While perusing some other parts of the blogosphere, we have encountered some fresh postings challenging readers to come up with things that George W. Bush did wrong. Therefore it appears advisable to re-post this article, which originally has run here on October 1, 2008.

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Lets add up the very dubious “achievements” of the last eight years.

First: The stolen election of 2000, which started it all.

Second: The attacks of September 11, 2001.

Third: The approval of the Patriot Act and its effects on our democratic system, including the creation of the all-encompassing Department of Homeland Security, illegal wiretapping and domestic spying, the firing of U.S. Attorneys, Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force, creation of a police state and an atmosphere of overall paranoia and so forth, and so on.

Fourth: The push towards the invasion of Iraq, along with totally untrue “justifications”, such as the presence of weapons of mass destruction, al-Qaida being centered in Iraq and the “urgent” need to depose Saddam, etc, etc.

Fifth: The inept and I mean INEPT attempts at nation building, which of course – besides the actual conquest of Iraq – have caused the longest-lasting war in U.S. history and have cost the lives of approximately one million men, women and children and over 4,000 American soldiers, with tens of thousands of young men and women being crippled for life.

Sixth: The total monetary cost of this artificially created conflict is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars and counting. Making certain specific, but often not even specified corporations very, very rich in the process – with U.S. taxpayer’s money, of course.

Seventh: Causing the United States to slide from a position of a beacon of freedom to most of the world, to a universally despised entity, which allows and in fact employs torture, extraordinary rendition, secret prisons and all kinds of nasty methods, formerly the domain of the most unsavory of regimes.

Eight: The deregulation of all kinds of industries, including the airlines and of course, the financial (read: debt repackaging mills) sector.

Ninth: The creation of the largest national debt and government deficit in the history of the known world. As a matter of fact, the debt clock on Wall Street – which has been switched off during the Clinton administration, because it wasn’t needed – was turned off again, this time, because they run out of digits….Yes, folks. Our national debt now totals some $56 trillion. That’s about $480,000 for every household in the U.S.  Isn’t it amazing that we had a surplus under the philanderer Clinton and a totally crippling debt under the teetotaler Bush?

Tenth: Becoming an economic cripple, with foreign creditors holding huge chunks of whatever real wealth remains in the U.S.

Eleventh: Not producing very much of anything any longer, allowing other countries to take the technological lead in many areas, allowing our infrastructure to crumble (besides the anti-terrorist barriers in front of government buildings), having an educational system that continues to produce illiterate adults, who often have no idea what lies beyond the borders of their counties and spend an incredible amount of time watching the moronic offerings of the television industry. And lets not forget the government’s peerless performance during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Twelfth: And this is the crowning, but not surprising touch of the last eight years: The seeming collapse of the debt repackaging mills, which George W. Bush had the gall to call “our financial system” and of course, another super urgent call to bail it out at a cost of another $700 billion, to a trillion dollars of taxpayer’s money. This, after bailing out Bear Stearns, Fannie May, Freddie Mack, AIG and others.

I will leave the 13^th point out of this discussion, as we all fervently hope that it won’t be needed and that point number 12 is the last serious point of damage that the present occupant of the White House and his corporate masters will cause to all of us.

In closing, allow me to congratulate all of those who have re-elected Bush in 2004!

Technorati Tags: 9/11, afghanistan, bush, damage, iraq, neocons, patriot act, torture, war

OK, we got a Nobel Peace Prize, now what?

Despite what anyone could possibly say we turned Iraq into not only a mess, but also several hundred thousand people have died in the process and we managed to spend untold billions of dollars to do it.

Will Afghanistan/Pakistan turn into a similar – this time a nuclear-armed mess?

The shadows of Vietnam are almost unmistakable: More troops, changes of strategy, changes of generals – all for naught. It looks like still another quagmire.

Maybe it is time for our fearless leaders to dig up some history books and re-learn the experiences of others and finally realize that at this stage many Afghans prefer the bloody Taliban to the corrupt Karzai regime. Yes, folks, the Taliban might be severe in their religious beliefs, in their punishment and in their treatment and attitude towards women, but for the most part they are at least honest. To be sure their religious rules and methods are no worse that those of Saudi Arabia – a country with which we have pretty close relations.

Go ahead, visit some of the smaller Afghan towns and villages and ask the people, whom they would prefer out of the two lousy choices. The answers might surprise you.

In the meantime, we wonder if our two ongoing wars will bring about songs as good as the Vietnam War did…

Technorati Tags: Afghan, iraq, Pakistan, Vietnam, wars

We are re-posting this story – along with a few edits – after our friends at BadGalsRadio.

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Has America finally turned into the Land of the Evil and the Home of the Bullies?

Whatever happened to the hearts and mind approach?

America needs to rebuild the country instead of spending money hand and fist to allow baby killers and rapists to run roughshod over people in foreign lands; in the name of the American people.

I am not thinking that President Obama is incorrect in his assessment that there needs to be some sort of troop involvement in Afghanistan; just not American forces. Let the UN handle it’s business.  Do we remember when the Russians left? They said clearly that Afghanistan as a war is unwinnable for any outside force. And before them were the British and all kinds of other invaders, including Alexander of Macedonia. None of these people, or countries has ever managed to win a war in Afghanistan. Why?  The reasons are many, but probably the main one is that this is a holy war.

In addition, why is it that about the only thing that the conservatives seem to agree with the president on is the continued troop presence in Afghanistan?

Since it was clearly the British who have messed up entire regions of the world, by drawing arbitrary maps  and borders in the Middle East, Africa and Asia – including of course the borders between India and Pakistan and Pakistan and Afghanistan, shouldn’t they be forced to fix the mess that they have made? But of course Britain is a mere shadow of itself nowadays… Is that how America become the Keeper of The Worlds’ Rights ? If that’s the case – America should start at home first.

Immediately Approve the Health Care Bill, fix our crumbling infrastructure and send the ones who so strongly believe in “winning” the war in Afghanistan over there, as mercenaries, but not in my name, or yours, but strictly in their own. Let’s see how these “patriots” fare over there.  Getting rid of some of those people might help America once again become the worlds’ leader in Democracy and Civil Rights, while at the same time providing some jollies to the ones who are willing to so freely waste the blood of our troops and of anyone else, who they don’t agree with.

Is That Too Much To Ask For ?

America Fix Your Own House First before you start trying to clean up anybody else’s yard.  until Americans stop avoiding the depth of social ills in America; America will continue to be handicapped – and dissolute.

Many believe that America is on the road to recovery – yet we still see unprecedented disrespect for the highest office in the land; as well as a continuous climate of hatred, from sea to bloody sea.

America – Why so much anger in no particular direction ?

Has America finally turned into the Land of the Evil and the Home of the Bullies?

Charity Group: U.S. Troops Stormed Afghan Hospital

(bet.com)

A Swedish charity accused American troops Monday of storming through a hospital in central Afghanistan, breaking down doors and tying up staff in a search for militants, The Associated Press reports.

The U.S. military said it was investigating the allegation. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan accused the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division of entering the hospital without permission to look for insurgents in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, according to the charity’s country director, Anders Fange.

Fange said Monday that the troops’ actions were a violation of the sanctity of medical facilities in combat zones. “This is simply not acceptable,” he told AP. The U.S. troops entered the hospital looking for Taliban insurgents late at night last Wednesday, Fange said. He said they kicked in doors, tied up four hospital employees and two family members of patients, and forced patients out of beds during their search.

When they left two hours later, the unit ordered hospital staff to inform coalition forces if any wounded militants were admitted, and the military would decide if they could be treated, Fange said. Navy public affairs officer Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker confirmed that the hospital was searched last week but had no other details. She said the military is looking into the incident. “We are investigating and we take allegations like this seriously,” she told AP. “Complaints like this are rare.”

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The bottom line is:  Can we really expect to achieve anything even close to “success”, or “victory” in Afghanistan? Probably not. As a matter of fact despite additional U.S. troops and a new commander things appear to be deteriorating all around.

Maybe it is time to dust off the presidential crystal ball and see what the future holds, before sending any more troops to Afghanistan?

Technorati Tags: afghanistan, America, iraq, land of the bully, war

There is one presidential accessory that seems to be sorely missing in Washington. I would like to propose the acquisition of the Official Presidential Crystal Ball.

It wouldn’t be very expensive. Considering the usual purchasing habits of the federal government, it shouldn’t set us back more that a few measly billion dollars, I think.

Since the war in Iraq is costing the U.S. taxpayers some $12 billion per month, and it has been many, many months of that already, a few more actually productive billions seems like a real bargain.

We could even issue each of the incoming presidents his, or her own crystal ball and as their terms in office end, the crystal balls could be displayed at the Smithsonian. Just imagine school children admiring the crystal balls of the different presidencies, with the teachers explaining the myriad, momentous decisions taken by the presidents with the help of their crystal balls.

Back in 2001, 2002 and 2003 President Bush could have easily seen that there were no WMDs in Iraq. That al-Qaida was not in Iraq at all, but rather in Pakistan and Afghanistan and that most of al-Qaida recruits, including Osama bin-Laden came from the land of his father’s buddies – Saudi Arabia. The advice of the crystal ball would have been without even the slightest shadow of a doubt more useful and certainly more accurate than the one that the neocons gave the president.

The president could also see, right in front of his eyes how ridiculous an idea it was to send everyone a $300 check and expect that this would cure the ailing U.S. economy.

He might also have been able to see that Vladimir Putin’s soul was not something worth writing home about. After meeting Putin in 2001 Mr. Bush famously said: “I was able to get a sense of his soul. “He’s a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country and I appreciate very much the frank dialogue and that’s the beginning of a very constructive relationship.” Geez, look at Putin’s Russia now, Mr. President. Don’t you wish that you had your own, presidential crystal ball in 2001?

When at a news conference one of the reporters mentioned the very real possibility of gasoline reaching $4 per gallon, President Bush responded: “That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that”. That lapse probably wouldn’t happen if the president had his trusty crystal ball before him on the rostrum.

President Obama, in turn could gaze into his own crystal ball and see that the war in Afghanistan will last as long as foreign troops are present in that country.

Mr. Obama could also see that rewarding failure of the financial industry was not such a great idea. He might even see the logo of Goldman Sachs reflected in the shimmering crystal.

The president might also see that the Cap-and-Trade solution to the climate problems is not the right way to go about it and that he should work toward implementing a carbon tax.

The president should also see that he shouldn’t give up his efforts to reform the U.S. health care system – which has needed reforming for a very long time now – and that with enough persistance that goal might very well be achieved quite soon.

Technorati Tags: al-qaida, bush, iraq, Presidential Crystal Ball, putin, wmd

Just for you edification, all those neocons, made sort of famous during the Bush years, started doing their evil much, much earlier.

Come to think of it, there’s got to be something very wrong with our system of government and justice. Why haven’t these people been locked up for high treason, instead of getting re-appointed to high positions time after time?

Technorati Tags: bush.cia, crimes, failure, iraq, neocons, prosecution, torture, treason, war