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 Editorials | February 2006 
The State of the Union - FUBAR
 Erich Haubrich - PVNN
In the worst year of his presidency thus far we have seen a lot of the true nature of the Bush administration. Battles over the battles in the Middle East, indictments and pending indictments on close personal associates, contributors and staff members, a total failure to manage the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and many other failures both in the public eye and behind the scenes.
In public speeches Bush uses the word 'terror' an average of nine times and the words 'September 11th' during the first two minutes. That's been his trump card for all things foreign and domestic since the 'War on Terror' began. Fewer and fewer people are feeling like Bush's leadership has been effective. Fewer and fewer people are trusting the administration. Fewer and fewer people are sitting idly by while the economy falls slides into the toilet, our freedoms and privacy are being stripped away and Bush cronies are making billions in no-bid contracts to clean up his messes.
U.S. trade policies have led to a hemorrhaging of jobs - not just in manufacturing, but high-tech and service jobs as well.Bush promised that these cuts would help the economy grow by 305,000 jobs a month, oops they did it again. Our economy grew by only 1,000 new jobs during the entire month of December, compared to about 1,000 jobs every three hours during the Clinton years.In the US we have near record unemployment rates - America has lost 2.7 million jobs since March 2001. Median wages have also fallen and inflation is higher than it's been in half a decade. 37 million Americans now live in poverty, 45.5 million don't have health insurance and 20% of American children live in households that can barely afford food.
The tax cuts enacted last year - which the Administration wants to make permanent - will rob the U.S. treasury of $1.7 trillion over 10 years that's $1,700,000,000. These cuts have led to $260 billion in lost revenue last year, at a time when more and more Americans can't afford the basic necessities of life, such as food, utilities, housing, and health care, and the states are facing their worst fiscal crisis in 50 years. Did I mention that home heating costs in the US are at an all-time high? All of this is happening while companies like Halliburton and Exxon are posting the largest earnings in history. Exxon, incidentally, is suing in a California court to keep from having to pay the $5 billion it owes for the Valdez spill in Alaska, and Halliburton is defending itself against charges of fraudulent handling of the monies from no-bid contracts in Iraq and elsewhere.
So how's everything else on the homefront? New Orleans and the Gulf States are not going to be back in shape for years to come. The thousands of displaced residents are trying hard to put their lives back together in a US economy that has been ransacked by bad domestic policy. Schools are losing funding to a military budget that is bigger than the next twelve countries combined. We have big automakers filing chapter 11 and laying off tens of thousands of workers, we have skyrocketing averages on personal debt and yet the rich are paying less taxes than they were during the roaring economy in the 90's.
No child left behind, yep, sure, uh-huh. Education and health care are worse in the United States than in any other developed nation. Overcrowded classrooms, low salaries for teachers, budgets that are getting slimmer every year are not the way to go Mr. Bush. College tuition has increased to levels unseen even in the worst of economic times in history and more and more often the schools are competing for funding in congress with tax cuts for the wealthy. Is it fair to say that the reason why US companies are farming out labor to other countries and hiring foreigners is because we're not paying enough attention to education?
The deficit will reach $394 billion in 2006,$412 billion in 2007,$428 billion in 2008. That's not including the $4.3 TRILLION in debt we currently hold and should really be trying to pay off. But instead, we are financing a 'War on Terror' that is bleeding billions from the treasury, alienating us from former allies and creating a military situation that has our resources stretched to the breaking point resulting in a highly precarious strategic position.
The culture of fear that has been created by this administration poses a lot greater risk to our national security than any of the psychopaths in the caves of Afghanistan ever could have. Only 10-13% of Americans feel that the federal government is "well-prepared" for attacks on a major US city and If there's another war any time soon we're simply not in a position to fight it. We have already rotated just about every deployable unit in the active and reserve components through the Middle East at least once, many twice.
The Pentagon just released a report that states that the current level of military operations in Iraq is unsustainable. 'Staying the Course' is no longer an option. If the saber rattling in Iran, Palestine, North Korea, etc. turns into another war we will have no options remaining except to enact House Resolution 163 - which reinstates the draft - this time it includes men and women up to 37 years old and there is no college deferment. You might want to pay close attention to this one, unless you've got a friend in the Texas Air National Guard. Oh, and save up some money for body armor, the 200,000 new sets the Pentagon just ordered won't be ready for at least another year.
Bush is undoubtedly going to tell the American people that we are making progress in Iraq - Bullshit. Bush is thought of in the region as the world's biggest terrorist. The majority of Iraqi's support the insurgents. That country has always been fundamentally opposed to radical fundamentalist Islam but has now turned into the world's biggest terrorist training camp, a virtual turkey shoot against US soldiers.
There is a huge civil war brewing in Iraq and a great risk that Iran will win it when our resources are completely exhausted and we have to pull out with our tails between our legs. The insurgency is heavily supported by Iran in terms of weapons and financial support - they are also gaining support in the people of Iraq. It's not hard to imagine people there not being real keen on the occupation when they see that their infrastructure has been completely destroyed, airstikes, IED's and small arms fire has killed over 30,000 and destroyed a large percentage of residential and commercial structures. They have outrageous unemployment, public health is horrendous, malnutrition is rampant and none of the rebuilding that was promised has come to fruition. In Iraq the Provisional Authority has 'misplaced' over $9,000,000,000. Do we have to wonder why young men will pick up an RPG and aim it at tank?
Afghanistan as similar complaints, there are no working schools or clinics in southern Afghanistan, the drug trade is back up and running and the situation there in regards to the Taliban is as bad as before the 2001 invasion. Most of the funding that has gone to rebuild that country has been put in the hands of corrupt people that are simply profiteering.
The Whitehouse is rushing through revisions, undoubtedly trying to find the silver lining around the dark cloud hanging over this country since Bush was 'elected'. I'm sure they know that the average person isn't buying the bullshit like we did after 9/11. There will undoubtedly downplay the tremendous failures they have had in the last 365 days. They don't have the political capital to try and sell another war, no with half a brain is going to believe them when they try to talk about the progress they've made in Iraq.
If he announces a new initiative to fund healthcare or education it will undoubtedly be so pork-laden when it gets out of committee that it will smell like sizzling bacon. The only thing they can do at this point is try to minimize their failures and keep the American public from seeing through the thin veneer into what has been the most disastrous presidency in history. Harriet Miers referred to Bush as the smartest man she ever met. When she climbs back on the mother ship I hope she doesn't mind having missed out on her Supreme Court appointment.
Immigration? Well that's a tough one. There's a lot of talk about building the great wall of Texas to keep everyone out, but then who's going to take the jobs that immigrants take? You've got to wonder which side of his mouth he's talking out of when he tackles this one. I'm sure he'll fail to mention the $385 billion dollars that Halliburton was just awarded to build detention facilities for illegal immigrants. That one should make him really popular with the Mexican folks who have come to Louisiana to take part in the recovery effort.
I just can't wait to see Bush gloat about the confirmation of Alito - his one victory. That's just great - he's replaced the voice of moderation on the Supreme Court with someone that is not only against women's rights, but also agrees with the Patriot Act and other big brother policies that Bush and his pals are lining up to push through while America sleeps. People are pretty forgetful when it comes to Bush. He snuck John Bolton into the ambassadorship of the UN, he managed to slip through the Downing Street Memo and got away with not answering questions about 9/11. But he doesn't gloat about that. Instead he lets his people at Fox News tell everyone that its going to be okay. There has been so much slight of hand in his two terms that it's hard to keep score.
I have to wonder how Bush is going to try to sell his spying on Americans and subverting the Constitution. Will it be a simple "I did it to fight the Terrorists!" or will it be the same old Bush talking about his unlimited presidential powers? He will undoubtedly make use of the 'War on Terror' card, it's sort of a nice little coincidence that Al-Zawhiri came out with his new videotape just a couple of days ago, don't ya think? Watch closely during this segment to see if Cheney's lips move as the message is put forth to the American people that King George isn't going to let a silly little thing like FISA (whish they declined to amend in 2002) or the Constitution get in the way of him doing what he wants in the White House. Since Bush proclaimed that he has been spying on Americans and couldn't be bothered to get warrants many legal authorities - congress being one of them has called into to question the legality of what he has authorized.
Who out there in TV land is going to nod their heads in approval when he defends his actions in the interests of national security? I'm sure that Fox News has an advanced copy of the speech and all the right "analysts" lined up for the post game shows but are we all daft enough to buy any explanation whatsoever as to why this administration has decided that it's above the law. The American people are generally good people, but I betcha the reason why Bush will engender any additional support for his policies after this speech is that there's nothing stupider than a poor republican.
I guess you could say that this is an important State of the Union address, they all are, but what can we really expect to hear? What miracle of prestidigitation are the puppetmasters going to put on his teleprompters? Who's the threat? What are the victories? I think the best that we can hope for is that the American people will see through the looking glass and realize that this administration has lead to nothing but a disaster. The state of the union? Fucked. The bottom line is that Bush and Co. have gotten us into these messes and have no clear plan to get us out. If the Republicans keep the senate after November there's little hope of impeachment - which 52% of Americans now favor.
The democrats have had their spines removed as they enter chambers and are doing precious little to overcome what can only be called a right-wing rampage. Hopefully we'll be able to clean house in the 2006 elections and try to pull out of this tailspin before we all go down in flames, if not we're going to be hosed down by more loss of freedom, more economic turmoil, more war and more bullshit promises.
Listen closely to the rhetoric, analyze the content and context and then ask yourself what all the good news is about when the country is in shambles and this guy is in charge. If you Google the word 'failure' Bush is first out of 207,000,000 results. I guess somewhere in Texas is a village without an idiot. That's the state of our union. |
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