How Much Can This Country Stand?

Although it has been clear since the beginning for many of us, It has become very clear by George W Bush’s appearance on 60 minutes Sunday that we indeed have a delusional madman in the oval office – one that needs to be immediately removed if it wasn’t for the frightening aspect that an even more seriously ill madman waits in the wings to take charge. This country and the rest of the world are in deep shit!

Who do we have to thank for this mess? There’s plenty of blame to go around but more and more I want to kick Ralph Nader’s ass. Despite all the good Nader has done in the past, the Bush presidency will be Nader’s most remembered legacy. Sad isn’t it?

And we also need to give thanks to the DLC and the good ‘ol boy power network, the elitist assholes who torpedoed Howard Dean and orchestrated John Kerry as the Democratic candidate for 2004. We need to thank them not only for four additional years of hell under George Bush but for the 12 years of blunders that handed power to the corrupt band of pirates and corporate thugs that are dragging this nation to its knees.

Let’s take a look at Bush’s appearance on 60 Minutes yesterday.


When asked, Bush said he saw the Internet video of Saddam Hussein's execution but stopped watching before the trap door opened under the former Iraqi leader. "I didn't want to watch the whole thing," Bush said.

What does that say about Bush? He said he “didn’t WANT to watch the whole thing.”

Did it make Bush queasy to watch someone die? The same Bush that as Governor of Texas reportedly delighted in ordering executions? Remember the infamous video of Bush mocking Karla Faye Tucker who pleaded for her life, screwing up his face and saying in a falsetto voice, “Please don’t kill me”, as he smirked and smiled in arrogant satisfaction with himself?

This is the man that many of you reading this voted for president. Think about it!

Or did Bush just lie to us again? Did he really watch the whole thing as many of us did but chose to lie to us? Was it a political ploy? Did he think if he said he didn’t watch it this might portray him as compassionate and sensitive - or as someone who was not titillated by violence and torture as his image, history and reports of his youth suggest?

Was he also trying to suggest that he doesn’t have time for such trivial events, that he is above the things that common men involve themselves with - that he is busied with his ongoing conversation with God, ruling the world, and making decisions for the good of all mankind?

Shudder! Shudder!

Like the mad and arrogant dictator he has become Bush also said he wasn't bothered by his low approval ratings and called himself the "educator in chief," arguing that sharing his views would help to overcome public and congressional resistance. "I'm going to have to keep explaining," he said.

What arrogance and insanity from someone totally out of touch with reality. This man, who the entire world except for a small number of confused Americans (30% we are told) recognizes as someone who is delusional and seriously lacking in intelligence and reasoning power, believes himself to be one who possesses a level of knowledge and wisdom superior to everyone else. Amazing and scary!

Here is a crazed despot, clearly as mad and delusional as Kim Jong Il, who says he must be patient with the ignorant subjects of his kingdom until they are finally educated by him.

And when asked about his decision to ignore Congress and the Iraq Study Group’s report and once again send more troops into harms way, Bush defiantly said "I fully understand they could TRY to stop me from doing it." And when asked whether he thought he had the authority to send additional troops in the face of opposition from the Democratic majority in Congress, Bush said: "In this situation, I do, yeah."

This delusional man-child king, with Cheney at his side, is defying Congress and the American people! Bush is so delusional he apparently has a Joan of Arc syndrome, believing he was visited by God and sees himself as the savior of the world from the evil Satan.

He as much as said, TRY to stop me from doing whatever I decide to do. Could this be a cry for help from a deranged person who subconsciously understands he’s out of control and wants to be stopped from committing more insane acts? Psychologists have discovered this very condition in pedophiles and serial killers.

Never in the history of this country, we are told, has there ever been a more dictator-like president, one who tramples the constitution, ignores the people and acts with the arrogance, ignorance and ineptness of one of the impudent, whimsical child kings of the middle-ages; one who believes he has God-ordained supreme power over all people regarding all things.

Isn’t it time his own party steps forward and takes action to save this country? Are they so blinded by ego and consumed by power and avarice they can’t realize the gravity of what Bush and Cheney are doing to this nation?

And as for the citizens of this nation, why are you not in the streets? Where is the public outcry? How much more can the people stand?

The DLC Taps Harold Ford Jr. as Chair

After being asked to head the DLC now that Tom Vilsack has stepped down, Harold Ford Jr. is fawning all over Al From calling the previous DLC work “exemplary”. Exemplary of what? Twelve years of Democratic Party failure? Twelve years of Republican rule, political corruption, raiding the treasury and corporate excess?

I recently remarked to a prominent national Democrat that Harold could thank the progressives for paving the way for Harold’s almost successful campaign for Frist’s senate seat even though many progressive Democrats who supported Harold did not approve of his positions. He looked sideways at me.

I like Harold personally, He's bright, articulate and has a number of things right, but I don't like the past and current DLC of which he is a member. They don’t get it.

It was Howard Dean and the progressive Democrats who opposed the war, raised hell, shook the party by the shoulders and said “wake up!” The DLC, free trading, Clinton fawning, Republican Lite centrists are the ones that were allowing our party’s decline. You know - the ones who wouldn’t stand up to Bush and the Republicans, and who didn’t want Dean as DNC Chairman and then criticized Dean’s 50 state plan. Without the progressives and Howad Dean battling Bush and laying the groundwork, Harold’s campaign wouldn’t have come close. In fact, he probably wouldn’t even have attempted it.

And Harold is saying when he becomes DLC chairman they should put out a booklet similar to a previous DLC publication, “Putting People First”. What a joke! Everyone knows people come last on the DLC’s agenda. DLC members come first, then their friends, and then the corporations, and then the party, and then the people – if at all.

The DLC and that crowd are part of the beltway freeloaders who kiss corporate ass and feed off the system. The DLC is used to being in power, controlling the party and picking the candidates. They don’t like it when someone like Dean shakes their tree. It worries me that Obama will become one of them if he hasn’t already.

And how about the DLC ignoring Tom Vilsack, the most recent DLC Chairman and his presidential run? But then, they know Vilsack can’t win. Vilsack doesn’t expect to win either although he knows he can make a good showing in Iowa. Why not? He’s their governor. He just wants to raise his profile and name recognition by campaigning so he can profit from it in his political afterlife. Additionally, he gets to keep any campaign money not used and he can then wield additional power by doling it out to win favor and make deals.

On the other hand, these people don’t care how thinly veiled their motives and agendas are. Most American are fools and are easily manipulated.

The average Venezuelan peasant probably understands the politics in their nation far better than most Americans understand theirs.

The Last Surge - Before The Fall

When my father-in-law, Ernie, died a number of years ago we were with him at the hospital. As fate would have it my father was in the same hospital at the same time one floor above.

My father, Lynn, had suffered a stroke and heart attack and wasn’t expected to live. I had been visiting my father in the hospital for the two weekends prior driving the six hours to Illinois from Tennessee and six hours back on Sunday evening. My Brother called early Friday morning and said our dad wasn’t expected to last the night so we'd better come quickly. My wife Margaret, me and the kids loaded our car, chose clothing to wear to my dad’s funeral, and headed for Illinois with dread in our hearts.

When we arrived at the hospital the doctors attending him said he would die shortly if we didn’t put him back on a respirator. After coming off the respirator only a week before he made me promise that he wouldn’t be put back on it for any reason. My mother and brothers were holding off making any decisions until I arrived.

When I arrived early that afternoon the doctors pressured us to agree to put him back on life support but we fought back. His blood pressure and oxygen levels were dangerously low, and he was worsening. They said it would be on our heads because he would surely die without life support. We refused to acquiesce. We honored my dad’s request and waited at his bedside for him to pass.

On the other hand, my father-in-law, who was suffering from liver disease, had improved dramatically over the previous two days and was to be released the next morning. He was laughing and cheerful that evening, cheered by a surge in energy and spirit and anxious to be released. My wife went home with her mother that night and my mother and I spent the night with my dad in the critical care unit, awaiting his demise, my mother in a recliner and me on the floor.

The next morning I left my father’s bedside to visit Ernie and was shocked to see him lying in bed, pale and ashen-faced, hooked up to a bag of fluid and medicines. “What happened”, I asked, not believing what I was seeing. “I don’t know”, he moaned back at me with a look of despair on his face.

In short, my father-in-law Ernie died early that afternoon and my father left the hospital the following week, regained his health and lived almost four more years. He died of a heart attack while on his feet attending an auction. He died instantly the way most of us would like our lives to end.

The clothes we brought to wear to my father's funeral were worn to Margaret's father's funeral instead. How ironic is that?

I tell this story to make a point.

Medical history fully acknowledges that more often than not there is a notable surge of energy and of spirit that precedes a person’s death by minutes, hours or perhaps days. Astronomers know the same is true of stars. Right before a star dies it expands and blazes with a surge of energy. Also, volcanoes, storms, and many life forms surge just before they die, a last great effort to fight off death and become immortal.

Likewise, George W Bush, his delusional advisors, John MCain, William Kristol, and all those who think that a surge of troop levels in Iraq is all that is needed to “win” the war, are unwittingly participating in and aiding that natural phenomenon that will result in the failure of Bush’s plan to take over the region. Just like the surge of flame before a candle flickers and dies, this surge of troops, more soldiers, more fire-power, more military suppression, etc., will only fail to revive this ill-fated effort. It’s a last ditch effort to keep Bush’s fantasy alive but it’s just pissing in the wind.

Specifically, this act heralds the death of the effort by Bush and the neocon’s to take over Iraq, to protect the Saudi Royal family and Israel, to face down the people of Lebanon, Syria and Iran and take complete control the Middle East’s oil reserves. Bush was trying to write history. He planned to be known as a great president but like Nixon or much worse he will go down as an embarrassment and a failure.

How can an outside, invading force “win” a civil war? Only the Iraqi’s can solve their differences. You cannot erase the hatred that comes from religious differences from people’s hearts by threats and use of violence. Military force can only contain it with violence and murder as Saddam did.

Bush and the absolutely insane, greedy and power obsessed neocons have foolishly unleashed a storm that will not die easily. Bush will get his legacy – but it won’t be the one he imagined. He will spend the remainder of his life being criticized, hated and reviled and will go down in history and as the madman who once tried to rule the world but instead stirred it to violence and bloodshed.

Go here to read more: Old guard back on Iraq policy

BY PETER SPIEGEL
WASHINGTON-An influential faction of neoconservatives is behind Bush's expected call for more troops.