Daniel Ellsberg: "Let me simplify . . . and not just to be rhetorical: A coup has occurred."

[kpete]

PENTAGON INSIDER HAS DIRE WARNING

Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department analyst who leaked the secret Pentagon Papers history of the Vietnam War, offered insights into the looming attack on Iran and the loss of liberty in the United States at a recent American University symposium. What follow are his comments from that speech. They have been edited only for space.


By Daniel Ellsberg

Let me simplify . . . and not just to be rhetorical: A coup has occurred. I woke up the other day realizing, coming out of sleep, that a coup has occurred. It’s not just a question that a coup lies ahead with the next 9-11. That’s the next coup that completes the first.

The last five years have seen a steady assault on every fundamental of our Constitution . . . what the rest of the world looked at for the last 200 years as a model and experiment to the rest of the world—in checks and balances, limited government, Bill of Rights, individual rights protected from majority infringement by the Congress, an independent judiciary, the possibility of impeachment.

...................

I think we’ve got to somehow get home to them (in Congress) that this is the time for them to uphold the oath, to preserve the Constitution, which is worth struggling for in part because it’s only with the power that the Constitution gives Congress responding to the public, only with that can we protect the world from madmen in power in the White House who intend an attack on Iran.

more at:
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/pentagon_insider.html

[ladjf]

1. Congress will have to stage a counter-coup. (literally)

[Sean Stuart]

2. Congress has had several chances and has chosen the alternative

... that is, to aid and acquiesce in the push within the White House to remake the Executive into an unaccountable, secretive, and lawless branch of government.

This is not only due to party-uber-alles Republicans, but also the Democratic leadership fearing Republican talking points more than they do the erosion of our Constitutional government. Sure, they occasionally talk tough with eloquent overtures to our democracy, but in the end, whenever it counts, they have failed and instead opted to aid and abed the fascist shift pushed by Dick Cheney, David Addington, and their un-American allies.

Watch the current fight over telecom immunity. In the end, AT&T and the others will be shielded from their infringement of our rights. Count on it.

[ladjf]

15. You are correct on all points.

I should have said that Congress should do a counter-coup but probably won't.

[AX10]

18. No kidding

The congress is a separate branch of the government. It has been acting like it's the servant to the Monarch, err...I mean, the executive branch.

The congress is guilty of abdicating it's sworn duties.

[stirlingsliver]

5. WE -- The People -- MUST Stage A Counter-Coup

We simply cannot rely, unfortunately, on the people we elected to do the job.

We thought that they would do the right thing.

But impeachment is "off the table".

Worse, our "leaders" are, apparently, actively working to impede the impeachment process.

It's time to take to the streets.

Now.

[ladjf]

16. Yes, I prefer your post to mine. nt

[DemoTex]

3. Ben Sargent's great cartoon of 12/21/1998 marked the beginning of the coup.

I'm interested in exactly where in time Ellsberg puts Coup #1. It sounds like he refers to 9/11.

I would argue that that 9/11 was Tranche Three of a GOP/PNAC Coup. Tranche One was the impeachment of President Clinton, and Sargent's great cartoon marked that. Tranche Two was the SCOTUS selection of Bu$h over Gore in 2000.

Tranche Four will probably occur prior to the end of Bu$h's current term, and could result in much more Draconian measures from the regime including, perhaps, martial law. IMO, Bu$h/Cheney and their co-conspirators have two choices: stay in power illegally or face manifold prosecutions for the rest of their lives all over the world.

BTW: The link sends me to an incomplete abstract of article.

[glitch]

17. I agree. I think the whole point of impeaching Clinton was to innoculate the citizens against

impeachment in general, they knew they'd be committing impeachable acts. They fact that "impeachment fatique" is brought up so often reinforces my opinion.

I also agree on your tranches 2 and 3. And 4, coming soon to a theatre near us all.

[Broadslidin]

22. The corporations make the final determination as to which 'bought hack' will be impeached....

Sure, a lone U.S. Representative Kucinich slipped through a crack,

but who really runs this imperial u.s. government business, anyway...?

[DemoTex]

26. The last sentence of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address rings hollow nowadays ..

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

It is now, indisputably, a rotting corrupt kakistocracy (barely a "government" any more, water-boarded - as it were - in the bathtub of PNAC) of The Corporation, by The Corporation, and - be most assured - for The Corporation.

The Coup is for The Corp.

[Beam Me Up]

4. The coup began when SCOTUS put * in the WH and was further solidified

when the deep state pulled off -- and completely got away with -- 9/11. Following that, they used anthrax to intimidate any who might question. And lets not forget Paul Wellstone, god bless his heart and soul. Our government and our military is now in the hands of a neoconservative fascist clique. This is not and has not been "politics as usual" for the last seven years. And you know what, folks? They aren't going to let anyone in the WH they can not control.

[L. Coyote]

6. HELLO! We said this in 2000.

[Postman]

7. BS

A "coup" indicates that there was something there that existed that was different - a policy that didn't proceed along the same line of thinking... that is there now.

The only thing different about the Bush Administration (in their foreign policy) from the rest of American history is that they have taken the mask off. It's much more of a blatant, in your face imperialism - as opposed to the back-room arm twisting, contra/terrorist supporting/plausible deniability/clandestine type imperialism....

We had a kinder-gentler imperialism.

Ahh... the good ole days......

[mmonk]

9. While old CIA manuals from the 60's showed torture,

they could still get caught and dealt with through enforcement. However, we have now judges and people willing to create laws that conflict directly with the constitution to make things such as spying without warrant, torture, indefinite detention without charge, etc. a part of the legal system. Whether we violated laws and the constitution before is irrelevant to the more serious problem of actually creating and enforcing laws in direct contradiction.

[Mr Rabble]

27. You are mostly correct.

Our foreign policy was only kinder and gentler to us. To those who we continually oppress and murder, it looks very much the same as it ever was.

In the end, that is what I believe matters the most; not our own perceptions of how brutal our junta/administration is, but rather how those on the other end of the club perceive us.

[Golden Raisin]

8. Congress has done nothing but betray us.

We can count on them to keep funding Bush's war(s) and keep impeachment "off the table". They are worse than useless.

[Perry Logan]

23. Nu-uh! The Democrats in Congress showed the highest Democratic unity score in 51 years.

"President Bush's success rating in the Democratic-controlled House has fallen this year to a half-century low, and he prevailed on only 14 percent of the 76 roll call votes on which he took a clear position.

"So far this year, Democrats have backed the majority position of their caucus 91 percent of the time on average on such votes. That marks the highest Democratic unity score in 51 years."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1728952&mesg_id=1728952
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002576765.html

Don't let the media rhetoric fool you. The Democrats have acquitted themselves quite well--especially given their bare majority in both houses, and a relentlessly obstructionist Republican minority.

[Matariki]

10. Why are public figures SO SLOW to figure out what people here know all along.

No shit there's been a coup. But I'm glad to hear Daniel Ellsberg talking about it.

[NGinpa]

11. 19 educated and well off airplane passengers

may have brought down the United States after all! They knew they were going to die, so you have to wonder what motivated them, but in theiri pre-9/11 discussions, what did they think their actions were going to accomplish?? Also, would Bush have been better off in his presidency without 9-11 or with it, and could he have ever known starting out that the country would be so willing to give up freedom for a little ? security. Hopefully we only gave it up for a short term fix, but time will tell.

Still can't help thinking about what those 9-11 hijackers thought they were accomplsihing!!

[alfredo]

12. Watch what Cafferty says. It is about 1:35 into the video.

he says the "R" word.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2007/11/15/cafferty.file.11.15.cnn?iref=videosearch

[donkeyotay]

13. "The last five years have seen a steady assault

on every fundamental of our Constitution..."

Imagine the Education President, the guy that corporate media helped elect on the never-before-used grounds that you'd like to have a beer with him, and his neocon, Federalist Society cabinet spending the last 7 years sharpening pencils. Were all these people in place to do nothing?

Prior to 9-11, the economy was getting ready to tank, the "president's" poll numbers were in the toilet, and the American people were still questioning his ability to lead and his appointment by the duck-hunting, Federalist Society Supreme Court. Where would the Bush Administration's sudden conversion from education to Unitary Executive be without 9-11? I don't recall him running on that platform.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

14. I agree. A coup DID take place and may very well be perpetuated.

Who is going to stop them? They have gotten away with the most egregious crimes committed by any executive in US History, IMHO. Why wouldn't they be emboldened to perpetuate the coup?

[Tom Joad]

19. He blames the Dems too... they are aiding this coup, and doin' little or nothing to

to stop it.

for example, while he blames DiFi for her vote on the new a.g., he asks why wasn't there a filibuster against him???

I saw him this week in Berkeley. Great man....
even had a chance to chat with him a bit.
One of the heroes of my youth.

He says the system is broken... it ain't just Bush, but the whole damn system.
Lobbies and special interests have taken over, and all the congress worries about is getting elected. that ain't their job. their job is to protect the citizens and our rights. not to just be loyal to their ambitions.

[seemslikeadream]

20. ....

[Senator]

21. K&R&ImpeachNow

[Perry Logan]

24. They certainly tried to stage a coup. But they failed.

[frogcycle]

25. glad he woke up to it

this slow-motion coup started with reagan - or even earlier

They have been set on eliminating our Constitutional form of government at least that long, with the wheels set in motion in the 50s, as Ike so clearly warned.

[rambler_american]

28. The "slow motion coup"

IMHO, began with the assassination of JFK.

[frogcycle]

29. it is actually part of a continuing struggle

since before the Revolution. A lot of the wrangling over the Constitution was over where power would lie. There were MANY who were appalled at the idea of "We the People" actually having a say. They have been chipping away constantly ever since.

The Depression derailed them as FDR came into power and the New Deal built on the gains of the labor movement to actually create a middle class. The cabal Ike warned of had their sights on that coup in the fifties, and I agree with you that getting JFK out of the picture was part of the process. Nixon was supposed to come in and do in the 60's what bush has done in the 2000's. Johnson gave them their war, but pushed a social agenda too. When they did get Nixon in, all the turmoil over VN and then WG disrupted it, but eventually when they got reagan in, they really got rolling with derugulation and dismantling of the government. The 8 years of Clinton were only a pause.