lets be honest with ourselves.
the past 5 years have proved one thing.
the abject failure of neoconservatism.
neoconservatism, the driving force behind the GOP, is the ideology of empire at all costs. It is the ideology of supply-side capitalism, and religious intolerance. It's the idea that the Enron's and Halliburton's of the world can solve all our problems, as long as we don't ask questions and keep our tax dollars pumped into whatever scheme. its the, "shut up and do as your told" brand of democracy that would make benito mussolini proud. its about turning as much of the public over to the corporate sector, where when you want something done you no longer write your congressman, but you just hope that Kellog Root & Brown will get to it when they feel like it. its the ideology that the best way to grow jobs for America is to outsource as many of those jobs as possible.
well, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to answer this nonsense of neoconservatism and the Reagan Revoution with one that perfectly defines the movement: Bullshit.
from scrapping anti-terrorism groups Bill Clinton had set up like "Able Danger" before 9-11, to giving away billions in subsidies to an already booming oil industry, to allowing Osama Bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora, to invading a nation that had nothing to do with 9-11, to sending thousands of National Guard and Army Reserve troops overseas away from their home states for no reaso, to stretching a military to the breaking point while cutting its benefits for active soldiers housing to hazard pay to veteran's medical, to losing 9 BILLION dollars in Iraq reconstruction.
to scrapping hurricane preparedness and turning the oversight of it over to men with no experience whatsoever in the field, to an economy thats held together with chickenwire and artificially low interest rates, to turning budget surplus into budget deficit, to adding millions to the poverty level and without medical insurance and driving the value of the dollar into the shitter, its time to call a spade a spade
while bush isn't to blame for hurricane katrina, what he IS to blame is for the lack of preparedness, from gutting FEMA and the army corps of engineers, to stripping money away from levee construction. want more?
January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.
April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level."
2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country."
December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.
March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism.
2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.
Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it."
June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."
June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.
August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.
A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away.
Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007023.phpno more spin, no more lies, no more right wing "well thats only half the story" nonsense that they spout off on talk radio and Faux news and CNN. enough is enough.
everything this administration has done is a lie, from a war in iraq, on down to bush's show ranch and brand new cowboy boots that haven't been broken in.
policies have consequence, and good policy breeds good politics. this administration has neither good policy nor good politics. it fires those who speak truth, and promotes those who serve a lie. it turns a deaf ear to men like General's Eric Shinsheki and Brent Scowcroft, while offering promotions to quintissential kissups like John Bolton and Alberto Gonzalez.
its time to call it for what it is, the failure of neoconservatism, and the collapse of the bush administration and an end to the nightmare america has endured called the Reagan Revolution. its time to stop blaming democrats and liberals, who haven't held significant power for decades. its time to hold the far right accountable, from the talking heads, to the Heritage Foundation, to Tom Delay, Pat Robertson, and all the other professional liars who have the bloods of AMERICAN's on their hands. Because of their lies, their spin, their ineptness, their madness for power, and blind ideology. its time to call the past 5 years of Bush for what it has been
Bullshit.
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