THE CASE AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH by Ron Reagan
Esquire
How The Media Let Bush Get Away With Lie After Lie
...There
is a surreal quality to all this: Occupation is liberation; Iraq is
sovereign, but we're in control; Saddam is in Iraqi custody, but we've
got him; we'll get out as soon as an elected Iraqi government asks us,
but we'll be there for years to come. Which is what we counted on in
the first place, only with rose petals and easy coochie.
...All
Administrations will dissemble, distort, or outright lie when their
backs are against the wall, when honesty begins to look like political
suicide. But this administration seems to lie reflexively, as if it
were simply the easiest option for busy folks with a lot on their
minds. While the big lies are more damning and of immeasurably greater
import to the nation, it is the small, unnecessary prevarications that
may be diagnostic. Who lies when they don't have to? When the simple
truth, though perhaps embarrassing in the short run, is nevertheless in
one's long-term self-interest? Why would a pResident whose calling card
is his alleged rock-solid integrity waste his chief asset for
penny-ante stakes? Habit, perhaps. Or an inability to admit even small
mistakes.
Mr.
Bush's tendency to meander beyond the bounds of truth was evident
during the 2000 campaign but was largely ignored by the mainstream
media. His untruths simply didn't fit the agreed-upon narrative. While
generally acknowledged to be lacking in experience, depth, and other
qualifications typically considered useful in a leader of the free
world, Bush was portrayed as a decent fellow nonetheless, one whose
straightforwardness was a given. None of that "what the meaning of is
is" business for him....Al Gore, on the other hand, was depicted as a
dubious self-reinventor, stained like a certain blue dress by Bill
Clinton's prurient transgressions. He would spend valuable weeks
explaining away statements—"I invented the Internet"—that he never made
in the first place. All this left the coast pretty clear for Bush.
Scenario
typical of the 2000 campaign: While debating Al Gore, Bush tells two
obvious — if not exactly earth-shattering — lies and is not challenged.
First, he claims to have supported a patient's bill of rights while
governor of Texas. This is untrue. He, in fact, vigorously resisted
such a measure, only reluctantly bowing to political reality and
allowing it to become law without his signature. Second, he announces
that Gore has outspent him during the campaign. The opposite is true:
Bush has outspent Gore. These misstatements are briefly acknowledged in
major press outlets, which then quickly return to the more germane
issues of Gore's pancake makeup and whether a certain feminist author
has counseled him to be more of an "alpha male."
Having
gotten away with such witless falsities, perhaps Mr. Bush and his team
felt somehow above day-to-day truth. In any case, once ensconced in the
White House, they picked up where they left off.”
To read the complete article, click here.
Esquire, September 2004, Volume 142, Issue 3
Thanks to Darrell Lewis for turning this in.
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Sunday, August 29
THE CASE AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH by Ron Reagan
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 29 Aug 2004 05:11 PM CDT
Zogby Says Junta Is On The Ropes
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 29 Aug 2004 01:28 PM CDT
Zogby Says Junta Is On The Ropes
by Linda Thieman Q: How many journalists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: None. They wait for a Republican mouthpiece to tell them it's in, and then they repeat it ad infinitum as fact without ever verifying it. One of our favorite (non-Republican mouthpiece) journalists, Eleanor Clift, has a couple of articles out in Newsweek in which she discusses a recent Zogby poll. The analysis is quite interesting. In “Fighting a Phony War: Is The Real Aim of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) to Divert Attention from Iraq,” (August 20) Clift concludes with this remark: Questioning Kerry’s heroism fires up the GOP base, but it leaves “solid undecideds” cold. They’re not paying attention. Zogby says among this very narrow 5 percent of the electorate, 16 percent say Bush deserves to be re-[s]elected; 39 percent say it’s time for somebody new. “You can’t help but look at those numbers and conclude they’ve made up their mind about one side,” says Zogby. But Kerry hasn’t been able to close the deal. Zogby has him stuck at 47 percent, which isn’t good. But Bush is stuck at 43 percent, which is worse. “It’s still the phony war period,” says Zogby. For an incumbent pResident in as much trouble as Bush, fighting a war that’s been over for nearly 30 years takes voters’ minds off Iraq. So, according to Clift, the “solid undecideds” are not paying attention, although it looks like 39% of “undecideds” are leaning Kerry and 16% are leaning towards the junta. Plus, she makes the assertion that the GOP smear tactics “fire up the GOP base,” but mentions nothing about how these tactics also seem to be firing up the Democratic base. I mean, if my own reaction and that of Iowa’s own Rapid Response team is any indication, this thing is going to backfire big time on junta-meister Karl Rove and his boy-toy puppet. The following week (August 27), in Clift’s piece called “Bush’s Sleeper Cells: All it takes is a wink and a nod from the White House, and this network springs into action,” she does discuss the possible “boomerang” effect: My Republican mole on Capitol Hill says the green light has gone out to Republicans to do whatever it takes to get Bush elected. “This is the way we hold onto power,” he says with disgust. Pollster John Zogby’s survey of battleground states taken last week as the Swift Boat controversy raged shows no fundamental change in the race. “It’s running its course, and it may boomerang,” he says of the attack on Kerry’s heroism. But here’s the point that Clift made that really struck me: The fact that the sleeper network has gone nuclear is evidence of Bush’s weakness, not his strength, says Zogby. “If [the Bush team] weren’t seeing serious damage, they wouldn’t be hitting so hard so early. The pResident is on the ropes; there’s no other way of looking at it.” Kind of reminds me of this dog we had when I was a kid. Ordinarily, she just loved my dad, but one day, she tried to jump up onto the back of a chair and fell and broke her leg. She was wounded and in excruciating pain, so when my dad lifted her to take her to the vet, she attacked him, the first bite going all the way through his thumb, then followed by traveling bites all the way up his arm, just like Gomez kissing Morticia when she speaks French. Both dog and dad survived, until a year later when a bread truck smashed the dog flat in front of my eyes. May we wish a similar fate for the junta. But, in the meantime, the junta survives, and as Clift points out, the nation’s attention has been successfully diverted from the real news: Bush’s failed Iraq war and the announcement of 1.3 million more Americans living in poverty.
Call to Action: Emergency Relief for State Medicaid
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 29 Aug 2004 10:31 AM CDT
Call to Action: Emergency Relief for State Medicaid
Write Your U.S. Senators People living with HIV/AIDS face many challenges. Paying for their medical care shouldn't be one of them. Because of recent cuts to state Medicaid funds, many people may lack the assistance they need to stay healthy. Take action today - copy the message below to send to your U.S. Senators. Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) have sponsored S.2671, which would provide $4.8 billion over 15 months in fiscal relief for Medicaid, as well as reimbursing states for $1.2 billion in costs they will incur in administering parts of the new Medicare prescription drug law. The bipartisan bill temporarily increases each state's federal Medicaid assistance percentage rate by 1.26 percent for 15 months from July 1, 2004, through Sept. 30, 2005. This increase in funding is essential. Medicaid continues to be a lifeline for thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS. The program is the largest payer of AIDS care and has provided access to lifesaving medical treatments that have revolutionized the disease, with 60 to 80 percent reductions in deaths and HIV-associated complications. Please email your U.S. Senators today and ask them to sign on as co-sponsors of this vital measure. Click here to email Senator Tom Harkin. Click here to email Senator Chuck "I bow to the special interests" Grassley. Here's a letter you can copy and send to Harkin and Grassley. Subject: Support State Medicaid Funding! Dear Senator, As a resident of Iowa, a constituent of yours, and a voter, I am asking you to help people living with HIV/AIDS by signing on as a co-sponsor of S. 2671. Co-authored by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), S.2671 would provide $4.8 billion over 15 months in fiscal relief for Medicaid, as well as reimbursing states for $1.2 billion in costs they will incur in administering parts of the new Medicare prescription drug law. The bill temporarily increases each state's federal Medicaid assistance percentage rate by 1.26 percent for 15 months from July 1, 2004, through Sept. 30, 2005. This increase in funding is essential. Medicaid continues to be a lifeline for thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS. The program is the largest payer of AIDS care and has provided access to lifesaving medical treatments that have revolutionized the disease, with 60 to 80 percent reductions in deaths and HIV-associated complications. Because of state budget cuts, Medicaid programs across the country are struggling to continue providing comprehensive health services to eligible beneficiaries. Faced with dwindling resources, states are making difficult choices, from limiting eligibility to capping prescription drug benefits. An infusion of federal dollars into these programs would greatly assist states' efforts to continue offering medically necessary services to low-income seniors, pregnant women, children and persons with disabilities who depend upon Medicaid for their health care. I urge you to co-sponsor S. 2671 and provide state Medicaid programs with the funding needed to keep people healthy!
Deserter's Delight: An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 29 Aug 2004 05:07 AM CDT
Deserter's Delight: An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush
AlterNet.org Dear Mr. Bush: It takes real courage to desert your post and then attack a wounded vet. Dear Mr. Bush, I know you and I have had our differences in the past, and I realize I am the one who started this whole mess about "who did what" during Vietnam when I brought up that "deserter" nonsense back in January. But I have to hand it to you on what you have uncovered about John Kerry and his record in Vietnam. Kerry has tried to pass himself off as a war hero, but thanks to you and your friends, we now know the truth. First of all, thank you for pointing out to all of us that Mr. Kerry was never struck by a BULLET. It was only SHRAPNEL that entered his body! I did not know that! Hell, what's the big deal about a bunch of large, sharp, metal shards ripping open your flesh? That happens to all of us! In my opinion, if you want a purple heart, you'd better be hit by a bullet – with your name on it! Secondly, thank you for sending Bob Dole out there and letting us know that Mr. Kerry, though wounded three times, actually "never spilled blood." When you are in the debates with Kerry, turn to him and say, "Dammit, Mr. Kerry, next time you want a purple heart, you better spill some American red blood! And I don't mean a few specks like those on O.J.'s socks – we want to see a good pint or two of blood for each medal. In fact, I would have preferred that you had bled profusely, a big geyser of blood spewing out of your neck or something!" Then throw this one at him: "Senator Kerry, over 58,000 brave Americans gave their lives in Vietnam – but YOU didn't. You only got WOUNDED! What do you have to say for yourself???" Lay that one on him and he won't know what to do. Click here to read the rest of Moore's letter. |
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