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- You Want Lies With That? Just an Average Week
in Bush’s America, Protections for the Rich, Police States for the
Poor and McMedia for
All
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- By Anthony Wade
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- March 10, 2005
www.OpEdNews.com
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- There are moments of such pure clarity that one can stop and
see what an entire administration stands for within a glimpse of a
passing week. The Bushies have been clever to no end in announcing
poorly accepted policies on Friday afternoons, to avoid media
scrutiny, but everything cannot stay hidden forever, even with a
mostly state-sponsored media. Today, as the news slows down, and
we can look at the highlights from this past week, we can see a
microcosm of life under George W. Bush.
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- In Bush’s America, the rich play by a different set of rules.
We all know this because from day one the only real economic plan
George W. Bush has is to cut taxes on the richest Americans under
the failed guise of trickle down economics. Bush will insist that
everyone gets their taxes cut, but clearly, it is the rich that
benefit from even percentage cuts. When you factor in the
increases in prices of gas, milk, electricity, medications and
state charges, the Bush tax cut ends up meaning nothing to the
poor and middle class, while the rich continue to reap the
benefits. There have been many opportunities for Bush to roll back
these unfair bonanzas for the wealthy and at every turn, no matter
what damage was to be done to the economy, he has refused.
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- This week however, we saw the crystallization of the rich get
richer under Bush with the passing of the new bankruptcy laws. It
has always been allowed in this country for people to eradicate
poor financial mistakes and start over. Second chances one would
say have been uniquely American, as opposed to Bush who thinks
working three jobs is uniquely American. There is always a
punishment, in that the person would need at least ten years to
rebuild their credit rating back to the point of being acceptable.
The credit card companies never really suffered as these
conditions are what lead the companies to charge outrageous
financing fees. Not content with this though, the credit card
companies have lobbied Congress to stick it to the American people
by making it far more difficult for people to declare bankruptcy.
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- This past week saw attempts by democratic senators to amend
this egregious law to protect:
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- The elderly – an amendment would
have shielded the elderly from losing their home, only up to
$75,000 in value. Often it is medical problems and limited income
that leaves the elderly with no option but bankruptcy.
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- The sick – an amendment would have
protected people from these new standards if the bankruptcy was a
direct result of a catastrophic illness.
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- Veterans – an amendment would have
protected our returning soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq who so
often face financial hardship upon their return.
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- Do these sound fair to you? Well, not in George W. Bush’s
America. All three amendments were defeated. Not even victims of
identity theft would be exempt from these new laws. Here though,
is what makes this week’s actions take shape as being pure Bush,
Congress refused to close loopholes in this law designed to
protect millionaires.
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- Did you get that America? Your Congress is passing a law to
hold you accountable for debt, but in the same law have set up
“asset protection trusts” for the filthy rich. Another amendment
was introduced this week that would have reduced these trusts to
$125,000 or less and you guessed it, it was defeated. This is what
led NY Senator Chuck Schumer to regret, “now we have a bill that
says a family won't be protected if it has $50,000, but it will if
it has $5 million." THAT, is life under George W. Bush.
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- In Bush’s America, we are in a police state scrambling after
our lost civil liberties. Despite the daily stories about police
tasering people to death there was another story largely ignored
by the state-sponsored media this week and that was the decision
in the Jose Padilla case. For those who have not heard about this,
because of the media blackout, Padilla is the poster child for
Bush-abuse in a post-911 world. Jose Padilla is an American
citizen. One day he walked off an airplane and into federal
custody charged by Mr. Bush as being an “enemy combatant.” Three
years later, Mr. Padilla sits in a cell, not charged, not tried,
and represents all that can be wrong about ceding too much power
to anyone, let alone the President. I do not know if Mr. Padilla
really intended to set off a dirty bomb, as Bush alleges. What I
do know is that as a citizen, he has rights. Those rights were set
up by our forefathers and should not be treated so casually by us.
If Padilla is guilty, then give him his day in court and allow him
to defend himself. Today it is Padilla, tomorrow it may be you.
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- The Padilla case is beyond egregious in that the Bush
administration has set the precedent that their opinion, without
any proof, can circumvent habeas corpus, due process of law, trial
by jury, and right to counsel. If this was allowed to stand, then
the door is open to a military-fascist society, where anyone can
be detained without any of the constitutional protections our
country was founded on. Thankfully, Judge Henry F. Floyd realized
this and ruled that the government needs to either charge Padilla
or release him.
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- Jose Padilla is a microcosm of the Bush policies that assault
our civil liberties and are close to propelling us into a near
police state. In the run-up to the election, Bush created
“Free-Speech Zones” which were nothing more than cages for people
who dared to protest. Apparently, Bush was unaware that before his
administration, this entire country was a “free-speech zone.” The
ruling this month is a victory for all American people but serves
as a stark reminder of the unbridled arrogance by which the Bush
administration operates. The fact is that Bush has had setbacks in
this case before and simply ignored the decisions of the
judiciary. We need to be vigilant in how this case unfolds now
especially since we cannot guarantee that the state-sponsored
media will follow it at all.
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- Lastly, in Bush’s America, the news is processed, not
reported. This past week saw the return of the poster child of the
Bush media, Jeff “I can’t pronounce Jim” Gannon. The professional
gay hooker-turned-faux journalist has gone back online, begging
for donations to his cause and lying with impunity. His
irrelevance has been well established but he is truly
representative of the superciliousness Bush treats all media with.
From day one of this administration, the press was punished for
asking tough questions and rewarded for asking fluff. What we have
seen in latter-day America is the packaging of news, the framing
of news, and the creation of news. The GOP has a massive news
operation. When there is a need to push a particular talking
point, let’s say the social security scam, the GOP noise machine
gets in gear. First you will hear on the talk radio circuit how
bold Bush is for his vision. Rush Limbaugh will bemoan the lefty
democrats who would stand by and do nothing while Bush at least
wants to try and let younger wage earners “invest.” Mind you, the
facts in the talking points are skewed and often inaccurate, but
that does not stop the assault on your opinions. Soon the machine
starts up at night during the cable news barrage. Sean Hannity and
Joe Scarborough will pontificate about this scam, using the exact
same talking points as their radio counterparts. Chris Matthews
will have a stacked panel where GOP shills are there to sell you
on privatization and the moderates are there to have a fair
debate. The coup de grace is delivered in the White House press
pool the next day when a GOP plant asks a completely rhetorical
question, entirely supporting the same talking points the machine
has already hammered home, to the president or his representative,
for the sole purpose of finalizing the talking points and having
the print press report on it is if it were fact.
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- Make no mistake about it; we live in an era of packaged media.
News is created, weighted and put into a cardboard carton for us
to swallow at dinner time. It is McMedia for all. It is
representative of all that is inherently lazy about us as
Americans. It is what makes us sit back and not care that the
reasons we went to war, were wrong. When Katie Couric shouting
“Navy seals rock!” passes for investigative journalism, we are
headed for deep trouble. When Jim Guckert can lie about who he is,
who he works for, and pretend to be a journalist, and then be
celebrated for it, we are in the age of McMedia. The arrogance
of this administration filters down to folks like Jeff/Jim who
claim that somehow the “gay card” is being played on him. Mind
you, this is a man who lied in his interview with Wolf Blitzer
about the “gay-sounding” websites he paid for. When he was
exposed, it turned out that he had over 40 naked pictures of
himself online and was still selling his sexual services as a gay
hooker but somehow someone else is playing the gay card on him?
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- No, Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert is simply a microcosm of the
McMedia this administration is selling you every night. They just
assume you will be too lazy to check the facts. Even if the truth
comes out one day, Bush has proven that he can make the ends
justify the means and have everyone swallow it. Every night there
is another whopper for you to buy. If Bush gets in real trouble
with your testy public opinion, he can just send out an emissary
onto Fox News, call it an “exclusive” and be granted unfettered
minutes to finalize the sale to you, under the guise of
journalism. The sad part is that we keep coming back for it. Just
like when we know that Big Mac is no good for us, but we order it
anyway for lunch.
- This is life in George W. Bush’s America. The rich find
loopholes, the poor lose their civil liberties, and the press
sells you why it is all good. These are just three observations
one can make in any given week of this administration. They are
all troubling. The transfer of wealth to the top 1% is a
frightening fact as the middle class is being eliminated. At a
photo-op stop last month Bush was speaking with a woman who told
him she had to work three jobs to make ends meet. Bush’s reaction
was to laugh. He tried to cover up his laughter with a comment
about how “uniquely American” that was, but we all saw what he
stood for in that reaction. It is the same smirk we are met with
when we dare to discuss the erosion of our civil liberties.
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- The most frightening of these problems however is the notion
of a state-sponsored media. Loopholes for the rich can be closed,
if they are reported. Civil liberties can be protected, if the
abuses are reported. If all we have is this McMedia, where the
government sells us on what they want, then we will no longer even
know what the real issues are. The real media sat with Jeff Gannon
for two years knowing he was a GOP plant and did nothing about
him. The networks knew that Bush had not proven anything about WMD,
yet they sold you this war. They packaged it up for you, placed it
in a cardboard carton, put a little American flag sticker on it
and you bought it.
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- This past week saw the story about the Treasury Department
announcing the formation of a Social Security 'war room' and the
hiring of three full-time employees to help coordinate and refine
the administration's message on the issue. Once again, this
administration is using your tax dollars to help sell you on a
plan you already know you do not want. They did it with the No
Child Left Behind Act and the Marriage Initiatives. They did it by
allowing a gay-hooker to pose as a journalist and ask softball
questions of the president. The purchasing and packaging of your
news is what they are in the business of. The only question left
is when you are going to stop buying it.
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Anthony Wade, a
contributing writer to
opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies
and abuses of the government. He is a 37-year-old independent writer
from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple
websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation
Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that
you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies
and excess.
Anthony Wade’s
Archive:
http://www.opednews.com/archiveswadeanthony.htm
Email
Anthony:
takebacktheus@gmail.com
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