Cross posted to
Blog and Tan.
These are bizarre days to be an American, and very difficult times to be blindly supportive of its aims. With the events and revelations of the last two years, we sit with the veil pulled back on the men behind the marketing. Our situation, our strengths and our weaknesses are largely the result of policy decisions made at the highest levels of government. These policy decisions, which encourage and discourage by means of opportunity zones and tax incentives, benefit administration cronies to the detriment of ordinary Americans--though they remain amazingly ignorant of this due to clever marketing and drone-like repetition of the way the administration would like us to believe things to be.
Let's review a few major initiatives after the flip:
- Energy policy. In 2003, details of the super-secretive Cheney-led energy task force were revealed. Turns out that maps of Iraqi oil fields were included in this group's work, which you may remember was completed in the first few months of the Bush presidency in early 2001. It also included, word-for-word in some cases, the reccommendations of "utility companies and the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries." I wonder if this includes a suggestion that "clean, safe nuclear energy" should be encouraged as a way to minimize dependence on foreign oil? And what a fantastic success this group has been, ensuring high prices at the pump and high profits for oil companies.
- 9/11. Some have argued that our defence forces were ordered to "stand down" on 9/11, otherwise we would have intercepted the jets. I am unconvinced of this allegation; however, because 9/11--remembered ad nauseum at practically every Presidential speech since--justifies the "long war" we now find ourselves in, there remain unanswered questions which need to be conclusively addressed.
- Afghanistan. In response to 9/11, we attacked the Taliban in the fall of 2001. There was first the missed opportunity at Tora Bora, then a reduction of forces as America began to focus on Iraq. The country remains in poverty, and its returning refugees are disappointed even after $8 billion has been spent on reconstruction.
- Iraq. The first public announcement of this policy decision was the 2002 State of the Union, in which Iraq, Iran and North Korea were labeled the "Axis of Evil."
- The Downing Street Memos document America's decision to go to war before all the facts were in. Further, a newly released memo alleges that Bush "considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it." This covert false-flag operation sounds a lot like Operation Northwoods.
- The failure: Absolute lack of weapons of mass destruction found; increased terrorist presence enabled. WMD were allegedly not the only reason; Paul Wolfowitz said simply that WMD were the "reason we could agree upon."
- John Murtha: "Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency, ... They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion." Amusingly, conservatives argue that because Bin Laden's latest speech isolates our presence in the Middle East as one of his main complaints, Bin Laden has "joined the John Murtha wing" of the Democratic Party. It would be more productive for them to recognize that we are an incendiary presence there, and to start planning to bring our soldiers home.
- Iran. The sabre rattling has begun with this 2nd member of the Axis, and I hesitate to think of how badly we can louse this one up. After all, unlike Iraq, Iran actually has capacity for nuclear weapons, and has stated that our protectorate Israel should be "wiped off the map." Ironically Israel has begun training its pilots for a possible pre-emptive mission, as it believes partially due to Iraq, the US may not be in a position to attack on its behalf.
- Domestic Surveillance. The government, under direct orders of President Bush, has created its "Terrorist Surveillance Program" to intercept communications of Al Qaeda with people in the U.S. Analysis of this program, though, appears to indicate that after filtering through "hundreds of thousands of faxes, e-mails and telephone calls" by computer and narrowing down using various artificial intelligence means, few helpful leads have been produced. One potential question raised is as follows:
National security lawyers, in and out of government, said the washout rate raised fresh doubts about the program's lawfulness under the Fourth Amendment, because a search cannot be judged "reasonable" if it is based on evidence that experience shows to be unreliable.
- Healthcare. While not addressing the 45 million Americans without health insurance, the Bush administration has focused billions on preparing for a "bird flu epidemic" -- which, although a legitimate possibility, is no more likely than it was in the last five years. Why has this suddenly become a priority? The question should probably be rephrased: Why, all of a sudden, with poll numbers in the toilet, do they want us runnning scared of this?
- Hurricane Katrina. The biggest domestic emergency since 9/11 was a huge setback for the Department of Homeland Security, and particularly its FEMA agency. This was a tragedy that had been predicted for not just years but decades, after Hurricane Betsy in 1965 "ravaged New Orleans, trapping as many as 30,000 residents in their homes. Families hacked through attic timbers to take refuge on their roofs, and at least 70 people died." With such long-standing evidence and predictions for a catastrophic event, cuts in the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers were all but unthinkable, even if they didn't directly contribute to the levee breaches, but they couldn't have helped. And given FEMA's role in assisting the States during national emergencies, Bush's appointment of the clearly incompetent Mike Brown to lead the agency was a travesty.
- Employment. Americans are working harder and harder, with fewer benefits, to maintain their standard of living. We consider it the "norm" but we work more than most industrialized countries, particularly in Europe, where the quality of life is just as important. In America, however, the welfare of the corporation is key.
- Tax Policy. Tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor high-income Americans, marketed as the solution for good economies and bad, are standard fare--the only fare--for the Bush clan. The administration provides a two-faced response to this problem: first, they deny the truth and brand critics with the term "class warfare," because apparently it's not class warfare to give tax cuts to the rich, but it is class warfare to point it out. Second, they argue that by cutting taxes for the rich and business owners, it provides an economic stimulus to the "supply side" which allows money to "trickle down" to the middle and lower class. Ferris Bueller flashback: The first President Bush called this "voodoo economics" while he was campaigning against Ronald Reagan in 1980.
- Corporate Responsibility. Bush has to be in favor of this, given the ultra-repetitive backdrop used in this speech. A recent survey shows 90% of Americans believe corporations have too much power. Corporate influence over Congress is blatant and scandalous, as evidenced by the DeLay-Abramoff superscandal. Yet a Congressman with "extensive ties to K Street" is chosen to take over for Tom DeLay as the House majority leader?
- Church and State. Through people like Tom DeLay, Bush's administration encourages "Faith-based and community initiatives." Bush himself argues that Intelligent Design should be taught in science class.
- The Environment. Which of these 10 decisions do you think is most helpful?
Ultimately, looking at everything together, the Bush administration's corporate-based initiatives have worsened America's standing at home and abroad. Here's hoping that the opposition party can make this case to the American people this year so we can put a quick end to single-party rule.