Choice America Editorial

Covering the President's Backside

By Tom Scott

Alberto Gonzales has always enjoyed a reputation for covering George W. Bush's backside.

In 1996 Gonzales, as Bush's general counsel, he managed to get the then-Texas governor excused from jury duty, thus saving Bush from having to disclose his 1976 arrest for drunken driving.

Bush, who prizes loyalty above all other things rewarded Gonzales' loyalty by subsequently appointing him Texas' secretary of state and then to a seat on the Texas Supreme Court. Then when Bush was appointed president by the Supreme Court and not the American people,  he was offered the position of White House counsel.  And today, Gonzales is still watching Bush's flank as the Attorney General who will decide on the merits of any indictments issued by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald's grand jury probe.

On February 3, 2005, Gonzales, 49, was confirmed by the Senate to succeed John Ashcroft as U.S. Attorney General. Despite vocal Democratic complaints that he helped construct questionable U.S. policies on the treatment of foreign prisoners and evaded questions having to do with the war on terror, the Senate confirmed him with a 60-36 vote.

During his confirmation hearings, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats stood unexpectedly united in their opposition to Gonzales, with all eight Judiciary Democrats opposing the nominee. Historically, several nominees for attorney general have engendered animosity during the confirmation process. But the Senate has rejected only two nominees since 1789. Notably in modern times, however, Ashcroft, a former Missouri senator, drew a deeply divided 58-42 vote four years ago.

Gonzales also helped draft Bush's plan for secret military tribunals to try foreigners suspected of terrorism, an idea that ran into a firestorm of criticism from civil libertarians. Perhaps even more controversial was the February 2002 memo he wrote in which the Bush administration claimed that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to certain prisoners taken in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Alberto Gonzales approved the now-infamous memo which contended the president "wasn't bound by laws prohibiting torture and that government agents who might torture prisoners at his direction couldn't be prosecuted by the Justice Department."

Despite the fact that the United States ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which states "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability, or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture".

The memo, vetted by Gonzales, stated the president had the authority "to approve almost any physical or psychological action during interrogation, up to and including torture." and that the pain caused by an interrogation must include "injury such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions, in order to constitute torture."

Once the memo was made public, Gonzales backtracked, saying the memo contained "unnecessary, over-broad discussions" about "abstract legal theories."

He also said the policy was "under review, and may be replaced, if appropriate, with more concrete guidance addressing only those issues necessary for the legal analysis of actual practices." The Justice Department recently released a new memo redefining the U.S. stance on torture in anticipation of Gonzales's nomination hearing, revising its definition of torture to include "mere physical suffering or lasting mental anguish."

But former Justice Department official John Yoo still thinks the old definition was better, saying the new version "makes it harder to figure out how the torture statute applies to specific interrogation methods. It muddies the water. Our effort was to interpret the statute clearly." The new policy, however, does not address the question of whether the president is entitled to disregard laws and treaties.

But before Gonzales became a permanent fixture of the Bush Boat, he was a partner at the powerful Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins, and that's something we all need to take a closer look at.

From his involvement in Vinson & Elkins briefing former partners in advance on the findings of a top-secret probe into Enron's shady business dealings, to his involvement of giving White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card a 12 hour heads up on a subpoena of documents vital to the now infamous "leak gate" investigation on the outing of then CIA covert agent Valerie Plame.   Do you understand? - a 12 hour heads up warning.

Gonzales, worked for Vinson & Elkins from 1982 through 1992, when he was tapped by Bush to become the then-governor's general counsel. The law firm and Enron were Gonzales' main financial backers when he ran in 2000 to hold his seat on the Texas supreme court. Vinson & Elkins contributed $29,450 and Enron tossed in another $6,500.

Gonzales was the point man in the administration's effort to keep hidden Vice President Dick Cheney's notes regarding moves by Enron's Ken Lay and others to shape national energy policy. Meanwhile, Bush, who prizes loyalty above all other things, may have even more plans for his favorite attorney if the Mier nomination falls through on September 7, which it appears is a certainty at this point.

Gonzalez could hold onto the Attorney General position just long enough to decide that the Fitzgerald's 22 month long investigation and grand jury indictments are without merit when it expires on the 28^th only to have Bush then nominate him for the Supreme Court - though Obstruction of Justice would apply.

Something tells me that this wouldn't be an unwelcome development in the offices of the President and Vice President.

Does anyone really doubt

 Cheney was involved?

By Tom Scott

 A special prosecutor's intensifying focus into who criminally exposed a CIA spy has raised serious questions about whether Vice President Dick Cheney himself is involved, and it is very doubtful that he wasn't deeply involved to this reporter. Evidence is also building that the probe has extended beyond the leaking of a covert CIA agent's name to include questioning about the administration's mishandling of pre-Iraq war intelligence for political purposes.

At least 2 persons who have testified in the probe said special prosecutor U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is heavily pursuing Cheney's role in the whole sordid Valerie Plame affair.

In addition, at least six current and former Cheney staffers have testified before the grand jury, including Cheney's top lieutenant, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and two other Cheney national security lieutenants. That would be all nine members of the White House Iraq Group to have been questioned by Mr. Fitzgerald. The team, which includes senior national security officials, was created in August 2002 to "educate the public" about the risk posed by weapons of mass destruction on Iraq.

Cheney's name has come up amid indications Fitzgerald may be edging closer to a blockbuster conspiracy charge with help from a secret informant. Mr. Fitzgerald, who has been applauded for conducting a leak-free inquiry, has said little publicly about his 22-month probe, other than that it is about the "potential retaliation against a whistleblower", former Ambassador Joseph Wilson after he went public with doubts about the evidence that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons. The name of Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a CIA covert agent, was leaked to reporters.

"They have got a senior cooperating witness, someone who is giving them all of that," according to reliable sources. But the prosecutor has given no indication whether he will charge anyone in the case. Over the weekend Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter jailed for 85 days after refusing to testify, provided new details about the scope of Mr. Fitzgerald's evolving investigation. She was asked "repeatedly" how Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, "handled classified information".

Ms. Miller testified that Mr. Libby had made "a sharp critique of Mr. Wilson", and referred several times to the fact his wife worked at the CIA. Ms. Miller also expressed surprise at a letter sent by Mr. Libby while she was jailed that, she said, "could imply he was trying to influence her testimony". "I replied that this portion of the letter had surprised me because it might be perceived as an effort by Mr. Libby to suggest that I too would say we had not discussed Ms. Plame. Yet my notes suggested that we had discussed her job," she wrote. In fact Ms. Plame's name did show up in her notebook with notes taken the same day that she had met for lunch with Mr. Libby. The notes had misspelled her name as a Ms. Flame although it was apparent they referred to Ms. Joseph Wilson.

Cheney was questioned last year by prosecutors and has hired a private attorney, former colleague Terrence O'Donnell, who has repeatedly declined to comment. Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride has only offered the standard canned response that her boss is cooperating.

"Scooter" Libby and President Bush's political mastermind Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove remain the focus of the probe into whether Ms. Plames cover was blown in a scheme to embarrass her husband, ex-Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who debunked claims that Iraq tried to buy nuclear materials in Niger. According to sources, both Mr. Libby and Mr. Rove, who has appeared four times before the grand jury, would resign or take unpaid leave if indicted for their role in the case. Accordingly Mr. Rove has been adopting a lower profile, backing out of two public speeches over the last week. However, Scott McClellan, White House spokesman, said yesterday: "Karl is here at the White House doing his duties, as he always does."

Libby is often described as "Cheney's Cheney," a loyal and discreet top lieutenant who shares his boss's hard-line philosophy and bare-knuckle attitude toward political enemies of the Bush administration.

Cheney and Libby spend hours together in the course of a day, which causes sources that know both men very well to assert that any attempts to discredit Wilson would almost certainly have been known to the vice president if not initiated by him.

"Scooter wouldn't be freelancing on this without Cheney's knowledge,"  according to sources knowledgeable with both men. "It was probably some sort of comment like: 'This guy [Wilson] could be a problem, see what we to can to shut him up.'"

According to sources Libby has been "totally obsessed with Wilson" since Wilson first reported his findings in direct contradiction with the lies of the Bush administration that led us into the illegal war on Iraq.  The US failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq resulted in two inquiries into the prewar intelligence, one led by the Senate intelligence committee and the other by a White House-appointed panel. But both panels confined themselves to investigating the intelligence community, concluding that the White House was largely the innocent victim of faulty intelligence.  Neither delved into the improper political misuse of the available intelligence by the administration.

Whether Cheney's, Rove's and Libby's obsession amounts to criminal misconduct will be decided by Fitzgerald, but if Libby is indicted or implicated in wrongdoing, Cheney's reputation will suffer as well, and a indictment of Cheney and possibly President Bush is sure to follow.

Tom Scott is Senior Investigative Reporter for Choice America Network

From Chaos to Conscience to Peace

Monica Benderman

Please visit Sgt. Benderman's website, www.BendermanTimeline.com for a chronology of events, complete with documentation, leading to his court martial, along with a continuous discussion about Conscientious Objection and veterans issues.

On July 27, 2005, Sgt. Kevin Benderman was found guilty of Missing Movement and sentenced to 15 months confinement, loss of pay and dishonorable discharge. In actuality, Sgt. Benderman's crime was daring to tell the truth, and daring to challenge the very philosophy of the military machine in which he had volunteered to serve, by filing for Conscientious Objection for no longer wanting to participate in war, and for speaking out to end violence as a means of resolving our differences.

Conscientious Objection is not just objecting to war. It is objecting to chaos, to everything about life that keeps it from a peaceful path.  War is chaos, but chaos is also war. 

Each person is going to have to one day face the process of becoming conscientious objectors in their lives before we can achieve peace.  You will not all face the combat zone of war to do this.  You may face a war of your own, far from the battlefields that our soldiers now face in Iraq. 

As Sgt. Benderman made every attempt to live by his beliefs, his command did everything possible to dissuade him. They went to great lengths to keep him from speaking his truth, and from talking about what he had come to believe about war versus peace.

What was it they were afraid of?  Why were they so anxious to regain control of this soldier?  Did his declaration of conscience make them think?  When he spoke of what he saw, when he spoke of how it made him feel, did they look in the mirror and see the same questions in themselves?  Was it their own conscience that made them afraid?

Sgt. Benderman didn't run.  He stood his ground and faced down every wanton act of corruption it took from his commanding officers, as they scrambled to create a story that they could all keep track of, and put Sgt. Benderman in jail.  He had done nothing wrong, except dare to point out actions that his principles would no longer allow him to be part of. Like little children who cover their ears and hum to avoid hearing that playtime is over, the command was desperate to find a way to imprison the truth to avoid having to look it in the eye.

Conscientious Objection is no longer defined merely by ones religious commitment.  It is about living with your principles, values, and morals.  It is about maintaining high standards for your own life, and letting your conscience be your guide.  It is knowing the best way to lead when it comes to defending your country, its constitution and your honor, and letting that wisdom dictate your actions regardless of whom it calls into question. 

The rules of Conscientious Objection have changed. In this day, a Conscientious Objector must be aggressive in defense of peace, and must rely on his own integrity and moral principles when many around him dare to call him coward. 

Sgt. Benderman's command would like people to believe that because he chose to no longer participate in this war, that made him a coward, and it made him unpatriotic.  Being a Conscientious Objector is the highest form of patriotism when it is an objection to an aggressive war that destroys a culture of innocent people for no good reason, and abuses the integrity of the service of those who volunteered to defend our country, expecting the same integrity from those who lead them. 

Sgt. Benderman's command would like people to believe that he was denied his claim because he was not sincere in his beliefs of Conscientious Objection - that he really only filed the claim to avoid returning to hazardous duty.  He did file the claim to avoid returning to war, but he is not avoiding his duty.

The duty he now serves is to defend his country against people who refuse to see just how destructive the path they have chosen really is. The service he now gives, is in speaking of his own change of beliefs, in the hope that others will see that we all must become conscientious objectors before we can achieve peace.

The defense of ones home does not always mean "taking the fight to the enemys soil" and it does not always mean defending your home against an outside force.  Sometimes, the enemy is within, and sometimes defending ones home means standing up against our own fears, looking in the mirror and facing our conscience when we realize what it is that we have become. 

The journey to Conscientious Objection is a personal journey, no different than the journey to peace.  We each must embark upon it in our own time, and through our own experiences, but until every individual takes that step, we will continue to have chaos, and we will continue to confront the violent actions of others who would choose to disrupt the peaceful path that Conscientious Objectors have chosen to walk. 

It is when those who have come to understand the true meaning of peace have learned to live it in spite of the chaos others seek to encourage, that we will finally begin to emerge from the cycle of hate and destruction. 

We cannot control the life of another.  We can only understand this when we have learned to control ourselves.  To embark on a personal journey to Conscientious Objection could be the best way to begin.

To learn more about Sgt. Kevin Benderman¦#39;s journey to Conscientious Objection, and to understand the psychological and manipulative tactics he faced from the Military and the chain of command to deter him from his public stance on Conscientious Objection, please visit our website, www.BendermanTimeline.com

Monica Benderman may be reached at mdawnb@coastalnow.net or

monica@BendermanTimeline.com

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK

As  the Walls start Tumbling Down

by Tom Scott

The current series of major scandals involving some of the most powerful Republicans in Washington have now hit and hit hard to disrupt President Bush, his neocon agenda, distract aides and allies, and entwine political problems for an already weakened administration, that even party strategists and White House advisers are clueless in the shock and awe.  They have brought these problems on themselves with lies.

  With Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove returning to a grand jury for the fourth time, following Miller's second visit, associates said Bush's 'Turd Blossom' has been preoccupied with his serious legal troubles, a diversion that some say contributed to the already doomed handling of Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court. White House officials are privately bracing for the possibility that Rove and many other administration officials will be indicted within the next two weeks.  The guilt in Washington is evident. The players have been caught.  Their lies have been documented. Their boat is taking in water, faster and faster.

  Even many of Bush's partners on Capitol Hill are spending time defending themselves as the president's legislative initiatives flop and flounder. The criminal indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for alleged campaign funding illegalities has thrown Republicans into one of the most corrupt periods of their 11-year reign and created an inner battle for just who is in the leadership role.  With Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) dealing with a subpoena in an insider-trading investigation, a bipartisan majority led by John McCain (R-Arizona) rebuked Bush over torture policies and Ron Paul (R-Texas) has exposed Bush and his outlandish attempt of using Martial Law over the American people.

   Like never before, the scandals are being sprayed from every direction and each have little or no direct connection with one another, but their accumulation has slammed a White House already beset by political problems stemming from the lies that led to the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina and higher than high gasoline prices, according to Republican advisers close to the Bush Boat, all of whom said they could speak candidly only if they were not identified by name. It's that bad. The sky is truly falling in and Bush is blinking faster than ever before. The Lack of Leadership is obvious, if there truly ever was any and there is no road for recovery for this administration.  They have over drawn Americas bank account and Americans are simply fed up.

  "The Rove thing has gotten to be enormously distracting," said one adviser to the White House. "Knowing the way the White House works, being under subpoena like this, your mind is far from your work, it's on the crimes that they committed, the manipulation of America."  And now the quiet whispers of Impeachment swirl Washington like a man made natural disaster as Bush hits his lowest of lows.  Many say Resignation, but Impeachment seems to be the word. "This is what happens when you tamper with election results - not once, but twice."

  "It is the perfect storm," said Joseph E. diGenova, a Republican and former independent counsel, who noted that so many investigations could weigh on an administration. "People have no idea what happens when an investigation gets underway. It's like getting punched in the stomach." It was going to happen sooner or later and for Americas sake, the sooner shall be the better course.

  With the current problems on the table, other reports indicate that Republicans are particularly worried about the sprawling investigations of Jack Abramoff, whose business and political dealings regularly brought him into contact with dozens of lawmakers and top White House officials. And worried they should be. Among insiders, he was one of the most familiar faces among the generation of operatives and lobbyists who came to play when Republicans took control of Congress in 1994. He was even more inside than Jeff Gannon and Gannon if you will remember got up and inside a lot.

  "But the one that people are most worried about is Abramoff because it seems to have such long tentacles," said former congressman Vin Weber (R-Minn.), a lobbyist with close ties to the White House. "This seems to be something that could spread almost anywhere, . . . and that has a lot of people really worried." Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

  The Abramoff scandal has already resulted in two direct casualties: David H. Safavian, Rove's former business partner who was serving as the top White House procurement official, then resigned prior to his arrested on charges that he lied about and impeded an investigation into his dealings with Abramoff. And Timothy E. Flanigan, Bush's nominee for deputy attorney general of all positions, the number two job at the Justice Department, withdrew last week after questions were raised about his interactions with the lobbyist. It just gets deeper and deeper and deeper.  How can Americans trust such nominee decisions by a burning Bush? We can't and aren't as reflected in the recent PEW Poll.

  "The Abramoff thing is a lingering ghost to everybody," said GOP lobbyist Charles Black. "I don't know how many others are going to be caught up in it."

  Twin investigations of Abramoff by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and a multi-agency federal task force appear likely to tar a host of lawmakers the White House has relied on for passage of critical but questionable legislative initiatives. At the same time, the House ethics committee, which has been essentially shut down over a stupid staffing dispute, is expected to get back in business and look into the deadly allegations against DeLay and nearly a dozen other lawmakers, Democrats included. This is where the Abramoff and unrelated investigations could start to merge, including those of 26 Representatives that were bought by DeLay.

  House Administration Committee Chairman Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), a DeLay ally, is facing questions about ties to Abramoff, including his participation in a golf outing in Scotland that the lobbyist organized in 2002. And Rove allies have also been entangled in the Abramoff investigation. One is Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition leader who has struggled during a ridiculous campaign for lieutenant governor of Georgia to shake off suggestions that he received Indian gambling money to mount a lobbying effort against rival casinos. Sources say that he will not survive and when truth be known, he shouldn't.  Many Republicans are now calling Washington, Bush's Waterloo.  The Washington Waterloo.

  The current atmosphere is not what Bush envisioned as a candidate in 2000. Coming off the Clinton years, which were dominated by independent counsel investigations and the impeachment of the president, Bush vowed to run a cleaner and more ethical Washington. "In my administration," Bush told voters in Pittsburgh in October 2000, "we will ask not only what is legal but what is right, not what the lawyers allow but what the public deserves."  This of course, was just more campaign spins, lies and rhetoric that have since filled the Potomac full.

  It was somehow a vow that was welcomed in a capital weary of scandal, and the Bush Boat of Lies made it through the first term without being found out strongly due to set up press conferences and an uneducated and 'hands tied' mainstream media.  With the no independent counsel statute and congressional oversight committees in the hands of the president's party, the instruments of political investigations were controlled and limited but the flat out lies, like the invasion of Iraq, that have surfaced over the last couple of years have finally caught up to the once though of righteous right-winger's who have displayed a consistent tendency to lean more neocon.  And NeoCons we have come to find out, they are.

  Scandal historically has ripened in second terms, including Watergate for Richard M. Nixon, the Iran-contra affair for Ronald Reagan, and the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation for Bill Clinton. "It always comes back," said Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia scholar who has written on Washington scandals. "There may be a couple of dry years occasionally, but it is a style of American politics -- always has been, always will be. And now it's back with a vengeance." This Bush administration cannot survive the crimes they have committed nor should they.

  Some administration allies lament the return of the scandal culture. "There was essentially none of that for the first five years," said Indiana Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. (R), Bush's first budget director. "That doesn't make the current situation any easier to watch." So then why Mr. Daniels did you participate we must ask?  These scandals were being played out during the first five years you were budget director one must understand.  Now they have surfaced. Could you not balance our checkbook? One look at our deficit says it all yet Daniels says scandal was not present during the first five years.  

  Of course there will always be a few that see politics behind the investigations. "Some of it is cyclical politically," said Leonard A. Leo, who has taken leave as executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society to help promote the Miers nomination. The same Society that John Roberts lied about being a member.  And Roberts, we will leave Roberts for another day soon to come.  Roberts should have never happened. Far to many insiders say that he too will have his Waterloo.

  Several Republicans close to Bush said they believe the CIA leak investigation has taken a particular toll, reducing Rove's role in key decisions and prompting Bush to rely on other, less devious advisers. One well-connected outside adviser cited the Miers pick as an example. He said even if Rove considered the selection a risk or mistake, he knew he was in no position to press Bush on it. And a mistake it will become.  Just as Roberts will sooner than later be found out.  It was all rushed through far too fast and the American people see that now.

  "My sense is Rove knows he has spent a lot of so called political capital with the president on this CIA leak case," one adviser said. "No matter how close 'Turd Blossom' is to the president, there is a limit of how much capital you can spend with your partner in crime." "And they will continue to act like nothing is wrong."

  Two Republicans close to the White House said officials are nervous that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald will indict Rove and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the two most powerful staffers in the federal government, within two weeks. While the idea struck many on the Bush Boat as impossible a few months ago, now the common assumption is that both men are in deep trouble as the walls start tumbling down.  They did in fact, bring it on, themselves. But this investigation is just the tip of the iceberg. And then there's Cheney.  The list of Liars and Events is long and the Water is about to burst this Gate wide open.

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK

Republican Congressman

 Slams Bush

 On Militarized

 Police State Preparation

Ron Paul says Indictment story

 is far more damaging than media is portraying,

 Avian Flu - Martial Law

 provisions aimed at gun confiscation

Congressman Ron Paul has accused the Bush administration of attempting to set in motion a militarized police state in America by enacting gun confiscation martial law provisions in the event of an avian flu pandemic. Paul also slammed as delusional and dangerous plans to invade Iran, Syria, North Korea and China.

Ron Paul represents the 14th Congressional district of Texas. He also serves on the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, and the International Relations committee.

Paul appeared on the Alex Jones show yesterday and raised some interesting points about the possibility of imminent indictments of top Bush administration figures.

"I think there's a lot more excitement coming and it's not going to be good for the Republicans," stated Paul.

"The things that I hear have to do with Karl Rove and Abramoff and that's much much worse than anybody would believe and it involves DeLay as well."

"And that type of an indictment will be much more serious than the indictment of shifting campaign funds around.....there's some political infighting which could make that really interesting."

*******************************************

On the subject of the police state, Paul stated,

"If we don't change our ways we will go the way of Rome and I see that as rather sad.....the worst things happen when you get the so-called Republican conservatives in charge from Nixon on down, big government flourishes under Republicans."

"It's really hard to believe it's happening right in front of us. Whether it's the torture or the process of denying habeas corpus to an American citizen."

"I think the arrogance of power that they have where they themselves are like Communists....in the sense that they decide what is right. The Communist Party said that they decided what was right or wrong, it wasn't a higher source."

Paul responded to President Bush's announcement last week that he would order the use of military assets to police America in the event of an avian flu outbreak.

"To me it's so strange that the President can make these proposals and it's even plausible. When he talks about martial law dealing with some epidemic that might come later on and having forced quarantines, doing away with Posse Comitatus in order to deal with natural disasters, and hardly anybody says anything. People must be scared to death."

Paul, himself a medical doctor, agreed that the bird flu threat was empty fearmongering.

"I believe it is the President hyping this and Rumsfeld, but it has to be in combination with the people being fearful enough that they will accept the man on the white horse. My first reaction going from my political and medical background is that it's way overly hyped and to think that they have gone this far with it, without a single case in the whole country and they're willing to change the law and turn it into a military state? That is unbelievable! They're determined to have martial law."

Paul opined that the martial law provisions now being promoted by the Bush administration were a direct response to people's unwillingness to relinquish their firearms, as was seen in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

"I think they're concerned about the remnant, the remnant of those individuals who don't buy into stuff and think that they should take care of themselves on their own, that they should have their own guns and their own provisions and they don't want to depend on the government at all and I think that is a threat to those who want to hold power. They don't want any resistance to their authoritarian rule."

Paul opined that the government was on a delusional power trip that threatened the country.

"These guys are ready to start a war with Iran, Syria, North Korea or China. They can't possibly do that, it's so insane, we don't have the money, we don't have the troops, we probably don't even have the ammunition."

"But, if they are truly delusional they just might do something that's totally irrational."

Paul expressed his hope that finally some conservatives are waking up to the fact that the Bush administration is a trojan horse, especially after arch-liberal Harriet Miers was chosen by Bush to supposedly move the Supreme Court to the right, even though her record is atrocious and she has been involved in the past covering up for the Bush crime family's activities.

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK