NEWS
CNP'S STATEMENT ON GEORGE W. BUSH'S STATE OF THE UNION AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S RESPONSE
(3/19/2003)-With the federal government now at war with Iraq, we have seen an act of terrorism committed against Democracy herself. Millions of Americans are wondering how the majority of the elect can so strongly contradict the will of the electorate on so important an issue as sending our youth to engage in mortal combat, our tax dollars to heavily-lobbying industries, and our national identity in the form of bullets and bombs aimed at civilian infrastructure. The Cascadian National Party joins the international community in not heeding this battle call. We readily oppose the direction US foreign policy appears to be going: that of “Pax Americana.” Peace only through American military intervention is a government attitude that is expensive, dangerous, and flat-out contradictory. While we hope for a safe return for all troops, the CNP openly opposes this use of needless military force by the Bush administration in Iraq. The CNP and others have likened several aspects of the wars on terrorism and Iraq as being “Orwellian.” Indeed, the White House’ policies seem increasingly to tend towards those employed by Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984: “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is strength.” The echoes of these three draconian ideals reverberate in the wake of recent events, and are markedly illuminated in the Cascadian National Party’s three basic reasons for opposing war in Iraq.
The first basic reason is a matter of precedence. What kind of policy are we creating by going to war with Iraq? The CNP interprets today’s activities as creating a doctrine very similar to the Truman Doctrine: foggy in interpretation and vague in application. Today’s doctrine says that the United States reserves the right to engage in war with any people whose government is not friendly to her, and is/was actively pursuing the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, regardless of the intent, success, or potential of such endeavors. Such a dangerous and arrogant doctrine calls for what Dick Cheney described as “a war without end” against an enormous chunk of the world. The Orwellian principle of “War is peace” thunders forth from this march to battle. The CNP’s second basic reason for opposing the war on Iraq comes down to democracy. The majority of Americans, world leaders, and citizens of the world all oppose the use of force in Iraq. This ominously important issue is being denied the blessings and securities of democracy. When democracy is suffocated, so also is freedom, and vice-versa: the two are symbiotic and entirely codependent. When democracy is squelched, the elite few that have gained a hold of the reigns of executive power historically and even today suppress the liberties most basic to a democracy. This snap and crackle of the burning of the US Constitution and the wanton disregard for gaining approval in the international community by the Bush Administration lands on the ears of the CNP as “Freedom is slavery.”
Lastly, the Bush administration has repeatedly refused to give conclusive evidence that Iraq really is involved in a relatively successful pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, something the majority of Americans see as an essential reason for war in Iraq. As it stands, the will of the people opposes this war. The administration could easily influence this will by presenting conclusive evidence that demonstrates not only Hussein’s acquisition of WMDs, but also his intent to use them. Nothing has come close to either thus far, yet the administration insists that any evidence we do have, for security reasons, cannot become public. The Bush administration is insisting that, to the surprise of all freedom-loving persons, “Ignorance is strength.”
Iraq would no doubt be a better place without Saddam Hussein. He is an evil, corrupt dictator who murders his own democracy-denied people. But make no doubt about it: his regime’s ruthless oppression of the cradle of civilization is a direct and calculated product of US foreign policy in the 1970’s and 1980’s. DC pro-politicos, pockets lined with greenbacks from big-oil and the military industry, are now engaging the youth of America to combat the very regime they and their predecessors created. How stark an example this is of the dilemma of the present two-party machine’s dangerous dissolution of civility, democracy, and sovereignty worldwide. How much starker is the solution to this dilemma for the Pacific-Northwest: peaceful secession from the United States and formation of the Republic of Cascadia. Only then can our tax dollars, youth, and democracy will be spared from the atrocities of a commerce war.
CNP'S STATEMENT ON GEORGE W. BUSH'S STATE OF THE UNION AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S RESPONSE (1/29/2003)-On Tuesday evening, America's so-called President George W. Bush, spoke to America, Cascadia, and the world on several issues, including health care reform, alternative fuels, the environment, and the so-called “crises” posed by North Korea and Iraq. His speech was nothing more than a hollow, pie in the sky diatribe that offers very few and concrete solutions. On all these issues, the President gave citizens of the Pacific Northwest more reasons to separate from his policies of money and hegemony and form a government that is truly by, of, and for them. On health care, the Republicans have a poor track record. Time and again, they work not in the direction of deregulation and a free medical market or in the direction towards providing full health care for every citizen, but rather cater towards the institutions, fraternal guilds, and corporations that dominate the medical system. Republicans, with federal-level Democrats not far behind, have eagerly pushed for a health care policy not for the people, but for the doctors and corporations. Mr. Bush tonight showed again the failures of a money-racked two party system. Later in Bush’s speech, he discussed reducing America’s “dependence on foreign energy sources” (note shied away from his favorite word: “oil”) by funding hydrogen fuel-cell energy alternatives with less than two billion dollars over an unmentioned timeframe. The goal? Make affordable hydrogen cars available by 2019. This is ludicrous! It is commonly-held knowledge that cars have been developed which can run with relative proficiency on fuel-cells. And yet the auto industry continues to sell the idea that this technology could not feasibly become even marketable until 2010. They continue to present this notion that fuel-cell technology is something they cannot afford to research, and can only do so with the help of federal dollars. The automobile industry, gasoline industry, and government all have vested interests in keeping gasoline-fueled cars the norm: the first two for profit, the third as a source of taxation. Congratulations, Mr. Bush, on hiking corporate welfare, dismantling the middle class, and at the same time perpetuating the petrocentric status quo. Bush also mentioned his proposal to help reduce the forest fires that ravaged much of Cascadia’s southernmost forests. His proposal, though, is to thin out old-growth forests. The notion to thin-out forests in order to save them is like trying to stop a flood by putting more water into the river. This results in weak undergrowth filling in where the ancient trees used to reach skywards, thereby creating a forest system that is considerably more prone to go up in a blaze. The White House has again chosen to listen to lobbyists rather than to common sense. Finally, Bush made his best ‘grave and serious’ face and presented the administration’s best reasons to disarm Iraq and control North Korea. Bush compared North Korea’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons to blackmail. If nuclear armament leads to blackmailing, then the United States has led the way for several decades over. Also, North Korea’s active involvement in arms trading can be heavily attributed to America’s holding of sanctions and contempt towards their government and people. If America had held true to their 1994 treaty with North Korea and then placed the country on their Axis of Evil (effectively a hit list), then Pyongyang would likely never have begun it’s nuclear program. Actual evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or of it’s complicity with terrorists, are scant at best. Indeed, it is widely known and commonly acknowledged that even supposing Saddam Hussein has WMD’s, his government would have no way to deliver them to America. In fact, they could not even reach Jerusalem. Workings with al-Qaeda are also sketchy: remember that Osama bin Laden is opposed to Saddam Hussein: Iraq, you see, has total religious freedom, something bin Laden violently abhors. With it apparent that Iraqi WMD’s pose no threat to the United States, the only rational reason left for the federal executive to be so pushing this war is oil. In a car-centered society such as America, the 20% of the world’s known oil supplies that lie underneath Iraq would be very precious indeed in the hands of the powerholding elites of the US. George Bush has again proven his administration’s wanton disregard for the will, safety, and tax burdens of the governed, and has placed corporate profits over democracy, peace, and stability. The CNP also must address the very lackluster and implausable response by the Democrats which was given by Governor Gary Locke of our Cascadian state of Washington. If bringing Governor Locke on for the response of this supposed "opposition" was to be an effective way to get the message out for changes, real and substantial changes, then it has been muddled by the words of an ineffective and weak Governor. While great stirdes were made in reducing class sizes in Washington's public schools and rasing the standards in tests and training of teachers during his tenure, Locke has done a 180 degree turn and cut funding for the very schools he has supposed to champion. Cutting the funding for public schools, stopping the cost of living raise initiative that the voters passed, and cutting tuition grants off from the young people of Washington state, denying them the right to get a higher education in Washington's universities. The same can be said about other essential services that are to be cut as well. He also handled the state tax on gasoline very poorly. Instead of fixing the roads and improving mass transportation, the money went the state general fund. This is the kind of shortcomings that have brought Republicans out to mislead the voters of Washington state to vote for tax cutting initiatives. Furthermore, Gary Locke seems to think that the federal government is going to come through by some divine miracle to help bail out states like our Washington and Oregon in our financial woes. Let us get back to reality. The state governments in Salem and Olympia must no longer expect Washington, D.C. to come through with money to bolster the economy and cure our social ills. The people of Cascadia must convince their local leaders to start looking inward and shore up whatever resources are there and work on the problems ourselves. This means concentrating on localizing government decisions through direct democracy, encouraging investments in communities and cooperative businesses,loosening our drugs and vice laws, make university education for our students a top priority, and ending corporate welfare among other things. These would help shore up whatever money that is needed in the long term. Unless our leaders come up with bold and innovative solutions to our problems, the situations we face will continue to haunt us for years to come. There must be a way to put an end to this vicious cycle of corruption, handouts to the rich, and the wanton destruction of our communities and the services that are needed. The Democrats and Republicans do not have the answers anymore. The time is here for a fresh new approach particularly for the people that make up the states of Cascadia. (12/15/02) New e mail address now used for John Phillip (Seattle). "cnp4cascadia@angelfire.com" will no longer be used. His new email address is "wa_cnp@yahoo.com". (11/17/02) Contacts added to to our "JOIN US!" page. (11/13/02) New policy introduced in regards to direct voting of federal cabinet positions. (See platform policies under DEMOCRACY)