[v911t] The Handy Reference Guide to Bush Disasters, Incompetencies, and Lies
 
Resent-Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 23:08:45 -0500 (CDT)


http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/13/8923/

Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 by CommonDreams.org The Handy
Reference Guide to Bush Disasters, Incompetencies, and Lies by Guy
Reel

The other day, as I was musing aloud about notion that George Bush
is the worst president in U.S. history, an acquaintance interrupted,
"What's been so bad?" I stammered for a moment, unable to get my
mind around such a large question. It was sort of like trying to
summarize the mysteries of the universe: The topic is so big one
doesn't know where to start. So I decided to compile a handy reference
guide to the failed policies, worst decisions, irrational practices
and outrageous lies of the Bush administration.In compiling this
list, I made the rule that it cannot be an inventory of policy
differences between liberals and conservatives; it must differentiate
between rational and irrational policies, between truth and lies,
between successes and failures. In other words, this should not be
a partisan list but an attempt to chronicle the failures, catastrophes
and ruinous policies that are apparent to impartial observers.

Contributions are welcomed.

1. Lies about an optional war. Some may argue that Bush wasn't lying
about the weapons of mass destruction  that he, and many others,
believed they were there. The problem is, he, and most everyone in
his administration, misrepresented (lied) about the nature of the
intelligence that (they claimed) led us into war. Within the
intelligence community  yes, Bush's own intelligence community
there was much, much more disagreement about the nature and threat
of these weapons (and even whether they existed) than what
Bush-Cheney-Rice-Rumsfeld claimed. Also in the category of outrageous
lies, it is now clear that Bush, during the run-up to the war, was
routinely lying when he said he had made no decision about going
to war, that he was trying to exhaust all diplomatic options. Memos
and staffers have since made it clear that Iraq was a target for
war even before 9/11.

2. The optional war itself. It was clear that an invasion of Iraq
was not tied to 9/11 and that it would not do anything to deter
terrorism and that, in fact, it would make terrorism worse. Bush
and his followers might believe otherwise, but I would argue that
this is empirically true. The vote for the war authorization was
pushed right before a midterm election, and Bush was demanding its
passage, clearly making war a political issues. That alone is
outrageous conduct for a president. But I would be happy to eliminate
this one from the list, if enough readers think I should.

3. The fiasco in handling the optional war that was started from
lies. Even John McCain, military strategists and such right-wingers
as Pat Buchanan acknowledge this one. Because of arrogance, ignorance
and just plain stupidity, the war was mismanaged from the start.
It led to countless unnecessary deaths, a disastrous loss of prestige
and diplomatic clout for America, and, predictably, it became an
al-Qaeda training and recruitment tool.

4. Tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor the rich in a time of war.
It is possible, as far as policy goes, to argue for tax cuts, even
in the face of crushing deficits. It may be possible to argue, in
a supply-sider's dream, that it is appropriate for the rich to
garner most of the benefits for the tax cuts. But it is nearly
impossible, unless one lacks sufficient powers of reasoning, to
argue that we should enact tax cuts that disproportionately favor
the wealthy, when war demands sacrifices and sufficient revenue to
be waged successfully.

5. Trillions in new debt, and annual deficits in the half-trillion-dollar
range. This may be paired with the item above. Bush and the Republicans
have not only failed to pay for the tax cuts they so eagerly handed
out to rich supporters who then gave them campaign contributions,
they also put forth billions in new spending, making Democrats look
like chumps when it comes to pork-barreling. Oh, and by the way,
they also enacted the biggest entitlement program in history since
Social Security, the pharmaceutical drug bill, that provided billions
to drug companies while restricting drug price competition. Also,
the Bush administration lied to members of his own party about the
cost of the 2003 Medicare bill, just so they could be tricked into
voting for it.

6. The weakening of the dollar. Again, this may be paired with the
items above. Many experts have speculated that the dollar's reign
as the world currency may end fairly soon, and its displacement can
be directly tied to Reagan-Bush-Bush policies favoring vast debt,
massive gaps in wealth between the rich and middle class, a weakening
of the manufacturing economy, and changing the U.S. from the largest
creditor nation in history to the largest debtor nation in history.
I won't give Bill Clinton a pass on this one, since the manufacturing
sector decline continued under his watch and, some might argue,
accelerated as a result of NAFTA. But it is clear that idea that
taxes are heresy under Republicans  even at the expense of the
nation and at the collapse of the dollar  has taken on its Biblical
status under George W. Bush.

7. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Here was a president so
disengaged that American citizens were left stranded, and people
died, during his inaction. Yet, in his words, "Brownie, you're doing
a heckuva job."

8. The suspension of habeas corpus. This has taken several forms
under George Bush  by executive decision, through legal opinion by
the likes of hack John Yoo and by the establishment of prisons to
hold prisoners without charge or trial. But one moment Americans
should never forget is the passage of the Military Commissions Act
of 2006. Congress must share the blame on this, but without Bush's
"leadership," it never would have passed. The law cast aside the
Constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects
against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. The Congress also
gave the president absolute power to designate enemy combatants,
and to set his own definitions for torture.

9. "Enhanced interrogation"/torture/extraordinary rendition. Bush
said he knew and approved of the harsh tactics that led to such
outrages as Abu Ghraib. Bush says the U.S. doesn't torture because
it doesn't torture.

Whatever you call it, it amounts to an illegal usurping of executive
authority. John McCain was against it before he was for it. Some
Americans may believe terrorists deserve torture in some cases, and
I won't disagree;

however, it is clear that, under George W. Bush, America tortured
some innocent people, and in some cases it transported prisoners
to other countries so they could be tortured there.

10. Halliburton/Blackwater. These companies are by symbols for the
privatization of war. Military contractors, often having no
accountability

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