on our own
shores. The body armor
for our own citizens still has many, many chinks.
Have we forgotten
that the most horrific terror attacks in history
occurred right here at
home!! Yet, this Administration turns back money for
homeland security,
while the President pours billions into security for
Iraq. I am
powerless to understand or explain such a policy.
I have tried mightily to improve this bill. I twice
tried to separate
the reconstruction money in this bill, so that those
dollars could be
considered separately from the military spending. I
offered an
amendment to force the Administration to craft a plan
to get other
nations to assist the troops and formulate a plan to
get the U.N. in,
and the U.S. out, of Iraq. Twice I tried to rid the
bill of expansive,
flexible authorities that turn this $87 billion into a
blank check. The
American people should understand that we provide more
foreign aid for
Iraq in this bill, $20.3 billion, than we provide for
the rest of the
entire world! I attempted to remove from this bill
billions in
wasteful programs and divert those funds to better
use. But, at every
turn, my efforts were thwarted by the vapid argument
that we must all
support the requests of the Commander in Chief.
I cannot stand by and continue to watch our
grandchildren become
increasingly burdened by the billions that fly out of
the Treasury for
a war and a policy based largely on propaganda and
prevarication. We
are borrowing $87 billion to finance this adventure in
Iraq. The
President is asking this Senate to pay for this war
with increased debt,
a debt that will have to be paid by our children and
by those same
troops that are currently fighting this war. I cannot
support
outlandish tax cuts that plunge our country into
potentially disastrous
debt while our troops are fighting and dying in a war
that the White
House chose to begin.
I cannot support the continuation of a policy that
unwisely ties down
150,000 American troops for the foreseeable future,
with no end in sight.
I cannot support a President who refuses to authorize
the reasonable
change in course that would bring traditional allies
to our side in Iraq.
I cannot support the politics of zeal and "might makes
right" that
created the new American arrogance and unilateralism
which passes for
foreign policy in this Administration.
I cannot support this foolish manifestation of the
dangerous and
destabilizing doctrine of preemption that changes the
image of America
into that of a reckless bully.
The emperor has no clothes. And our former allies
around the world were
the first to loudly observe it.
I shall vote against this bill because I cannot
support a policy based
on prevarication. I cannot support doling out 87
billion of our
hard-earned tax dollars when I have so many doubts
about the wisdom of
its use.
I began my remarks with a fairy tale. I shall close my remarks with a horror story, in the form of a quote from the book
Nuremberg Diaries, written by G.M. Gilbert, in which the author interviews Hermann Goering.
"We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people
are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.
". . . But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or
a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected
representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."
"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no
voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
--Guess Who
a wonderful fairy
tale which he titled The Emperor's New Clothes. It
may be the very
first example of the power of political correctness.
It is the story of
the Ruler of a distant land who was so enamored of his
appearance and
his clothing that he had a different suit for every
hour of the day.
One day two rogues arrived in town, claiming to be
gifted weavers. They
convinced the Emperor that they could weave the most
wonderful cloth,
which had a magical property. The clothes were only
visible to those
who were completely pure in heart and spirit.
The Emperor was impressed and ordered the weavers to
begin work
immediately. The rogues, who had a deep understanding
of human nature,
began to feign work on empty looms.
Minister after minister went to view the new clothes
and all came back
exhorting the beauty of the cloth on the looms even
though none of them
could see a thing.
Finally a grand procession was planned for the Emperor
to display his
new finery. The Emperor went to view his clothes and
was shocked to see
absolutely nothing, but he pretended to admire the
fabulous cloth,
inspect the clothes with awe, and, after disrobing, go
through the
motions of carefully putting on a suit of the new
garments.
Under a royal canopy the Emperor appeared to the
admiring throng of his
people - - all of whom cheered and clapped because
they all knew the
rogue weavers' tale and did not want to be seen as
less than pure of heart.
But, the bubble burst when an innocent child loudly
exclaimed, for the
whole kingdom to hear, that the Emperor had nothing on
at all. He had
no clothes.
That tale seems to me very like the way this nation
was led to war.
We were told that we were threatened by weapons of
mass destruction in
Iraq, but they have not been seen.
We were told that the throngs of Iraqi's would welcome
our troops with
flowers, but no throngs or flowers appeared.
We were led to believe that Saddam Hussein was
connected to the attack
on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, but no evidence
has ever been produced.
We were told in 16 words that Saddam Hussein tried to
buy "yellow cake"
from Africa for production of nuclear weapons, but the
story has turned
into empty air.
We were frightened with visions of mushroom clouds,
but they turned out
to be only vapors of the mind.
We were told that major combat was over but 101 [as of
October 17]
Americans have died in combat since that proclamation
from the deck of
an aircraft carrier by our very own Emperor in his new
clothes.
Our emperor says that we are not occupiers, yet we
show no inclination
to relinquish the country of Iraq to its people.
Those who have dared to expose the nakedness of the
Administration's
policies in Iraq have been subjected to scorn. Those
who have noticed
the elephant in the room -- that is, the fact that
this war was based on
falsehoods have had our patriotism questioned.
Those who have spoken
aloud the thought shared by hundreds of thousands of
military families
across this country, that our troops should return
quickly and safely
from the dangers half a world away, have been accused
of cowardice. We
have then seen the untruths, the dissembling, the
fabrication, the
misleading inferences surrounding this rush to war in
Iraq wrapped
quickly in the flag.
The right to ask questions, debate, and dissent is
under attack. The
drums of war are beaten ever louder in an attempt to
drown out those who
speak of our predicament in stark terms.
Even in the Senate, our history and tradition of being
the world's
greatest deliberative body is being snubbed. This
huge spending bill
has been rushed through this chamber in just one
month. There were just
three open hearings by the Senate Appropriations
Committee on $87
billion, without a single outside witness called to
challenge the
Administration's line.
Ambassador Bremer went so far as to refuse to return
to the
Appropriations Committee to answer additional
questions because, and I
quote: "I don't have time. I'm completely booked, and
I have to get
back to Baghdad to my duties."
Despite this callous stiff-arm of the Senate and its
duties to ask
questions in order to represent the American people,
few dared to voice
their opposition to rushing this bill through these
halls of Congress.
Perhaps they were intimidated by the false claims that
our troops are in
immediate need of more funds.
But the time has come for the sheep-like political
correctness which has
cowed members of this Senate to come to an end.
The Emperor has no clothes. This entire adventure in
Iraq has been
based on propaganda and manipulation. Eighty-seven
billion dollars is
too much to pay for the continuation of a war based on
falsehoods.
Taking the nation to war based on misleading rhetoric
and hyped
intelligence is a travesty and a tragedy. It is the
most cynical of all
cynical acts. It is dangerous to manipulate the
truth. It is dangerous
because once having lied, it is difficult to ever be
believed again.
Having misled the American people and stampeded them
to war, this
Administration must now attempt to sustain a policy
predicated on
falsehoods. The President asks for billions from
those same citizens
who know that they were misled about the need to go to
war. We
misinformed and insulted our friends and allies and
now this
Administration is having more than a little trouble
getting help from
the international community. It is perilous to mislead.
The single-minded obsession of this Administration to
now make sense of
the chaos in Iraq, and the continuing propaganda which
emanates from the
White House painting Iraq as the geographical center
of terrorism is
distracting our attention from Afghanistan and the 60
other countries in
the world where terrorists hide. It is sapping
resources which could be
used to make us safer from terrorists on our own
shores. The body armor
for our own citizens still has many, many chinks.
Have we forgotten
that the most horrific terror attacks in history
occurred right here at
home!! Yet, this Administration turns back money for
homeland security,
while the President pours billions into security for
Iraq. I am
powerless to understand or explain such a policy.
I have tried mightily to improve this bill. I twice
tried to separate
the reconstruction money in this bill, so that those
dollars could be
considered separately from the military spending. I
offered an
amendment to force the Administration to craft a plan
to get other
nations to assist the troops and formulate a plan to
get the U.N. in,
and the U.S. out, of Iraq. Twice I tried to rid the
bill of expansive,
flexible authorities that turn this $87 billion into a
blank check. The
American people should understand that we provide more
foreign aid for
Iraq in this bill, $20.3 billion, than we provide for
the rest of the
entire world! I attempted to remove from this bill
billions in
wasteful programs and divert those funds to better
use. But, at every
turn, my efforts were thwarted by the vapid argument
that we must all
support the requests of the Commander in Chief.
I cannot stand by and continue to watch our
grandchildren become
increasingly burdened by the billions that fly out of
the Treasury for
a war and a policy based largely on propaganda and
prevarication. We
are borrowing $87 billion to finance this adventure in
Iraq. The
President is asking this Senate to pay for this war
with increased debt,
a debt that will have to be paid by our children and
by those same
troops that are currently fighting this war. I cannot
support
outlandish tax cuts that plunge our country into
potentially disastrous
debt while our troops are fighting and dying in a war
that the White
House chose to begin.
I cannot support the continuation of a policy that
unwisely ties down
150,000 American troops for the foreseeable future,
with no end in sight.
I cannot support a President who refuses to authorize
the reasonable
change in course that would bring traditional allies
to our side in Iraq.
I cannot support the politics of zeal and "might makes
right" that
created the new American arrogance and unilateralism
which passes for
foreign policy in this Administration.
I cannot support this foolish manifestation of the
dangerous and
destabilizing doctrine of preemption that changes the
image of America
into that of a reckless bully.
The emperor has no clothes. And our former allies
around the world were
the first to loudly observe it.
I shall vote against this bill because I cannot
support a policy based
on prevarication. I cannot support doling out 87
billion of our
hard-earned tax dollars when I have so many doubts
about the wisdom of
its use.
I began my remarks with a fairy tale. I shall close my remarks with a horror story, in the form of a quote from the book
Nuremberg Diaries, written by G.M. Gilbert, in which the author interviews Hermann Goering.
"We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people
are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.
". . . But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or
a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected
representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."
"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no
voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
--Guess Who
