- Karl Rove, the mastermind of Bush II's
ascension to America's seat of power, is a man of great distinction. Despite
his decidedly porcine features, Mr. Rove's Machiavellian lust for power,
narcissistic lack of empathy, sycophantic devotion to the Bush crime family,
deceitful nature, and conniving mind coalesce to leave the Prince looking
like a pauper.
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- Remember Rove's infamous remarks concerning
the 9/11 tragedy?
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- 1. "Liberals saw the savagery of
the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and
understanding for our attackers." Referring to conservatives, he said
that they "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for
war."
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- 2. "At the core, we are dealing
with two parties that have fundamentally different views on national security.
Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview and many Democrats have a pre-9/11
worldview. That doesn't make them unpatriotic-not at all. But it does make
them wrong-deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."
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- Powerful propaganda indeed
-
-
- Both remarks have had the intended effect.
Millions of indoctrinated Americans have responded in knee-jerk fashion,
blindly waving the flag to support the imperialist, plutocratic, and dictatorial
agenda of Rove, Bush and their fellow Zionist puppets of Israel. (Does
AIPAC office out of the Black House yet?) Despite their fundamentally flawed
logic, Rove's comments sowed the seeds of fear and insecurity deeply into
the psyche of many Americans. Throwing critical thinking to the wind (and
thus carrying out their programming), many of Bush's loyal minions vilify
those who support moral principals such as universal human rights, equality,
peace and social justice, labeling them as liberals, socialists, or (God
forbid) Communists.
-
- Taking their oversimplification one step
further, many who still believe in the fairy tale version of America assume
that each liberal must be a Democrat. Never mind that many Democrats have
shown themselves to be as devoid of virtue as their Republican counterparts.
Many "good Americans" are inculcated with the belief that people
with "liberal" beliefs blindly support all Democrats. For those
conforming to American groupthink, it is nearly impossible to deviate from
the false dichotomies of conservative vs. liberal or Republican vs. Conservative.
How comforting for our de facto ruling class that they can count on placid
acceptance of their moral turpitude as scores of millions of Americans
are too absorbed in working, consuming, and watching television to notice.
Don't worry. Be happy.
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- Who can we scapegoat?
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-
- Someone recently asked me how the illegal
occupation of Iraq has changed our nation. Since Bush and his cabal used
9/11 as a blatantly false pretense for invading Iraq, I decided to examine
how the United States has changed since the WTC collapse.
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- In his clever sound-bites I quoted above,
Rove set up yet another false dichotomy (manipulative people love to use
them). According to him, we had only two choices: pursue the 9/11 perpetrators
through legal channels and come to realize that our imperialistic, murderous
behavior was fueling intense hatred against the United States or go to
war. Taking bold legal action to capture and punish those responsible for
the WTC collapse while changing our behavior to conform to international
law would have made more sense than going to war against a nation which
had no involvement in 9/11. However, catching the criminals and embracing
legal behavior would have led to indictments against members of the Bush
Regime (since substantial evidence now exists that they enabled or caused
the 9/11 demolition of the WTC). Besides, respecting human rights and international
law would require the current administration to scrap virtually all of
their foreign and domestic policies. So, ignoring the rational option and
a host of other possibilities which may or may not have made sense, our
criminal government invaded Iraq.
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- Let's take a look and see
-
-
- Let's compare and contrast "pre-9/11"
and "post-9/11" America so we can sharpen the simplistic, distorted
images of the two worldviews Rove (AKA Turd Blossom) sought to create with
his clever propaganda. Perhaps we can discern whether or not the Bush Regime's
policies and actions since September 11, 2001 have been "deeply and
profoundly and consistently right".
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- Muslims do not have a monopoly on extremism
-
-
- I want to start in my own backyard here
in Kansas. The "apocalyptic" event on 9/11 sparked the fervor
of the Christian extremists in our midst. Our very own Senator Brownback
is making a bid for the Presidency on a platform which essentially promises
to convert the United States into a theocracy. After conducting a kangaroo
court, a majority of the Kansas State School Board members decided they
were both erudite and righteous enough to re-write the definition of science
and to open the door to introduce the "theory" of Intelligent
Design in our public schools, which one of my sons attends. I feel reassured
knowing that his school will teach him that merely observing the complexity
of the world "proves" that there has to be an intelligent designer
(translated as the Christian deity). Thankfully, he will also learn that
the idea of Intelligent Design rivals the Theory of Evolution, despite
the fact that Evolution is supported by years of research by thousands
of scientists. And what discussion of Christian extremism would be complete
without mention of Kansan Fred Phelps, a "minister" filled with
hatred and venom?
-
- (Note to Christians who actually follow
the compassionate teachings of Christ and employ the mind that God gave
you: it is not you whom I disparage.)
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- Time travel to the Gilded Age anyone?
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-
-
- Recently, my favorite pet store closed.
My family and I frequented this "mom and pop" shop often. Their
prices were a little high, but they took excellent care of their animals,
carried outstanding inventory, and were friendly and knowledgeable. Unfortunately,
once Petco erected one of their Big-Box stores in the same parking lot,
our pet supplier was doomed. In our metro area with a population of nearly
two million, there are a mere handful of small proprietors running pet
stores. Thanks to Petco and other corporate behemoths, a multitude of small
businesses in our city have folded during the Bush Regime.
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- On several occasions, my wife's cousin
has told me of Wal-Mart's impact on her small home-town in Missouri. The
big yellow smiley face brought frowns to most of Brookfield's inhabitants.
It cost the taxpayers $300,000.00 worth of incentives to bring a "Super-Store"
to town. Little did the unsuspecting residents know that they were paying
to enable Wal-Mart to work its "magic", which included driving
many small businesses under while offering lower wages and fewer benefits
to displaced workers. Always low prices, wages and morals.
-
- Yes, a corporatocracy is a beautiful
thing. The minimum wage has not increased since 1997. The number of uninsured
Americans has risen to 45 million. Such is life in the "free market"
economy touted so highly by Bush and his corporate cronies. But true believers
know that our president is doing what is best for the country. Marketers
of the American Dream have taught them that soulless corporations (which
enjoy many of the rights and few of the responsibilities of a real person)
will protect the interests of the working people and consumers.
-
- Since 9/11, Rove and the Bush Regime
have steadily eroded government regulation of corporate leviathans. Spinning
yarns that would make an unscrupulous salesperson blush, our ruling elites
and the compliant mainstream media assure us that most CEOs, whose salaries
average 400 times that of their employees and who exist to please their
avaricious share-holders, are certain to make decisions which balance ethics
with profit. Today's wealthy elite are too morally evolved to engage in
the exploitation and passive murder of employees and consumers committed
by their predecessors during the Gilded Age. They can be trusted. Post-9/11
America is a wonderful place for small business owners, consumers, and
employees. Just think of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Monsanto, the offshoring
of American jobs, powerful corporate lobbyists, Nike sweatshops, the military
industrial complex, union-busting, the obscene profits of drug and oil
companies, and on, and on .
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- Murder, mayhem, and sinister motives
veiled by "noble causes"
-
-
- What portrait of the world since 9/11
would be complete without considering America's invasion and colonial occupation
of Iraq? The dangerous minds behind the Project for the New American Century,
a think tank that outlines strategy for the United States to achieve world
military domination, determined that they needed a new Pearl Harbor to
launch their quest for global hegemony. 9/11 provided that catalyst. Rumsfeld,
Powell and company shrewdly convinced enough Americans of Iraq's culpability
for 9/11 (and that Hussein possessed WMD's) that they mustered the necessary
popular support to initiate their imperialist invasion. Mark Twain himself
could not have penned fiction to top the intricate, suspenseful dramas
scripted by the Neocons. Defying the United Nations and violating a myriad
of international laws, the United States threw off the last vestiges of
benevolence by pre-emptively invading a sovereign nation (whose people
it had already been passively mass murdering by the hundreds of thousands
through the UN economic sanctions it orchestrated in the 1990's).
-
- The invasion did end the sanctions, but
the United States has now actively murdered tens of thousands of innocent
Iraqi civilians (anywhere from 38,000 to 250,000 depending on which report
one believes---but remember: the US military "doesn't do body counts").
Iraq's infrastructure is in a shambles. Few civilians have access to water
or sewage facilities. Electricity is only available for several hours a
day. Oil production is well below pre-invasion levels. Chaos and civil
war grip the nation. And did I mention the 2,300 Americans who joined the
military to protect their country but instead wasted their lives on an
ill-conceived plot to expand the American Empire? Mission accomplished,
eh George?
-
- Who needs human rights when we have a
benevolent dictatorship?
-
- Personally, I liked the pre-9/11 worldview,
especially since it included a nearly intact Constitution. Alexander Hamilton
would thrive in post 9/11 America, where the Bill of Rights is going the
way of the Dodo. I know it is unpatriotic of me while our nation is waging
a "war on terror", but I sorely miss the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth,
Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Maybe I am just spoiled and idealistic,
but the Patriot Act, the death of habeas corpus, denial of due process,
torture, and illegal domestic spying deeply disturb me. Viewing the world
through the quaint lenses of my pre-9/11 worldview, I believe that the
vision of America that was born in 1789 could still become a reality. Unfortunately,
under the pretext of "national security", the Bush Regime is
unraveling the progress that Abolitionists, Populists, Progressives, civil
rights activists, and many others made toward the ideals spelled out in
our Constitution. America was evolving toward the nation Thomas Paine had
envisioned. Now Paine's vision is in jeopardy of dying. The vultures of
despotism are eagerly circling to greedily pick the flesh from the bones
of democracy's carcass. Remember Jose Padilla, Abu Gharib, Bagram Air Base,
Guantanamo Bay, illegal domestic spying, the illegal occupation in Iraq,
two stolen elections, 9/11, the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act.
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- In the post-9/11 worldview, consolidation
of power into the Executive Branch is necessary to protect us from the
terrorists. Since it is now common knowledge amongst the Empire's loyalists
that all Islamic people are terrorists, we need to entrust Bush with as
much power as possible to maximize our protection. Why bother with the
messy constraints of a system of checks and balances when we can have one
man, particularly one the caliber of George Bush, making the decisions
based on his beliefs and the directives he receives from God. Occasionally
Congress raises its head and grunts an objection at Emperor George when
Senators like Schumer and Clinton think it will further their political
careers to show people they can flex some muscle, but most of the time
our legislative branch rubber-stamps the edicts from the Black House. Bush
has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a rogue with no respect for that
"God-damned piece of paper" housed at the National Archives or
those pansy international laws (probably written by the French). You think
any self-respecting Texan is going to let those wooden-shoed, tulip tending
ultraliberals at The Hague tell him what to do? Hell, he doesn't need FISA's
approval to spy on Americans, let alone a bunch of "foreigners"
telling him how to run his country. The sad reality is that George Bush
is the world's most dangerous terrorist. His stockpile of WMDs surpasses
those envisioned in Saddam Hussein's wildest imaginings, he is not afraid
to use them, and he is quite adept at using them without firing them. W
is the new sheriff in town. Bush only submits to one Earthly authority.
Israel dictates US foreign policy when it is not too heavily engaged in
its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.
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- Hey, Big Spender
-
-
- As of 3/15/06, our national debt was
$8.28 trillion and was increasing by an average of $2.1 billion per day.
Prior to 9/11, the United States was less than $5.8 trillion in the red.
We obviously had a pre-9/11 problem, but the Black House's post-9/11 worldview
involves addressing the problem with a brilliant solution: keep borrowing
more from Japan and China, continue increasing military expenditures (which
already account for 60% of global military spending), advance more cut
taxes for the rich, and persist in choking off social programs which benefit
humanity and the environment.
-
- Welcome to the "Third World",
New Orleans!
-
-
- Some of you nostalgic dreamers with a
pre-9/11 worldview might remember Mardi Gras, the Big Easy, and the birth-place
of jazz. You might also remember the passive mass murder committed by the
Bush Regime as they did virtually nothing to prepare for Katrina, despite
warnings about the inadequacies of the levees that came as early as 2001.
In fact, under Bush, the federal government reduced funding intended to
strengthen the levees and whittled FEMA down to a shadow of its former
self. There is now video evidence that Bush received a briefing the day
before Katrina struck which alerted him to the magnitude of the storm;
his response was to ignore it. Apparently, he chose to act based on a post-
9/11 worldview and let local authorities contend with the storm. At least
give him credit for flying over and waving at New Orleans from Air Force
One after the storm had passed. And Mother Bush did pay a visit to the
Astrodome to remind Americans that the Katrina evacuees were "underprivileged
anyway, so this is working very well for them." Thanks to the criminal
negligence and ineptitude of our federal government (which collects the
lion's share of tax money from We the People and is mandated by the Constitution
to "promote the general welfare"), thousands of people are dead
or missing and a major city lies in ruins. How peculiar that most of the
dead and missing are poor and black. What an odd coincidence.
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- I owe my soul to the company store.
-
-
- I yearn for the days when so many Americans
hadn't traded their souls and freedom for an SUV to drive (paying big dollars
for gasoline gives them self-justification for their hatred of Muslims),
magnetic "Support the Troops" ribbons (at least we now have a
replacement for the plastic Jesus), a McDonald's on every other corner
(a scapegoat for unhealthy eating habits), Wal-Mart (to keep prices, wages,
benefits, and competition low), the DHS (to play Big Brother and keep them
safe), and free market capitalism (so they can keep buying more "stuff").
Yet I wonder, did a time truly exist during my adult life when massive
numbers of Americans were not spiritually bereft, or was I simply one of
the consumer zombies and thus unaware of the problem? I conclude it was
probably the latter. Thankfully, I was able to wrest my soul free from
the tenacious grip of the American Corporatocracy, and I intend to help
as many as I am able to reclaim theirs.
-
- My conclusion?
-
-
- After some reflection, it would appear
that America's pre-9/11 worldview was much more rational, logical, and
conducive to continued human existence on this planet than the post-9/11
worldview. Karl Rove spoke of a pre-9/11 viewpoint as "deeply and
profoundly and consistently wrong." If that is true, let's go back
to being "wrong". I am neither Democrat nor Republican, but in
this case, I cast my vote definitively on the side Mr. Rove characterized
as Democrat.
-
- As Rove mentioned, I think we need to
"prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers".
After all, the Bush Regime is full of criminals and sociopaths. In light
of his low key yet powerful role in the Bush dynasty, let's put Mr. Rove
behind bars and on the couch first. Perhaps Mr. Fitzgerald will accomplish
that task in the near future.
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- Final Note:
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- In many previous essays, I have detailed
numerous actions that a person with a social conscience can take to challenge
the malefactors who are destroying our constitutional republic and wreaking
havoc on the world. Now I am suggesting yet another. It is only a start,
but it is simple and has a chance of success if enough people participate.
I understand that it is easy to lapse into deep cynicism, but our democracy
is on life support, not dead. If We the People exercise what is left of
our Constitutional rights, there is a chance we can reclaim our nation.
If we don't, we have thrown in the towel and lost.
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- Please click on the link below to support
the Censure and Impeachment of George Bush:
-
- http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/635
-
- Jason Miller is a 39 year old sociopolitical
essayist with a degree in liberal arts and an extensive self-education.
When he is not spending time with his wife and three sons, doing research,
or writing, he works as a loan counselor. He is a member of Amnesty International
and an avid supporter of Oxfam International and Human Rights Watch. He
welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com and comments on his blog,
Thomas Paine's Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com.
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