Bush Gone Wild!
Whaa-hooo!!!
Man, these are wild times to be the president. You can do whatever the hell you want! Not only are there no consequences, but your obedient, hillbilly base will celebrate your "moral" character! Wow, man...I am so proud to have a man like Bush as my leader.
A Defense Department investigation uncovered that the same tactics used at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were also used at Camp X-ray...only things got a little more "creative" in Cuba. Along with the humiliating techniques that have been well-publicized, female soldiers at Camp X-Ray smeared red ink on prisoners, telling them that it was fresh menstrual blood. Oh, did you think this kind of thing was just few "bad apples"? Sorry, but it's policy, torture is a regular thing for us now. Not that the creepy blood tactic is necessarily torture, but: sending people to Egypt where they can be beaten and abused for information, that is torture and more than 100 people have been shipped overseas for this purpose. It's yet another Bush innovation in the War on Terror. He's casually brushed aside our own laws outlawing torture, and what's amazing is that, rather than own up to it, he simply mutters the word "freedom" a lot and then blames the troops. "What? Me? Uh....liberty and stuff."
Really, though, it's our fault. I mean, this stuff is out there for people to learn about and we still gave him another four years to act like a psychotic meth freak. I can't blame a corrupt white elitist for acting like a corrupt white elitist...I blame a disinterested public and conservatives who are too shallow to notice that Bush is the opposite of what he claims to be. He's a sick man, but! He's just getting started! Why even worry about these things now? Let's just relax and take a cue from the president: ignore the problem and when things get bad, just blame the military or the CIA....it's a hell of a lot easier than asking questions and seeking accountability, you know? Besides, the new CIA director has already made a huge mistake: he stated, this week, that the Iraq conflict is actually fueling international terrorism. Honesty like that only means that republicans will begin to attack him and pretty soon he'll be replaced with someone who can stick to the script. (The script that reads: "Iraq is peaceful, magical wonderland. Daily bombings? Mortar attacks? No, no, those are the carefree explosions of fireworks, set off by laughing, singing Iraqis. Hey, is that a bluebird on my shoulder?). Anyway, the point being that now is a good time to scapegoat the CIA, atleast until the new guy steps down in order to "spend more time with his family."
Thanks!
Man, these are wild times to be the president. You can do whatever the hell you want! Not only are there no consequences, but your obedient, hillbilly base will celebrate your "moral" character! Wow, man...I am so proud to have a man like Bush as my leader.
A Defense Department investigation uncovered that the same tactics used at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were also used at Camp X-ray...only things got a little more "creative" in Cuba. Along with the humiliating techniques that have been well-publicized, female soldiers at Camp X-Ray smeared red ink on prisoners, telling them that it was fresh menstrual blood. Oh, did you think this kind of thing was just few "bad apples"? Sorry, but it's policy, torture is a regular thing for us now. Not that the creepy blood tactic is necessarily torture, but: sending people to Egypt where they can be beaten and abused for information, that is torture and more than 100 people have been shipped overseas for this purpose. It's yet another Bush innovation in the War on Terror. He's casually brushed aside our own laws outlawing torture, and what's amazing is that, rather than own up to it, he simply mutters the word "freedom" a lot and then blames the troops. "What? Me? Uh....liberty and stuff."
Really, though, it's our fault. I mean, this stuff is out there for people to learn about and we still gave him another four years to act like a psychotic meth freak. I can't blame a corrupt white elitist for acting like a corrupt white elitist...I blame a disinterested public and conservatives who are too shallow to notice that Bush is the opposite of what he claims to be. He's a sick man, but! He's just getting started! Why even worry about these things now? Let's just relax and take a cue from the president: ignore the problem and when things get bad, just blame the military or the CIA....it's a hell of a lot easier than asking questions and seeking accountability, you know? Besides, the new CIA director has already made a huge mistake: he stated, this week, that the Iraq conflict is actually fueling international terrorism. Honesty like that only means that republicans will begin to attack him and pretty soon he'll be replaced with someone who can stick to the script. (The script that reads: "Iraq is peaceful, magical wonderland. Daily bombings? Mortar attacks? No, no, those are the carefree explosions of fireworks, set off by laughing, singing Iraqis. Hey, is that a bluebird on my shoulder?). Anyway, the point being that now is a good time to scapegoat the CIA, atleast until the new guy steps down in order to "spend more time with his family."
Thanks!
posted by Samwick @ 7:31 AM
3 Comments:
At 2:41 PM,
Christopher said…
George Bush, as president, sets the tone for how his administration does things. But, unlike in 2000, he is now the democratically elected president who would supposedly be carrying out the will of the American people.
However, recent polls show Bush’s approval rating at just below 50%, and approval for the war in Iraq also at below 50%. So what in hell’s going on? But, ultimately, as one sows, so shall one reap, and Americans, by re-electing Bush in 2004 and implicitly endorsing his policies, are now reaping what they have sown, but few care to see this.
As to the tortures at Abu Ghraib and Camp X-Ray, those at the top are ultimately responsible for what their underlings do. However, by scapegoating the low ranking soldiers who have been found guilty of torture, the higher-ups are simply doing what higher-ups in almost all organizations do - that is to point fingers and run for cover.
Sixty years ago when Dwight Eisenhower was commander of the Allied forces preparing to invade the beaches at Normandy, he kept having to postpone the invasion because of bad weather. Finally he issued the order to go ahead on June 6 1944, although the weather was still capricious. But he said that the decision was his and his alone, and that he would take the consequences if the invasion turned out badly. Eisenhower thus took personal responsibility for the outcome of the invasion, whatever that would be.
Compare Eisenhower to George Bush who, in the case of the leaking of the name of that female CIA agent (Judith Palme?) from somewhere in the higher echelons of his administration, could, by means of Lyndon Johnsonian brow-beating, have got the name of the culprit within a day or so, but has chosen to evade his ultimate responsibility by hiding behind a commission of enquiry.
Thus, eighteen long months later, no-one is any the wiser as to who leaked her name.
At 6:19 AM,
Samwick said…
The investigation into this is ongoing, but nothing will come of it. If a White House official is finally named, they'll simply resign and conservative commentators will find a way to blame liberals. It really is disturbing though...releasing the name of a CIA agent? That is a very serious crime and it's an indication of how far things have gone. Bush acts like he is above the law...I guess because he is, he knows we will let him get away with it. It's like in the 90's...people wanted to focus on the salacious scandals with Clinton...meanwhile a genocide went down and we didn't even notice. We are just getting so shallow as a culture that we've lost all perspective, you know?
Anyway, thanks for the comment Christopher, take care...
At 8:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
Matt, hi! I hope you don't mind my republishing a section of a post from my own blog here, when you've seen what it's about:
The global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned Iranian bloggers. The month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 February - that's tomorrow - to the Free Mojtaba and Arash Day.
Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both in prison in Iran.
Blogs such as the one you're reading right now are free sites through which people publish thoughts and opinions. Iranian authorities have been clamping down on prominent sites for some time.
'I hope this day will focus people,' Curt Hopkins, director of the Committee, told the BBC News website . The group has a list of actions which it says bloggers can take, including writing to local Iranian embassies. Free Mojtaba and Arash Day is part of its first campaign. It is calling on the blogosphere - the name used for the worldwide community of bloggers - to do what it can to help raise awareness of the plight of Mojtaba and Arash as well as other cyber-dissidents.
'If you have a blog, the least you could do is put nothing on that blog except Free Mojtaba and Arash Day,' said Mr Hopkins. 'That would mean you could see that phrase 7.1 million times. That alone will shine some light on the situation. If you don't have one, find one dedicated to that - it takes about 30 seconds.'If you or anyone reading your blog would like the link to the original BBC article or a link to the Committee's own blog here on blogspot.com, then you'll find them where I'm highlighting this campaign on my own blog.
Please feel free to use the words above to spread them far and wide to anyone you know who maintains a blog or knows someone who does. I think this is a really worthwhile campaign and one that doesn't demand much of any of us to help those less fortunate than ourselves. All it asks of us is a little bit of our webspace, and our time.
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