Have you ever paused to ask if a notion or a government policy is sound, logical, and rational? As a poster child for the lame logic of why Bush and all his minions were so hell-bent on attacking Iraq back in 2003 the following points were assumed to be true:
- Bush had acquired knowledge that Saddam Hussein was attempting to buy some “Yellow Cake” fissionable Uranium235 from….. (Drum roll)……. Africa. Bush had pre-decided that Hussein had intentions of building atomic weapons to point them at American cities. And though George Tenant, CIA Director at the time had told Bush that they information had been gathered from British Intelligence, and that even the Brits said that that intelligence was BOGUS, and that it should not be used. So what did Bush do? He millions in his State of the Union speech that Hussein was actively trying to buy weapons grade Uranium from Africa (Niger, to be specific). And further, Bush went on to paint an apocalyptic image of world destruction to say that he did not want the “smoking gun” to come in the form of a “mushroom cloud.” Made us all shudder.
- The official White House position was that Hussein and Osama bin Laden were buddies and in cahoots against the West, especially the United States. A bald-faced lie. They hated each other, no bones about it.
- Bush, Rummy, and other Cabinet members made it plain that they wanted intelligence that proved that Iraq had everything to do with the tragedy of 911 (whether true or not). Hell, the state Americans were in post 911 was pitiful. They would believe anything, if Bush put enough lipstick on that pig of a belief. Yes, Bush played that fear card against us alright.
- It gets better. So Secretary of State Colin Powell then makes a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations with artists’ sketches of proof that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction on the ground, not real photographs of activity on the ground, or real weapons for that matter. I watched Powell very closely. It was though even he did not believe his own stuff. In truth, he had no proof. No photographs. No videos. No freakin’ proof! And we bought it? Damn! And we had to give up French Fries, too? We were runnin’ on our rims at the time, no doubt about it. And act like Toby Keith was a hero because he was eat up with the dumbass for one of them saying she was embarrassed that Bush was from Texas. I was, too. And Toby Keith was even smarter than Bush whose IQ is 92. Heck I bet Toby’s IQ was at least 100.
- We had been warned. Richard Clarke told the world that yes; he had sent memos about the strange activity of foreigners, training in aircraft on our soil, to takeoff but not to land. He sent the memos to the FBI, Condi Rice, and the whole bunch of country clubbers and chicken hawks at the White House warning of terrorists crashing airplanes into buildings, but apparently no one addressed these warnings enough to prevent 911 from happening. What with all these paradoxes and Laurel and Hardy attempts at problem-solving, we still were caught flat-footed. That nobody in the White House was seeking truth or reason was as obvious as nobody seeing Bush report for duty as ordered to the Alabama Air Guard.
- So the Great Decider beat the drums of war, and Americans were behind him. They backed his illogic approach and disregard for the truth, and in March, 2003 Bush launched an attack on Iraq. Shock and Awe, he called it. Massive firestorms. Bombing and boots on the ground for a longer period of occupation and war than ever before in the history of this great nation.
- Many of our soldiers and many more civilians were killed and maimed. And some 12 years later, are we better off? And if not, have the American people recoiled with outrage or demanded accountability of all the Bushtits who lied us into such a long war? Do we wonder that many of the more sensible, intelligent peoples of the world who live in other countries, even to this day have vowed to capture Bush and Cheney and put them on trial in a world court for war crimes against humanity? And you never hear any dissent from Americans at the notion of Bush/Cheney being held to account for their deeds to their fellow man in a world court of law? I mean, why not? We are not outraged at that, either. Makes you wonder. Are we all just cardboard, paper figures of real human beings who will not stand up and hold accountable those who abuse power?
- Iraq, they all said at different intervals, would make a better target than others we had to select from. Yeah, like who? Were we looking at the easiest targets to deliver shock and awe bombs upon, or were we behaving just like an angry bull at 911, seeking revenge on people in the Middle East who spoke different languages, were of different religious beliefs (like in Muslims) maybe? America regressed to the Stone Age and ran over Dixie Chick Cd’s in their pickup trucks in defiance of anybody who did not back George W. Bush. Even though he was wrong. In his targeted villains to attack. In his wrath toward the wrong country, Iraq just because it made for a better target? BS! And we all knew it before and when it happened. We just allowed it. We went along with something wrong perpetrated by the self-proclaimed Great Decider. Bush proved the old adage that Might is Right. You got enough weapons? Then you can write the book on morals, laws, and who lives and who dies. Does that sort of behavior remind you of any countries who had power in the history of the world before? Any country come to mind? Perhaps a totalitarian country that America has fought against in many historical wars, maybe? Perhaps the philosopher who said “Might is Right” was right. I think it was a chap named Ragnar Redbeard.
Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_Is_Right
Someone who has read years of my columns skewering Bush and Cheney and dogs like them who have little regard for their neighbors and fellow men (unless there’s money in it), told me one day that I should not let one person affect me that way. That I should accept reality and move on to other places, roads to travel, and leave the black hats to themselves. Looking back, I can see the young lad’s point. There is only so much time, and if you waste it upon West Texas road lizards who will never change you are missing opportunities of enjoying more fruitful paths to travel. You are wasting time with toads when you could be out traveling the world and discovering and enjoying the good peoples of the earth. Or something like that.
I suspect that many see me as a broken record. I continue to rant and rail against the injustices as the Oil Can Harry’s of the world who use and abuse innocent people continue to flourish and multiply, stealing their way across the Universe and abusing every creature in not only the galaxy, but in the Rainforest as well. But his point is well-taken. If life is not to be enjoyed and experienced, then what are we here for? To bitch about that which will never change? I asked an old friend the other day why did he continue walking that thankless path in the pathless wood? He writes a daily muse and meditation attached to Richard Rohr’s daily meditation. Rohr is a Roman Catholic Friar and seems to seek and speak the truth as opposed to maintaining an ironclad adherence to church doctrine. Many times I interpret Rohr to say that he does not know the answers to every heavy human issue that hits the pike, but that god is the way, always. And he gets to or heads to an answer sometimes on the most creative of paths.
Anyway. So my friend and student of Rohr says that he sees his path as worthwhile even if he touches the heart of only one person a year and causes them to think about it all. To him that is a success. Coming and going. And that is why he continues on his journey. Toward giving something of use or of interest to his fellow travelers. And he seeks things from everyone he meets, too. A meeting and maybe a small melding of the spirit with another. That if we continue on our trek and true to course, we are not wasting our time and our lives, but for that one human that might say, yeah, we should not have attacked the wrong country just because we wanted revenge. And maybe we should learn and refrain from such a bonehead decision next time. And that might is NOT right.
I am not religious as is Rohr or my friend of whom I spoke. But their empirical premise I believe is correct. You throw enough stuff up on the wall and some of it might stick. Even the black hats like Josef Goebbels proved that premise. The human spirit is too valuable to give it such a bankrupt play in the Human Playbook of Morals and Decent Living. We must write our own personal version and update it every day. And we will know when it’s right. No reason why we cannot keep shining the spotlight on wrong-headed deciders, even if it does tend to grate after a while. And we might never know if someone hears what we say or not. And don’t measure your success by whether there is any money in it or not. That is the curse of political consultants and other minions of the broken society that has the audacity to nominate Sarah Palin for high office and spend billions to keep it sounding authentic and real. So keep transmitting. You never know. Just keeping Palin out of the White House is just cause enough.