SMIRKnCHIMP
Banned
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2005
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 0
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Moderate
George W. Bush is in denial of reality, in Iraq and elsewhere. But what of America itself?
More particularly, what of the majority of Americans who re-elected him?
They had the right to their democratic choice. Still, what sort of nation rewards a leader who misled it into war, spawned worldwide anger, eroded America's moral authority, turned the Iraqi occupation into a showcase for American ineptitude, and increased terrorism?
The same sort that also:
* Accepts the death of 100,000 Iraqis as unavoidable road kill by a rampaging giant avenging its 3,000 dead on 9/11, even though Iraq had nothing to do with that terrorist atrocity. * Dismisses the missing weapons of mass destruction, the raison d'être for the war, as irrelevant. * Tolerates breaches of the rule of law at home while preaching democracy abroad.
Of course, nearly half the American electorate is as upset as the rest of the world, if not more so, and has fallen into shell-shocked silence since Nov. 2. Bush promised to reach out to them. But, as usual, his words and deeds never did connect.
Donald Rumsfeld stays on. Colin Powell goes out. Condoleezza Rice gets a promotion. So does Alberto Gonzales, the White House consigliere who justified torture. All will dance to the drumbeat of Dick Cheney's next war, perhaps on Iran.
Tax cuts are to continue, worsening the record deficit (already at 5 per cent of the GDP).
Social security is to be privatized, in the name of fixing it.
Medicare is to stay private, leaving 45 million citizens uncovered.
Democracy, too, is being handed over to corporate interests and lobbies.
More particularly, what of the majority of Americans who re-elected him?
They had the right to their democratic choice. Still, what sort of nation rewards a leader who misled it into war, spawned worldwide anger, eroded America's moral authority, turned the Iraqi occupation into a showcase for American ineptitude, and increased terrorism?
The same sort that also:
* Accepts the death of 100,000 Iraqis as unavoidable road kill by a rampaging giant avenging its 3,000 dead on 9/11, even though Iraq had nothing to do with that terrorist atrocity. * Dismisses the missing weapons of mass destruction, the raison d'être for the war, as irrelevant. * Tolerates breaches of the rule of law at home while preaching democracy abroad.
Of course, nearly half the American electorate is as upset as the rest of the world, if not more so, and has fallen into shell-shocked silence since Nov. 2. Bush promised to reach out to them. But, as usual, his words and deeds never did connect.
Donald Rumsfeld stays on. Colin Powell goes out. Condoleezza Rice gets a promotion. So does Alberto Gonzales, the White House consigliere who justified torture. All will dance to the drumbeat of Dick Cheney's next war, perhaps on Iran.
Tax cuts are to continue, worsening the record deficit (already at 5 per cent of the GDP).
Social security is to be privatized, in the name of fixing it.
Medicare is to stay private, leaving 45 million citizens uncovered.
Democracy, too, is being handed over to corporate interests and lobbies.
We need the good people of America to teach those who have their eyes and ears closed.
