When Bush was installed by a corrupt Supreme Court in the year 2000 landmark case, Bush v. Gore, it was pretty clear what he stood for. He campaigned on it, talked about it. His record was clear. And just in case anybody had any doubt, the great Molly Ivins told us exactly what to expect from Bush, in her two great books, "Bushwhacked", and "Shrub." And Bush delivered exactly as expected.
He gave his constituency exactly what hey were expecting. And I'm referring to a very large number of voters who hold views influenced by remnants of a puritanical legacy, who view the concepts of power and wealth as being associated with blessings that result from piety, hard work, and responsibility. And view poverty and misfortune as the result of sin and debauchery. For this very significant portion of the population, the mere evidence of extreme wealth and power is sufficient proof of blessings to those who deserve them.
And then there are the racists, the nativists, the ultra-nationalists, and the religious fundamentalists. To this core constituency, Bush was very faithful. He delivered over and over again, with passion, conviction, and in-your-face what-are-you-going-to-about-it brashness.
So, together with Cheney (or some would say, under Cheney), they proceeded to deliver on their promises. They looked the other way while people in their administration were "running around with their hair on fire" warning them about an imminent attack on U.S. soil. And then after the attack took place, they took advantage of the situation in order to start an unnecessary war in Iraq, reward their cronies with huge government contracts that transferred hundreds of billions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers to corrupt organizations connected to the Bush influence-peddling machine.
They significantly weakened individual constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure, habeas corpus, and privacy rights.
They dismantled the proper function of government, including the regulatory infrastructure, so the government treasury (i.e., taxpayers' money) could be depleted, and to make sure wealth and power is transferred from a government of the people to the hands of a few Oligarchs.
They committed war crimes with impunity, rewarded their funders and backers with hundreds of billions of dollars with sweet-deal contracts facilitated by cronyism, and helped Wall Street steal trillion of dollars, while plunging the population into economic calamity and quasi-serfdom.
If I was a wild-eyed end-of-days religious fundamentalist, or a hate-filled racist, or a misguided follower of socioeconomic philosophies influenced by Social Darwinism, eugenics, Ayn Rand, or Leo Strauss, I would be extremely satisfied with the Bush presidency.
And of course, if I was a member of the Oligarchy (top .5 percent of income, Wall Street bankers) running the United States, who uses members of the aforementioned groups as their useful idiots, I would also be extremely pleased with Bush's two terms.
They put everything in place for the nascent fascist state which is now consolidating power.
And the results have been great for them... Huge unemployment rate among minorities (much worst than the white population); huge disparities in wealth among racial groups; huge increase of for-profit private prisons now being used as detention camps to house hundreds of thousands of immigrants, and which later could be used to detain people engaged in resistance movements and protests against corruption.
In the face of what normal, thinking human beings, could only characterized as a very dark period in the history of this country--the Bush/Cheney criminal reign--candidate Obama came forward with a message of Hope and Change.
His oratory was very uplifting, passionate, and ringed true. He talked about the undue influence of business special interests in Washington, about the corruptive influence of lobbyists, about the importance of respecting the rule of law, and about closing Gitmo, and about the suffering millions of people were going through as a direct result of corruption and misguided policies in the previous administration.
I saw him in person at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco. The place was packed. There were lines of people going around two blocks just waiting to get in to see him. All those young people who have been inspired by this once-in-a-lifetime principled leader. The pendulum of history was a bout to swing back from a dark and corrupt period to a hopeful and bright future. That was the hope. We were fired-up and ready to go!
This had to be true, because if it wasn't, the consequences would have been truly catastrophic. Because only a wolf in sheep's clothing could be so callous as to dash the hopes of millions of people coming out of a truly dark and corrupt period in our history.
So maybe for his economic team he would appoint, or seek advice from people like former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, or Nobel prize-winning economists like Joseph Stiglitz, or Paul Krugman. Right? It was only normal. It would bring together the rhetoric of "hope and change" with reality.
But once in office, something very strange and disheartening happened. The wars would continue transferring hundreds of billions of dollars to war profiteers; Gitmo would remain opened; a huge escalation of cowardly video game-like killings from the sky (drones), engulfing innocent civilians in what is euphemistically called collateral damage.
And the very people who perpetrated the biggest financial crime in history were put in charge of economic policy. And a criminal cover-up continues by bought-off government officials. And pressure is put on principled and ethical prosecutors trying to properly investigate the unprecedented wave of looting that took place during the last decade, by Wall Street.
And now we find out even more about the massive thievery: "Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion in Secret Loans."
And what a perfect place to end this reflection... Aristocracy. So here we are; as the level of oppression and manipulation on the populace continues increases; as the thievery by Wall Street continues unabated, with the full collaboration of the bought-off government. The new neo-fascist Aristocracy continues to consolidate its hold on power.
And this came to be how it happened.
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UPDATE: Some are implying that I'm saying that Obama is going to jail protesters in for-profit prisons. My view on this, of course, is more nuanced than that. Private for-profit prisons create an incentive for more prisoners. As the economy deteriorates, and as corruption continues unabated, it is likely that eventually there will be more protests against the corruption. During the 2008 election some protesters were hit with terrorism charges. This article by TPM provides a good perspective on this issue: Report: Private Prisons Love Mass Incarceration, And Want Politicians To Love It Too
Here are some quotes (the emphasis is mine):
Private prison companies have helped fuel government policies which lead to an increase in prison population and boost their profits, according to a recent report.
The private prison population has grown 353.7 percent in the past 15 years, according to a study by the Justice Policy Institute. Major private prison companies have an incentive to encourage policies which keep that number on the rise.
"Steady increases in the number of people in private prisons, especially those coming from federally contracted beds, translate into increased revenues for private prison companies," the report says.
"Since private prison companies are in the business to make money, policies that maintain or increase incarceration boost their revenues; from a business perspective, the economic and social costs of mass incarceration are 'externalities' that aren't figured into their corporate bottom line," it says.
Here's an expanded perspective:
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