Can the country really withstand another four years?

Can the country really withstand another four years?
11/03/2004
J Macdonald

Can the country really withstand another four years of the Bush administration? I am very concerned as to what the next four years will bring. When I look at what has transpired in the previous four years I wonder which adage is more apropos; ‘it can’t get any worse’ -or- ‘it’s going to get worse before it gets better.’

Let us first examine the electorate. According to several polls and one study, Bush supporters were more likely to believe that Saddam Hussein was associated with 9/11 despite the fact that this important piece of Bush propaganda has been widely refuted by the Senate Intelligence Committee and the 9/11 Commission. Secondly, the impetus for invading Iraq, that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction has been shown wanting. Yet Bush’s supporters actually think that WMD have been found in Iraq.

Exit polls revealed that voters who were concerned about morals voted in favor of Bush. How is it that Bush represents morality when his administration relied so heavily upon the disinformation of political propaganda? Perhaps this is part of the new post 9/11 mentality is that morality is best protected by men who feel no moral obligation to tell the truth and answer questions honestly.

With such a compliant electorate the Bush administration will have to fear little of criticism. Those that speak out in opposition to the president’s agenda, whatever his agenda is will face the minions of Bush loyalists that view dissent and disagreement as “traitorous,” “un-American” and “unpatriotic.” Democracies work so much better when there is agreement that there should be no disagreement on how best to address the troubles that this nation faces. The president is one third of the government structure. A president doesn’t rule by decree.

On reviewing the previous four years, the Bush administration has divided the nation and after this election it appears that little has changed. The only evidence of Bush being a uniter is that the terrorists are uniting together in a common cause. Not to mention the uniting of worldwide opinion against the policies of the Bush administration.

Iraq will remain the burden of the United States. Smaller nations are not going to maintain troops in Iraq. The coalition Bush prides himself on is slowly shrinking in size. The US will continue to pay exponentially in the lives of US soldiers and taxpayer money. The nations of “old Europe” as Rumsfeld referred to them have little impetus to join in the malaise that is Iraq.

So, is it possible that any Bush supporter can venture a guess as to how Bush plans to pay down the nations debt? I noticed that Bush was quick to challenge Kerry on the issue but wasn’t forth coming with how he plans to cut the deficit in half in the next for years. This is just one issue that the public has absolutely no clue as to where Bush stands on this issue. I wish Bush or one of his supporters would explain the moral justification for saddling our children with trillions of dollars of debt. Where is the morality in referring to oneself as a fiscal conservative when you have demonstrated little if any fiscal restraint?

Ah, who cares about the national debt all I care about is another moral tax cut. I mean really, the most moral thing that this administration can do is cut the tax rate for a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical corporations so they can continue to overcharge Medicare patients for non-negotiable prescription drug prices.

And then there is the president’s desire to change the United States Constitution from a document of empowerment and civil protection to one that denies equal rights and protections to homosexuals cause it is the “moral” thing to do. It is apparently the moral thing to destabilize the secular government with a non-secular agenda that would undercut the impetus for the revolution that gave rise to this nation.

It is disturbing to think about what the next four years will bring when measured against the previous four. A second Bush term is the proverbial wet dream for the neo-conservatives of this administration. Having learned from Bush in the first debate that a free Iraq is to secure Israel one must wonder what other nations in the Middle East will soon find they too will be securing Israel.

Will it be Syria? It is believed by a majority of Bush supporters that Syria is hiding the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein never possessed. It is believed to be a rest stop for terrorists on their way to jihad in Iraq. Will Israel feel more empowered to attack Iran in a “preemptive” effort to protect their country? Or will such actions lead to an even greater conflict?

There are many Bush supporters who actually think that the end of the world is here and Bush is the great facilitator for the “end of days” crowd. The world is one conflict away from the return of the messiah. And there can’t be anything more moral that starting a war that brings about the end of the world. Except perhaps voting for the man that you think will make it all happen.

So, the coming four years have the potential for getting worse before getting better. The OPEC nations that Bush planned to jawbone to keep oil prices low never materialized. Under the Bush administration oil has steadily risen. The days of $25 dollar-a-barrel for sweet crude have passed. The stock market pundit’s pontificated that when he market goes up oil goes down. On November 3rd the market was up and so too was the per barrel price of oil.

In the Bush economy personal debt is up. So too are personal bankruptcies. Fast food jobs are measured as increases in the creation of jobs in the manufacturing sector. Who cares if your fast food job pays you three dollars less and provided no benefits as compared to the job you lost, you are still working in manufacturing. And people need to remember that the outsourcing of jobs is good for the US economy and the American worker.

And what of the civil liberties that have been curtailed with the Patriot Act? Never before has the office of the president held so much power in an attempt to undermine the legislative and judiciary by denying Americans their Fourth and Fifth Amendment Rights. Bush has made it clear that he is interested in appointing judges to the Supreme Court that interpret the Constitution that favors the Bush ideological construct. Under Bush abortion would no longer be a decision to be made between a doctor and their patient. Under the Bush administration it is the government that will decide what medical procedures that women will be able to seek trial lawyers be damned.

While it would be morally refreshing to know that it can’t get any worse, it looks like it will eventually get better only after getting worse.