Do you live in one of the states that proudly embraced the future and pledged its electoral votes to elect Barak Obama? Ever wonder how there can still be areas of our nation that think the GOP has good ideas? You might be thinking that the folks in those red states are uninformed because they just don't read enough news to see what's going on in the world. Perhaps you imagine they get all their info from listening to comedian Rush Limbaugh and Hannity the Manatee.
Well, in some places, it may be that they make the mistake of reading what's in the local paper. And believe that those who are published must know what they are talking about. And if your local paper was the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, you might have read this insane op-ed column. For those who don't get the AJC, let's take a gander and decide whether to laugh or cry for those of us still in the wilderness.
Luke Boggs, some unknown corporate shill who resides in the white-flight exurbs north of Atlanta penned this peon to all propaganda Bushie. Just when we thought there was nothing left to defend.
He begins by intoning that national security "must be [the President's] first priority, and Bush has been an excellent wartime leader." Excellent? I could think of many ways to describe W's warmongering ways, but the word excellent never springs to mind. But excellent is not enough. Boggs also tells us that Bush "has remained a relentless and successful defender of this nation and its people." Successful and Excellent. Wow. Success? Where? Already, I'm searching for the punchline. Surely this must be satire.
He swore to preserve, protect and defend —- and he has done so.
I love this Bushie bit of bait-and-switch. Yes he swore to "preserve, protect and defend". Its right there in the oath of office. And so the Bushies like to finish the phrase with some fantasy line about "the people of the United States" or "the homeland" or something. But the oath is to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution", not to bomb and invade foreign lands. And given the domestic surveilance, torture, rendition, secret prisons, outing CIA agents, suspending habeus corpus, the Bushies remove the true meaning and insert their "24" fantasy land. If you didn't get blown up while Bush was in office, then his oath is kept.
Then McCarthy Boggs reveals the real enemy- YOU!
At every turn, Bush has been opposed by the hordes of liberal Lilliputians who dominate our colleges, newsrooms, Hollywood studios and —- more tragically —- even the Democratic caucus in Washington. They have questioned his veracity, his motives, his tactics. They have whined about Guantanamo Bay and interrogation techniques and wiretaps of foreigners.
Did you "whine" about waterboarding? Or question W's truthiness? You stinkin' Lilliputian. Darn you tiny people who think our Constitution matters! And I love the throw-in that we were upset about wiretapping of "foreigners". I guess Boggs never read that DOMESTIC wiretapping means our phone calls and e-mails.
I fear that this diary may run for a mile if I really discuss my disgust at his every ridiculous utterance. So let me just toss up a few other bits out there for your amazement. Each of which could be fodder for a diary on its own. I know how ridiculous I find Boggs' column. But I'm more curious to see what you have to say after reading this insanity. So I'll just skip to the comments after this:
Of the doctored intell gleened from Curveball:
One of the most reckless claims of Bush’s opponents is that he misled the country into Iraq by lying about Saddam Hussein’s efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. Truth is, Bush didn’t lie.
Of the quest to destroy Social Security:
In 2005, he made fixing Social Security a top priority. The rest of Washington wasn’t interested.
An ode to the Dark Lord:
Vice President Dick Cheney also deserves better. He was retired from public life and making a comfortable living when Bush asked him to run. Under such circumstances —- and with his heart troubles —- Cheney could easily have turned Bush down. But he didn’t. He served ably, and he is a hero for it, not a villain.
I don't even know how to explain this:
the president hasn’t so much let us down as we have let him down.
Finally, Boggs reveals it not his own stupidity that led him to this column, but he relies on the deep intellect of a noted political genius. No its not Karl Rove........
I saw comedian Dennis Miller in Las Vegas last year, and he neatly summed up why I remain thankful for our outgoing president. Bush, Miller explained, will still be going after the bad guys with everything he has, right up until the day he leaves office.
Seriously. This was in my newspaper today. Here's an exercize for the kids at home. Read the column and tell me the 3 biggest mistakes you can find.