Monday, May 23, 2005
America the Disgraced
This writer, who is building a case for why Bush is the worst president ever, has a pretty easy assignment. The only hard part might be deciding from among the wealth of facts to support this thesis. Here are his main points:
1) America the Disgraced:
"President Bush's actions and policies have destroyed America's image as a nation that adheres to a set of core values, such as the rule of law, humane treatment of prisoners, presumed innocence, trial by jury and respect for international laws."
2) Bush's own Vietnam
"Thanks to George W. Bush and the handful of Neocon nuts . . . we are stuck in another Vietnam-type war thousands of miles from home. All the Vietnam trappings are here for anyone who cares to notice -- indigenous insurgents, driven by a fanatical ideology, supported and supplied by "spoiler" nation-states with their own anti-U.S. agendas, thousands of dead civilians, American soldiers dying by the gross week in and week out, with no end in sight.
3) Sovietization of America
"The Patriot Act -- the law that among other things allows federal agents to demand your local library tell them what books you are reading -- is about to be expanded.
Little by little this administration has chipped away at state powers by transferring them to Washington. And nowhere has this process been more pronounced than in the area of law enforcement and the courts. The FBI, which once had to defer to local and state law enforcers when on their turf, can now barge right in and take charge. All they have to do is an investigation a "national security" or "homeland security" matter.
Federal courts, which have acted as a brake on law enforcement abuses, are being systemically stacked with rightwing judges less likely to side with victims of overzealous cops or invasions of personal privacy."
4)Peasantization of Workers
"Over the past five years we have seen the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of money. The already wealthy have become mind-numbingly rich under George Bush. Where did the money come from? It came right out of the pockets of working Americans and the poor."
5) Deficits
"The government as well went on a borrowing binge running up a national credit card debt of just over $7 trillion.
All that damage in just five years! It's almost unimaginable, but true. And the negative long-term implications stagger those who understand that there really is no such thing as a free lunch, that deficits do matter, be they government deficits or consumer's."
Here's a list added in the comments by a self-professed former Republican, James PB:
Here's some more reasons:
55 million Americans with no health insurance.
18,000 deaths a year due to Americans with no health insurance.
9 million unemployed.
11 million long term unemployed.
1.6 million personal bankruptcies every year.
1500 Americans killed in Iraq; 12,000 wounded, many disabled for life.
Veterans Administration budget chopped and slashed year after year.
Massive military base closings in the USA as we build massive bases in Iraq.
100,000 Iraqis killed in Iraq.
$500 billion annual deficit and growing.
3 million American jobs outsourced to China, India, Central American, etc.
$1500 monthly health care premiums for those over 50 years old.
$25,000 a year for an out of state college education.
$2.25 for a gallon of gas.
154 Federal Programs and projects slashed.
A $350 billion tax giveback that that didn’t create a single job.
$300 billion spent on Iraq and Afghanistan.
$1.2 billion a week spent every week in sunny, beautiful Iraq.
3 million illegal immigrants sneaking over our borders with Bush’s blessing.
An $8 trillion national debt.
Social Security reform that will cost $2 trillion to fix (who the hell broke it).
No energy policy; not environmental policy; and a world that hates us.
A $220 billion drug industry that spends most of its profits on TV commercials.
A Government that can send a man to the Moon by won’t fund a cure for cancer.
Most of the 50 states are each running huge billion dollar budget deficits.
A Homeland Security Department that has become a huge money-sucking machine.
From A Former Republican.
AlterNet: Bush: Worst President Ever?
1) America the Disgraced:
"President Bush's actions and policies have destroyed America's image as a nation that adheres to a set of core values, such as the rule of law, humane treatment of prisoners, presumed innocence, trial by jury and respect for international laws."
2) Bush's own Vietnam
"Thanks to George W. Bush and the handful of Neocon nuts . . . we are stuck in another Vietnam-type war thousands of miles from home. All the Vietnam trappings are here for anyone who cares to notice -- indigenous insurgents, driven by a fanatical ideology, supported and supplied by "spoiler" nation-states with their own anti-U.S. agendas, thousands of dead civilians, American soldiers dying by the gross week in and week out, with no end in sight.
3) Sovietization of America
"The Patriot Act -- the law that among other things allows federal agents to demand your local library tell them what books you are reading -- is about to be expanded.
Little by little this administration has chipped away at state powers by transferring them to Washington. And nowhere has this process been more pronounced than in the area of law enforcement and the courts. The FBI, which once had to defer to local and state law enforcers when on their turf, can now barge right in and take charge. All they have to do is an investigation a "national security" or "homeland security" matter.
Federal courts, which have acted as a brake on law enforcement abuses, are being systemically stacked with rightwing judges less likely to side with victims of overzealous cops or invasions of personal privacy."
4)Peasantization of Workers
"Over the past five years we have seen the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of money. The already wealthy have become mind-numbingly rich under George Bush. Where did the money come from? It came right out of the pockets of working Americans and the poor."
5) Deficits
"The government as well went on a borrowing binge running up a national credit card debt of just over $7 trillion.
All that damage in just five years! It's almost unimaginable, but true. And the negative long-term implications stagger those who understand that there really is no such thing as a free lunch, that deficits do matter, be they government deficits or consumer's."
Here's a list added in the comments by a self-professed former Republican, James PB:
Here's some more reasons:
55 million Americans with no health insurance.
18,000 deaths a year due to Americans with no health insurance.
9 million unemployed.
11 million long term unemployed.
1.6 million personal bankruptcies every year.
1500 Americans killed in Iraq; 12,000 wounded, many disabled for life.
Veterans Administration budget chopped and slashed year after year.
Massive military base closings in the USA as we build massive bases in Iraq.
100,000 Iraqis killed in Iraq.
$500 billion annual deficit and growing.
3 million American jobs outsourced to China, India, Central American, etc.
$1500 monthly health care premiums for those over 50 years old.
$25,000 a year for an out of state college education.
$2.25 for a gallon of gas.
154 Federal Programs and projects slashed.
A $350 billion tax giveback that that didn’t create a single job.
$300 billion spent on Iraq and Afghanistan.
$1.2 billion a week spent every week in sunny, beautiful Iraq.
3 million illegal immigrants sneaking over our borders with Bush’s blessing.
An $8 trillion national debt.
Social Security reform that will cost $2 trillion to fix (who the hell broke it).
No energy policy; not environmental policy; and a world that hates us.
A $220 billion drug industry that spends most of its profits on TV commercials.
A Government that can send a man to the Moon by won’t fund a cure for cancer.
Most of the 50 states are each running huge billion dollar budget deficits.
A Homeland Security Department that has become a huge money-sucking machine.
From A Former Republican.
AlterNet: Bush: Worst President Ever?
