What is happening to us? Was I dreaming or was there a time when opposing views acknowledged certain virtues of the other side? It appears we are in a time where no one gives
an inch. If you do not have a good answer to respond to a serious charge, deflect the questioner with a distraction which a less astute person will ascribe as a decent answer. If your side of the aisle is on the losing end of an issue, circumvent the topic with a tactical offense laced with
smoke and mirrors. The masses will surely fall for this trick; they have in the past. They even appear to be falling for it at
present.
Listing the failures of the Bush administration is easy. I mean, you don't even have to be a liberal to come up with at least five:
- A war that was based on false information.
- A war that is being fought with minimal concern for our troops or Iraqi civilians.
- A war that was begun without a plan for the aftermath.
- A war that was begun preemptively and with complete disregard for our allies
- The leak of a covert CIA operative who happened to be a national asset for locating weapons of mass destruction
- The incredible delayed response to the worst national disaster in our history
- The appointment of cronies to key posts within our government
- Providing numerous tax cuts during a time of war and with a huge deficit.
- Bypassing laws without consulting Congress or the Judiciary, or by attaching signing statements to over 500 bills.
- Being critical of those who leak law-breaking, but silent on those whose leaks break the law.
No doubt, anyone reading this post can come up with at least another
half dozen failures, but for the sake of clarity and time, I will end the list here.
Given the ramifications of the above list, why is it that 40% of the public approve of what this president is doing? Items 1-4 have caused thousands of deaths and injuries and will cost upward of 2 trillion dollars. All of this could have been avoided with honest discourse. Yet, 40% of the public still have faith in this president who did not tell us all of what he knew before committing us to this disaster.
Presumably, those who voted this man BACK into office assumed that he would do his utmost to protect the country. If this were the case, then items #6 and #7 would not be an issue, would they? As much as I despise this president, I would not blame him for a natural disaster. Yet, the 40% who still have faith in this man saw that he did not properly supervise a Category 4 hurricane, nor did he appoint a qualified person to head the agency which was to respond to it.
The 40% who still support the "work" of this man must see how the only sacrifices being made for the Iraq war are being done by our troops. They could not possibly believe that item #8 demonstrates the sacrifice of those whom these soldiers are killing, dying and being maimed for, could they? Or maybe they conclude that anyone who musters the strength to post a yellow ribbon sticker on their car has sacrificed enough for a war that has made us less safe in the war on terror. Do the 40% even realize that we are now less safe because of this president's "leadership"?
Have the 40% actually done the mental gymnastics of comparing the various aspects of items #5 and #10? It seems that many within the 40% have concluded that Ms. Plame was not covert. So, she gave up her 20 year career in the CIA because she now wants to be a stay-at-home mom? They also imply that since Patrick Fitzgerald has not indicted anyone on the underlying crime that no harm was done. Really? Do the 40% realize that Ms. Plame was working on uncovering which enemies held weapons of mass destruction? Not only her life, but the lives of her contacts are now in jeopardy. Do the 40% understand that getting new contacts for the CIA will be much more difficult now that our government is jeopardizing their operations?
Have the 40% read the explanations of why the whistleblowers leaked the CIA camps in Europe and the secret NSA program? Do they not accept that our constitution is under attack by this administration? Does the mere possibility of this attack not cause alarm for them? Do the 40% not realize that someone whose job performance they disapprove of may now have license to disregard this sacred document thanks to "king" george? Do the 40% not realize that item #9 should send shivers down their spine?
It appears that some conservatives have come out of their trance. They are beginning to question the motives of this man and his cohorts. I applaud their courage and intellectual honesty. No one is asking them to reject their beliefs. As a matter of fact, it is time for them to cling to these beliefs with all of their might. I will even acknowledge the conservative virtues of honoring the constitution (#9), fiscal responsiblity (#8), honest government (#1,#5,#10), financial accountability (#8), personal privacy(#10 re: NSA) and expecting our tax dollars to work (#6,#7). Now that I have done this, why, pray tell, don't those conservatives in the 40% have the courage to stand by their ideals?