To: U.S. State Legislators and Congress A Testament and Proclamation
Democracy and popular control of government require public officials who speak truthfully about their intentions and actions; who respect, obey, and execute the nation's laws and treaties without deference to wealth and power and certainly without exceptions for themselves; and who openly and thoroughly investigate defense failures, financial crises, environmental disasters, and other national tragedies. To abrogate any of these responsibilities is to abuse the public trust and attack democracy itself.
We the Undersigned find, based on substantial available evidence, that the United States Government, including the Office of the President, Congress and ancillary agencies, have intentionally, systematically and serially defrauded the American people in what we find to be State Crimes Against Democracy (SCAD): actions undertaken in direct violation of sworn oaths of office to circumvent, exploit, undermine or subvert laws, the constitutional order, or the public awareness essential to popular control of government.
Most recently, these State Crimes Against Democracy have included:
1) The BP oil spill debacle in the Gulf of Mexico, the initiation of and response to which have constituted criminal neglect if not deliberate malfeasance.
2) The mortgage lending fraud and subsequent bailout of the most powerful U.S. syndicated banking interests, precipitating untold hardship upon the American people into the foreseeable future, not to mention world financial destabilization.
In at least these instances of the Gulf oil spill and mortgage lending fraud, judicious warnings were well in place to head off catastrophe, warnings that U.S. governmental entities and Congressional oversight committees either suppressed or permitted to be circumvented. There exists a history of collusion between the US government, including the CIA, and agents of BP in executing secretive and illegal actions; now there is a growing body of evidence that both are suppressing the facts on the origins and severity of the current oil disaster and the future environmental, public health and safety, and economic impact.
In addition to these two recent devastating events, we find as components of a broader platform of syndicated state sponsored fraud and malfeasance perpetrated against the American people, other peoples across the globe, and democracy itself, the following:
1) Willful manufacture and proffering of false information to garner public support for the war on the sovereign nation of Iraq and its citizens. These illegal actions have resulted in the deaths of well over 100,000 Iraqi citizens – and possibly over 1,000,000 - and over 4,000 American soldiers. As a belligerent occupying force, the U.S. government continues to fail to meet its obligations under the 1907 Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on the Land, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and customary international humanitarian laws, resulting in failure to provide even the most basic water, food, medical, and security requirements for the Iraqi people.
2) The illegal war on the sovereign nation of Afghanistan and its citizens. This illegal war has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and nearly 2,000 coalition force personnel. As a belligerent occupying force, the U.S. government continues to fail to meet its obligations under the 1907 Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on the Land, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and customary international humanitarian laws, resulting in failure to provide even the most basic water, food, medical, and security requirements for the Afghani people.
3) The passing and continuance of PATRIOT Acts I and II by the Bush and Obama administrations in direct violation of the United States Constitution, including the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments. As a result, the civil liberties of the American people and of other peoples have been usurped with exaggerated and in some cases fraudulent claims of terrorist threat accompanied by illegal spying, arrest without warrant, torture, and assassination.
4) The refusal by U.S. governmental agencies, including under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to independently and thoroughly investigate the events prior to and during September 11, 2001, including material, forensic evidence, especially since these events have been the primary basis for the crimes detailed in 1, 2, and 3 above.
5) Repeated public statements, by both Democratic and Republican officials, that another catastrophic event, such as another 9/11, would be beneficial for garnering public support for the current administration and/or incumbents and for Executive actions.
6) Executive usurpation of the media to manipulate the public into supporting wars of aggression, as well as the censorship and repression of a free press and internet communication.
7) Syndicated fraud of (and subsequent cover-up about) voting in low income precincts in the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections.
We the Undersigned call for plebiscite hearings into the advisability of incorporating as legal framework State Crimes Against Democracy (SCAD) into federal law, including statutes that would: prohibit political crimes from having a statute of limitations; mandate minimum mandatory sentences for specified high crimes; prohibit presidential pardons where the president himself stands to gain; and specify maximum prison sentences for specified SCADs.
We the Undersigned find such initiative essential for restoring faith among Americans, and people the world over, in the promise for democracy and justice that the United States once did, and must again, hold out for what Abraham Lincoln once declared the last, best hope for humanity on Earth.
*Sources:
Blum, William. (2004). Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.
Bugliosi, V. (2008). The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. Cambridge, MA: Vangaurd Press.
Boykoff, Jules. (2007). Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States. Oakland, CA: AK Press.
Griffin, David Ray (2006) The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God: A
Political, Economic, Religious Statement, with John B. Cobb, Richard A. Falk
and Catherine Keller. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Griffin, David Ray & Scott, Peter Dale (2007). 9/11and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, Vol. 1. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press.
deHaven-Smith, Lance. (2005). The Battle for Florida: An Annotated Compendium of Materials from the 2000 Presidential Election. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Forida.
deHaven-Smith, Lance. (2006). When political crimes are inside jobs: Detecting State Crimes Against Democracy. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 28(3), 330-355.
Klein N. (2008). The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. New York: Metropolitan.
Mandel M. (2004). How America Gets Away With Murder: Illegal Wars, Collateral Damage, and Crimes Against Humanity. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto.
Manwell Laurie A. (2010). In denial of democracy: Social psychological implications for public discourse on state crimes against democracy post-9/11. American Behavioral Scientist, 53(6): 848-885. http://abs.sagepub.com/content/53/6.toc
Marrs Jim. (2010). The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Sands, Philippe. (2008). Torture Team: Rumsfeld’s Memo and the Betrayal of American Values. New York: Palgrave. Roberts P.W. (2004). A War Against Truth: In Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq. Vancouver, B.C: Raincoast Books.
Scahill J. (2004). Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. New York: Nation.
Thorne, K. & Kouzmin, A. (2010). The USA PATRIOT Acts (et al.): Convergent Legislation and Oligarchic Isomorphism in the “Politics of Fear” and State Crime(s) Against Democracy (SCADs). American Behavioral Scientist, 53(6): 848-885. http://abs.sagepub.com/content/53/6885.abstract.
*For more supporting documentation, go to: http://statecrimesagainstdemocracy.blogspot.com/
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures Democracy and popular control of government require public officials who speak truthfully about their intentions and actions; who respect, obey, and execute the nation's laws and treaties without deference to wealth and power and certainly without exceptions for themselves; and who openly and thoroughly investigate defense failures, financial crises, environmental disasters, and other national tragedies. To abrogate any of these responsibilities is to abuse the public trust and attack democracy itself.
We the Undersigned find, based on substantial available evidence, that the United States Government, including the Office of the President, Congress and ancillary agencies, have intentionally, systematically and serially defrauded the American people in what we find to be State Crimes Against Democracy (SCAD): actions undertaken in direct violation of sworn oaths of office to circumvent, exploit, undermine or subvert laws, the constitutional order, or the public awareness essential to popular control of government.
Most recently, these State Crimes Against Democracy have included:
1) The BP oil spill debacle in the Gulf of Mexico, the initiation of and response to which have constituted criminal neglect if not deliberate malfeasance.
2) The mortgage lending fraud and subsequent bailout of the most powerful U.S. syndicated banking interests, precipitating untold hardship upon the American people into the foreseeable future, not to mention world financial destabilization.
In at least these instances of the Gulf oil spill and mortgage lending fraud, judicious warnings were well in place to head off catastrophe, warnings that U.S. governmental entities and Congressional oversight committees either suppressed or permitted to be circumvented. There exists a history of collusion between the US government, including the CIA, and agents of BP in executing secretive and illegal actions; now there is a growing body of evidence that both are suppressing the facts on the origins and severity of the current oil disaster and the future environmental, public health and safety, and economic impact.
In addition to these two recent devastating events, we find as components of a broader platform of syndicated state sponsored fraud and malfeasance perpetrated against the American people, other peoples across the globe, and democracy itself, the following:
1) Willful manufacture and proffering of false information to garner public support for the war on the sovereign nation of Iraq and its citizens. These illegal actions have resulted in the deaths of well over 100,000 Iraqi citizens – and possibly over 1,000,000 - and over 4,000 American soldiers. As a belligerent occupying force, the U.S. government continues to fail to meet its obligations under the 1907 Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on the Land, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and customary international humanitarian laws, resulting in failure to provide even the most basic water, food, medical, and security requirements for the Iraqi people.
2) The illegal war on the sovereign nation of Afghanistan and its citizens. This illegal war has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and nearly 2,000 coalition force personnel. As a belligerent occupying force, the U.S. government continues to fail to meet its obligations under the 1907 Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on the Land, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and customary international humanitarian laws, resulting in failure to provide even the most basic water, food, medical, and security requirements for the Afghani people.
3) The passing and continuance of PATRIOT Acts I and II by the Bush and Obama administrations in direct violation of the United States Constitution, including the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments. As a result, the civil liberties of the American people and of other peoples have been usurped with exaggerated and in some cases fraudulent claims of terrorist threat accompanied by illegal spying, arrest without warrant, torture, and assassination.
4) The refusal by U.S. governmental agencies, including under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to independently and thoroughly investigate the events prior to and during September 11, 2001, including material, forensic evidence, especially since these events have been the primary basis for the crimes detailed in 1, 2, and 3 above.
5) Repeated public statements, by both Democratic and Republican officials, that another catastrophic event, such as another 9/11, would be beneficial for garnering public support for the current administration and/or incumbents and for Executive actions.
6) Executive usurpation of the media to manipulate the public into supporting wars of aggression, as well as the censorship and repression of a free press and internet communication.
7) Syndicated fraud of (and subsequent cover-up about) voting in low income precincts in the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections.
We the Undersigned call for plebiscite hearings into the advisability of incorporating as legal framework State Crimes Against Democracy (SCAD) into federal law, including statutes that would: prohibit political crimes from having a statute of limitations; mandate minimum mandatory sentences for specified high crimes; prohibit presidential pardons where the president himself stands to gain; and specify maximum prison sentences for specified SCADs.
We the Undersigned find such initiative essential for restoring faith among Americans, and people the world over, in the promise for democracy and justice that the United States once did, and must again, hold out for what Abraham Lincoln once declared the last, best hope for humanity on Earth.
*Sources:
Blum, William. (2004). Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.
Bugliosi, V. (2008). The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. Cambridge, MA: Vangaurd Press.
Boykoff, Jules. (2007). Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States. Oakland, CA: AK Press.
Griffin, David Ray (2006) The American Empire and the Commonwealth of God: A
Political, Economic, Religious Statement, with John B. Cobb, Richard A. Falk
and Catherine Keller. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Griffin, David Ray & Scott, Peter Dale (2007). 9/11and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, Vol. 1. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press.
deHaven-Smith, Lance. (2005). The Battle for Florida: An Annotated Compendium of Materials from the 2000 Presidential Election. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Forida.
deHaven-Smith, Lance. (2006). When political crimes are inside jobs: Detecting State Crimes Against Democracy. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 28(3), 330-355.
Klein N. (2008). The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. New York: Metropolitan.
Mandel M. (2004). How America Gets Away With Murder: Illegal Wars, Collateral Damage, and Crimes Against Humanity. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto.
Manwell Laurie A. (2010). In denial of democracy: Social psychological implications for public discourse on state crimes against democracy post-9/11. American Behavioral Scientist, 53(6): 848-885. http://abs.sagepub.com/content/53/6.toc
Marrs Jim. (2010). The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Sands, Philippe. (2008). Torture Team: Rumsfeld’s Memo and the Betrayal of American Values. New York: Palgrave. Roberts P.W. (2004). A War Against Truth: In Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq. Vancouver, B.C: Raincoast Books.
Scahill J. (2004). Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. New York: Nation.
Thorne, K. & Kouzmin, A. (2010). The USA PATRIOT Acts (et al.): Convergent Legislation and Oligarchic Isomorphism in the “Politics of Fear” and State Crime(s) Against Democracy (SCADs). American Behavioral Scientist, 53(6): 848-885. http://abs.sagepub.com/content/53/6885.abstract.
*For more supporting documentation, go to: http://statecrimesagainstdemocracy.blogspot.com/
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
The SCAD Testament and Proclamation Petition to U.S. State Legislators and Congress was created by and written by Matthew Thomas Witt (wittmtetc@yahoo.com). This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.
tags: State Crimes Against Democracy
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"