Runaway slave who joined the Union Army during Civil War, captured and tortured
Reading many OpEdNews pieces, I appreciate the many organized recountings of how many ways Bush has failed the country (and the myriad names he can be called). But these facts have been laid bare long ago. The laws already on the books are sufficient to impeach, if there could come a way to question Bush and Cheney under oath. But there has been little political will to take the neocons head on, no courage or integrity in the press, and for too long, not enough activism by the rest of us.
As Charles Sullivan has already noted here, Bush is not the problem, he is but a symptom. The problem is larger then Bush and will not go away when he does - the problem, in differing capacities, is us. We can blame a runaway "system" where wealthy, connected lawmakers pass laws to protect their power, profit and perks behind layers of bureaucracy and slickly worded speeches which lull the masses into complacence and tranquility.
But Bush is given far more credit then he is due - the rape of taxpayers and the Constitution has been a team effort, and has included many individual US citizens in many ways, some of us just not willing to be involved and aware because we have the luxury of tuning out and escaping into the cushier aspects of our lives.
Including you? To answer the question "am I doing all I can?", simply look at Cindy Sheehan or Lt. Ehren Watada who feel so strongly a change is needed, that they have completely disrupted their lives, and well before the Bush-dissenters were in the majority. To what extent are we all willing to participate to ensure Bush doesn't get away with lying us into war? Do we want a future president to be able to say "But Bush did it"?
The above image is Private Gordon, taken in 1863, an escaped slave who enlisted in the Union army, was captured by Confederate soldiers and whipped mercilessly on Christmas day, 1863. This image appeared in the July 4, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly.
We must be aware that we can go a lot farther then voting, blogging or even marching. The complacency that has allowed almost four years to pass since America illegally invaded another country is the most glaring example of this. We've all been made to feel powerless, intimidated to speak up and act out.
Beyond the Presidents' cronies muddying the waters between business and government, the press is muzzled by their corporate bosses, giving us everything from 24-hour a day yellow journalism (Fox) to the other three network monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil), to the cable outlets like CNN whose "editorial" oversight has directed much anti-Bush or anti-war news right from the wire into the shredder.
The collaboration of the media in underreporting or abetting dodgy government misdeeds can be squarely traced to federal approval of insanely enormous megamergers, takeovers and competition-crushing consolidations inviting comparison to the robber barons of old.
As consumers, we continue to pay outrageous cable bills and patronize labor-busting firms, buy fuel guzzling SUVs and ignore the food warning label crisis. The American consumer dollar is a huge influence on almost everything in our society - with a little attention and cooperation, we can make the biggest corporations take note.
Suppose every Democrat in the country bought a certain book at the same time, for example. Why must our elections be the only national referendums to exercise our collective will?
If MoveOn can send our a monthly email tune-up questionnaire asking members' priorities and opinions, why can't the DNC? Because they have been long sullied by corporate money.
The complicity goes farther and wider. Bush visited Wall Street last week to ring the opening bell and received thunderous applause for his policies, facilitating the upward-only flow of money for six years. That says it all. These are the suits for whom money is religion, and they let Bush know who his friends are, specifically during this, his recent lowest-ever approval ratings reality.
If "Wall Street" was a state, it would probably have three dozen senators and three hundred representatives. And if the love affair between Bush and these guys isn't apparent, look no further then their offspring, the privatization of countless government tasks. Wall Street is now a brand new middleman between you and your student loan - and Bush has been trying his damnedest to steer social security and "health savings accounts" their way as well. Well you probably own a few stocks as you read this, and how surprised you might be to find you even owned Halliburton stock.
But the complicity goes further. How long has it taken the American people to realize that it's not warm rain pouring down their back? Orwell would have been proud at a run of neocon subversion so effective, it's taken more then a whole presidential election cycle to unmask.
In the absence of real journalism debunking lies and distortions, right wing radio has become the primary source of information for millions of Americans, loading them up with fearmongering, hatemongering talking points that exploit listeners' worst instincts and get them more amped up then anything on Starbucks' menu. I have a guy in my office that hadn't heard until 2006 that the Swift Boat vets were funded by RNC cronies.
GW is a proud American from NY State, concerned about media manipulation and overconsumption. He believes in fiscal responsibility, small government and strict ethics. He recently changed careers to become an inner city schoolteacher. A firm proponent of international adoption and curbing overpopulation, he hopes to adopt a third child and enjoys history, "honest" music and art and obscure vinyl records.
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