The Problem
State Crimes: There is substantial evidence that governments have intentionally committed state crimes by defrauding their constituencies, committing high crimes, and taking actions in direct violation of sworn oaths. In addition, there is substantial evidence for a more perfidious genre of crimes which behavioral scientists have coined “State Crimes Against Democracy,” or SCADS. These crimes can subvert political institutions and entire governments or branches of governments, thus attacking democracy itself. Examples of SCADS that have been officially proven include the Watergate break-ins and cover-up, the secret wars in Laos and Cambodia, the illegal arms sales and covert operations in Iran-Contra, and the effort to discredit Joseph Wilson by revealing his wife’s status as an intelligence agent. (pp 797, 801-803, “Beyond Conspiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crime in American Government,” by Lance deHaven-Smith)
Proposed Solutions
SCADS: The American Behavioral Scientist Journal (Vol. 53, No. 6, Sage Publications) devoted the entire February 2010 issue to framing SCAD research. It can be found at http://abs.sagepub.com/content/vol53/issue6.
Developing the heuristic, State Crimes Against Democracy, is an excellent educational aide, since the concomitant research reveals patterns in confirmed and suspected SCADS. These patterns help inform the public of the reality of these increasingly bold crimes. They also facilitate the transcendence of our cognitive constructs, such as cognitive dissonance, which can prevent us from considering the evidence of SCADS with an open mind. (p 790, “Sense Making Under ‘Holographic’ Conditions: Framing SCAD Research,” by Matthew T. Witt and Alexander Kouzmin; and “In Denial of Democracy: Social Psychological Implications for Public Discourse on State Crimes Against Democracy Post-9/11,” by Laurie Manwell)
Inform yourself and others of this research and sign the SCAD Testament and Proclamation. Link to this petition on your website, and forward it to others. Words and terms like State Crimes Against Democracy help us open our minds to otherwise unthinkable realities. Therefore, include the term SCAD in your writings and conversations.
In February, 2010, the Journal American Behavioral Scientist (Vol. 53, No. 6, Sage Publications) published an article by entitled “Beyond Cospiracy Theory: Patterns of High Crimes in American Government. It can be found at http://abs.sagepub.com/content/vol53/issue6.
The author, Florida State University professor Lance deHaven-Smith identifies examples of what he calls “State Crimes Against Democracy,” or SCADs, including McCarthyism (false evidence of communist infiltration), the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (President Johnson falsely claiming that North Vietnam attacked an American ship) and Florida’s 2000 election (disenfranchising felons), not to mention fabricating evidence of WMDs to justify the invasion of Iraq.
Another good reference is http://statecrimesagainstdemocracy.blogspot.com/.
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September 1, 2012–Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls for Bush and Blair to be put on trial for war crimes: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Shunning-Evil-Tutu-Sets-E-by-Chris-Floyd-120903-980.html