time.
Bush's 9-11 Photo Profiteering
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
With September 11th approaching and the prospect of Bush using
the anniversary events to make political gains for his ailing
ratings, we thought it would be important to show how Bush has
previously used the tragedy of 9-11 to advance his far-right
political agenda and, most despicably, to make a quick buck
for the GOP.
In May, Bush and the GOP started selling a three-photo
collection of Bush's first year in office, which included a
photo of "a telephone call from Air Force One to Vice
President Cheney the afternoon of September 11."
Besides the fact that the photos are mislabeled (the second
photo is "Bush speaking to Congress on Feb. 27, 2001,
well before the Sept. 11 attacks") and misleading (the
9-11 photo gives the impression that Bush was in charge, when
we know he finished reading his children's book -- even after
the second tower was attacked -- and then ran away from D.C.
like a scared chicken), it took the Democrats to rightfully
call this kind of fund-raising what is was:
"troubling," "grotesque," and the
"cynical use of a photo of that period."
(See:
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/national/kerr05152002.htm,
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/
DailyNews/fundraising_020514.html and
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/2002/06/11_Booker.html)
As Al Gore said in a statement about the photos, "While
most pictures are worth a thousand words, a photo that seeks
to capitalize on one of the most tragic moments in our
nation's history is worth only one - disgraceful. I cannot
imagine that the families of those who lost their lives on
September 11th condone this - and neither should the President
of the United States."
(See:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.15I.Gore.911.Photos.htm)
But that hasn't stopped the Bushistas and their GOP Global
Domination Money Vacuum.
In spite of the obvious callousness of Bush's publicly-funded
travels to raise money for the GOP, the AP reported on August
29, 2002, "President Bush blazed new records in raising
campaign cash Thursday as events in two states -- his 49th and
50th fund-raisers of the year -- pushed his total to nearly
$110 million and provided fresh evidence that money is the
oxygen of American political life."
(See: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020830/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_18)
On his many fundraising trips to gather this "oxygen of
American political life," does Bush tell people that
Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and the anthrax terrorist are
still free, the economy has tanked, the surplus is gone,
unemployment is rising, and the international community laughs
at his simple-mindedness one minute and fears his warmongering
unilateral actions the next?
Does he mention that he wants to send our friends and family
into a war with Iraq that he has not justified and either his
stupidity or arrogance has prevented him from hearing the
voices of the U.S. citizens, those in Congress and the rest of
the world who wholeheartedly disagree with his dangerous
plans?
Is it part of his stump speech to remind America that his
agenda has never been compassionate and his policies are
radically conservative?
So, we ask, what could Bush possibly be telling people that
would make them give him more money?
See the pictures yourself and, perhaps, you can determine why
anyone would support George W. Bush for anything but an award
for bad taste.
Invitation to the June 19, 2002 Fund-Raiser
Card hawking the photos of Bush
RSVP for Event