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24 "Deceptions" In 704 words: Bush's 2003 SOTU
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BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Pete
Goodwin
It took a lot of Prozac and Norvasc but I finally finished parsing the POTUS' "Denial and Deception" (their words, not mine) SOTU address.
So, without further adieu, in order of their appearance, here are:
24 "deceptions" in 704 words from the President's 2003 State of the Union Address
1. "We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, to other presidents, and other generations." How about the nearly $7 trillion national debt that's increasing by $475 billion or more this year and every year that Bush remains in office.
2. "Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job." Highest unemployment in a decade, climbing higher every month.
3. "…the best and fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place." Unless you're poor or middle class.
4. "92 million Americans will keep, this year, an average of almost $1,000 more of their own money." Bill Gates goes into a bar where nine unemployed workers are nursing their beers. "Whoopee we're rich!" shouts one of them. "The average net worth of every one in this room is 3 billion dollars."
5. "I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of dividends…" The federal government levies an income tax on the pay of every wage earner. That pay is then taxed again for Social Security, Medicare, State income tax, unemployment benefits, workers comp… That's sextuple taxation. Why not end that!
6. "…we continue to work together to keep Social Security sound and reliable…" Looted $150 billion from the "lockbox" this year alone.
7. "I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that mandates a 70-percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years." Actually it allows increased air pollution from coal fired power plants.
8. "I have sent you a Healthy Forests Initiative, to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife, and burn away millions of acres of treasured forest…" Allows logging of previously protected national forests.
9. "I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act…" Which violates the Constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state
10. "In Afghanistan, we helped liberate an oppressed people. And we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society…" Still not liberated outside of Kabul, not secure and not even remotely rebuilt two years after we "won" the war.
11. "We have the terrorists on the run. We're keeping them on the run." Osama and Saddam don't seem out of breath to me.
12. "And this year, for the first time, we are beginning to field a defense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles." The experts agree, it won't work and will cost billions more than projected.
13. "Our government must have the very best [mis]information possible…"
14. "Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons." I agree, but the regime is in Korea, not Iraq.
15. "Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind." Our people are now less safe and mankind is mainly hoping for the removal of GW and is gang.
16. "Our nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq…" How about we learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and deal with Korea, and actual bona fide threat unlike Iraq.
17. "The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax ... 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin…materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent …upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents." Hmmm, still haven't found any WMD, not even a little one.
18. "Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program…The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production." Wow, a trifecta of deception in one paragraph.
19. "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda." Intelligence sources like Karl Rove and Paul Wolfowitz?
20. "…for the safety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him." Where would we be if it weren't for those brave fighting troops of Palau, Tongo and the Solomon Islands?
21. "We seek peace. We strive for peace." So we wage an unproved war?
22. "…if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military -- and we will prevail." Forced on us? Prevail?
23. "And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies -- and freedom." Not enough food, medicine, supplies or freedom to go around in either Afghanistan or Iraq.
24. "Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation." Unless your government enacts a "Patriot Act."
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
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