Email this page to a friend

Truth or Dare

Mark A. Goldman                                                                    Dated: 9/7/05

 

Bush is still making executive decisions when he rightfully should be in prison.  His dereliction of duty in the wake of hurricane Katrina is not much different from his dereliction of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both here and there it was his duty, honor bound, to protect the innocent, the poor, the disenfranchised... and in so many cases those who were under his care lost their lives, their loved ones, their livelihood, and their communities. 

In the case of Iraq, he is guilty of dereliction of duty, criminal negligence, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and war crimes. In the case of Katrina, it was dereliction of duty, incompetence now followed by lies, excuses, betrayals, and more of the same is coming. In New Orleans many died from his neglect and malfeasance in office—his malfeasance before the storm and after

In Iraq, there are many who were murdered outright, while others were murdered under the name of 'collateral damage' as if that makes any difference to the victims, their families, or to God. He didn't do it with his own hands, but he is the Commander in Chief and it was on his watch that it happened again and again and again and again while he apparently knew nothing, did nothing, felt nothing. 

He set the tone and the rules.  He's the one who rejected an effort even by members of his own party to acknowledge in law that torture would no longer be allowed.  He's the one who authorized summary executions, disappearances, torture, and permanent detentions without charge or trial.  Innocent people suffered... And many were murdered.

Now he walks free, flies on Air Force One, is saluted. People shake his hand, cry on his shoulder, ask for his autograph. Any honest person who is informed about the crimes that have taken place is ashamed to watch.

During his presidency he has committed so many crimes that we don't even recognize them as crimes anymore. Fraudulent government contracts, incompetent political hacks being offered jobs for which they have no qualifications whatsoever, purposeful destruction of rights and freedoms that under our Constitution and international law have long been regarded as the very essence of what justice means and what America used to stand for. What does America stand for now?

The destruction of Iraq's infrastructure, the illegitimate selling off of Iraqi assets, the building of permanent bases while lying that we have no intention to stay there... all crimes that have lethal consequences for real human beings. And the lies... so many, so many... a cesspool of corruption.

Under international law, his responsibility was to protect the oil fields, the historical treasures, the land itself (which is now poisoned with depleted uranium) for the benefit of the Iraqi people... not for the benefit of American corporations or even for you and me. What claim do we have on Iraqi oil? Are we that afraid of the future that we can't stand on our own two feet? Do we really have to act like common thieves and murderers in order to avoid the inconvenience of being responsible?

He tried to take everything he could grab from us and from them—even stole the right of their yet unborn children to be born normal—and he stole the same from some of ours too... a fiduciary who betrayed the trust of his country, their country, and everyone on the planet who once believed that somewhere there lived a People who loved freedom and justice more than anything else. But they found out we don't.  What do we love more than anything else now?  You tell me.  

He uses his power and influence to take advantage of those too weak to defend themselves. He preys on the helpless and the uninformed. His tax proposals plundered our treasury, cheating our children and our children's children probably for generations to come... all for the love of money and power and all to the detriment particularly of the most vulnerable among us who trusted him (and so many still do even after being cheated) because they believe in America and the basic goodness of our people; and they think he is like they are.  He pretended he was. 

He lies outright with a straight face, even when he knows every word out of his mouth is a lie. And when he can't tell the difference between the truth and a lie, he makes it up, whatever it takes, whatever he thinks will make him look good. And we do the same... which is partly how all this happened. It surely is.

Who could believe that God would allow such a thing to happen? God didn't allow this to happen. God sent messengers and warnings... about taxes, about Iraq, about New Orleans. We ignored them, allowing this thief and his pathetic associates to steal elections, to steal the future from our children right out from under our noses... stealing from all of us the right to have decent people make honorable decisions for the benefit of all of us rather than for the greedy few

Almost every decision Bush has made since coming to office has been destructive of what is decent and honorable. And he never had the right to make any of those decisions to begin with. He is an illegitimate pretender. Yet he is still called President. Allowed to walk free. A murderer. A criminal. I ask you, who allows him to do this... to commit a new crime almost any time he wants to do something that's illegal... with impunity? We do.

So far I am not aware of one elected official anywhere who has the guts to identify Bush and his associates with the crimes they have committed. Maybe because their hands are dirty too.

Let it be known that I use the name Bush to represent not just him, but all those who have committed this treason with him. This transcends political party lines.

Liars and traitors. Murderers and scoundrels. How obscene and pathetic that I need to say this. How obscene that what I am saying is true. All because of greed, cowardice, neglect, and fear. Theirs and ours. The truth. Tell the truth.

I do not believe that Bush is evil.  I do not believe anyone is.  And I don't believe this started with Bush.  He is simply a victim himself... someone who became now the poster boy for a bankrupt ideology.  He is incompetent and dishonest.  He is a cheat.  He's also just a flawed human being like the rest of us.  He is loved by his family, his friends, by God and by me.  But it is unfair and cruel to him and to others to allow him to run amok simply because we are too afraid to take responsibility and stop him.  Let  him learn how to be a human being serving others in private somewhere else, where his ignorance will do less harm, where he can think things through and work it all out alone.

I say it again, when I use the name Bush I am not talking about just him, I am talking about all who have betrayed the public trust.

Read this:  www.gpln.com/citizen.htm   And keep your word.  

I will say something similar to what he once said... 

'You are either with him, or with me.'

                                                                  —Mark A. Goldman

Censored Stories 2005
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0908-05.htm

Spend some time here: http://www.robert-fisk.com

http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/030_bw.html

Return to Commentaries

Home
www.gpln.com