Saturday, July 10, 2004
Values a la Gotham Notes
Washington Post: Rhetoric On Values Turns Personal0 comments
the Bush campaign accused the new Democratic ticket of condoning a "star-studded hate-fest."
So?
There's a problem here?
Although—unfortunately for me—I'm no star, let me go on record:
I Hate George W. Bush.
There, I said it.
It didn't start out that way.
During the 2000 Republican primary season, I knew next to nothing about this man, had never really heard of him until he entered the race and therefore bore him no malice—despite not being a fan of his father.
I was perfectly open to his making his case, and was prepared to take him on face value. If he stated a case that resonated with me, perhaps I might support him.
I do admit, however, to becoming exceedingly nervous as I read of the men Bush began to surround himself with during the latter stages of the campaign. I knew they favored privilege and power over good governance and spelled major trouble for the country. I hoped this fellow Bush was strong enough to rein them in.
But he didn't rein them in; they caused major trouble for the country; and, now after four years of living under Bush's stewardship I can clearly state:
I Hate George W. Bush.
Not as a man, necessarily, but for what he has allowed on his watch.
He allowed the utter manipulation and diminuation of the Judicial Branch of this government by allowing his campaign and the forces of Bush family uber-fixer James Baker to twist the Supreme Court into corrupting itself.
I hate George Bush for that.
As the Florida debacle was playing itself out, Alan Greenspan was cautioning the financial markets that stock prices were going to have to be brought down very gingerly to achieve a "soft landing" and avoid a crash or a recession, President-elect Bush then veered from extolling his long-sought tax cuts as a means of reapportioning the massive surplus to being the only way to avoid the impending crash! His statements at that time were filled with "The sky is falling! We need my tax cuts now!" rhetoric, spooking an already fearful Wall Street into a panic.
I hate George Bush for that.
My retirement savings, and those of millions of other Americans, have been wiped out.
I hate George Bush for that.
Once those never-needed tax cuts were shoved through, I received a whopping $300 check that disappeared quickly, with no appreciable impact on my financial condition. At the same time, the upper tiers of society—those who Bush refers to as "my base!"—received hundreds of thousands of dollars which, as we have witnessed, never trickled down much past their brokers' offices.
I hate George Bush for that.
The economy was then (choose: incompetently or callously) allowed to tank, forcing CEOs throughout the land to make their individual companies look better to Wall St. analysts by shedding an aggragate 3 million jobs, thereby making it nearly impossible for many millions of Americans to make a living, fend for their families and/or avoid financial ruin.
I hate George Bush for that.
As the natural cycle of the global economy finally turned upwards, our economy rebounded mightily, creating untold millions of dollars, which were then allowed by the Treasury and Justice Departments and the SEC to remain as record corporate profits and shareholder returns—without even a meager administration nudge or push towards having companies reinvest those profits into reinvigorating the workforce. As sales of the most expensive luxury-ticket items at specialty stores have soared over the last two years, so have sales for the deepest, most-discounted items and stores, as formerly middle-class Americans have fought bitterly to survive. Meanwhile, mid-level items and stores, the core of small business in this country, have withered.
I hate George Bush for that.
This administration entered office with a clear desire and plan to pursue Cold War foreign policies. No basic problems with that. But they also rebuffed all efforts from both professional government policy types and appointed Clinton staffers that the maddingly formless al Qaeda was now our greatest national security threat—not any other country on the face of the globe. The Bush administration has steadfastly held to the Country vs. Country formula as the basis of their pursuing those who have attacked us, whether it applies or not. To date, this has cost three thousand dead on our shores, a thousand dead U.S. and "coalition" soldiers in Iraq and the deaths of upwards to 10,000 Iraqi citizens. Yes, it can be claimed that George W. Bush is a killer. He never pulled a trigger; he merely signed the orders.
I hate George Bush for that.
Both the House Government Reform Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee have verified what many millions of Americans have long suspected—that, over the course of two years, the president, vice president, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and National Security Advisor embarked on a clear, consistent campaign of stating misleading information which was intended to win support for policies that may not have been allowed to stand on their own merits by the American public.
I hate George Bush for that.
This administration has allowed the horrors that have befallen this country to serve as a smoke-screen for wiping away basic human, and heretofore, classically American rights, by Justice Department actions, governmental commission and administrative office regulatory rulings, and a slew of rightist legislation ram-rodded through Congress by the leaders of a rubber-stamp Republican majority.
I hate George Bush for that.
Now, in the close to five full months since the New Hampshire primary, the Bush-Cheney campaign is closing in on spending $100 million in campaign ads which to date have studiously avoided extolling even ONE factual plus that has occurred on Bush's watch: their ads stand as a mixture of "John Kerry is Satan!" combined with shabby emotional "feel good" ads pointing to Bush as a beatific, glorious "Leader" who is to be revered, due to his very presence, and little else.
After a full three and a half years in office, this man is running for re-election with absolutely no positive record to run on. He can only tear down his opponent.
I hate George Bush for that.
His campaign views Americans as being excessively gullable and stupid.
I hate George Bush for that.
As opposed to those who hated President Bill Clinton as a human being and/or as an icon, this has nothing to do with hating Bush the man.
This is about hating the stewardship which has led this great country to financial and moral bankruptcy.
George W. Bush has led the efforts—or allowed others to lead the efforts, we may never fully know which—that have have corrupted America's very soul.
I hate George Bush the most for that.
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 6:31 PM
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