WARNING: This entry is incindiary. If you don't think you can rationally handle it, do not read it. If you love Bush like you once loved God, don't read this entry because you won't understand it and it'll just make you angry. For those people, just go look at the picture in the entry below and remind yourself how proud you are for all the good things you've done for the people of the Middle East.
I don't know how many people watched Bush's “give me more money” speech this morning, but a few things struck me:
- The lies and extreme misdirection are so overwhelming that he's clearly decided to only “preach to the converted”. That is, for those Americans who actually are intelligent and informed, he's realized that he's not going to convince them and the speeches simply bypass them and simply continue to propagandize the uninformed.
- Whenever he made a claim like “protecting the freedom of the Iraqis” or “dictators who disobey international law” he cracked up. Next he's going to start doing the evil cackle, right? (For those of you who didn't see the speech, I recorded it and if I have time I'll do a vidcap of those segments; they're really scary).
- As with all his speechs, the religious overtones are freaky… “God is on America's side” and “God protects the peacemakers” and so on. Just think what you would think if instead of saying “God” he said “Allah”, had brown skin, and maybe a turban and a beard. Bush is engaging in the rhetoric of holy war.
Now… Maybe you think I'm a fool and Bush is right-on-dude and so on. That's fine, maybe you're right… BUT… Please consider the following things that happen when the world sees speeches like that:
- Those in other countries — who all know (or at least believe) that Bush is lying are left with two assumptions about the American people, who at least appear to be supporting the Bush regime during this:
- That the American people are subjects of a dictatorship and do not have the power to object or stop him.
- That the American people are, to put it bluntly, stupid and actually believe the junk he's saying.
That's the message that Bush is sending to the world. Like it or not, incorrect or not, that is the message. And again, let me be clear that I'm not saying I believe that but it is the overwhelming message that's being sent to hte world.
- Those of Arab or Muslim descent are getting absolutely enraged, and a large minority of those people will become terrorist sympathizers and even terrorists. I realize that Americans are being told that there's a “coalition” that includes Arab nations, but the 22-member league of Arab nations has been very clear in their take on this, and it's not what Bush claims.
So, ignoring all arguments about whether this war is just or not, it will have several effects on the US people. As the US people, you do have the right to tell your President to start working for YOU not for BIG BUSINESS. America is in theory a place where people are free, not slaves of the corporation. Anyway, a few things that will happen because of this “war”:
- Americans will be regarded around the world as stupid sheep (I'm not saying I believe this, I'm simply saying it is the message that is being sent).
- Americans will be regarded around the worlds as slaves.
- America will cease to represent freedom, truth, liberty, or any such ideals.
- Americans will be so hated that they will not be able to travel safely outside their borders.
- The American economy will be crippled and the American people will continue to become poorer (they are already some of the poorest people in the Western world).
- Terrorist attacks on American soil will increase dramatically, in turn increasing the power of the state to “defend against them”, in turn eliminating civil rights achievements.
- In order to maintain such a regime, Americans will have even less access to proper education, especially international history, geography, and politics. Americans are already the least-educated and most illiterate people in the Western world. They can't afford to drop below third world levels.
- Many, many, many innocent people around the world will die.
I could go on and on. Again, I don't care what you think about the validity of this war. Even if you believe it's justified and valid, that doesn't change the fact that the items on that list will come true as this continues. Are they worth it to you?
In addition, the bigger problem is that Bush is really playing this as a “one way street“. Much of this damage is irreversable. Even if you throw Bush out at the next election, it may well be too late because unstoppable processes have been set into motion and bridges have been burned.
There is only one way that America can save itself if this continues for another couple of years: try, convict, and execute Bush, Cheney, and the lot of them as war criminals a la Nuremburg. Don't like it? Fine. But like it or not, no matter what your take is on the validity of tossing Saddam out of power, the war on (whatever), etc., it's the objective truth, and Americans will have to face it eventually.
