Warm greetings
Over the last week and a half there have been several developments that once again speak to hope and a shift in direction in our country. I feel great gratitude.
At the same time, there is also this sense of disbelief and grief that America has come to this place where my gratitude is for a President of the United States being accused by increasing numbers of people in high places of war crimes, disbelief and grief that Habeas Corpus is given value by only 5 out of the 9 Supreme Court Justices, and disbelief and grief that there are 35 - thirty-five! - Articles of Impeachment that have been presented in the House of Representatives. In the wake of watching each of these 35 emerge over the past few years, I have felt as though I have entered the Twilight Zone. How can it be that we have become a nation that justifies pre-emptive war and torture and flushing Habeas Corpus down the toilet? This has been shocking to me.
And this experience has left me asking how it is that we have fallen this far? What has happened to our nation? To us as citizens? To our sense of what patriotism means and truly looks like? What has happened to us in America that our integrity and values have become so deeply compromised? Where has truth, connectedness, and a genuine sense of mutual caring, compassion, interest, and respect for one another gone? Where has all the kindness gone - for one another as Americans and for all our brothers and sisters everywhere and for the Earth herself? Where is the American patriotism that lives and breathes the courage and humanity of our true ideals? AND - of crucial importance - what has happened to journalism and the American media? What does the truth of these issues say about this place we have found ourselves in today that is of such deep, deep concern?
These questions are not about red states vs blue states, left vs right, progressive vs conservative, religious vs secular. Haven't these divisions played their part in distracting us from remembering that we are all Americans? In an even larger picture, these questions for me are human questions. No matter our politics, religion, race, age, gender, ethnicity, and all the other many faces of our diversity -- we are all connected, all sisters and brothers, all in this together. These questions have inspired me, and with increasing urgency, to look at myself and to explore and face both my part in these profound issues and their making AND to actively seek solutions. What is it that I - and each of us - can learn from all this? Wouldn't it be extraordinary if we Americans could have a national discussion - without any blame or judgment or finger pointing - with the intention to work together for the common welfare of us all? Wouldn't it be such an exquisite blessing to all if we could each, in our own ways, open even more deeply to the lessons that are so deeply pulling at our lives, our hearts, and our minds for attention -- and truly surrender to what it is that is seeking to be discovered, known, and birthed into being?
Every day, I believe that more and more of us are coming together, supporting one another to have the courage to look at where we are, where we have been, and where it is that we need to go. These questions, to me, offer the opportunity to grow, expand, and become more of what we are capable of and more of who we truly are. At least this is my experience, and the alchemist in me sees great opportunity in what may otherwise simply appear bleak. As the Dalai Lama has said, "The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period of one's life." I believe that the wisdom in these words not only applies to us as individuals, but also to us today as a nation and as a planetary family.
Here are the links, including a glimpse into 35 ways in which America has deeply lost her way:
US General Accuses Bush Administration of War Crimes
Truthout's Matt Renner and Maya Schenwar report: "Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (now retired) served as the deputy commanding general for support for the Third Army for ten months in Kuwait during the early days of the Iraq occupation. In a statement released today, he bluntly accuses the Bush administration of war crimes and lays down a challenge for prosecution."
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LANDMARK WIN FOR YOUR RIGHT TO HABEAS CORPUS! Center for Constitutional Rights
Supreme Court: Guantánamo Detainees Have Constitutional Right to Habeas Corpus
Washington, DC — In one of the most important human rights cases of the decade, the Supreme Court of the United States held today, in a 5-4 decision, that the men imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay have the constitutional right to habeas corpus.
Washington, DC — In one of the most important human rights cases of the decade, the Supreme Court of the United States held today, in a 5-4 decision, that the men imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay have the constitutional right to habeas corpus.
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Dennis Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush
Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.
Article I Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
Article II Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
Article III Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
Article IV Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
Article V Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
Article VI Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.
Article VII Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
Article VIII Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
Article IX Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor.
Article X Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes.
Article XI Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.
Article XII Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources.
Article XIIII Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries.
Article XIV Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Article XV Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq.
Article XVI Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors.
Article XVII Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives.
Article XVIII Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy.
Article XIX Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture.
Article XX Imprisoning Children.
Article XXI Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government.
Article XXII Creating Secret Laws.
Article XXIII Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Article XXIV Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment.
Article XXV Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens.
Article XXVI Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements.
Article XXVII Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply.
Article XXVIII Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice.
Article XXIX Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Article XXX Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare.
Article XXXI Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency.
Article XXXII Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.
Article XXXIII Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.
Article XXXIV Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001.
Article XXXV Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders.
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May we all continue to discover new ways to open our hearts and minds even more deeply. May we each find new ways that work and fit for us to act on what we find as we go deeper. May we use our increasing knowledge and consciousness on behalf of the highest interests of our children, all the children yet to come, and our Earth Mother...
Thank each and every one of you, too, for what you already do and all that you are. There is much beauty in the world. It is everywhere.
Peace & blessings,
Molly
"There's a lot of smoke everywhere, but nobody's looking to see if there's a fire." ~ my Michigan friend, Keith, quoting someone on NPR today
Humankind. Let's Be Both. ~ a bumper sticker I saw today
It is not our differences that divide us. It's our inability to recognize, accept, & celebrate our differences that divide us. ~ One of my 18 bumper stickers
Thank you Molly for this wonderful piece of writing. Please keep up the effort, and a times struggle, to make others aware of a more open and awakened heart, and as always, Peace-Love-Harmony, Ken...
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