Unfinished Business: Tasks Ignored During the Bush Reign of Horror

Unfinished Business

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Tasks Ignored During the Bush Reign of Horror

Michael Collins

The last eight years can best be described as the illegitimate rule of deviant forces bent on enriching the few at the expense of the many.  Poverty is up, real income is flat for the majority of citizens while the elite have "super sized" their holdings with a callous disregard for the nation and economic realities.

The phantom "Yellow Brick Road" has come to an abrupt end through an expression of will by the people.  President-elect Obama won by a wide margin in the popular vote and an even wider margin in the Electoral College.  He is their choice.

What Obama promised matters.  What the people expect matters more.  What matters most is the crucial statement of the people.  This election was a resounding no vote on executive lying, misdirection, deception, fabrication, and non stop failures.  It was also a clear no vote on the unrestrained exercise of power used to attack individual rights promised in the Constitution and the willful neglect of the collective needs of citizens made manifest by their daily struggles.

This election was a clear statement by many who expressed their revulsion at the pervasive, mind numbing propaganda from the masters of deception (a problem that predates Bush by decades).  Citizens knew that we'd never find Bin Laden in Iraq.  But the propagandists managed to turn the majority opposition in both parties into an invasion with marginal support by using the "n" word - nuclear weapons of mass destruction.  When no weapons of mass destruction were found, opposition to the war returned to a solid majority and remained there.

The propagandists tried to tell us that the economy was doing just fine, growing by leaps and bounds.  Citizens noticed that there were few new jobs created, except by federal expansion to meet "security" needs.  They also noticed that the real levels of unemployment and inflation were crushing.

The propagandists told us that Wall Street provided a never ending stream of benefits that we'd all enjoy.  Citizens were wary and then outraged when the financial system collapsed into a free fall of corporate ruin infecting the entire economy.

When these fatally flawed entities begged for a bailout, citizens spoke in numbers and with intensity rarely if ever seen by Congress.  Prior to the first bailout bill, congressional offices received a torrent of calls and emails showing overwhelming opposition to corporate welfare.

On just this one occasion, Congress responded to the will of the people.  The bailout was narrowly defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives.  While it was passed a few days later, this statement left its mark.  The people were finally fed up.  They were willing to risk their own well being to see that the authors of the disaster were not rewarded.

There has been nothing but lies from start to finish during the eight year reign of horror with only a few brave politicians speaking truth to corrupt power.  They were ridiculed and marginalized as a reward for their bravery.

Now it's over and there's unfinished business that requires our attention.  This business includes the following and much more:

End the Iraq occupation.  Assign responsibility and consequences.  Put a stop the fantasies of empire and actions that will lead to more ruinous overseas adventures.

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