Well, I’m going to try to make this one short. It’s time to go to bed, but this thought just won’t rest, and I won’t be able to do so either until I get it “out.” If you’ve been reading any of my recent posts you know that I’m a bit concerned that President elect Obama is going to let the Bush administration off the hook, so to speak, for the lawbreaking that has been rampant over the previous 8 years. I’m presently reading a book titled “The Shadow Factory” by James Bamford which is just furthering my personal need to see those in this out of control administration who violated the law be held accountable. This book is about the NSA spying program that is the backbone of US intelligence and I’m just in the first section, but it is clear that before the illegal activity began after 9/11 the government had sufficient info to stop the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks (The White House was also a target) but due to bickering among the CIA, NSA, and FBI along with an incredible disinterest from the Bush “people” (including Bush) 3000 people died – the result of which has been a continuing rash of bad and incompetent decisions that have further weakened every aspect of this nation and shown a total disdain for the constitution and general rule of law that has allowed the United States of America to flourish as the longest standing democracy in the history of the world. This administration has threatened all of that and the thought of them walking away “scott free” repulses me – and, worse yet, creates a sense of apprehension knowing letting them “walk” will make it possible for their return to power – similarly to what happened after Iran/Contra in the late 1980’s. Most of the “lawbreakers” in Bush 2’s administration were also lawbreakers in Bush 1’s administration. Clinton let them “walk” and I’m sure that they are confident that Obama is going to do the same – AND THEY’LL BE BACK!

Well, that is not what I want to “get off of my chest” tonight, but I needed to preface my thoughts to create the proper frame for this sense of frustration that is already setting in (and I truly hope I’m wrong – because I see a lot that I like about what Obama is doing as he prepares to launch his first term in office). Tonight, after an especially long day, I came home and plopped down on the couch with the idea of watching a couple “news” programs (it’s hard to call anything a news program anymore – because it seems that all of them have an agenda, whether from the right or the left). I kind of zoned off, but I remember one thing in particular. George W. Bush was being interviewed by Charles Gibson (he must be the choice of the republicans – I believe he was the first to have the “privilege” of interviewing Sarah Palin). At first what I heard was a bit astonishing – but after a little thought I actually wondered why I would be astonished at all. George Bush was beginning the process of blaming all that has gone wrong with his presidency on others. While Obama is making it clear that in his administration – the “buck” will stop with him, GW Bush is making it clear that he’s trying to figure out how to “pass the buck” somehow, I guess, thinking it’s time to work on “saving” his legacy.

The problem I see with this is that George’s legacy is pretty much in the toilet – and it is going to continue to go down, if you know what I mean. While he’s trying to blame others for all the disasters that have occurred under his watch, he’s still implementing executive orders, as fast as he can and in a way that he hopes will cause the most difficulty for Obama to reverse, that go directly against the “will” of the people as expressed in the last two national elections. It appears to me that THIS GUY JUST DOESN’T GET IT. He really thinks we are stupid – and I think that even the so-called “liberal media” (which is controlled by conservative republicans and has been brainwashing America for the last 15 years or more) is going to get the message that this guy is “loony” and they are going to stop “enabling” him and his cronies. Either they will do this, or the “people” will find other ways to get their “news,” which is happening as I’m writing this post.

George must think that we all have virtually no memory at all. He was blaming the economic problems on decisions made “10 years before I took office.” Are you kidding me??? I guess he thinks that no one remembers that the government had a $250 billion surplus as he assumed office with predictions that the national debt could be “cut in half” during his two terms had he continued the fiscally conservative policies of the Clinton administration – most prominently “pay as you go.” Bush’s tax cuts (Dick Cheney was put in charge of the fiscal policy and he was quoted as saying “Ronald Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter”) and his war of choice in Iraq – paid for 100% with borrowed money – along with a policy of deregulation and virtual “stealing” from the US treasury by the large corporations has virtually bankrupted our nation. Some of Bush’s associates are already blaming the recession on Barack Obama – I couldn’t even believe that a “news” agency would repeat such an absurd statement, but I’ve heard it twice already and Obama won’t be President for almost two months yet! The deregulation of the banking industry and the promoting of sub-prime lending pracitces has destroyed the one area of our economy that has provided security to the average working class family – our home values – and I firmly believe that Bush’s associates are waiting patiently in the “wings” to pick up the pieces, so to speak, after the end of the foreclosure crisis. There are going to be millions of prime properties for sale – and Bush has just finished doling out $350 billion to his friends on Wall Street, which I believe will be used to buy up “Main Street” not save it as was initially intended.

And then Bush started talking about Iraq. I almost threw up! First he blamed the Iraq fiasco on “failed intelligence.” This is so absurd on it’s face. This guy, and everyone around him are pathological liars. People who lie without a second thought, like Bush and his associates, actually start believing their own lies – and I’m always a bit shocked that the “news” people either haven’t done their homework, or dont’ have the courage, to call them on the lies. This was a war of choice – a war that was planned even before the Supreme Court over-ruled the will of the people and installed Bush as president. The so-called “neo-conservatives” who made up the bulk of Bush’s original White House national security team were all part of the group who were planning the over-throw of Saddam Hussein well before the 2000 election. And the intelligence was totally manipulated by Bush/Cheney right from the start. During this interview Bush was asked what he would have done had he known there weren’t weapons of mass destruction before the invasion, would it have changed anything. He responded by only saying that he couldn’t answer a hypothetical question like that. THE TRUTH IS THAT HE KNEW THERE WEREN’T WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION WELL BEFORE THE INVASION.

The Brits had come up with a “snitch” who was Iraq’s equivalent of our National Security Advisor to the president. He clearly told them that there were no weapons of mass destruction. All of Saddam Hussein’s remaining cache of weapons had been destroyed in bombing raids during 1998 – ironically raids that led republicans to accuse then President Clinton of carrying them out to take the news focus off of the Lewinsky affair – and Bush’s response was “That’s not what we want to hear – get this guy out of here” (they then paid the guy $5 million and found him a secret place in Jordan to protect him from retribution from Saddam). The White House even went so far as to forge a document trying to “connect” Saddam with al Qaeda and Muhammed Atta – a document that was eventually proved to be bogus – but a document that shows to what extreme Bush and company was willing to go to justify this war of choice.

So, I guess now we are facing a future of listening to the republicans blaming either Clinton or Obama for the worst financial crisis since the great depression – and who knows how bad it is ultimately going to become – because we haven’t yet felt the effect of throwing about a trillion dollars away in the bailout boom. They are going to find every way they can to justify the Iraq war and I’m sure they will try to convince anyone who’s stupid enough to listen to them that it has resulted in “victory.” You’ll never hear them talk about why Iran has become such an important “player” in world politics, why al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have so easily been able to recruit new potential terrorists, why Pakistan has become such an extremely volatile place, why Osama bin Laden is back at full strength or stronger, why the US is viewed around the world as a rogue nation, and I could go on. My point is there is nothing good to say about Bush – other than hopefully he will have to answer for his actions in a court of law – but it is apparent that the propoganda machine is gearing up to high gear – and the result will be a barage of lies that will try to put the blame for all their failures at the feet of the Democratic party, Clinton, Obama, Carter, and anyone else who seems convenient at the time. I’ll say this one more time – the only way to stop the republican blame game is to investigate everything they’ve done over the past eight years and “let the cards fall where they may.” Bush wants us to believe him. Let the courts decide if Bush is telling the truth!