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BESIDES the
question of taste, one particularly important issue regarding
the Bush campaign's use of imagery from the 9-11 tragedy is
the Bush administration's pattern of breaking promises.
For example, the Bush campaign promised they would not use the
tragedy of 9-11 for political gain after catching sharp
criticisms for raising funds by selling copies of a photograph
of President Bush taken just hours after the infamous
terrorists' attacks. They unrepentantly reneged, but that is
only one small sample of Bush's pattern.
During his 2000 campaign, candidate Bush repeatedly expressed
revulsion against racial profiling. During his administration,
Bush has practiced gross racial and religious profiling to the
tune of thousands of individuals detained for the crime of
being Muslim or Arab. The Bush regime raided dozens of homes
of Muslim activists and shut down the three most successful
Muslim charities without any due process of law or a shred of
evidence to support any claims of wrong-doing.
During the second presidential debate of 2000, candidate Bush
said, 'I don't want to federalize the local police forces.'
During his administration, Bush's creation of the Department
of Homeland Security has moved our law enforcement in the very
direction he claimed to oppose, and the proposed CLEAR Act,
along with other troubling legislation, will move us further
in this dangerous direction.
In this same debate, Bush voiced strong opposition to US
involvement in nation building. In his time in office, he has
turned US troops into occupying forces of Afghanistan and Iraq
with clear nation-building agendas that have failed miserably
thus far. His administration's support of the military coup in
Venezuela is another embarrassing example.
Bush also stated during this debate that he 'wouldn't have
sent troops to Haiti. I didn't think it was a mission
worthwhile.' Now we are witnessing Bush's right-wing military
machine occupying Haiti after supporting a military coup to
oust the leftist Aristide.
Bush promised reforms to the American healthcare system, but
his rule in Washington has produced over 40-million uninsured
Americans who are more afraid of getting sick than getting
attacked by terrorists. His insistence that our healthcare
system must remain private to maintain quality is a statement
against reality and further establishes your life as just
another market for corporate exploitation.
To say the administration's predictions on employment and
economic growth have come up short would be the understatement
of the century. Bush's tax cuts are not helping the economy,
and the breadcrumbs he threw to millions of taxpayers have
created economic indigestion in the forms of higher energy
bills, higher tuition and increasing healthcare costs. Bush's
claims of new job creation fail to mention that many of these
jobs are created overseas or that the overseas labor market
competition is driving the wage level downward as cost of
living expenses in America are driven upward.
Bush boasts about passing the No Child Left Behind Act and
promised this legislation would bring forth fruits of
educational progress. In reality, funding for this initiative
has been left behind by his administration and the promised
fruits have yet to show any signs of ripening.
Candidate Bush promised to reduce the national debt. As
president, Bush has brought the national debt to its highest
point in history. He also claimed the ability to bring
Democrats and Republicans together, but his shrewd tricks of
fraudulently fear mongering politicians into obedience has
backfired and created the most politically divided America we
have seen in decades.
Bush promises many things and fails to deliver in most cases.
In fact, with the exception of big business, anyone to whom
Bush promises anything will eventually receive the opposite
and feel burned by this hideous process. Soon, it will be time
to thank Bush for his consistent pattern of performance.
The writer is a USA based freelance columnist and
analyst.
© 2004 John Janney
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