[Dialogue] Bush Library by Hightower

Sun May 11 20:27:37 EDT 2008

Donald A. Smith is a Liberal activist, active as a Bellevue Washington
Democratic party precinct organizer, a member of MoveOn and a member of
Democracy for America.  He gets many letters published in Seattle area
papers, often with creative ideas.  He just distributed his proposal for a
Museum of Accountability yesterday, with no organizational support.  He has
created a website: http://museumofaccountability.org/. 

I am intrigued with the idea of Museum of Accountability near every
Presidential Library.  Maybe one Museum with different branches.  It's
thought provoking even if maybe not practical.  Our Puget Sound Liberals
website has a
<http://www.pugetsoundliberals.org/resource/10BooksforLiberals.htm> Reading
list which contains many references to books critical of our Bush
administration and its supporters, their deception, incompetence and
corruption.   50 of you receive our weekly Puget Sound Liberals email
newsletter, which goes to 2300 people, with hundreds across the country
outside of Washington.. The rest of you can receive it by emailing me your
request.  Dave Thomas

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From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net
[mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of McCabe, Diann A
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 8:57 AM
To: Colleague Dialogue
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Bush Library by Hightower

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
<http://www.museumofaccountability.org/> domain name, 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  <mailto:ThinkerFeeler at yahoo.com> Donald A. Smith (206-819-5965) 

  _____  

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

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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