Curb your enthusiasm. Even if your favored candidate did well on Super Tuesday, ask yourself if he or she will seriously challenge the bloated military budget that President Bush has proposed for 2009. If not, military spending will rise to a level exceeding any other year since the end of World War II, and there will be precious little left over to improve education and medical research, fight poverty, protect the environment or do anything else a decent person might care about. You cannot spend well over $700 billion on “national security,” running what the White House predicts will be more than $400 billion in annual deficits for the next two years, and yet find the money to improve the quality of life on the home front.
The conventional wisdom espoused by the mass media is that Bush’s budget is a lame-duck DOA contrivance, but that assumption is wrong. The 9/11 attacks have been shamefully exploited by the military-industrial complex with bipartisan support to ramp up military expenditures beyond Cold War levels. This irrational spending spree, which accounts for more than half of all federal discretionary spending, is not likely to end with Bush’s departure. Which one of the likely winners from either party would lead the battle to cut the military budget, and where would the winner find support in Congress? Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have treated the military budget as sacrosanct with their Senate votes and their campaign rhetoric. Clinton is particularly clear on the record as favoring spending more, not less, on the military.
John McCain, who previously distinguished himself as a deficit hawk and was almost in a class by himself in taking on the rapacious defense contractors, has thrown in the towel with his inane support for staying in Iraq till “victory,” even if it should take a century. It is simply illogical to call for fiscal restraint while committing to an open-ended war in Iraq that has already cost upward of $700 billion. Bush’s request for $515.4 billion for the Defense Department doesn’t even include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which accounted for nearly $200 billion over the last budget year and which will cost at least $140 billion in 2009. Add to those numbers $17.1 billion for the Department of Energy’s weapons program and over $40 billion for the Department of Homeland Security and other national security initiatives spread throughout the federal government, and you’ll see that my $700-billion figure underestimates the hemorrhaging.
McCain knows, and has frequently stated as a Senate watchdog, that much of the military spending is wastefully superfluous for combating terrorists who lack any but the most rudimentary weapons. Bush totally betrayed his campaign 2000 promise to reshape the post-Cold War U.S. military when he seized upon the 9/11 attack as an opportunity to reverse the “peace dividend” that his father had begun to return to taxpayers. Instead, Bush II ushered in the most profligate underwriting of weapons systems that are grotesquely irrelevant for combating terrorism.
The U.S. already spends more than the rest of the world combined on its military, without a sophisticated enemy in sight. The Bush budget cuts not a single weapons system, including the most expensive ones, those designed to combat a Soviet military that no longer exists. Those sophisticated weapons have nothing to do with combating terrorism and everything to do with jobs and profits that motivate both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. It is not known whether Osama bin Laden even possesses a rowboat in his naval arsenal, but that won’t stop Joe Lieberman from pushing, as is his habit, for an increase in the defense budget to double the funding for the $3.4-billion submarines built in his home state of Connecticut. Nor does the collapse of the old Soviet Union-and with it the need for enormously expensive stealth aircraft to evade radar systems the Soviets never built-dissuade congressional supporters of those planes from pushing for more, not less, than Bush is requesting. Nor does wasting an additional $8.9 billion on ICBM missile defense have anything to do with stopping terrorists from smuggling a suitcase nuke into this country.
The centerpiece of the Bush legacy is a “war on terror” based on a vast disconnect between military expenditures and actual national security requirements that the presidential candidates all fully understand. The question is whether the voters and media will force them to face that contradiction or whether we’re in for more of the same-no matter how much the candidates go on about change.
Robert Scheer is editor of Truthdig.com and a regular columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.
© 2008 TruthDig.com
The main–and very lasting–legacy of G. W. Bush is the string of anti-citizen decisions yet to come out of the Roberts/Alito Supreme Court. If we permit John McCain to follow Bush, this “legacy” might last to mid-century.
Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton are your only two possible “legacy-busters” at this point, and if one of them is not elected, your children will be wondering why the heck you didn’t care enough about them to install proper judges when you had the chance. We, the parents, already failed once with Bush-Roberts-Alito.
Care to worship Ralph Nader while failing again?
To understand where this fiscal irresponsibility is going to take this country, you need only look at the example of Spain in the 16th century. Despite enjoying the huge advantage of an inflow of gold and silver from the New World, Hapsburg Spain became a debtor country, borrowing to pay for its imperial wars. By the beginning of the 17th century Spain was already in a severe decline. Similarly we had a large percentage of the world’s industrial capacity following WWII, but we have squandered our advantage by imperial overstretch, and there is no prospect any of the current presidential candidates would try to reverse the trend.
You’re sounding a bit shrill today, DD.
It is unconscionable to cut $208 billion from medicare (calling it wasteful spending almost makes me vomit) while committing $170 billion to the war. As is the standard, there will no doubt be additional requests (we just couldn’t forsee it!) later in the year. Bombs are the ultimate in wasteful spending. Not only does it take a tremendous amount of money to get them in the air and aim them in the general area of a target, you only get to use each bomb once. And what do you get? Dead people. That’s the end product. Dismembered, charred remains. I suppose the benefit is that you don’t have to look the people you murder in the eye. Beating a dead horse here, but to call this “liberation” is an assault on the English language and no less an assault on the morality of the United States of America.
Truth in advertising should require a renaming of the Republican Party to the Corporate MIC Warmonger Party of Traditional Values and Hillary obviously envisions the completion of the transition of the other major party to what should be called the Feminist Corporate MIC Warmonger Party.
Obama, show us something. Ralph is waiting in the wings.
mr. scheer, you’ve once again got it right. however, your last sentence begs for clarification. from my point of view, i doubt seriously that the media will force anyone to face any sort of contradiction, unless instructed to do otherwise. certainly, i’ve yet to see any journalist out there willing to put his career on the line and ask just one hardball question, face to face.
Isn’t Scheer missing a huge part of the story by ignoring the certainty that the election in November will be stolen by the Neocons and the MI complex?!
Everyone reading Mr. Scheer’s comments must remember what Bill Moyers’ wrote a couple of years ago. . .it is a testament to the cynicism and the objectives of the Bushites (the lot of whom I believe need to be charged with war crimes for “Shock and Awe”)
From Bill Moyers:
As a citizen I don’t like the consequences of this crusade, but you have to respect the conservatives for their successful strategy in gaining control of the national agenda. Their stated and open aim is to change how America is governed - to strip from government all its functions except those that reward their rich and privileged benefactors. They are quite candid about it, even acknowledging their mean spirit in accomplishing it. Their leading strategist in Washington - the same Grover Norquist – has famously said he wants to shrink the government down to the size that it could be drowned in a bathtub. More recently, in commenting on the fiscal crisis in the states and its affect on schools and poor people, Norquist said, “I hope one of them” – one of the states – “goes bankrupt.” So much for compassionate conservatism. But at least Norquist says what he means and means what he says. The White House pursues the same homicidal dream without saying so. Instead of shrinking down the government, they’re filling the bathtub with so much debt that it floods the house, water-logs the economy, and washes away services for decades that have lifted millions of Americans out of destitution and into the middle-class. And what happens once the public’s property has been flooded? Privatize it. Sell it at a discounted rate to the corporations.
It is the most radical assault on the notion of one nation, indivisible, that has occurred in our lifetime. I’ll be frank with you: I simply don’t understand it – or the malice in which it is steeped. Many people are nostalgic for a golden age. These people seem to long for the Gilded Age. That I can grasp. They measure America only by their place on the material spectrum and they bask in the company of the new corporate aristocracy, as privileged a class as we have seen since the plantation owners of antebellum America and the court of Louis IV. What I can’t explain is the rage of the counter-revolutionaries to dismantle every last brick of the social contract. At this advanced age I simply have to accept the fact that the tension between haves and have-nots is built into human psychology and society itself – it’s ever with us. However, I’m just as puzzled as to why, with right wing wrecking crews blasting away at social benefits once considered invulnerable, Democrats are fearful of being branded “class warriors” in a war the other side started and is determined to win. I don’t get why conceding your opponent’s premises and fighting on his turf isn’t the sure-fire prescription for irrelevance and ultimately obsolescence. But I confess as well that I don’t know how to resolve the social issues that have driven wedges into your ranks. And I don’t know how to reconfigure democratic politics to fit into an age of soundbites and polling dominated by a media oligarchy whose corporate journalists are neutered and whose right-wing publicists have no shame.
Maybe the legacy of Bush II will be a fired up democracy that utilizes the internet to change this country forever? Our choice to make.
All of those submarines, stealth aircraft, ICBMs, aircraft carriers, etc. don’t make me feel any safer from Osama. What we really need is a manned mission to Mars, cost be damned, to secure it before the terrorists get there. Then I will be able to relax.
Thankfully we are running on borrowed money. Please someone (China)…turn off the spigot and put an end to this insanity.
Empires will always act like empires. They don’t stop; even when the die is cast and it’s obvious they are in an unstoppable decline, or even in view of the bottom of the toilet, they still don’t stop. The United States is no different. Scum like George Wanker Bush simply represent the majority of Americans and their attitude toward the rest of the world. This country will never wise up because it’s simply incapable of doing so. But just as the dotcom boom and the housing boom came to an end, so will the American empire.
As long as Democrats care more about Nader being in the race than they do about Republicans stealing the 2000 vote, gonna vote Greenie or for Ralph(Nader or Wiggum).
But there is a resurgence of internet companies, we will always need housing and prices will rise again, just as America has the ability to rise again as an example of the democracy and justice people all over the world are seeking.
Bush doesn’t represent the American people. Only 21% of the population voted for him and most of those people just wanted to make sure gay people didn’t get equal access to marriage benefits. Only a small handfull of people actually support the Bush ideology. However, they are a very wealthy and powerful minority.
However, things can change very fast.
kelmer,
And that’s why you should count yourself as one of those who insists on being firmly planted in the past.
The election of 2000 is over.
I’m with Kelmer. I’ll vote independent (hopefully Ralph) before I’ll vote for either of these two.
I simply don’t vote for murderers anymore. And I’m certainly not persuaded by intimidation tactics by dem hacks ranting about Nader. I think quite honestly, that some of those guys need to take a time out and get a grip, because you’re gonna lose — again. And its not gonna be because of Ralph or anyone else. Its gonna be because of your party. At this point, you don’t HAVE a party.
Fix you party, fix your problem.
DD: Make your choice - I agree that there may be some window of hope that either of the Democratic candidates might recognize some pressure from outside the system calling for election reforms, universal health care, an absolute ban on nuclear arms (or power for that matter), a dramatic cut in DOD spending, full and complete withdrawl from Iraq, the closing of a good portion of the 700 military bases worldwide, negotiations with Iran or any other country without the “military option”, a responsible energy policy and on and on and on and take it to heart. LOL…
But, really DD do you actually think any of this very popular agenda of reforms and changes are likely to affect these “gilded asses” in the glory of their individual cults of personality? These people talk the talk of leaders but lack the ethical capicity of foresight to see beyond their own personal agendas of power and the interests of those that put them there. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Until then, I’m not buying on faith; either in the system or the annointed individuals. This country needs more choices, more discussions, more ideas, and much more democracy and both the Republican and Democratic parties stand in the way. I cannot support and refuse to surrender to either of the established parties and will continue to work to bring about policies that promote opposition parties and hope that one day some candidate will do the impossible (much like Jesse Ventura) and make both established party candidates look like the shams they are and take the American crown away from them. I only hope that after doing so the opposition doesn’t fall into the same old trappings of power and keeps itself vital by allowing differing points of view and constantly challenging itself with fresh ideas and new partnerships.
I guess a woman or a person of color in the Off-White House is a victory of sorts…yeah!
the legacy of bush the lesser was brought to you by:
bush the elder and his cia connections;
brother jeb and katherine harris;
choicepoint and diebold;
5 supreme court justices;
al gore and the other senate dems, ANY ONE OF WHOM could have acted on the congressional black caucus’s motion to investigate the florida ballot fiasco.
dlc stooges who try to blame all that on nader are pathetic, but, like that mosquito in your ear at 3am, will drive you nuts until you swat ‘em.
re 5280’s comment “Fix you party, fix your problem”…right on.
Scheer always gets it right! And for those who always get it wrong, here are my latest thoughts:
People vote for someone who they feel comfortable with and, yes, they do make horrible choices (for example, George Bush.) Sadly, we seem to be heading in that direction again!
A bit of history we probably all know: Bush proved more likable than the two stiffs who ran against him. Gore and Kerry, aside from showing very little in the way or charisma or warmth, were muzzled by kingpins who didn’t want them to come out against the Iraq war and economic policies favoring the have-nots.
Comes 2008, the Dems will probably repeat past mistakes: pick another humorless, charisma-less candidate to run against John McCain, an awful conservative, but a solid, warm guy with a grandfatherly demeanor.
Democrats– it’s time to start going with your gut instead of your heads!
Dr. Wu, the last of the big-time thinkers
It is interesting that Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Matt Drudge and others of their ilk still seem to expect people to follow their “wisdom and guidance” after seven years of being so wrong that America has reached it’s current situation.
For over seven years, Bush and Cheney have controlled the administration, the Justice Department, the Pentagon, the State Department, and virtually all other branches of government, while having a Congress that has just about rubber-stamped everything they have requested… and those people I listed and their fans have cheered Bush and Cheney on and demonized anyone who opposed them.
Where is the nation now? Millions of people have streamed across our borders illegally and with little or no resistance, millions more have come in under visa programs that have displaced relatively high-paid American workers, hundreds of manufacturing facilities have shut down and gone abroad for their products and services rather than employing Americans, truces with other nations have been broken, people within our government have decided that they are above our laws and have decided it is up to them to decipher the meanings of our laws instead of our judges, banks and credit card companies are robbing their customers blind, and a record number of people are uninsured while drug and medical service prices skyrocket upward.
We are stuck in two never-ending occupations of hostile lands, and our economy is spiraling into inflation… while America is becoming more and more hated by the rest of the world.
So I ask you… why would ANYONE want the advice and counsel of these agents of the devil?
daniel david hit the nail on the head.
its not that any of us admire the current incarnation of the democratic party but there are REAL consequences to letting the republicans continue to drive. the supreme court is just one example but an important one. if you allow mccain or romney to win this election, the scalia, thomas, roberts, alito wing of the court will be augmented by at least one or two more “conservative” radicals. let’s assume some third party - the greens, whoever - suddenly rises up and takes the presidency in 2008. hell, lets take a big chug of the kool aid; they win the presidency and BOTH houses of congress. any improvements they attempt will be made that much more difficult - if not stymied, completely - because of the solid majority of “conservatives” in control of the supreme court for the foreseeable future. cause i guarantee you grover norquist, ralph reed and that crowd will sue and appeal all the way to the supremes over every single comma and hyphen of every single bill and amendment they pass.
but hey, you didn’t sacrifice your principles. to paraphrase the immortal carl spackler, “so, you got THAT going for you”
the perfect is the enemy of the good
it’s really not the party that needs fixing. it’s the election process. not trying to stir up a hornet’s nest here, based on the overload of responses to nader’s saturday article, but the problem is not any comment daniel david makes, of which he mostly speaks the truth. the real issue for you nader supporters would be how do you funnel all of your passion and energy (i.e. direct it in a way that makes sense) to get your man where you want him to be? you obviously have the passion and energy. but what it gets back to is not fixing the democratic party, but fixing the election process instead. and then, produce a winning ticket. nader and his supporters can’t do it by themselves. until you add an edwards or a kucinich or a sheehan, it’s just going to be the same old thing. we’re all just pissing in the wind.
It’s important to note that the reason people are streaming across our border is because of Clinton’s passing of NAFTA and the WTO. That doomed the Mexican farmers and sent them running to the US (parts which used to be Mexico) in search of work just to make a living for their families. Don’t blame everything on them. As usual, the US empircal policies are behind this. Blaming immigrants is such a scape goat. Don’t fall into the trap.
In case anybody missed it, Psycho Ann Coulter is supporting HILLARY because she says Hillary is MORE ‘CONSERVATIVE’ (aka Fascist) than McCain! Nice, huh? The SUPPOSED ‘democratic’ candidate is supported by psycho fascist racist people-hater, Ann Coulter.
Neither of the two remaining Evilcrats has raised serious opposition to anything that Bush has done in the last 7 years. As Scheer notes in the article, neither has raised the slightest objection to “defense” spending. Obama’s claim to being “antiwar” is based almost entirely on a position he took while still an Illinois state senator, more than 5 years ago.
Both Evilcrats support Bush’s bogus concept of the “war on Terror” — a “war” which is in principle endless. Neither has made an issue of torture, renditions, the Bush doctrine of “preemptive war,” warrantless wiretapping, or signing statements. Neither has said a word in favor of impeachment, or acknowledged the terrible crimes of the Bush administration. Neither speaks of issues like class conflict & the excesses of corporate power — in fact, Obama specifically seeks to dampen awareness of such things, with his fatuous happy-talk about “we’re all in this together.” (You know — you and I, and Wall St and the military-industrial complex — we’re all just one big happy family together, all with the same interests.)
Neither Evilcrat raised serious opposition to any of Bush’s Supreme Court nominations, or to the AG nomination, or the various intelligence agency nominations. Both Evilcrats have voted repeatedly & consistently for full war funding.
If one continues to think of the Evilcrats as being “less evil” than the Republicans, there is only one possible outcome — further domination of US society by corporatism and militarism.
I will vote for Nader or a Green party candidate.
I will not give the stick to the person who is going to beat me over the head with it. I may get beat over the head, but I won’t be giving them the stick.
That is why I don’t support the democratic front runners. They know they are going to hit you over the head with a stick, and you probably know it, but don’t want to admit to the sad truth.
If we can’t be true to our principles of a fair and just society, how can we expect our candidates.
No compromise on peace, justice, and human rights.
so it goes…
Hitler turns to Joseph Goebbels and asks him “What do think my legacy will be?”
Goebbels replies “It’s a little late to be concerned about that my fuhrer.”
The same goes for this “Legacy” of bush. There is nothing to salvage there. Simply “The worst President ever to disgrace the White House, liar and war criminal” is the only real ‘legacy’ that can be applied.
To expand on RichM, what have the Demok “least worsts” done about the White House’s nuclear proliferation and arms sales, coddling of dictators, manipulating democracies? What have they done about a greatly intensified global warming, and huge wealth redistribution from the have nothings to the have everythings?
They’ve done abolutely nothing in their powerful Senate seats, which is just fine with 3/4 of their supporters, because they are Hillary from the New York Stock Exchange, and Obama from the Chicago Commodities Exchange. They are “our candidates”. They help us to secure our multi-million dollar homes/investments. Meanwhile, the world outside our gated communities becomes a much more devastated place, but frankly, we don’t give a damn.
Now maybe it’s time for the rabble to bust down those gates.
I say cut the military budget in half, still an ungodly sum of money. Stop these insane wars in their tracks. Weed out most of the secret and nefarious organizations we have going and apply the left over money to cutting the debt and universal health care.
Then conduct war crimes trials for the perps and their enablers.
Daniel David writes:
>> Care to worship Ralph Nader while failing again?
As a matter of fact, I will. If the democrats had not turned into GOP lite I wouldn’t have to. They have left their base constituency. In fact, I am almost to the point where I would vote for a repugnant as a devil’s advocate, instead of giving in to what the democrats are offering up. They don’t allow Kucinich in, and they have bellied up to the corporate coffers and are now officially on board with them. They are no longer my party, so what else am I to do.
Bush took the right to it’s logical conclusion. If this hasn’t shown that it won’t work I don’t know what will. Sometimes the storm has to shake the house to the ground before the residents vow to fix the foundation.
I’d rather that the people get their poison and wise up now, rather than later when blackwater has the tools needed to stop the revolution.
The bully pulpit? Yesterday I wound up and threw my Hail Mary to Obama. Voters under 45 have only known corporate Democratic and corporate right wing authoritarian Republican rule. Depending on the house and senate make-up a few things could change. Probably not much. But the words spoken by the next President (how could the MSM not report them?) could start a conversation of ideas. Ideas many people under 45 have never even heard. I went to protests against the Roberts and Alito nominations and they looked like gray panther meetings. Old bags like me outnumbered the 20 to 30 somethings 10 to 1. Since Obama has supposedly energized the younger voters I really want to support and encourage them all as I think they might be our last hope. But President Obama will have to put the ideas out there. It’s gotta be OK’d and mainstream to listen to Kucinich, read N. Klein, Thom Hartmann, Common Dreams, etc. A President Obama could offer to the 40% who never vote because their lives never change no matter who is in office some reasons to get involved. So c’mon young Obama supporters! Make sure he starts a new conversation and you can maybe rout everyone (except the progressive caucus) while I’m still alive to see it.
I still say it’s all immaterial. They didn’t get this far with their plan just to let the dems come in and undo their work. If there is an election in November, and I have my doubts about that, it’ll be fixed, just as 2000 was.
But I’m talking up the candidates, and making points with everyone I can about getting out and voting. Pretending is better than not.
The legacy of Dubyuh will be national shame like the country hasn’t seen since the Amerindian genocides. Although the rehab of Saint Reagan is amazing and based on the 90%+ corporate media blackout, the coming thuglican implosion will make a repeat difficult.
I don’t have great faith in the Dems, but at the CO caucus I attended yesterday, they were expecting 300 and got over 1000! I’m guessing the ‘08 election will not be loving Dubyuh like the apathetic 2004 farce did. The Proles are energized this time around!
brissot “gets it” about how much is at stake at the Supreme Court. And gin “gets it” about what Obama can offer in dialogue from the bully pulpit.
Others above might be surprised to learn that I would love to see Ralph Nader appoint judges and use the bully pulpit. The problem is that he won’t go any further than Dennis Kucinich just went, AND he carries the risk of contributing to a complete defeat for liberals and progressives in what we already know will be a tight election. That the diehards want to defend this nonsense to a bitter end is incomprehensible.
Brissot and DD are operating under the false assumption that the Democrats WANT change, that they are FOR the people, and that they are simply stymied and held back by the political system. This is false!
The democrats want the corporate-poverty creating-rights stripping-police state agenda just as much as the the republicans or they wouldn’t keep voting for the bills that support it! It’s just that someone has to play the role of the opposition party so that we can continue to believe that someone in the government will carry our flag, so that we will continue to participate in the government which is systematically working to turn us into corporate slaves!
The democrats have proved that they are not for democracy and people’s rights when they failed to meaningfully contest the 2000 election. If they don’t care that voters’ votes are counted, why would they appoint supreme court justices who care about our other rights?
I’m with wilmoor. The fascists have decided the Repubs don’t have enough of a chance to win the next election after their gross incompetence has been exposed. The Dems are now their favored tool. They will get the money, they will win and guess what, nothing will change.
Worth listening to “Styve” and the warning of 2008 being stolen. These guys have shown clearly over 7 years that they have no respect for America and its republican principles and will stop at nothing to maintain their grip.
Worth listening to “5280″ and realizing that at the minimum one should not vote for a murderer, whether the murderer acts by executive fiat or by Senate vote: millions of dead Iraqis, orphans, refugees not featured on FOX but produced by our military action in Iraq.
The MI complex was called the “military-industrial-congressional complex” by Eisenhower in his draft speech, but he was persuaded to drop the final element. Hillary has CODE PINK members arrested in her Senate office.
We progressive must invent detailed plans whereby the jobs in the war machine can be converted to socially useful employment. War is what we do, and many Americans depend on their jobs in the machine. No politician can be asked to dump them on the streets; we must put forth the ideas for new industries that will need them: renuable energy, infrastructure, education, healthcare and many more that a thriving, sustainable society so sorely needs.
Hail CODE PINK!!
“The 9/11 attacks have been shamefully exploited by the military-industrial complex with bipartisan support to ramp up military expenditures beyond Cold War levels.”
Wasn’t that the point of the 9/11 attacks?
Remember - in the 90’s the Military-Industrial Complex was threatened by the “Peace Dividend” from the (unexpected!) collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War.
Gotta do something to keep those arms sales growing.
ACADEMIC QUESTION…………..NOT a proposal: But how come no one from the ranks of the trampled-down dissidents in the US has had a crack at taking Bush out? I do not advocate such measures since you have ALL the democratic machinery to bring the guy to task and impeach and then hand him over to the Hague or another Int tribunal. Has the man NO shame……borrowing his military budget from COMMUNISTS!! yE GODS!
Good stuff on Bill Moyers maradei. Got a link to that article?
gin: Your point is well taken, but could you maybe reconsider denigrating yourself and others because of age? all of us will get there sooner or later if we’re lucky, and I for one would like to be judged objectively rather than lumped into the “old bag.” Come on, don’t you think a little self-respect is in order here?
All of you Nader woshiping, Dem haters should listen to Daniel David and take his advice while we still have a chance to stop this disaster. It is stupid to keep blaming the Dems for not stopping the Bush-Cheney war as it is the Repugs that were in total control so it is their deal. If we had gotten Gore elected we might not even have had 9-11, as they would have been listening to the people that warned about it, while Bushco turned a deaf ear, because they were not his experts. If you care about peace, forget lost causes and support either of the Dem candidates, because if we cannot get one of them in, get set for the 100 year war.
The Bush disaster is not yet over. Who knows what he and his cabal of Neocons might yet do?
I will be on edge during the rest of this year, waiting, waiting, waiting for the nukes to start falling on Iran. Once that happens, if it does, we are on the road to extinction.
If there are 100 million households in the US, and the “national security” budget is $700 billion, that works out to $7,000 per household.
Could you bill that to my grandchildren, please?
There is a theory that military spending is a band aid fix for the disappearance of the manufacturing sector of the economy. If this theory is correct, military spending is a false crutch for an unsustainable economy.
The other crutch, so the theory goes, is petrodollars. Both crutches are complementary, as we see now in Iraq. Ditto for the other countries that have been put on notice: Iran and Venezuela. Oil rich countries where petrodollars are at stake. Chavez has been in the lead on eliminating the petrodollar and replacing it with the petroeuro or other, as I understand.
Anyway, there is an argument that this military spending is not only directly about the wealthy lining the pockets of the wealthy owners of defense companies, but also about all the other wealth that depends on controlling the world’s energy supplies, denominating them in US dollars, propping up a failing dollar, and attempting to hide from the fallout of the collapse of American manufacturing.
If this theory is true, we need to have the conversation on those points. What will happen if $500 billion is cut out of that sector of the economy? I don’t have the training to say.
What if it means depression and $7 per gallon at the pump? Is that acceptable? It is fine by me, if it means taking our medicine now to avoid the violence to our fellow men overseas and to the environment that comes with a false perpetuation of the existing mechanics of the economy.
Along with cutting the militar budget (and restoring the domestic programs) goes changing our imperialist role. This means we can’t be the world’s cops, and so we must encourage international organizations — a revised UN, regional organizations. There’s a whole program here.
We can’t just say we’re withdrawing from Iraq and keep the military big and keep our imperialistic ambitions — we need to work for a world where no country needs a large military. Not an easy road but it’s the only one to world peace.
Adolph Hitler will have a better legacy than GWB. Hitler was insane also, but at least he wasn’t stupid.
Excellent post ~KERNEL~. __ 4:50pm.
Kernel shows what he’s made of by writing (4:50 pm) “All of you Nader woshiping, Dem haters should listen to Daniel David and take his advice while we still have a chance to stop this disaster….”
- First of all, Kernel, you’re new here. Most regulars are aware that Daniel David is a naive moron. He has no knowledge of history whatsoever, & merely spouts Dem Party propaganda like a robot. So you’re putting yourself in bad company.
Your post, though, shows you clearly belong in DD’s category. The objection here to Democrats has nothing to do with “Dem hating” or “Nader worshipping.” It’s not primarily an emotional matter at all. The reason many people here criticize Democrats is that Democrats objectively stink. They are weasels & liars, who are the partners of the supposedly-Oh-so-evil Republicans. The reason many here respect Nader is that he speaks a great deal of truth and substance — vastly more than any Democrat.
Those who understand American politics know that the 2-party system does not offer the public a real “choice.” Rather, it forces people to “choose” between two pre-selected things, which are both guaranteed to serve the interests of the corporate oligarchy. It permits nitwits like you & DD to run around like chickens with your heads cut off, screaming in fear of the dreaded Republicans, so that those you manage to frighten will vote for Democrats — who will then enact basically the same corporatist/militarist policies.
Voting for Democrats changes nothing. The two-party system itself is merely a means of ensuring that nothing ever changes, because the forces of big money own the D’s as well as the R’s — and they choose the candidates, & make all the rules.
Again, Daniel David ruins everything my injecting his Democrat-ONLY statements that lead to his ever-irritating bash of Ralph Nader.
Stop already. This article was about Bush II and your responsiblity for his so-called “election”, which is a polite term for “theft” in America today, by NOT voting for Nader. When will you accept the obvious???
RichM__ Thanks for your kind comments about my mental capacities. I always did feel comfortable around morons, as I am not as sophisticated as you seem to be. One would never suspect, by your rantings, that you are in any way progressive, but more like a right-wing conservative plant to upset and confuse people so a Repug will make it again.
Anyone that thinks there is no difference between the Repug and Dem philosophies is just refusing to admit it or is blind to what is going on. If you like to load your kids with debt for constant war and take from the poor to give to the rich, vote Repug. If you want a little fiscal sanity and a little break in war along with taking care of our own people and country, vote Dem, at least this time around.
Who could care about Bush`s legacy anyway? All he and his criminal band of warmongers have done is destroy this country, and all some like yourself can do is constantly complain about the Dems and urge people to waste their much needed votes on someone that has no chance this year to get elected. Sure, many of us had another favorite in mind, but we need to work with what we have now.
Kernel - a characteristic of the politically naive Democrat is the inability to distinguish between criticism of the Democrats from the Right (such as from Rush Limbaugh, for example), and criticism from the Left (like what you hear from me). The fact that you take me for a “right wing conservative plant” demonstrates that you’re unfamiliar with such distinctions.
It was “safe” for me to vote for Nader in 2000 because Gore was a “shoe in” in Oregon. In 2004 I was so frightened of another 4 years of Bush that I blindly voted for Kerry. Now, after enduring 4 more years of the worst nightmare of my life, I have to make another decision this year.
I was all smug that I had a choice with the Dimwit party. But then DK and Edwards dropped out. Our primary isn’t until May, so effectively my vote has already been thrown away by the Dimwit party. I didn’t get a say in who the candidate would be. I’ll vote in the primary, but I’m going to vote for Edwards or DK. Even if I have to write them in.
Come November, IF there is an election (big IF), I’ll make a decision. I absolutely will not vote for Billary because they are war mongors and corporate whores. Obama? Don’t know yet, but his statement that he was willing to nuke Pakistan is a pretty bad omen.
Let’s face it, the Peoples’ Party abandoned the people a long time ago. Like someone said above, I know I’m going to be beaten around the head and shoulders by either party. So do I give them the stick to do it with? Do we speed up this train to hell by installing a Repug in the White house, or vote in a Dimwit and just let this train to hell take us chugging along a little slower? Me, I want off the train, but have been sealed in with no “Exit” door available right now.
Besides, the other big question is, does your vote get counted at all? It’s a rigged system and was effectively stolen in the last two prez elections. What makes you think it will be any different this time around?
Isn’t Scheer missing a huge part of the story by ignoring the certainty that the election in November will be stolen by the Neocons and the MI complex?!
No. He makes the point that it doesn’t really matter who wins. Hillary, Obama, McCain, Huckabee, Romney can ALL be counted on to do the MI and the Neocons bidding.
Come November, IF there is an election (big IF), I’ll make a decision. I absolutely will not vote for Billary because they are war mongors and corporate whores. Obama? Don’t know yet, but his statement that he was willing to nuke Pakistan is a pretty bad omen.
I totally feel your pain. Come to the light, friend. Vote for the party or candidate you believe in. You are right, your vote probably won’t count anyway, so don’t waste your time worrying about playing defense and preventing the lesser of two evils. The end result is still evil. At least try to vote for something/someone positive.
The bush legacy will go down in history as the president who created “terror”. This is the bush legacy and what has made him the greatest republican president in the history of the United States of America. Think for a moment, what Republican President do all the Republican candidates at least once a debate refer to, “Ronald The Great Reagan”. By all republican standards George has far surpassed Ronny and should be considered the greatest republican president to date. These are the facts.
(Please remember we only have space for a few highlights, these lists and their support would fill volumes.)
1) The amount of worldwide destruction and terror their administration caused; Reagan Iran-Contra, Bush Iraq war, Afghanistan War, worldwide terror squads. Winner Bush hands down, ps.in his day Reagan/ Old Bushes admin was number 1.
2) The amount of despair and hopelessness caused to the greatest majority of free Americans by; not raising minimum wage, shifting the tax burden to the middle class, cutting social programs; OK I’ll concede this one is a tie, they are both number 1..
3) Allowing the most corporate fraud; (critical category to major party donors) Winner Bush hands down, psin his day Reagan/(Old Bushes admin was number 1.
4) Spreading propaganda and destroying Americans freedom and liberty; once again Winner Bush hands down, psin his day Reagan/ Old Bushes admin was number 1
5) Finally who maintained the largest most wasteful military budgets while cutting the most social programs and created the greatest amount of deficit spending, yes boys and girl this is the corner stone of any successful modern republican president; Well by now this must sound like a broken record; Winner Bush hands down, Bushes old man number 2, Bushes old mans first term/Reagan’s term) number 3 .
As close as I can tell the reason the Bush administration decided to declare the most horrific terror attack of all-time on the Iraqi people which they titled, “Shock and Awe” was because Rupert Murdoch had convinced the Bush administration that he needed to help England and finish the crusades. Actually I’m not sure about that last statement but it makes about as much sense as the corporate/white house/free press stories regarding the most needless, costly, and unjust war in the United States history.
PS. I just recently heard that Bush surpassed Reagan and become number 1 in the most vacation days taken during a Presidency. Bush is the greatest. And remember this; before bush the republican party was a three legged stool; greed ,fear, and hate; bush by adding “terror” gave them the needed four leg as they now rather than a three-legged-stool, they have a leather padded lazy boy recliner…you gotta love the repukes…
Anyone that thinks there is no difference between the Repug and Dem philosophies is just refusing to admit it or is blind to what is going on. If you like to load your kids with debt for constant war and take from the poor to give to the rich, vote Repug.
What are you basing this argument on? A fairy tale? Do yourself a favor and study American history. Start with this question: Have more wars have been started by Democratic or Republican administrations? Nader was wrong. When it comes to foreign policy, support for the military and unquestioning support for Israel, there ISN’T EVENA DIME’S WORTH OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CORPORATE PARTIES.
See below, but last time we elected a Democrat we got our fair share of war. Perhaps you have forgotten about that.
If you want a little fiscal sanity and a little break in war along with taking care of our own people and country, vote Dem, at least this time around.
Last time we elected a Dem we got:
NAFTA
End of warfare as we know it.
War in Bosnia.
Three strikes you’re out.
Increase deregulation of industries.
Fast track negotiations to hasten the speed of globalism.
A telecommunications act that benefited telecommunications corporations.
We continued to kill innocent women and children in Iraq due to sanctions.
You can go along and believe Democratic party rhetoric and campaign promises (fairy tales) or you can look at the results. If you opt for the latter, you are–in your words–”refusing to admit it or is blind to what is going on.”
Educate yourself.
hellodarling, it appears that most of the bashing is directed, as it should be, at and toward bush. i’m not sure i’ve seen daniel david bashing nader. he seems to make valid observations.
rich m, i don’t think it matters if kernel is new here or not. we all were, once. and although i usually agree with much of what you write, i only ask that you go back to nader’s saturday article, re-read the 180 + posts (at last count) and then come back and tell us the nader supporters are not “emotional”.
again, if we fix the election process, we then have a chance for a viable three party system. and only by recruiting a viable democrat will there ever be a chance for that three party system. seems like if edwards or kucinich really wanted to make a difference, they’d figure that simplistic equation out. and if nader really really wanted to make a difference, he’d have signed up for this election process some time ago. you can’t plant a garden in the autumn.
Come November, IF there is an election (big IF) …
Nah, not a big if. There is going to be an election. I think when you look at the punch of corporatist patsies who are left in this thing you have to conclude that the powers that be will be perfectly happy passing the torch to whomever wins in November. They can all be counted on to tow the line for the man.
Suspending the election would be too obvious.
Conspiracy theorists speculating on whether a fascist takeover in America are wasting their time. We’re already there. People expecting fascism to look like something out of the ’30s are the first to be fooled. This is what fascism 2.0 looks like.
Those of you partisan Democrats who actually believe that the two parties are different are playing right into their hands.
lino writes (7:59) “only by recruiting a viable democrat will there ever be a chance for that three party system…”
Why do you believe that? Do you know what a “viable Democrat” is? It’s a Democrat with lots of corporate backing, who is therefore treated nicely by the corporate media. Why would you believe that such a Democrat would be supportive of developing third (and 4th, 5th, etc) parties? Don’t you suppose that virtually everyone in both big parties enjoys the monopoly the two of them have on the political process?
On another note, look at the very first post in this thread, to see DD bashing Nader. // Besides which — you’re not quite understanding a claim I made above. The emphasis there is not primarily that Nader supporters are “not emotional.” Rather, it’s that regarding the Democrats as disgusting lying traitors is a completely objective matter. It’s not a judgement one arrives at by virtue of mere emotion.
Hitler was stupid as well as evil and insane. Try reading his only book, “Mein Kampf.” . What rubbish!
******
Hmmmm Kernel - not supporting lost causes? You’re still supporting that outdated, unsustainable B.S. of Monsanto farming aren’t you? ..or have you finally seen the writing on the wall and begun to realize where that will lead. Always one to spread your pragmatic lack of imagination to future generations.
Poor Kernel - enduring more name calling and responding with more self-deprecating wisdom. Such a vast wealth of vision.
Yeah ~Heavyrunner~, Hitler was so stupid he figured out how to take control of Germany, take France, Holland, Belgium, Denmark and Poland. He wasn’t stupid, he was an insane, pananoid, evil monster. BTW, his book, Mein Kemph was a best seller. I doubt Bush will write any books, but there are many similarities between him and Adolph.
“Be just, and fear not.”
There are about 300 million people in America. At least half of them have their lower intestine tied in a knot over something I really don’t care about.
rich m, i guess my monitor isn’t showing the same first post as yours. the only thing i see in the first post, re: nader bashing, is “care to worship ralph nader while failing again”? doesn’t sound like bashing at all. sounds like a big pill of truth, obviously a bit difficult for some to swallow. but then, hey, americans don’t want to hear the truth. again, go back and re-read the nader article posts, come back and tell me there’s no emotion there. hell, go back and re-read your own posts and tell me, along with the rest of us here, that you aren’t emotional in some of your comments. no one is suggesting that you are arriving at a judgement based on “mere emotion”.
so without recruiting a big name candidate, preferably a democrat, do you think there’s any chance for a third party (or as you suggest 4th and 5th parties - good luck with that pipe dream) to succeed, or even make a difference?
viability? i don’t see much of it in any politician. there’s obviously a better chance of finding viability on the left than on the right, slim that it might be. but we’re not given a choice of voting on viabiltiy. this time around it’s based on gender, race, or stupidity, depending on which side of the aisle one stands. by far, you are correct in stating the two-party monopoly issue, thus the real reason there are no defections to a third party. and that is why we’re stuck with what we’ve got. some day - probably sooner than later, especially if mccain gets in - there’s a real good chance for anarchy in our streets. only then will we have the undivided attention of these fucked up individuals calling themselves politicians.
just because i agree with much of what you say doesn’t mean you’re always right.
although there may be a lot of emotional nader-worshippers out there, there aren’t nearly enough to make a difference.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand how anyone who has been paying any attention at all, cannot see that the Republican candidates and the Democratic candidates, are miles apart on ALL of the issues. And if Hillary is elected, I believe John Edwards will be her choice as the Attorney general. __ Hope so. We also have three appointments to the Supreme Court to ponder.
Well, no matter what we progressives yak about, the Democrats have been out-voting the Repugs almost two to one in the primaries. Based on that alone, the Democrats will put one of the two remaining in the White House.
The one snag in the scheme of things, is if McCain chooses Huckaberry as his running mate. Then the Republican turnout will be far higher than it is now, with the born again idiots voting for the Huckster. However, there are far enough registered Republicans who have half a brain, who will vote for the Democrat this time. We will have a Democrat president. (If as Rebal Farmer states, we have an election.)
As a matter of fact, my preferred candidate did win in my state and she will put an end to Bush’s bloated budget.
Cynthia McKinney!
For those who didn’t know, Cynthia McKinney won the Green primary in Illinois.
So we all know Bush is a tyrannical maniac. We all know that the war spending is bankrupting the country. We know all this. WHAT ABOUT DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!! I am so sick of reading all these cases upon cases of abuse. We know what is going on so, for crying out loud get someone to do something about it and get rid of Bush/Cheney. You can only pay your VISA with your Mastercard for so long.
As far as I can figure out, one of the biggest/worst powers a president has is their power as the commander-in-chief. For me, I want to know how each candidate defines this power and how it should be used (or not). I know where McCain stands. And I think I have a pretty good handle on where Clinton stands. And Obama is coming into clearer view. None of these characters seem to see anything wrong with America being the world’s policeman and having a HUGE military machine to back it up.
Like I said before, I know I’m going to get beat up by my own government along with the rest of the world. I’m just not willing to give them the stick to do it with.
Troll With the Punches: I am listening…….
beyondempire__You want vision? Well, I have one for you. If we cannot get this country back to sane management pretty quick the Chinese and the Saudi`s are going to own us as they have a good start right now.
When that happens, we can stop chattering about the fouled-up two party system we have, because we will have a Saudi King to run things. Our country is falling apart in so many ways as we throw our assets away building castles in the Iraq sands and all some can do is gripe constantly about people that could bring about change and salvage something.
It is great to have a green party with new ideas on sustainable living and producing but it is a slow process to make major changes and right now we need to be figuring out together how to stop the bleeding and fix the mess our country is in. Then we should all be open to new ideas and methods.
I for one am looking forward to the demise of the United States. Weve earned it and I fervently pray God gives us what we so richly deserve. Long live Anarchy!
Well I for one am not looking forward to it DUFUS DO RIGHT. ___ But I fear we are going to have our depression and we will get the axe.
Capitalism sets up two natural antagonists: labor and capital. These two are boxers in a ring. Capitalisms worst excesses are mediated by an umpire: government. Government makes sure no one throws an illegal punch. But, who pulls governments strings? The two antagonists hold elections to see who.
I believe capital has held the upper hand for 30 years, starting with the election of Ronald Reagan (who famously cut taxes, regardless of the resultant debt), and continued even through the Clinton years. Statistics mirror an obvious fact: these have not been kind years for working people.
So, its time for a change. In England, the Democrats would be called the Labour Party. That’s about as obvious as it gets. There’s no reason for other parties because we all want capitalism, but we differ in how much government mediation of capitalism we want. We are all Republicans and Democrats, depending on the circumstances. If this were the Carter years, I might be a Republican myself (well, I was an adult then and I didn’t, so…). They are just two sides of the same coin.
As for ‘fortress America’, you’ll find as many ‘true’ conservatives against that as ‘true’ liberals. But, among Republicans and Democrats, things are fuzzier. Sure I support a large military ($300 bill tops). What Bush has done alarms not just liberals but conservatives. Unfortunately, the Republican Party gets tarred with that brush, just as the Dems got tarred with it during the Vietnam years.
Good point styve!
Re:”Isn’t Scheer missing a huge part of the story by ignoring the certainty that the election in November will be stolen by the Neocons and the MI complex?!”
However I would say that the use of the term ‘election’ is eronious at best. The MI Complex has already done it’s job by eliminating any candidates from either party who might seriously threaten the MIC. Now that the field has been narrowed down to candidates with proven special interest ties, the MSM can pat itself on the back for a job well done. The Ron Paul’s, the Dennis Kucinich’s and even the John Edward’s have retreated after a mercilessly campaign of marginalization and exclusion by the networks in particular. Combined with expert and well heeled legal teams from the biggest ccorporate crime families, no populist ever stood a chance. The strategy will now shift to labelling one or more ‘faux left liberals’ as radicals(s) to further enforce the myth that we live in a representative democracy with an abundance of choices available to us. Instead it’s like choosing either a Ford or GM to get to work each day; different styles, different horsepower and different paint jobs but ultimametly they’re both cars. Any other mode of transportation is simply not offered.
Mr. Scheer is singing to the choir but while many Americans are finally waking up to the realization that the White House is nothing more than a stooge for the MIC, Big Oil and the Medical IC, too many don’t realize how complicit Congress is as well.
ubrew… good comments except your comparison of Democrats to Labour in England. U.S. Democrats are still FAR, FAR , FAR to the right of the CONSERVATIVES in Britain. For example, even the Conservatives in Britain would never dream of suggesting abolishment of universal health care. Nor would they roll back minimum wage standards that already are more than double those in the U.S. The only thing Conservatives have in common with their U.S. counterparts (Dems or Reps), are their allegiance to corporate interests including Britains MIC.
Does anyone know who took the orgasmatron machine? Things have gotten so bad that a guy can’t even feed his neurosis anymore.
During the dark ages, the black plague struck the serf class first and hardest. Life was already miserable for them, being at the bottom of the economic heap, but after the black death, those few who survived were worked to death, doing the work of their fallen bretheren.
What we need, is another black plaque, a plaque that wipes out a third of the population of the planet, because we are headed for a tipping point, where the billions here cannot be sustained.
The very foundation of our society being monetary and growth based, cannot be sustained indefinitally, we are consuming ourselves to death. A major catastrophy sweeping over the planet will be the purge needed to allow mankind the opportunity to break free from the material age of Kali Yuga, and truely enter into Dwapara Yuga, the age of energy.
The death of the old ways, will be hard, brutal, vast suffering is coming. But in a cosmological view, it is merely necessary, setting the stage for what is to come.
Cold, heartless? I’m sorry, but we know not the mind of God, and where the vast field of energy called the universe is headed. Brace yourselves fellow travelers, the journey is about to get hard.
But on the other side, after the storm subsides, those left to start the new chapter of planet earth will have a clean slate, a marvelous opportunity, to bring the new age, the age of soul understanding and the journey to self realization.
Rejoice in the possibilities.
FROM ANOTHER BLOG:: THIS IS WHAT WE NEED
interesting: Hillary Clinton has been telling America that she is the most qualified candidate for president based on her ‘record,’ which she says includes her eight years in the White House as First Lady - or ‘co-president’ - and her seven years in the Senate. Here is a reminder of what that record includes: - As First Lady, Hillary assumed authority over Health Care Reform, a process that cost the taxpayers over $13 million. She told both Bill Bradley and Patrick Moynihan, key votes needed to pass her legislation, that she would ‘demonize’ anyone who opposed it. But it was opposed; she couldn’t even get it to a vote in a Congress controlled by her own party. (And in the next election, her party lost control of both the House and Senate.) - Hillary assumed authority over selecting a female Attorney General. Her first two recommendations, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, were forced to withdraw their names from consideration. She then chose Janet Reno. Janet Reno has since been described by Bill himself as ‘my worst mistake.’ - Hillary recommended Lani Guanier for head of the Civil Rights Commission. When Guanier’s radical views became known, her name had to be withdrawn. - Hillary recommended her former law partners, Web Hubbell, Vince Foster, and William Kennedy for positions in the Justice Department, White House staff, and the Treasury, respectively. Hubbell was later imprisoned, Foster committed suicide, and Kennedy was forced to resign. - Hillary also recommended a close friend of the Clintons, Craig Livingstone, for the position of director of White House security. When Livingstone was investigated for the improper access of up to 900 FBI files of Clinton enemies (“Filegate”) and the widespread use of drugs by White House staff, both Hillary and her husband denied knowing him. FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene confirmed in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 1996, both the drug use and Hillary’s involvement in hiring Livingstone. After that, the FBI closed its White House Liaison Office, after serving seven presidents for over thirty years. - In order to open “slots” in the White House for her friends the Thomasons (to whom millions of dollars in travel contracts could be awarded), Hillary had the entire staff of the White House Travel Office fired; they were reported to the FBI for ‘gross mismanagement’ and their reputations ruined. After a thirty-month investigation, only one, Billy Dale, was charged with a crime - mixing personal money with White House funds when he cashed checks. The jury acquitted him in less than two hours. - Another of Hil lary’s assumed duties was directing the ‘bimbo eruption squad’ and scandal defense: —- She urged her husband not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit. —- She refused to release the Whitewater documents, which led to the appointment of Ken Starr as Special Prosecutor. After $80 million dollars of taxpayer money was spent, Starr’s investigation led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to Bill lying about and later admitting his affairs. —- Then they had to settle with Paula Jones after all. —- And Bill lost his law license for lying to the grand jury —- And Bill was impeached by the House. —- And Hillary almost got herself indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice (she avoided it mostly because she repeated, ‘I do not recall,’ ‘I have no recollection,’ and ‘I don’t know’ 56 times under oath). - Hillary wrote ‘It Takes a Village,’ demonstrating her Socialist viewpoint. - Hill ary decided to seek election to the Senate in a state she had never lived in. Her husband pardoned FALN terrorists in order to get Latino support and the New Square Hassidim to get Jewish support. Hillary also had Bill pardon her brother’s clients, for a small fee, to get financial support. - Then Hillary left the White House, but later had to return $200,000 in White House furniture, china, and artwork she had stolen. - In the campaign for the Senate, Hillary played the ‘woman card’ by portraying her opponent (Lazio) as a bully picking on her. - Hillary’s husband further protected her by asking the National Archives to withhold from the public until 2012 many records of their time in the White House, including much of Hillary’s correspondence and her calendars. (There are ongoing lawsuits to force the release of those records.) - As the junior Senator from New York, Hillary has passed no major legislation. She has deferred to the senior Senator (Schumer) to tend to the needs of New Yorkers, even on the hot issue of medical problems of workers involved in the cleanup of Ground Zero after 9/11. - Hillary’s one notable vote; supporting the plan to invade Iraq, she has since disavowed. Quite a resume’. Sounds more like an organized crime family’s rap sheet.
“The question is whether the voters and media will force them to face that contradiction or whether we’re in for more of the same-no matter how much the candidates go on about change.”
Does he really need help to answer that one?
What a shame that the discussion was instantly sidetracked.
The legacy of Bush II will be one of widespread carnage.
While there have been other bad presidents, at least their administrations had to deal with an opposition party.
Reversing this legacy will require years and years of hard work. Reversing this legacy will not happen by pursuing Bush’s carnage with a capital D. To assume that it will is to form an opinion without regard to the evidence at hand.
The reflexive rage that Democratic partisans exhibit toward actual lefties gives us a clue as to what will happen in the next administration. No doubt the past 8 years of Dems blaming progressives for the sins of their Republican partners will continue, making Bush’s legacy part of the next administration too.
Ideas matter.
Vast disconnect; caused by, half-vast minds.
JJPETER
rejoice in the possibilities: yeah, we might get sucked into a black hole.
Paul Virilio’s book “Pure War” predicted this DECADES ago, published to expose memoranda from the Pentagon in which its leaders discussed and planned every way they could think of to get as much of the American GNP into war-spending as possible. Well they sure have succeeded via and since Reagan, and look at the shape we’re in. Don’t worry, Shillary and Obama will change everything. GAG.
Ubrew,
Capital has had the upper hand from the beginning. Throughout the nation’s history, the government has been brought down on workers that step out of line. The military has frequently been called in to suppress legitimate worker strikes. Even peaceful gatherings have met indiscriminate sprays of gunfire. The Supreme Court has famously championed the rights of corporations. Presidents have conspired to bust strikes and unions.
The sad reality is this is not a recent phenomenon but is a foundational, structural component of American society.
A good source to understand this is Howard Zinn’s People’s History.
Remember the 2.3 trillion unaccountable defense dollars back in 2001???
http://benfrank.net/patriots/news/national/pentagon_missing_trillions
All any moron with a brain has to do is take a good look at how a rag tag bunch of terrorist’s and insurgents have managed to rout all the sophisticated weapons we have in our over-bloated arsenal. All they do is improvise with what little they have daily. You don’t need all the weaponry if you have a fanatical will to free your country of a foreign invader. So what does that tell us about the waste by Bush II????????
I saw a recent poll that stated that 25% of Dems thought global warming was a serious problem as compared to Repubs at 1%. This is one more of many instances where Dems are vastly different than Repubs. And Dems have a REALISTIC chance to get something done. Keep on dreaming, but don’t get lost in the ozone.
Greg R,
Funny how irrational people can be. Global warming is automatically a serious problem because of the magnitude of the downside risk if the worst case scenarios play out. Chalk another one up to the poor quality of our science and math education.
I remember the good old days of being flabbergasted at the idea that Bush needed 60 billion dollars to fight a war with Iraq. 60 Billion! Well, those days are gone. Give a Republican an inch and he’ll take the whole damn enchilada. I guess a lot of Americans are happy about these wars. Anybody working for the mil/ind complex. The lions in congress, led by (lyin) lion number 1 are feasting on our tax dollars all in the name of keeping us safe. $90 dollar power lunches all around I guess. Maybe we could just try talking sometime using real, real smart (I don’t mean shrewd) Americans. I’m tired of killing children anyway.
If we don’t pressure our elected lawmakers and executives to stop this industrial-military complex, we will have failed our children and chidren to be. It’s way past time to step up and save our country and the world. God is watching. Are we ready to act with his guidance?
Republicrats will continue to dominate this country as long as the Amerikan sheeple are willing to accept the lies from these so-called leaders. They spend the money of government exactly where it is needed: on the objects of obliteration, supplied by corporations that hedge their bets by flooding the coffers of the candidates of both parties with some of the excess loot gleaned from their spectacular no-bid contracts given by the party du jour. It’s a great system: there are only two possible outcomes - Republican or Democrat. Place your bets ladies and gentlemen! The returns will be sweet!