Charles

Degelman

October 28, 2002

BushCo v. Wellstone: Means, Motive, and Opportunity

I confess my weakness: I do not dare mourn Paul Wellstone. I do not have the strength to consider what the loss of this man represents.

I must also confess: I have not been a conspiracy enthusiast, not for a long time. Chasing conspiracy theories leads to madness and besides, they often give too much credit to the alleged conspirators.

However, the death of Paul Wellstone has given me cause to move beyond my weaknesses and set aside my lack of enthusiasm for conspiracy. Why?

The Bush Administration was not elected. It was appointed by the Supreme Court. That makes it a de facto conspiracy against the U.S. Constitution and the American people.

As such, the Bush Administration may someday be described as the first “pure” corporate oligarchy. It does run the government like a corporation, does it not?

As a new corporation, the Bush Administration made its appearance with the appointment of its CEO, George W. Bush, Jr, by a Supreme Court that behaved more like a board of directors than as interpreters of the U.S. Constitution.

Currently, BushCo stands in high profile as the proponent of what might be described as a hostile corporate takeover of Iraq. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that the Bush Administration is a corporation and give it a corporate name, something that will look good on a logo and read easy in the market reports: Let’s call the Bush Administration “BushCo.”

Currently, BushCo is doing admirably. What a coup, what a dream: Promise to rid the corporate agenda of the need to address an intractable Congress and unpredictable populace. And, with the Cold War over and Clinton liberals out of the way, BushCo has a precious opportunity to pick up where the Elder Bush left off in his role as CEO of the United States.

Furthermore, BushCo is unopposed militarily. This unique strategic situation throws fat on the fire of its already robust corporate agenda. And from the beginning, BushCo has understood the unique nature of its opportunity. To wit,

•If we can get Florida, we can take the Presidency.

•If we can declare war, we can avoid a discussion of the economy.

•If we avoid a discussion of the economy, we can take the mid-terms.

•If we can take the mid-terms, we can take Congress.

•If we take Congress, we can take the Supreme Court.

•If we take Congress and the Supreme Court, we don’t need to worry about the constituency.

Small steps moving ahead to hoped-for victory, like a clever team under pressure in the final moments of a game. Corporations like to think like teams; teams like to get bought by corporations. A perfect circle of money and strategy. Keep your head down, rush, huddle, rush, just a few more yards to a first down. Rush, huddle, rush. Do it all over again, keep it up, and…Touchdown!

Part of corporate strategy is to stop at nothing. BushCo will try anything. Its tactics and strategy are clear: Go for it. If we fail, we fail. If we win…

Florida has proven that BushCo knows how to seize the time. Like a good corporation, it works on short-term tactics, covers its mistakes.

Paul Wellstone stood squarely in the way of the BushCo juggernaut. Apparently, Wellstone wasn’t wearing a helmet. Even without the proper gear, he was an obstacle, not as a liberal or a closet socialist, not even as a Jew. Paul Wellstone stood in BushCo’s way as a pivotal vote in the fight for the Senate.

BushCo is trying to secure the Senate, the Supreme Court and the control of the oil in the Middle east. Like any good corporation, it will stop at nothing to achieve these objectives. It needed Paul Wellstone gone.

True, Wellstone’s plane could have fallen victim to engine or structural failure. The pilot could have suffered a heart attack. Shit happens.

Despite the awesome, far-reaching powers of the Patriot Act, I can speculate. With BushCo, my speculation goes to the classic stimuli for criminal investigation: means, motive, and opportunity.

Below is a brief account of what we know about the airplane crash that killed Paul Wellstone, his wife, and daughter. Posted simply as “an e-mail” by blogmaster Peter Coyote, the information comes from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Los Angeles Times, media studies professor Michael Niman, and government Internet sites.

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A Brief Account of the Wellstone Crash

With more than 5,000 pilot hours, Captain Richard Conry, 55, was frequently requested by clients for his reliability and experience. He enjoyed flying the reliable Beech King Air A100 twin-engine aircraft for Senator Wellstone, who requested him for the flight to Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport.

At Eleveth-Virginia, the cloud ceiling was 700 feet at the airport at the time of the crash. “A few snowflakes drifted to the ground. Winds were light,” claimed Traci Chacich, the airport’s office manager. [In other words, visibility was good.]

Chacich was the last to hear from Captain Conry, who told her he was going to land on westbound runway 27. He then clicked his microphone button to turn on the airport’s landing lights. “And then there was nothing; no distress at all,” Chacich said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) dispatched a hand-picked “Go Team” to the accident site, to be headed by seasoned investigator Robert Benzon who proved himself in the spin campaign following the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 crash out of Kennedy airport. [Speculation still holds that an errant U.S. Navy missile took down Flight 800 by accident.]

NTSB acting chair Carol Carmody also flew to Minnesota to spin the press. Ms. Carmody has held aviation-related political appointments since the Reagan Administration appointed her to an FAA-Congress liaison post in 1985.

Although recent public polls claim the Senate election was too close to call, experienced Minnesota politicos all favored Senator Wellstone, whose impassioned, morals-inspired speech against the Iraq war resolution played well in the populist state. [Various BushCo execs campaigned in Minnesota to prop up Wellstone's BushCo candidate, Norm Coleman. Despite being outspent by massive infusions from the Republican National Committee, Wellstone was beating Coleman in the polls.]

Actually, I can envision Coleman rolling on BushCo. I doubt that he was consulted about the Wellstone assassination caper. Another Republican Senator recently crossed over from the BushCo side.

Since Minnesota law allows the Democratic Party to substitute candidate names on ballots up to four days before the election, it’s convenient that the crash killed Senator Wellstone’s wife. She is well-known as an intelligent partner in the Senator’s efforts, and could have carried his torch as a critic of the Bush regime’s oil war. It was known that Mrs. Wellstone would join her husband on the trip to the funeral.

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I don’t ask that you become a conspiracy theorist. Just keep your eyes open, use your head, and ask questions: Paul Wellstone died suddenly, violently. Did anyone have the means, motive, and opportunity to kill him, his wife, daughter, and staff? Who? How? And Why?

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SIDEBAR: Similar Aeronautical Accidents

2000: Mel Carnahan lost his life three weeks before Election Day, during his Senatorial race against John Ashcroft. Investigators determined that Carnahan's plane went down due to "poor visibility."

1991: U.S. Senator John Heinz entered office as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, later emerged during the Bush Administration as a strong proponent of health care, social services, public transportation, the environment, and reconciliation with Cuba. He died when the landing gear on his small plane failed to function.

1991: Texas Senator John Tower died in a small plane crash during the Bush Administration. Tower was chair of the commission that investigated the Reagan- and Bush-Era Iran/Contra scandal.

1981: Panamanian General Omar Torrijos threatened to destroy the Panama Canal in the event of a U.S. invasion. He died in during the Reagan/Bush regime when the instruments in his plane failed during takeoff. Torrijos was replaced by Manuel Noreiga, who previously worked with George Bush Senior.

1972: House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, member of the Warren Commission, investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Boggs had "strong doubts" that alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing President Kennedy. He was presumed dead after a small plane carrying him and Democratic Representative Nicholas Begich disappeared.

END SIDEBAR

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