BUSHWACKED:
THE RAPING OF AMERICA
I’ve mentioned in previous columns that Bush’s so-called “War on Terror” was nothing more than a sham designed to give him carte blanche to circumvent the United States Constitution. His true goal was to manipulate the law, and the American people, in order to keep himself and other Republicans in office and holding key positions in government. That not only gave him the opportunity to redistribute the wealth and enrich his cronies, but gave him the added benefit of ravaging the United States treasury and allowing the Republican Party to achieve their primary goal--a goal that they’ve been unable to achieve legislatively for over sixty years—the abolishment of the New Deal, by making it impossible to fund its social programs.
But in their short sightedness and greed, it seems that the Bush administration has allowed the chickens to come home to roost. In the Middle East, the situation in Iraq is rapidly degenerating into civil war, and the entire region threatens to become destabilized. Iran is hell-bent on developing nuclear armaments as it, along with Lebanon and Syria, have all but declared a formal state of war against Israel. In Asia, North Korea is thumbing its nose at America as it tests missiles with a capability of possibly reaching U.S. Cites. And here in America, after bringing up 9/11 in every speech and every opportunity for the past five years, the administration has abolished the very unit in the CIA whose sole purpose was to seek out Osama Bin Laden, while at the same time, illegally spying on American citizens here at home.
In addition, a former CIA operative, along with a former ambassador, has brought an unprecedented law suite against the Vice President of the United States and others, alleging that they leaked classified information during a time of war for political gain. Further, gas prices are soaring, expected to reach four dollars a gallon within the next three months, and illegal aliens are demonstrating in the streets by the millions, demanding “their right” to live in illegal comfort, while American citizens foot the bill and honor our responsibility to reward the flaunting of our laws. And while all of this is taking place, the Republican led congress is twiddling its thumbs and wallowing with impunity, in the sweet lap of corruption.
But the American people are finally beginning to realize that while our jobs are being shipped abroad, our citizens are unable to afford the cost of healthcare, and Bush claims that Social Security is going broke, the administration has spent $435 billion fighting the wrong war--and of that $435 billion, 9.5 billion is unaccounted for, while the Pentagon indicates that Halliburton (the company that was formerly headed by Vice President Cheney), overcharged the American people $1.4 billion. As a direct result, the Army has cancelled Halliburton’s multibillion dollar government contracts.
The American people are also beginning to recognize that what’s even more unconscionable than allowing Bush to rape our treasury is what we’ve allowed him to do to our young people and their families. To date, 2,540 young people have been killed in Iraq, and over 18,786 have been wounded. And of the wounded, 20 % have sustained serious brain or spinal cord injuries, so their lives, and the lives of their families, will never be the same. But the most telling figure in the number of dead and wound in Iraq is the fact that not one of the victims is the child of either a congressman, senator, or any member of the Bush administration (Don’t these people also have a responsibility to “defend our freedom”?).
So now the American people are up in arms. But it’s hard to feel sorry for America, because the American people have been arrogant, self-serving, and lazy minded. When we thought the war was just going to be an excursion into Iraq and only causing death and discomfort to the Iraqi people, we didn’t care. So instead of standing firm and vigilant in protection of our rights and the rights of others, we continued to party and abdicate our responsibility, assuming our way of life was assured. And instead of thinking, and acting for ourselves, we sat back and allowed others to think, act, and vote for us—assuming that those elected on our behalf would be competent, and have our best interest at heart.
Now we find ourselves on our knees, at the mercy of a corrupt administration, and scampering around trying to scrape up enough gas money to get to work—at least, those of us lucky enough to have a job. And now, this once proud nation that was once respected and envied as the leader of the free world, is the laughing stock of the world, and facing challenges that we may not have the resources to address.
So, has America learned its lesson? We’ll see in the November election.
Eric L. Wattree, Sr.
Author of
A Message From The Hood