BuzzFlash Reader Commentary
September 20, 2002
You're Joking, Right?
by Joel S
Ok, enough time has gone by... The media has given the Administration plenty of time and plenty of passes. Now that the Administration has had the opportunity to get its ducks in a row, it is essential for the media to start asking the hard questions. For now, I'd like to help my fellow Americans wade through all the rhetoric, excuses, spin and deceit we have been spoon fed over the past year. This only requires one good question: "You're joking, right?"
1. The son of a former CIA director, Vice-President and President, who is currently the sitting President, claims to have had absolutely no knowledge of the possibility of 9/11. You're joking, right?
2. We are expected to spend billions on a risky missile defense system that is supposed to shoot missiles out of the sky (potentially detonating in or over other countries), but one of the most secure locations on the planet, the Pentagon, could not be defended against a slow moving commercial jet. You're joking, right?
3. They had no idea that planes could be used as weapons. Hey Dubya, did ya ever throw back a kamikaze in your drinkin' days, buddy? Remember that big war your dad fought in? He was a pilot in the Pacific theatre, right? Who was he fightin' against? What tactic did they use? Doesn't Dick Cheney list military strategy as one of his hobbies? I know he never actually "fought" in a war, but he probably knows a thing or too about the big one. And you guys never thought that planes could be used as weapons... You're joking, right?
4. The Taliban exploited women, so do your oil friends, the Saudis. Iraq might have Weapons of Mass Destruction, so do a number of regimes including our new pals and model of instability, the Pakistanis, who also used to aid the Taliban. Both have supported terrorism, financially and ideologically, along with a number of other regimes. Remember during the campaign when you said that you would not engage in "nation-building," and that the U.S. is not supposed to police the world? Remember when the Republicans criticized Clinton for taking action in Bosnia? You went to the U.N., asking for their compliance with a strike on Iraq, and questioning their credibility for not taking action on previous resolutions against Iraq. Did anyone remind you that we still owe the U.N. money, and have spurned the world community on a number of issues including the Kyoto environmental accords, nuclear disarmament, POWs, and anti-torture resolutions? Was there any mention of countless other resolutions that have no teeth going back years, that we did not enforce? Now the U.N. is expected to back us without question, and we still may act unilaterally, wherever and whenever we want, even if they don't support us? You're joking, right?
5. Remember when Dad and Uncle Rumsfeld were working under President Ronnie? Remember how much we hated the Iranians and the Russians back then? Remember how we helped finance and train the Jihadis in Afghanistan, and funded and trained Saddam to fight Iran? Remember when Ronnie first tried to pin Saddam's chemical attack on the Iranians, but then we found out who really did it, and said nothing? Remember some of the "product" that we sold to Saddam at that time? Former weapons inspector and Marine Scott Ritter is now labeled a loose cannon, even though you guys formerly called him a man of integrity when he was criticizing Clinton. Now Saddam is Public Enemy No.1 because he "gassed the Iranians and his own people," and we are supposed to pre-emptively attack him. You're joking, right?
6. A bunch of old oil guys. Boy, I bet those early 80's days in Texas were fun. Who shot J.R.? Remember? Good stuff. Oh yeah, the War on Terra, not about the oil pipeline through Afghanistan, though. War on Saddam, not about the Iraqi oil fields, though. Hmmm... Condi was an exec at Chevron, Karzai and Khalilzad were consultants for Unocal, Cheney was selling oil pumping equipment to Iraq through French subsidiaries of Halliburton, you guys were negotiating secret deals with the Taliban, pre-9/11, even everyone's favorite company Enron got in on the action. But it's not about oil. You're joking, right?
7. Flight 93. I would never dishonor the memories of those guys on board, their actions were truly heroic. But you would reduce the words "Let's Roll" to a sound bite for political gain. There's that integrity thing again. The victim's families and the country are not expected to ask questions, right? The three missing minutes on the cockpit recorder, the fact that Cheney admitted he would have made the call to fire, the seismic evidence of a jet in the area at that time, the witnesses who saw one, the wide trail of debris, all lead to the "possibility" of a shoot down. And no one would be blamed, because the action would have been justifiable. It's the cover-up and lies that aren't ethical. That integrity thing, remember? But we are supposed to trust you and not ask questions. You're joking, right?
8. Showdown with Saddam. Let's send the boys into Baghdad. Let's get that bastard. Hmmm... Who served in Nam? Not Dubya.. a pilot in the Air National Guard (p.s. don't say the word kamikaze to a Texas pilot, they don't know about those things). Not Cheney... "other priorities." Perle, Wolfowitz, Card, and most of the Administration’s advisors and bureaucrats clamoring for war, ducked when it was their turn. But now we are supposed to charge blindly into war, without asking questions, or examining all of our options, even while in the middle of another war. You're joking, right?
9. The economy and budget are a mess. Try as you might to distract us with talk of war and weapons, the folks who have to make a mortgage payment, just got a pink slip, or have lost their 401k funds aren't so easily distracted. During the campaign, you touted your Harvard MBA. Then we heard about Harken. Cheney touted his executive experience. Then we heard about Halliburton. We heard about Enron, where a bunch of your friends worked, until you hired them. Enron, who helped finance your campaign, and even let you fly on their jets down to Florida, went bankrupt and screwed numerous employees and shareholders while the top dogs, also your buddies, rode off into the sunset, no doubt on those same planes that helped get you elected. We heard that the SEC was going to "get tough" on corporate evildoers, even though the guy in charge used to legally counsel them. We found out that you had "hit the trifecta," and could now raid the Social Security Fund. We found out that an unprecedented budget surplus was squandered in a year, along with over a trillion dollars in the stock market. By the way, it's been over a year and your tax cut DID NOT stimulate anything! With this record of mismanagement, incompetence, cooked books and fraud, you have helped no one except your rich friends; and I'll have you know that my kid will go to Cosmetic School over a free ride to Harvard, any day. Now you are talking about cutting more taxes. Are you saving the "read my lips" thing for when you really need it? We are supposed to accept that failed trickle-down theories, that your own Daddy called "voodoo economics," are gonna get us out of this mess, and that you and your fraudulent business partners are supposed to be trusted with what you called, in your own words, "Our money"? You're joking, right?
10. Remember when you talked about integrity and personal responsibility during the 2000 campaign? Boy, you sure knew how to get laughs when you made subtle jabs at Clinton and Gore. Now that there are questions about the integrity of certain members of your administration, and your own personal integrity, we are supposed to turn a blind eye. During the campaign you repeatedly called the campaign a matter of trust, and ran on the theme "Trust the People." Instead of taking personal responsibility for our problems and your failures, as a Commander-in-Chief does, you seek to pin blame on anything and everything but yourself, especially on your predecessor. You wanted the job, remember? The majority of Americans did not hire you, remember? Did you forget that along with the $400,000 salary, the free airplane rides, and the month-long vacations, among the other perks, that there are responsibilities for such a big job? You claim that your policies and actions would never be used for political gain. Now that we have seen the reckless disregard and abandonment of law, the defiling of the Constitution, the lies, spin, hypocrisy, and secrecy (it's been over a year since those energy task force papers were supposed to have been released), now if we look back at the Election of 2000, we are supposed to think that you really are legitimate? We are supposed to "get over it"? You're joking, right?
The
joke's on us!
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