In my last post I questioned how the republicans would “find fault” in President Obama’s leadership in the killing of Osama bin Laden.  Now, you have to keep in mind that I long ago stopped watching television “news” and I get my information by reading some “news” articles on the internet and listening to “talk radio” as I drive around in my car.  I used to watch Keith Olberman on MSNBC, but when they fired him I decided that I needed to “cleanse” my mind from the brainwashing we Americans receive on a regular basis from watching our “news” broadcasts.  The more I read, the more I realize how we’ve been brainwashed for far longer than I had imagined.  Anyway, getting back to President Obama’s announcement last week that bin Laden had been killed, well you had to know that the republicans would be unable to simply say “way to go” we finally brought this KILLER to justice.  But, NO (in caps, because they have long ago been branded as the “party of NO”) what I’ve heard are republicans trying to SPIN this to where the credit would go to George W Bush, of all places!  Really, all I can say is, “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

Just as I’ve been pointing out for the past two plus years that evidently republicans can’t remember who CRASHED the economy, now they can’t remember who SCREWED up the occupation of Afghanistan and allowed bin Laden to escape.  In fact, in one book I read which was written by a Pakistani reporter, it was the Americans who flew the Pakistani ISI (intelligence service – similar to our CIA) out of Afghanistan and bin Laden, his “lieutenants,” and the Taliban leadership were flown out at the same time.  Now, I’ve only read that from this one source (although he seemed credible at the time), but several sources have written that bin Laden was trapped at Tora Bora shortly after the American invasion by CIA operatives and the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghan fighters, but Tommy Franks refused to bring in American troops to “finish the deal.”  The only rational reality one can gain from all the reading I did on the subject is that George W Bush didn’t want to capture or kill bin Laden because that would have RUINED his plan to INVADE IRAQ!  Bush, along with his “advisors,” who were almost all part of the “Project for a New American Century,” had been planning and scheming on an invasion of Iraq since long before Bush was appointed president by the Supreme Court.  9/11 gave them the perfect “reason” – all they had to do was keep bin Laden alive and connect Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda and their dream would come true.

These republicans are so used to blatant lying that they can’t stop, no matter what.  They can’t give Obama credit for ANYTHING and they are doing EVERYTHING they can to undermine his administration.  To me, that is as UNPATRIOTIC as it gets – especially for the same people who are responsible for the “Patriot Act.”  What’s even more amazing to me is how ANYONE who’s a thinking American citizen can continue to fall for their BS.  George W Bush essentially abandoned the “war” in Afghanistan, left the Afghan government to fend for themselves, and shifted virtually all of America’s “resources” into Iraq once they’d managed to get bin Laden out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan.  Do you remember Bush telling the American people we couldn’t go into Pakistan because we couldn’t invade a soveriegn nation?  What a sick joke!  I remember thinking at the time, if that statement isn’t BLASTED by the media (is wasn’t ) then anyone who doubts that the right wing has taken over the media in America needs to have their head examined.  I also remember thinking, “Are you kidding me?”  Wasn’t Iraq a sovereign nation?  And, for that matter, “What was Afghanistan?”  We put Hamid Karzai into power in Afghanistan and then proceeded to renege on EVERY promise made to him as far as helping him to rebuild his country.  It was no wonder to me that Karzai and his brother were funding their government off of opium sales when country after country in the American “coalition” failed to provide the promised aid.  In fact, Bush/Cheney supported the War Lords who created the obstacle to a viable central government in Afghanistan.  At EVERY turn, Bush/Cheney screwed up the invasion of Afghanistan – so how ANYONE could suggest that Bush receive credit for taking Osama bin Laden out is PREPOSTEROUS!

But, as I’ve implied many times on this site, PREPOSTEROUS is “par for the course” for today’s American republican party.  They are doing everything they can to turn our government over to their CORPORATE “brothers” and they could care less about the average American working “stiff.”  I don’t know how many Americans are still being suckered into watching Fox “news” and listening to people like Rush Limbaugh, but you’d think that after a few years of a devastated economy (that the republicans devastated) and them trying to make it even worse, even the non-thinkers would figure out that these people are EVIL!  Just a little refresher beyond Bush and company actually flying bin Laden out of Afghanistan that should make your eyes water everytime you hear someone claiming Bush should get any of the credit for finding him.  Do you remember Bush’s famous quote shortly after he was re-elected?  “I don’t know where he is, I don’t spend that much time worrying about it.”  Bush shared with the world that he wasn’t even still looking for bin Laden.  On top of that he closed down the CIA task force (the “bin Laden task force”) which had been after bin Laden since the days of Bill Clinton.  No one will be able to convince me that Bush/Cheney didn’t know where bin Laden was – I mean, Obama and company  found him next to a Pakistani military installation for God’s sake!

Keep in mind that it was Bush/Cheney who removed the sanctions from Pakistan that they got during the Clinton years because of their connections with terrorists.  Yes, Pakistan has ACTUALLY been HARBORING terrorists and supporting TERRORISTS since long before 9/11.  There can be no dispute that the ISI was funding both the Taliban and al Qaeda.  I believe the Pakistani ISI knew where bin Laden was at all times, and it seems probable to me that the Pakistani’s had some kind of “wink wink” agreement with the Bush administration regarding bin Laden, who was living in a large plush compound that HAD to have drawn someone’s attention.  It was constructed about the time Bush disbanded the bin Laden task force.  Have you ever heard of circumstantial evidence?  I’ve long since accepted that President Obama, for whatever reason, is NEVER going to allow the investigations of the Bush administration which could bring some sense of closure to all the misdeeds they inflicted on America – but, it’s hard to believe that bin Laden could build this big compound right in the middle of a populated area in Pakistan and we had no idea it was happening.  There are too many coincidences here for me.

Additionally, Dick Cheney had turned Pakistan into a great customer for all his corporate “military industrial complex” buddies who were collecting the largest share of the $10 BILLION the US sent as “aid” to Pakistan in return for “allowing” us to invade Afghanistan through their country.  Pervez Musharraf was an overt supporter of the Taliban and al Qaeda – bin Laden was helping to train terrorists in Pakistan’s effort to destablize the disputed (with India) territory of Kazmir.  The Pakistani’s were taking “aid” they received from Bush/Cheney and funneling it to bin Laden and the Taliban and it was ultimately coming back to kill our own troops.  None of the decisions Bush/Cheney made had anything to do with capturing or killing bin Laden, let alone prosecuting a focused “war” in Afghanistan.  EVERYTHING they did was aimed at furthering the PROFITS of the companies that were cutting off a FAT HOG in both occupations (Iraq and Afghanistan).  In fact, Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld had been CEO’s of companies which made BILLIONS in these two occupations increasing their own holdings in the HUNDREDS of millions.  I hope you can see the absurdity of any claim that ANYONE in the Bush administration (with the exception of Robert Gates who was held over into the Obama administration) had ANYTHING to do with the end of the Osama bin Laden saga.

Today’s republicans clearly will NEVER give Obama credit for anything.  But their response to the demise of Osama bin Laden shows clearly how absurd their greed and obsession with power has become.  Just as they have shown an UNBELIEVABLE willingness to DESTROY the American economy in their FUTILE attempt to make certain that President Obama FAILS, and – of course – in the process take MILLIONS of hard working Americans down the tube to achieve their goal, their response to bin Laden’s death shows that their willingness to UNDERMINE our government in order to regain power has no bounds!  Think about this, shouldn’t they be celebrating the death of the man they used to promote FEAR for those dreadful eight years of the Bush administration?  Aren’t they always crowing about how their main concern is “keeping America safe?”  Are they trying to say that the only way killing bin Laden would enhance America’s safey would have been had a republican done it?  Well, I’ve been thinking about that and I believe there’s no way a republican would have done this, and I’ll explain why.

Bush, Cheney, and the rest of his “crew” never showed the first sign that they were willing to do ANYTHING that required courage.  It’s been well documented that GW Bush was ushered into the Air National Guard in Texas during the Viet Nam War by his Daddy to avoid being exposed to conflict.  He was so busy getting drunk and chasing women that he didn’t even fulfill his obligation for the Guard and had to be bailed out of that mess by Daddy also.  (Just like all the other messes George HW Bush bailed him out of – I had researched this prior to the 2000 election and couldn’t believe someone who’d failed as much as GW could possibly become president….. but, I digress)  Dick Cheney, on the other hand, was the master at deferrals.  He was such a tough guy during Viet Nam that he got FIVE deferrals and managed to circumvent serving his country through the entire fiasco.  Certainly proved that he was a natural at “playing the system.”  Here’s where I’m going with this.  Just think about what Obama did for a couple minutes (if you haven’t already).  This took some real courage.  Bush and friends do most of their gambling on Wall Street, Obama put his entire presidency on the line when he authorized the venture into Pakistan.  Can you imagine what a field day the republicans and people like Rush Limbaugh would have had with Obama had this mission failed?  President Obama would already be considered a “lame duck” had something gone wrong on the mission.  This was well planned, and it was courageous – on the part of the Navy Seals and the others who pulled it off and on the part of the President who authorized it.

The other day I forced myself to tune into Rush Limbaugh.  I’ll tell you, if you’re listening to and believing that guy, you should have your head examined.  I believe when historians take an honest look back at these past 30 years Limbaugh will be at the head of the pack of the money grubbing TRAITORS – who used America’s airwaves to BRAINWASH millions of unsuspecting “ditto heads.”  Right after I heard him start on one of his rants, he was essentially accusing Obama of “dredging up bin Laden” and was saying that we would “have to be listening to him brag” about killing bin Laden until the next election.  This is from one of the leaders of the pack who used 9/11 – think of how many times you heard him and those associated with Bush – using 9/11 to instill FEAR in the American public and somehow convince people republicans were the ONLY ones who could keep us safe.  That argument was always so absurd to me because the TRUTH is that 9/11 happened almost ONE YEAR after Bush/Cheney assumed office.  I always wondered how people like Limbaugh could TWIST that FACT into the message that they were the ONLY ones who could prevent us from being attacked by terrorists – when the reality is they were the ones who allowed it to happen. 

ALL the evidence suggests that 9/11 NEVER should have happened and it happened on the “Bush/Cheney watch” because they weren’t “watching.”  The terrorists who pulled it off were in this country the entire year learning how to fly, Bush/Cheney were repeatedly warned that an attack was immenent, and the insider squabbling among Bush appointees heading different agencies (CIA, NSA, FBI, Defense dept., etc.) was what allowed the terrorist plot to succeed.  It’s almost as if they were complicit!  Bush/Cheney demonstrated incompetency both before and after the 9/11 attacks, yet they – along with their “water carriers” like Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, etc. – apparently are continuing to think they are the ones who can keep us safe.  Honestly, after listening to Limbaugh the other day, it sounded to me as if he was JEALOUS of the FACT it was Obama, our BLACK president, who managed to find and kill bin Laden and it made him sick to his stomach that he was going to have to listen to that FACT for the forseeable future.  Just think, what’s going to happen in the upcoming debates when republicans claim they are “strong on national defense.”  I’m sure Limbaugh is internalizing that he’s going to have to take the LYING to a whole new level – and, he may be pushing the point where the American people finally WAKE UP, which will be the end of him.  I’m certain there will be a day when the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and the other propagandists will be voted into the American “Hall of Shame.”

I have not been all that pleased with many of the decisions of President Obama, and I’ve said so here.  However, I’ve never wavered in saying that I want him to SUCCEED.  And, I don’t see any way a rational person couldn’t be pleased with his courageous actions in getting bin Laden.  To me, the republicans should be embracing him.  He is pragmatic to a fault, in my view, and he’s definitely attempting to restore this nation to what it was prior to the Bush/Cheney vendetta on our economy (that’s where some of my disappointment comes from – I was expecting “the change we can believe in).  Wall Street should be extremely happy, even if they have to pony up more cash for the American treasury, because Obama has been very business friendly.  The only logical explanation for much of the angst from America’s “right wing” would be that Obama is Black.  What that angst – coming in my view from the “center” of the republican party – has done is open the flood gates for the whacko’s on the fringe right – like the “tea partiers” to grab a “foothold” which is exposing their sickest plans for our nation’s government and bringing them right out into the open.  Instead of embracing Obama’s centrist approach to fixing the MESS left behind by Bush/Cheney (and, make no mistake, it’s one of the most outrageous “messes” ever passed from one president to another) the republicans oppose ANYTHING Obama is for (apparently, including killing Osama bin Laden).  And, they’re (republicans) taking their attack beyond Obama.

We’ve seen the attacks on public workers and their unions, we’re seeing the attacks on the “social safety net” which is one of the great aspects of America that has set her apart from much of the rest of the world (until the “Reagan revolution”), we’re seeing the attacks on our education system, the attacks on public support of the arts, attacks on public support for health care for children, women, and the elderly, and essentially the ruthless nature of the greedy “bigwigs” who are supplying the money for republican “leaders” like Scott Walker, John Kasich, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and the others.  The republicans don’t believe in fixing the roads, bridges, schools, parks, and other assets that were developed during the years following World War II and they ultimately see Social Security as an “entitlement” – even though I’ve been paying into it as if it’s an insurance plan since near it’s inception – and they want to get their greedy hands on all that money (even though they’ve already borrowed it and don’t want to have to pay it back).  They continue to claim that “tax cuts” for the “rich” will solve our economic problems and that the budget deficit is bad when a democrat is in the White House but when a republican is in the White House they say, “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”

You read something like this and you have to think there’s no way an educated public that has a HUGE middle class (or, what was once a huge middle class – if the republicans have their way we’ll have a huge “lower” class) would EVER fall for such ridiculous Bull $@#*.  The problem is despite how greedy, thoughtless, meanspirited, and ruthless the republicans are, they know how to use all these traits to propagandize the American public.  In addition they are smart about strategically putting people into offices where they can have a profound affect on the electoral process.  Both of George W Bush’s “wins” were questionable at best.  Repblicans control the voting machines, they’re passing voter restriction laws as I’m typing this designed to discourage poor voters from voting, they’ve got a stranglehold on the courts, their compatriots control a LARGE majority of the media outlets in America, and Bush nominated Supreme Court justices who decided the “Citizens United” case in a way that has enabled multinational corporations to infuse UNLIMITED amounts of money into our elections for the forseeable future. 

They are planning to have TOTAL control of EVERY branch of government once the 2012 elections are complete.  As absurd as their rhetoric and their actions are, the republican party is a threat to the foundation of America!  They believe the “end justifies the means” and, in this instance, the “end” is their “permanent republican majority.”  This is a conspiracy that’s been ongoing for my lifetime (I only started to figure it out a few years ago) and, until “Citizens United”, I never thought they could pull it off.  But the possibility is all too real and if America’s middle class – and I’m talking about democrats, republicans, independents, progressives, conservatives, you name it – until we all come together and put these people OUT, this nation as we envision it is in grave danger.  What we’re facing is a government that is controlled by a partnership between corrupt politicians and large corporate interests.  Yes, if you know your political science, that is the definition of a fascist state.  I remember when I was a high school student hearing, I think it was John Kennedy, warning that the only way America would ever be vulnerable to a collapse would be from an “enemy within.”  Well, if those of us who don’t want to leave that kind of America for our children and grandchildren, we need to get our butts off the couch and put up a fight.  I’m in my 60’s and we are the ones who need to lead this fight back to the ideals of the New Deal.  We enjoyed a lifetime of the benefits our parents and grandparents fought so valiantly for, we can’t sit idly by as “robber barrons” re-emerge and drain our tax base of TRILLIONS while convincing our people that we can’t afford to be a benevolent society!  The Wall Street bankers, the Oil executives, the Corporate CEO’s, and hedge fund managers are laughing all the way to the bank as America’s voters continue to elect their republican “yes men!”