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06/18/2003 Archived Entry: "Parry: 'Bush and the End of Reason'"
Parry: 'Bush and the End of Reason'
Nat Parry over at Consortium has written an article that spells out the bleak landscape that The Thug Cabal is constructing, right before our eyes. Another must-read.
For the rest of the world, the broad American disconnect from reality must be unnerving, given the awesome power of the U.S. military arsenal. What does it mean when the most powerful nation on earth chooses fantasy over truth? What are the consequences when an American president realizes he can broadly falsify the factual record and get away with it? The answers to these questions could decide the future of the American democratic experiment and determine the future safety of the world.
If the American people don’t demand accountability for the lies that led to war, a new political paradigm may be created. Bush may conclude that he is free to make any life-or-death decision and then unleash his conservative allies to manipulate the facts and intimidate the opposition. By inaction, the American people may be sleepwalking down a path that takes them into a land controlled by lies, delusion and fear.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., one of the few members of Congress to consistently raise questions about Bush’s case for war, said the discrepancies between Bush’s pre-war WMD claims and the facts on the ground "are very serious and grave questions, and they require immediate answers. We cannot – and must not – brush such questions aside."
Byrd also noted Bush’s curious disinterest in the truth. "What amazes me is that the President himself is not clamoring for an investigation," Byrd said in a Senate speech on June 5. "It is his integrity that is on the line. It is his truthfulness that is being questioned. It is his leadership that has come under scrutiny. And yet he has raised no question, expressed no curiosity about the strange turn of events in Iraq, expressed no anger at the possibility that he might have been misled. … "
Go, read. We are heading for bleak times, people.
Replies: 2 people speak up
Have you ever speculated on what would have happened if Watergate occurred in 2002 instead of 1972? My guess is that it would have provoked a national yawn and the cable "news" outlets would be screaming "national security."
Have you ever stopped to consider that most Americans just don't give a damn? Tragically, elder statesmen like Sen. Robert Byrd are a joke (hell, even Jon Stewart mocked Byrd's speech on the Senate floor).
Can Pessimism be classified as a religion? If so, can I apply for tax-exempt status?
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 06/18/2003 11:32 AM NY
I don't believe it's Senator Byrd who is the "joke." It's our government, more generally. Regular people don't take the government seriously. In 1960 about 63% of Americans voted in the presidential election. In 2000, about 51% did.
The reason why there'd be a public yawn today if Watergate happened is because Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, "read my lips," and Lewinsky, and the 2000 presidential selection already happened.
Watergate would simply be some more typical f**ked up s**t coming from a government of cash whores, who have no self control.;
Political particiapation is about motivation, and normal people with lives to live have not been given a reason to be inspired by the string of Republican presidents or Democratic centrists that have followed LBJ.
U.S. politics will be revived only when the top item on the government's agenda is ACTUALLY improving education, or healthcare rather than ensuring that rich people can inherit a 1 billion dollar estate without paying a penny of taxes on it.
Visit my blog at http://www.memorybank.blogspot.com
Posted by Memorybanker @ 06/19/2003 12:55 PM NY
