The Lies We Live With
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." That was one of the big lies George W. Bush didn’t quite get away with, at least not ultimately. It was known when he said it that the information was a forgery but he was trying to justify an invasion of Iraq at the time, which was no threat to us and which, ultimately, he did get away. He lied to us about our reasons for the invasion of a sovereign nation, and we, and Congress, believed him. If we and Congress did not believe him but went along with it anyway, then we were incredibly stupid as a self-governing people with elected representatives. One should also note the great number of senators and representatives today who regret their support of the war and plead their innocence by saying they believed Bush. If so, why do they not move to impeach him? Perhaps it is a given that politicians will lie, even when it destroys another nation…and possible ours as well.
(His lies, incidentally, should not be confused with anything really stupid that might be misinterpreted, such as: “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” President Bush - August 5, 2004)
Then he said: “Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaida." From what I see on the news you would think we went into Iraq to fight Al Qaida and the very people who brought down the Twin Towers. What an illusion that has become. True, Iraq is full of terrorists today. The truth is, however, there were none there when we invaded. We went there to destroy the “weapons of mass destruction” that belonged to Saddam Hussein before he destroyed America with them. What a grand lie that was. The entire pretense of invading Iraq was a lie. There were no weapons of mass destruction, and there were no terrorists. We created that particular breeding ground for terrorists. We created that nightmare. Thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have since died in that war. It never should have happened. Let’s just not forget it was based on a bunch of lies told to us by George W. Bush and associates. What is worse, he continues to lie. What is even worse, we continue to let him get away with it. That, of course, we could drop in the lap of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, but we do not. We have our bread and circuses, so we stay fat and happy never dreaming of a day of reckoning, which is bound to come.
Bush, it is predicted by many, is going to go down in history as the worst president yet, as well he should. But who put him there...twice? (If you want to blame the Supreme Court, then why did we the people let them get away with it?) And why the hell wasn't he impeached before it was too late? (We should ask the Madam Speaker that one.) Whatever happened to a government of a people? As for the cost of the war, constitutionally speaking, only Congress gets to write the checks...or declare war, for that matter. Theoretically speaking, we put those people there because they represent what we expect of government. Statistically, Congress is terribly unpopular at present, but with whom is it unpopular? With the people who sent them all to Congress. Who, ultimately, has to take the responsibility, or is people's government just a well-hyped delusion? Does this “people’s government” actually know its place in governing? With a government of the people, by the people and for the people, will they, as the real government, actually make the changes they expect of some damn sweet-talking politician? (And how come none of these candidates for President have said a word about our lost civil liberties, which is the worst of it?) Frankly, I don't think anyone's been paying attention let alone taking responsibility.
Bush himself probably didn’t have a clue what the invasion of Iraq would cost and, obviously, didn’t give a damn. The Pentagon estimated $50 billion. Bush’s head of White House National Economic Council, Lawrence Lindsey, probably trying to be what he figured was honest, estimated it would run between $100 and $200 billion, and was fired by Bush for his apparent honesty. By the time of the invasion the Defense Department had raised the estimate to as high as $95 billion (strangely just under Lindsey’s low figure). Good ol’ unilateral, imperialistic, preemptive-military-invasion, Paul Wolfowitz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfowitz_Doctrine ) who uses spit to comb his hair and resigned in disgrace for ethics violations after a short term as President of the World Bank, coming straight from The Project for a New American Century (along with Chaney, Rumsfeld and a bunch of others) said not to worry because oil revenues would pay for the war. (Perhaps that was the intent, but it sure as hell didn’t go that way. Instead we have the taxpayers giving billion, maybe trillions, to no bid Halliburton, Kellogg, Brown and Root, and various other private contractors and mercenaries.)
It is costing half a trillion bucks already, but realistic estimates, all things considered, including the medical cost for veteran treatment and their ongoing compensation, and not including the cost to Iraq itself, set the figure at $3 trillion (a number most people do not begin to comprehend). It is said to be second only to WWII in cost, and second longest after Vietnam. But it isn’t over yet.
I’ve only cited a couple of major lies of George W. Bush, broadly speaking, his reasons for invading Iraq and the cost thereof. His other lies are multitudinous and would take a couple of volumes just to mention. If someone has not been keeping track, just go to Google and type in “Bush lies.” It’s as easy as that. Here’s an interesting couple of sites, however: Bush Keeps War Cost Under Wraps is an article pointing out how Bush continues his deception on the cost of this war: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020808J.shtml Here’s an interesting chart on what Bush has done to our country in seven years if you doubt his presidency is leading to disaster: http://bp3.blogger.com/_akLbxNKanGc/R8khvE0MG2I/AAAAAAAABHk/05lB35cayog/s1600-h/rchart4.gif
It certainly isn’t a matter of Bush being the only politician or even president to ever lie to us. Someone could write a book on the history of presidential lies in this country and the sometimes disastrous consequences. The point here is that Bush is upon us now and his lies are proving to bring about the most disastrous military, economic, civil liberties, human rights conditions we’ve ever had to deal with as a “free people.”
At present the Department of Justice and the FBI are investigating Roger Clemens for perjury accusations, based on Congressional investigations and hearings. The way I see it is that Clemens is one of dozens of accused athletes standing his ground against that eternal busybody, do-gooder Congressman Henry A. Waxman and Senator George J. Mitchell and his “Report.”
The real problem, as I further see it, is that Congress ought to be devoting all the hype and hoopla to exposing the lies this administration has told us—serious lies that affect the lives of all of us—and the impeachment of our fascist leaders, starting with Bush and Chaney, who are trashing our rights under the Constitution and selling us all lock, stock and barrow down the river to their cronies who run multinational, multibillion dollar corporations. But what is Congress doing in our name? They are seriously taking their time and keeping our attention on a bunch of ball players, American sports heroes, at a time when we need all the heroes we can get. Meanwhile the real villains not only remain in power but are using that power to trash a once great nation. And what are we the people doing about that? That is the real question.
