[Dialogue] Bush Library by Hightower

[McCabe, Diann A]

Thanks for sending this--would you identify the source?

Thanks, Diann McCabe
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From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Dave Thomas [DavThom at att.net]
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:48 AM
To: 'Colleague Dialogue'
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Bush Library by Hightower

You may be interested in this proposal.  Dave Thomas

Donald A Smith Proposes a Museum of Accountability

Over the past eight years, Americans watched with horror as our elected leaders brought upon us:

•       a disastrous, debilitating, and immensely destructive war based on lies;
•       shameful neglect and disregard for the welfare of our soldiers, veterans, and their families;
•       widespread corruption and mismanagement (especially with respect to the war in Iraq and the reconstruction of New Orleans);
•       torture and extraordinary rendition;
•       unconscionable incompetence and indifference concerning the devastation resulting from Hurricane Katrina;
•       subversion of our Constitutional rights, including wiretapping and imprisonment without trial;
•       reckless deregulation, resulting in corporate scandals, increased carbon emissions, the sub-prime loan debacle, and greater dependence on fossil fuels;
•       politicization of the Justice Department;
•       suppression of evidence;
•       obsessive secrecy;
•       exploitation of fear, faith, and patriotism for cynical ends;
•       election fraud and vote suppression;
•       negligence at addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a major cause of anti-Americanism and terrorism;
•       energy and environmental policies that are detrimental to the interests of the majority of Americans;
•       ballooning budgetary and trade deficits; and
•       increased concentration of wealth and media power.

It is not only the Bush Administration that bears responsibility for what has occurred. Congress and the media failed at investigating and reporting the facts, failed at overseeing the executive branch, and failed at holding wrongdoers accountable. Moreover, in many cases, members of Congress and others -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have been complicit in wrongdoing.

Americans cannot count on Congress and the media to keep us informed and to defend justice, law and truth. Even now, millions of Americans are unaware of the facts about how the war in Iraq came about and about how disastrous it has been morally, economically, and politically. Millions of Americans are also unaware of the many other ways in which government serves the interests of the few.

Consequently, we propose the creation of a Museum of Accountability to be built in the Seattle area to bear witness to the recent and ongoing violations of our laws and shared values.  Like the Holocaust Museum, this museum will document the facts about wrongdoing. Unlike the Holocaust Museum -- which was built years after the death of most of the wrongdoers -- the Museum of Accountability will exist while many of those responsible are still alive and still in office.

Via photos, video, and printed word, the museum will present a detailed and palpable accounting of the acts and omissions of our government leaders and of those outside government who aided them in their misdeeds. The museum will have a physical presence in a site to be determined. In addition, there will be an accompanying website (we have already reserved a domain name<http://www.museumofaccountability.org/>, and we envision a traveling display. Content will be provided by volunteers (of which we are sure there will be many) and will be verified by a committee of experts.

At the start of the Bush Administration, our country was at the pinnacle of its power, with budget surpluses, unchallenged military supremacy, and a booming economy; America was still regarded as a beacon of freedom and prosperity. After eight years of mismanagement and corruption, the US is morally compromised, militarily depleted, deeply in debt, and heading into recession.

Our hope is that the Museum of Accountability will help return our country to the values that we hold dear and will deter future leaders from similar wrongdoing.  Some people say that America doesn't need more partisanship and recrimination. But democracy and morality depend on an informed citizenry and a fearless commitment to justice and the rule of law.

If you are interested in working on the creation of such a museum, please contact Donald A. Smith<mailto:ThinkerFeeler at yahoo.com> (206-819-5965)

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From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Jim Baumbach
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 6:27 AM
To: Colleague Dialogue
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Bush Library by Hightower

There must be something pretty special about George W. Bush, the most impeachable unimpeached man the US has ever tolerated in the role of president for 8 long grueling years.  A ruthless, military coward and drunken playboy who was able to destroy his own oil company, obliterate any semblance of credibility America ever had, openly and defiantly flaunt the nation's constitution and laws he signed, lie-cheat-steal the Coalition-Of-The-Willing into a preemptive illegal war, cruelly slaughter a million or more innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq, condone torture and hideous treatment of "enemy combatants,"  and emerge the hero of SMU.

He must be God's own chosen...

Maybe there should be a celebration instead of tears???

Jim Baumbach

George Holcombe wrote:
Andrew Weaver sent me this about the Bush Library.

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net<mailto:geowanda at earthlink.net>


A LIBRARY FOR BUSH GROUPIES
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Posted by Jim Hightower
LISTEN TO THIS COMMENTARY<http://www.jimhightower.com/sites/jimhightower.civicactions.net/files/8_16_rnc.mp3>

“Think tank” is not a concept you would associate with George W – and sure enough, there won’t be much thinking done in the Bush library and think tank to be built at Southern Methodist University.

The Bushites have cut a deal with SMU executives to locate his presidential library on this private campus in one of Dallas’s wealthiest neighborhoods. They’ve targeted some Arab oil kingdoms, corporate chieftains, and wealthy heiresses to be the “megadonors” they need to raise half-a-billion bucks to establish George’s ex-presidential palace.

This one is to be markedly different than the usual complex of library, museum, and policy institute that other presidents have built. First (and unsurprisingly), rather than placing the full archive of the administration’s papers in the SMU complex so historians and others have access, Bush is to have a heavily-censored, anti-academic library. None other that Karl Rove will help with the censoring, making sure that historians only peruse documents that cast the Bush-Cheney regime in a glowing light.

Second, the policy institutes at other presidential libraries are scholarly units of their host universities. The work done in them is judged by normal academic standards, deans are chosen by university presidents, etc. George W’s think tank, however, is to be academically-unattached to SMU and will unabashedly push a partisan, ideological agenda. It will hire conservative acolytes and, as an insider told the New York Daily News, “give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President’s policies.”

Bush Library Courts ‘Wealthy Heiress, Arab Nations, Captains of Industry’ To ‘Polish’ History,” www.thinkprogress.org<http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/27/bush-library>, November 27, 2006

“A library Worthy Of The Bush Legacy,” , February 27, 2008

“SMU’s Deal With Bush,” , February 25, 2008

“SMU trustees give final approval for Bush library,” , February 22, 2008


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