Who Needs Facts?

[Joe Fields]

Facts and the Bush administration are like oil and water - they don't mix. Atilla the Bush and his army of self-interested neocons came bearing down on our capitol nearly four years ago with specific plans to lay to waste policies, regulations and more than 200 years worth of national philosophy. With such radical and earnest ambitions they just didn't have time to bother with small details like facts or the truth.

What they all have shown us discerning Americans is that they can thrive in the Orwellian world that they have created, doing one thing, then saying the opposite, all the while knowing that those Americans who support the president will practice a willing suspension of disbelief, buying into anything they are told, no matter what mountain of facts point to the contrary.

We know that the Bush White House has not played straight with us on any issue or policy matter. We also are painfully aware that there has, to date, been no backlash, that fifty percent of Americans polled believe every word he and his henchmen tell us.

The litany of examples is quite lengthy. Bush sold middle class America on tax cuts, yet more than sixty percent of those cuts went to the wealthiest ten percent of the population. The fact is that he squandered a half-trillion dollar surplus on tax cuts for the wealthy, leaving no money for important homeland security issues. States have recieved less federal money, and the result has been that our states have had to raise various taxes to balance things out. Yet, much of America still believes Bush did absolutely the right thing.

He has repealed and ignored more than four hundred environmental laws and regulations. The gutting of these laws benefit only industries that pollute heavily, yet Bush tells Americans that our skies and our waterways will be cleaner as a result of his "policies." Time and again this administration has ignored scientific fact to further their industry controlled ecologic agenda. Allowing higher levels of mercury in the air and water, then telling the public that these new levels are acceptable is just one instance. Re-defining global warming is another. And again half of America believes him.

Bush has told us why we needed to go to war against Iraq, even though there has been no proven link to terrorism or weapons of mass destruction. In fact, his reasons have kept changing over the last twenty months, and half of America believes him every time. Half of us have come to believe those lame excuses for not finding WMD's. Half of us actually believe Bush and Cheney when they pathetically try to assert, despite all credible sources that speak to the contrary, that there REALLY REALLY REALLY is a link between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Now he wants us to believe that we are the great liberators of the world and it is our god given duty and right to force democracy on less fortunate countries. Half of us still believe that there was no shift in policy at cabinet level to degrade, abuse and torture prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo, even though testimony and memos prove otherwise. In other words, don't believe your lying eyes - believe what we tell you. Again, it seems to work. Abu Ghraib is all but swept under the carpet and out of our memories.

And now, here it is, some sixteen months since we invaded Iraq. There is overwhelming evidence that every facet of our "liberation" of the Iraqi people is a miserable failure. NOT SO! says president Bush. Everything is fine. He tells us we are winning the war on terror, and that great progress is being made in liberating the cities under the control of "insurgents."Pay no attention to the fact that his policies have been the best recruiting tool for al-Qaeda and other radical organizations. Pay no attention that Iraq is far less secure now than it was after the fall of Baghdad. Pay no attention to the fact that the level of violence has dramatically increased, and that American service personnel are being maimed and killed at a much higher rate than in the past. And pay no attention to the CIA report that came out yesterday, which gave the best case scenario as being able to avert a civil war in the next year. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of how well things are going over there. And still, I am certain that half of America will believe Bush. Because, after all, as long as Bush re-assures us, says all the right things, makes us feel good about ourselves as true patriots, it really doesn't matter what he does. It's like he once told Bob Woodward - history will judge him long after he is dead.

One last thing. I have a challenge for all of the Bush supporters who have children at least 18 years old. If you believe everything your man tells you, if you think this is a just war, if you believe your man is doing the right thing and making good decisions about this war, then you should have no problem offering up your children for this just and righteous cause. Then, after your sons and daughters come home in body bags, you can feel secure in the knowledge that this was worth giving your child's life for. That is, of course, if you REALLY believe your president.

Joe Fields

[Kierkegaard]

1. Brilliant

I would love to have some Pug types answer a few of these questions...

[LisaLynne]

2. Excellent

[JimmyJazz]

3. Well said. I especially loved the last paragraph.

I also highly recommend the book, Worse than Watergate by John Dean for more insight into the corruption of this administration.

[Joe Fields]

4. Thanks