Shameless plug, lets get to the "question."
"I am a business owner and I am living the American Dream, and I would like to personally thank you for having a will that will not be broken. And the men and women of the armed forces that protect the freedoms that we have had and that we oftentimes take for granted and give us this way of life."
Oops, guess he was not done reminding us how much Mr. Bush has done for all of us. This is also a staple of the Bush fake town halls, a real American, living the "American dream", made possible because of the freedom protecting cowboy from Texas. Is there a question anywhere in our future?
"So as a business owner, though, my greatest challenge is, I worked 20 years in the civil engineering arena before starting my company. And the thing that is really frightening to me is our -- we have a true weakness, a wave that's coming in both the engineering arena, the sciences, as well as construction -- construction inspectors. There's going to be a huge -- these baby boomers that are starting to retire, that knowledge base that's getting ready to go away, and there is no one to replace it that's compelling enough. What could you suggest that corporate America can do to help in this deficit?"
Apparently, this question was designed to allow Bush to pontificate about how great the economy is doing, wildly claiming the creation of 4.5 million jobs since April of 2003. Now, even if those numbers are accurate, and I am not entirely sure they are, what Bush omitted is he had to create that many jobs in that exact time frame just to keep up with new job seekers. This economy is a wreck, but undeterred, Bush also then launched into some bravado about the community college system, which has become far more expensive under the Bush Empire and he did not discuss the fact that he has reneged consistently on promises to increase federal student aid to specific levels. Next, because this fake question was so generalized, Bush went into urging Congress to make his tax handouts to millionaires permanent, because gosh, that is why this economy is doing so well. The more money millionaires have, the better the economy does, right? Finally, Bush used this question to remind people that social security is still a mess, when it really is not.
6 - "Q As a small business owner, like a lot of people in this room, we look at the dramatic cost increases that have been passed along, and that we all really struggle with how do we provide our employees with health insurance that's comprehensive? And we all view you as a very pragmatic problem solver, and we'd like you to take this one on, sir."
Shameless plug number 5 wrapped around another softball to set Bush up to chat about his ridiculous plans to ravage a failed healthcare system. Bush dragged back up his silly "Health Savings Accounts" idea, designed to force more Americans to have to buy "catastrophic" coverage, gambling against the likelihood of their lives being shattered and sheltering companies at the expense of real Americans. That aside, Bush then of course launched back into his tiring argument about liability. Bush is still pimping the ABSOLUTE LIE that healthcare costs are rising because of lawsuits. The truth is that medical liability lawsuits account for less than 1% of healthcare costs in this country. But you must realize that the purpose of this entire event was not the truth, but rather a fluff propaganda piece to allow Bush to sell his failed policies and vision to America, under the guise of a town hall meeting.
7 - "Q How can people help on the war on terror?"
Awww, what a cute question to be asked by a SEVEN YEAR OLD! I kid you not America, the depths that the Bush administration will sink to knows no bottom. They actually had a seven year old boy ask this question. First of all, the notion that a seven year old would even ask this question is a telling admission for the administration. This has been their goal the entire time. They want fear and terror to simply be what we live and breathe every day. They want it on all of our minds, as we work, play, and live our lives. They want it so commonplace, that apparently we will not blink when a SEVEN year old child wants to know how he can help fight the war on terror. This is a frighteningly stark look into the sinister minds that run this country now and should provide a pause for all Americans. Bush then proceeded to use this seven year old child to criticize anyone who would dare question him and his war on terror, blatantly using the troops as well to shield himself from the criticism he certainly deserves. A truly disgusting point in American history.
8 - "Q Along with the seven-year-old, my question is, how is it that the people of Iraq when polled have more hope about their future than the rest of the -- than the rest of the world has, with regard to what we're doing in Iraq? How can we get the positive things that are happening in Iraq -- how can we get everybody to know what's happening out there?"
Wow, what a way to end such a blatant shill session. This is more than a fake question. It is designed to wrap up two fake Bush talking points into an opportunity to have Bush wrap up this fake town hall meeting. Fake talking point number one is that Iraqis all poll positively about the US involvement in their country. Nonsense. In fact most polls actually reveal the opposite. The second fake Bush talking point is that somehow the "good news" of Iraq is being squelched. Nonsense again. This is war; people die in war, those deaths are reported. This is life. This fake "question" was designed to put some makeup on the pig that is the Iraq War and allow Bush to finish off his series of softball questions in style. Here is a telling quote in response from Bush to this "question":
"You don't want your government running your press. That would be the worst thing that could happen. That would mean we have just fallen prey to exactly that which we're trying to liberate people from in Iraq."
What??? Maybe we can get the seven year old to come back and ask a follow up question about how Bush would then explain his administration's decision to plant propaganda in Iraqi newspapers. No chance of a real question today though. Bush wrapped up quickly by misstating how great things are in Iraq right now. One last shill opportunity for the master shill of them all.
I am amazed, simply amazed. I cannot fathom how utterly stupid George W. Bush thinks America is. In these current days we have a president facing:
1) Illegally wiretapping US citizens
2) Downing Street Memos proving he lied this country into war
3) Administration officials under indictment for feloniously outing a CIA operative
4) Jack Abramoff and the rampant corruption with the president's party
5) Attaching a rider to the new torture ban, circumventing it
6) Federal government negligence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
7) The death of New Orleans
8) Millions more Americans living in poverty
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