What
You're Missing in our subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter
Bush's Worst Appointment
Yet?
Read Jeffrey
St Clair's blazing expose of the new Interior Secretary nominee
, Dirk Kempthorne, and make up your own mind. Even in the dingy
history of Idaho's predators, Kempthorne stood proud as the dingiest
of them all. Now he's poised to seize his place in history. Will
he be the sleaziest Interior Secretary in history, sleazier than
Watt, fouler than Fall?
More on the great Israel Lobby debate! Norman Finkelstein blazes
a new path, asks "Are the Neo-Cons really committed Zionists?" "Bliss was it
in that dawn" Not in Michigan! Raymond Garcia describes
Dem governor's appalling plan to scapegoat youth and teachers. Plus the full print version of Virginia
Tilley's savage dissection on this website of the double-standard
onslaught on Hamas by the US and EU. CounterPunch Online is read by millions
of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely
by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription
to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find
anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions
are tax-deductible.Click
here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please:Subscribe
Now!
As the violence in Iraq escalates, our
leaders continue to assault us with pugnacious and defiant political
rhetoric that recalls dialogue from the movie, A Few Good
Men. Comments of George Bush are chillingly similar to Colonel
Jessup's arrogant diatribe which accurately characterizes the
Bush Administration's above-the-law certitude:
we live in a world that has
walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns.
Who's gonna do it? I have more responsibility here than you
could possible fathomYou have the luxury of not knowing what
I know. that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible
to you, saves lives. I know deep down in places you don't talk
about at parties, you don't want me on that wall-you need me
on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use
these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself
to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom
I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it.
I prefer you said 'thank you' and went on your way. I don't give
a damn what you think you are entitled to!
What we're entitled to is representation-all
of us, the poor and the middle class as well as the rich-a 'government
of the people, by the people, for the people.' BushCo. would
ridicule Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. After all, George W. referred
to the Constitution as 'just a goddamned piece of paper.'
Like Jessup, Bush talks freedom
but refuses to answer questions about the manner in which he
provides it, or even if he's providing it. He prefers to be thanked,
not examined. In fact, W. operates as if he's been partially
Mirandized-'You have the right to remain silent.'
The entire Bush Administration
acts in accordance with the Col. Jessup command theory.
Because they, more than a few
bad men and a bad woman, continue to deceive the electorate while
they conduct clandestine business-dealings not only impacting
lives but, also, destroying lives.
The invasion and occupation
of Iraq based on fictitious claims. Insufficient body armor for
troops. War profiteering. Human rights violations. Guantanamo
Bay. Bagram. Abu Ghraib. Rendition. National security. The Patriot
Act. Global warming. Selling hunks of America to foreign interests.
Punch-screen voting machines. Warrantless domestic wiretapping.
Misplaced power. Cronyism. Imperialism. The deficit. Widening
gulf between the rich and poor. Confusing Medicare drug benefits.
Americans without health care. Tax cuts for the wealthy. The
response to Katrina. Treatment of Katrina victims. The failure
of No Child Left Behind.
And there's more: George Bush
is the 'leaker' that George Bush said he would not tolerate-the
person who selected information to sell his war to the American
people by using his favorite tactic, fear, while ignoring the
findings of the National Intelligence Estimate. He's also the
'decider.' And right now, he may be deciding to nuke Iran.
The list is long and immoral.
Add to it the evidence that
Bush isn't interested in security. He just uses it to manipulate
emotion during the run up to an election or when the polls indicate
his administration is failing. This is when the terror card is
tossed. But the card's edges are frayed and so is trust in Republican
leadership. In fact, Bush's approval rating is low. He isn't
just a lame duck. He's a maimed one.
Unfortunately, many Democrats
in Congress support George's agenda. Seems the oppositional party
is benefiting from his policies-getting richer and living large.
We are desperate for good men and women of conscience.
In the movie, Colonel Jessup
loses his composure when he says, 'You can't handle the truth.'
What our electorate must refuse
to accept is deception and secrecy.
Jessup, after his interrogation
and disintegration, is surprised by these words: 'And you're
under arrest, you son of a bitch.'
So the question is: When will
Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz, Tenet,
and Perle be held accountable? All those who stood on the wall
and misrepresented evidence to take us to war in Iraq-a leadership
that exploited patriotism after 9/11 to move us there-should
be indicted. We've eulogized more than 2,450 US troops. Thousands
have been wounded and psychologically damaged. So many Iraqis
have died. This is a catastrophe-a choiceand most members of
Congress are complicit.
I have to believe that the
people of this country are so much better than those in the Bush
Administration and the House and Senate. If only they would
awaken to the undeniable crime scene and demand peace and justice.
How many more? How much more?
Our soldiers have been betrayed
by their commander in chief. We have all been betrayed. The
Bush occupation of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has delivered endless
pain and shame. And most of the Democrats, instead of addressing
the real issues, continue to aid and abet.
Apparently, it's those we've
elected to represent us who can't handle the truth.
Missy Comley Beattie lives in New York City. She's written
for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine.
An outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and the war in
Iraq, she's a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. She completed
a novel last year, but since the death of her nephew, Marine
Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, in Iraq on August 6,'05, she has
been writing political articles. She can be reached at: Missybeat@aol.com
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues,
as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call
CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.