The Calm Before the Storm; the NYC Republican Convention
By Anthony Wade
-
- There is a certain calm in the air here in New York. It only appears
calm however. There is a hypocritical storm coming. It is a republican
storm heading toward a very democratic city. It is filled with
rhetoric that is not supported by policy.
-
- There is only one reason the republicans chose to hold their
National Convention here, and that is to try and capitalize on the
memories of 911. By having New York host it, the president hopes to
remind all that he has led this country during perilous times. This
may seem cynical until one realizes that this administration has done
precious little for this city ever since his bullhorn photo-op three
years ago. First, it has become apparent that Bush’s EPA lied about
the toxicity in the air around ground zero when it was pronounced safe
to return and work there. The EPA originally was concerned about the
health risks of the area, but those portions of the report were
removed from the official version. Secondly there is the money factor.
In addition to the fact that it took years for Bush to make good on
his promise of 20 billion in aid for the devastated city, is that he
has shortchanged New York compared to his more friendly states in
first responder monies and cuts to uniformed police officers. Now, I
am sure that somewhere there is a terrorist who would consider blowing
up Wyoming, but the fact is that is highly unlikely compared to a city
such as New York. Bush has played politics with this money because he
realizes that he has no chance over winning New York electorally, so
why give us the money when he can allow Iowa to spend bio-terrorism
funds on corn feed.
-
- Having established why Bush will receive a very cool welcome, what
exactly can we expect heading into this four-day dog-and-pony show? We
will see a party transformed. The main speakers will be from the
moderate wing of the party. You will see Rudy, Arnold, and Pataki.
What you will not see is the heart of the Republican Party. You will
not see the Tom Delay’s of the world. That is the true underbelly of
this party but they cannot afford to let you see it. That is because
it is very cold, very anti-woman, and exposes the GOP for what it
truly represents.
-
- You will hear a lot of rhetoric. You will hear about the war and how
much safer the world is because George W. Bush. You will hear about
how we have created freedoms around the world. None of it will be true
however, but you will hear it nonetheless. Three years ago we were
told that a shadowy group called al Qaeda, headed by mastermind Osama
bin Laden flew planes into landmarks in this country. To date, al
Qaeda is stronger than it was three years ago. Bin Laden is still at
large and when Bush realized he needed to get the country’s mind off
of him and onto Saddam, he stated that he simply did not think about
him too much anymore. The facts are that Bush used a national tragedy
and unheard of solidarity with the world to push his imperialistic
agenda. The facts are that from the day he took office he wanted to
“get Saddam”. As soon as 911 occurred, administration officials
have admitted that Bush intended to use it to further his plans in the
Middle East. It had nothing to do with terrorism, and he knows it. The
facts are that Saddam had very little to do with terrorism. Iraq had
been ravaged by the Gulf War and then decimated by ten years of
sanctions. Bin Laden despised the secular Iraq and did not work with
Hussein. Zarqawi was only holed up in the northern portion of Iraq,
which even Powell had to admit before the UN, was beyond Saddam’s
control. In the years prior to Bush we had only three major terrorist
acts (besides Ok City) in ten years. Since Bush, we have seen terror
on a daily basis. We are not safer. The terrorists have not been
brought to justice. The world may be better off without Saddam but
that is not the point. Bush lied to sell his war and that should
matter to every citizen. Rewarding that lie would mean that you accept
the fact that we no longer live in a representative democracy.
-
- You will hear a lot of rhetoric. You will hear about how the economy
is better and we have “turned a corner”. This is baseless and
insulting. The just released poverty numbers revealed that during last
year 1.3 million more people in America are living in poverty.
You didn’t hear about that? That is because Bush tried to bury the
numbers by releasing them early, during a quiet time in late August.
July found a whopping 32,000 jobs created, despite that we need
150,000 per month just to keep up with the new seekers. Unemployment
is actually close to 10%, once you correctly factor in the people who
can no longer collect unemployment. George Bush will preside over the
first net loss of jobs since the Great Depression. We also have the
highest layoff rate since Reagan, not coincidentally the last time
trickle down economics nearly ruined this country. Home foreclosures
hit a record high in 2003. Personal bankruptcies hit all time high in
2002. Quite frankly, Bush
would be best served to not even mention the economy but he has no
shame. We will hear about fictional job creation plans and “ownership”
concepts designed to amaze the listener who is not really paying
attention. We all must realize of course, that it took Bush his first
four years to come up with any domestic agenda at all. While he has
had time to design infrastructure plans in Iraq, this country has
fallen apart. When Bush talks about his plans for job creation ask
yourself where this was for the past four years? When he talks about
ownership, ask yourself where this was for the past four years? The
facts are that he has taken an economy with a huge surplus and
bludgeoned 800 billion dollars out of it. He has strapped the economy
to a sled and kicked it down a mountain. The inescapable truth is Bush
has mugged this economy. The only people turning a corner are the top
1%, as they have benefited tremendously from the Bush tax cuts. You
must understand though, that is whom he intended to serve. That is at
the heart of what is wrong with Bush. He does not view us as equals.
To him, we are the help.
-
- You will hear a lot of rhetoric. You will hear about healthcare and
Bush’s vision for the next four years regarding the insurance
problem. Unfortunately, the only solution Bush has to help you get
insurance, is to take away your ability to sue your doctor, insurance
company, or medication producer. He will use his aww-shucks, gosh,
gee-willakers way of saying “I am on the side of the docs”, and
assume that you can’t read between the lines enough to realize that
he is deep in the pockets of the pharmaceutical and HMO lobbies. That
is who really benefits from tort reform, not you and I. The fact is
that there are 5.2 million more Americans without medical insurance
than when Bush took office. The total uninsured in this country is now
up to 45 million. Those who are lucky enough to have insurance are
paying far more money for far less coverage. This is not because of
lawsuits, that is a red herring. You cannot throw out the baby with
the bathwater and stunt our ability to have legal recourse when
wronged because some may bring frivolous lawsuits. Bush knows this of
course; he just hopes you don’t.
-
- You will hear a lot of rhetoric. You will hear some tired old ideas
such as privatizing social security which has been debunked as a
terrible risk that would make social security insolvent far sooner
than it currently is on pace for. You will hear about no child left
behind, but of course not hear about how it has been an essentially
useless initiative because it has been left unfunded. You will hear
some new ideas, such as this flextime nonsense. Essentially this
allows employers to cheat you of your overtime earning capability by
wrapping it up in the illusion of being able to set your own schedule
to spend more time with your family. Another new idea Bush will be
pushing is Health Savings Accounts. This is just another Bush scam for
the rich, as this benefits the average person very little. For the
truth behind this swindle, please see this link:
-
-
http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/healthcare_savings/
-
- Yes, you will hear a lot of rhetoric. You will hear about values and
principles from an administration that has displayed neither. What you
will not hear is the fact that Bush has been confirmed to be AWOL
during Vietnam, the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal and how Rumsfeld has now
been found to be negligent, the torture of women and children, the
outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame as political revenge, the $130,000
in gifts lavished on George and Laura by the Saudis last year, the
daily deaths in Najaf, the fact that he has not attended one soldiers
funeral, the incident when he stormed out of a press conference
because a reporter had the temerity to ask him about his good friend
Ken Lay, the abuses of the Patriot Act, the fact that he KNEW Saddam
had no weapons of mass destruction, the fact that to him; “what’s
the difference” that Saddam did not have WMD, the obvious detail
that Saddam never worked with bin Laden and had nothing to do with
911, that the warlords and Taliban are back in charge of Afghanistan,
the odd change in bin Laden from public enemy number one to someone
Bush “does not think about too much”, the healthy forests
initiative which is a handout to the logging industry, the clear skies
act which allows more pollution, the complete gutting of all other
environmental regulations, the dismissal of any scientist that stands
for the truth, the suspension of Habeas Corpus and illegal detention
of Jose Padilla as an “enemy combatant”, the policy of making
people sign endorsements of Bush in order to attend any Bush event,
the arresting of dissenters at Bush events, the billions and billions
of dollars made off this war by top Bush donors and Cheney’s former
company Halliburton, the fact that Cheney still stands to make money
from these contracts thanks to the deferred compensation he receives
from Halliburton, the suppression of the black vote, the “people of
color united” scandal where a white billionaire republican puts
anti-Kerry ads out in swing states pretending to be from the black
community, the use of state employees to harass elderly black voters
by Bush brother Jeb, the swift boat veterans for truth who now have
been proven to be lairs and working for the Bush campaign, the refusal
of republicans to allow paper trails for the new computer voting
machines which are made by republican backing companies, the
continuing of the 911 cover-up, and the fact that George W. Bush has
been neither compassionate, or conservative.
-
- Tomorrow 250,000 protesters will descend upon this city. These
people understand the facts presented in this article. They understand
the difference between rhetoric and policy. Rhetoric is what you use
to convince people that you have a plan for their futures. Policy is
what your plan really is. Rhetoric is when Bush said in 2000 that most
of his tax cuts went to the middle class. Policy shows that to be
untrue and that 1/3 of the cuts went to the top 1%, who earn more than
1.2 million per year. Rhetoric is when you say that you want to leave
no child behind. Policy is when you don’t bother funding your own
initiatives. Rhetoric is when you stand at ground zero and say, “I
hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked
these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Policy is
when you state that you “no longer think about bin Laden much
anymore” because you want to take out Saddam.
-
- We have had four years of policies that have ruined our economy,
destroyed our respect in the world, gutted our environment, stagnated
our education and killed our kids. Now Bush wants to come back where
it all started to feed you more rhetoric, as he did four years ago
when he said he was a uniter not a divider. He is going to look you in
the eye and say he is one of you. He is going to swear that he has
your best interests at heart. It is all going to be empty rhetoric.
You need to ask yourself if we can afford four more years of his
policies.
-
- Anthony Wade
is co-administrator of a website devoted to educating
the populace to the ongoing lies of President George W. Bush and
seeking his removal from office. He is a 37-year-old independent
writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on
multiple websites. A
Christian progressive, and professional counselor, 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
-
|
Enter
Your E-mail address to Receive OpEdNews
Newsletter