Post by Moses on Mar 25, 2005 20:25:19 GMT -5
rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=219
Patriot Enactment
Raw Story: Several insiders have expressed concern over possible oil shortage riots. Would the Patriot Act be put to use, in your opinion, to address such riots?
Ritter: [The Patriot Act] is simply the NeoCons putting their judicial agenda in place by other means. It was a compilation of all of the conservative initiatives, not NeoCon initiatives, which the conservative Republicans have been pushing for, including a more conservative law enforcement element.
This is not unhealthy as long is it is done properly, through legislation, proper channels of debate and discourse. A lot of this had been submitted in the past, but was rejected. After 9/11 all of these initiatives were lumped together.
There are some things in the Patriot Act I agree with, but the Patriot Act requires a responsible society. The NeoCons they have no interest in a responsible society; they simply used the conservatives as a vehicle to push an agenda to assault the individual civil liberties.
As the Patriot Act is now, how it came about, is entirely un-American. It is extreme legislation that does nothing to address the issues it professes to, but moreover, it is as an existing law, un-American. What makes it un-American is that no one read it before they voted for it. So the process was un-American, and the motivation behind it was un-American. We cannot have a nation that is governed by fear. The patriot act is un-American simply because it exists.
Raw Story: So how do citizens address this situation since the very means of addressing it via Congress seem to have been closed off?
Ritter: Congress has ceased to function as a viable tool of government. What is needed is for leaders of honor to resign in protest.
Raw Story: I have had this conversation some in Congress and have asked about their thoughts on shutting down Congress and cleaning house. Their counter is that they are afraid to “leave the crazies in control.”<br>
Ritter: They are already in control. If the people want to heal this country, the people have to purge the failing of this country. Vote them out, it might take two or three cycles, but it will happen and it will take time.
Everyone who voted for the war in Iraq should be voted out of office because it violated the violated article six of the Constitution. Everyone who voted for the Patriot Act needs to go because they did not represent the people by voting on legislation they did not read. They have to go, regardless of party. They have through their actions decided who stays and who goes.
Hope, and worries, for the future
Raw Story: You suggest Americans vote out all who voted for these measures. If New Yorkers voted out Hillary, who voted for both the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq, and who is also leading pack of the Democratic Party for the 2008 nomination, what then?
Ritter: Hillary is the manifestation of all that ails the Democratic Party. She stands for nothing. She has been compromised by her voting record…how can she stand for anything worth supporting? And yet, she will be the Democratic nominee in 2008, thus guaranteeing another NeoCon/Republican victory. ‘Dump Hillary Now’ would be the smartest move Dean could make as the new Democratic National Committee Chair…. Like I said, it might take two or three cycles, but it will happen and it will take time.
Raw Story: What about Dean?
Ritter: Dean has to be part of the process of rebuilding and that will take time. Dean cannot run for President, because Dean cannot run as a Democrat–the party is not set up to sustain someone like him. He is one of the exceptions in a corrupt party. He is also not corrupted by his voting record. He is someone who represents something, he did not vote for the war in Iraq, for example.
Raw Story: We talked about this current social crisis as a closed loop during the second installment. Have you ever seen a loop like this throughout the history of the US? What does this mean?
Ritter: The American experiment is much too complex to be destroyed by the NeoCons. In the end, the NeoCons will lose. It may take ten to twelve more years, and the costs will be horrific, but America will survive. There will be one hell of a mess to clean up, though, after the fall of the NeoCons.
Raw Story: Where do you see America, should things continue as is, in five years from now?
Ritter: At war, bankrupt morally and fiscally, and in great pain….and only half-way through the nightmare. Ten to twelve years is what we will have to get through, but we will get through it.
Patriot Enactment
Raw Story: Several insiders have expressed concern over possible oil shortage riots. Would the Patriot Act be put to use, in your opinion, to address such riots?
Ritter: [The Patriot Act] is simply the NeoCons putting their judicial agenda in place by other means. It was a compilation of all of the conservative initiatives, not NeoCon initiatives, which the conservative Republicans have been pushing for, including a more conservative law enforcement element.
This is not unhealthy as long is it is done properly, through legislation, proper channels of debate and discourse. A lot of this had been submitted in the past, but was rejected. After 9/11 all of these initiatives were lumped together.
There are some things in the Patriot Act I agree with, but the Patriot Act requires a responsible society. The NeoCons they have no interest in a responsible society; they simply used the conservatives as a vehicle to push an agenda to assault the individual civil liberties.
As the Patriot Act is now, how it came about, is entirely un-American. It is extreme legislation that does nothing to address the issues it professes to, but moreover, it is as an existing law, un-American. What makes it un-American is that no one read it before they voted for it. So the process was un-American, and the motivation behind it was un-American. We cannot have a nation that is governed by fear. The patriot act is un-American simply because it exists.
Raw Story: So how do citizens address this situation since the very means of addressing it via Congress seem to have been closed off?
Ritter: Congress has ceased to function as a viable tool of government. What is needed is for leaders of honor to resign in protest.
Raw Story: I have had this conversation some in Congress and have asked about their thoughts on shutting down Congress and cleaning house. Their counter is that they are afraid to “leave the crazies in control.”<br>
Ritter: They are already in control. If the people want to heal this country, the people have to purge the failing of this country. Vote them out, it might take two or three cycles, but it will happen and it will take time.
Everyone who voted for the war in Iraq should be voted out of office because it violated the violated article six of the Constitution. Everyone who voted for the Patriot Act needs to go because they did not represent the people by voting on legislation they did not read. They have to go, regardless of party. They have through their actions decided who stays and who goes.
Hope, and worries, for the future
Raw Story: You suggest Americans vote out all who voted for these measures. If New Yorkers voted out Hillary, who voted for both the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq, and who is also leading pack of the Democratic Party for the 2008 nomination, what then?
Ritter: Hillary is the manifestation of all that ails the Democratic Party. She stands for nothing. She has been compromised by her voting record…how can she stand for anything worth supporting? And yet, she will be the Democratic nominee in 2008, thus guaranteeing another NeoCon/Republican victory. ‘Dump Hillary Now’ would be the smartest move Dean could make as the new Democratic National Committee Chair…. Like I said, it might take two or three cycles, but it will happen and it will take time.
Raw Story: What about Dean?
Ritter: Dean has to be part of the process of rebuilding and that will take time. Dean cannot run for President, because Dean cannot run as a Democrat–the party is not set up to sustain someone like him. He is one of the exceptions in a corrupt party. He is also not corrupted by his voting record. He is someone who represents something, he did not vote for the war in Iraq, for example.
Raw Story: We talked about this current social crisis as a closed loop during the second installment. Have you ever seen a loop like this throughout the history of the US? What does this mean?
Ritter: The American experiment is much too complex to be destroyed by the NeoCons. In the end, the NeoCons will lose. It may take ten to twelve more years, and the costs will be horrific, but America will survive. There will be one hell of a mess to clean up, though, after the fall of the NeoCons.
Raw Story: Where do you see America, should things continue as is, in five years from now?
Ritter: At war, bankrupt morally and fiscally, and in great pain….and only half-way through the nightmare. Ten to twelve years is what we will have to get through, but we will get through it.