I believe I must credit the Bush administration with consistency. Yes, I believe they are consistently wrong – wrong on almost every issue they weigh in upon. Consider:
1. Going to war against Iraq – the non-existent Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were an imminent “mushroom cloud” threat to the USA – wrong;
2. Reduce taxes on the top 1% – income, corporate and estate tax – deductions which have helped create the worst deficit in American history – wrong decision;
3. Global warming: Refusing to join the rest of the industrialized world in curbing carbon emissions – wrong;
4. Hostility and obstructionism regarding funding research for the environment, HIV-AIDS, climate change; instead flushing billions down the toilet for missile defense and new nuclear weapons – wrong;
5. Paying (with government funds) journalists to write pieces favorable to the administration disguised as “news” – wrong;
6. Proposing to tamper with the pristine beauty of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – wrong;
7. Proposals: To log in California’s Sequoia National Monument, to increase logging in Sierra Nevada forests, to legalize the dumping of sewage – these and dozens of other compromises with nature for profit – wrong;
8. Issuing new rules to make it easier to allow logging, drilling, off-road vehicles in the nation’s 155 national forests – again, profit over posterity – wrong;
9. Voting against minimum wage increases, thus mandating below poverty level incomes for full-time workers – wrong;
10. Opposing strict reductions of industrial mercury emissions thus saving the power, coal and chemical industries billions while endangering the health of all Americans – wrong.
Do we see a pattern here? In all decisions profit is king. The preservation of the earth, the health of the general public, the creation of a fair and just society that takes care of all of its peoples – these are secondary to profits. Profit is the yardstick by which the Bush Administration measures its decisions. But, I moralize too much, let’s just let the record continue to speak:
11. Privatizing (oops, excuse me) personalizing Social Security, hence gambling – making it less secure and fattening Wall Street coffers; that is, “fixing” a system that wasn’t broke – wrong;
12. Failure to take the lead in nuclear disarmament, instead proposing a new generation of nuclear weapons, thus contributing to a new round of proliferation – wrong;
13. In education, placing all the emphasis on testing and accountabililty, but not providing schools with the funds needed to improve – wrong;
14. In the area of moral values – to quote Arianna Huffington – “Fighting against gay marriage is morally valuable; fighting against 12 million living in poverty is not.” Wrong.
So you have to hand it to these folks. They came down – almost always – on the side of imperialism, profit, short-term expediency, and fattening the coffers of the already fat. Indeed, they are consistent.
