WHO IS ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL? WHO voted for President Bush, and why? Did we just buy the spin; or were we actually deceived. Is there a difference? No.
Why the low job approval rating? Is it because he’s doing a tough job that no one likes; or is he doing something wrong? These are not just questions for the White House, these are questions for America.
Think back, just before the 2004 election; remember, we had a string of terrorist threat ‘heightened’ alerts from ‘unspecified’ sources.
These threats probably happen all the time, so why did the Bush administration decide to let the American people in on ‘those’ alerts just prior to the presidential election?
Why have we not heard many ‘heightened’ alerts since? Will we be getting more ‘unspecified’ threat alerts before the next presidential election?
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the Bush White House during their watch: 1. Economy: Wall Street has done well, the really rich are doing really well. The middle class has lost some spending power, poverty is relatively stable around 12 percent. The national debt has risen. Our “Debt — external” has exceeded $10 trillion as of 2006. Investments have been continually heading overseas while the dollar languishes. 2. Education: The “No Child Left Behind” act has initiated a grading shell game, causing schools to lower their standards to make the grade, or risk losing funding. 3. Energy: The White House has been promoting nuclear energy and will likely use Global Warming to support its position. 4. Environment: The White House evaded the relevant science on global warming, ignoring it’s own experts. Administration policy relies on rhetoric, saying voluntary reductions in GHG output will help. President Bush wants America to believe that for-profit corporations are willing to reduce their profits and let their competition make more money (he seems to believe corporations are not-for-profit)? 5. Health care: The cost of health care, continues to rise without substantive attention by the FDA. Cigarettes and obesity remain strong contributors to medical disorders, complications and costs. Medication, rather than healthy lifestyle, continues as the method of choice to deal with an increasingly ailing public. 6. Political Reform: Special interests have seemingly taken over elections and the legislative process on both sides of the aisle through gerrymandering and lobbying. The lack of choice in the political arena plagues America, as we may yet again suffer the fate of choosing not ‘the best president’, but ‘not the worst president’. 7. Security: We were attacked by terrorists; which may have been avoided had our systems been more integrated. Note: Governments are rarely prescient, so I am not saying it was likely to avoid this attack. We have outsourced so much of our military needs that the cost of running U.S. security operations has exploded, while the quality and benefits for military personnel has been reduced. 8. Foreign Policy: We invaded Iraq, a country that did not attack us, because President Bush said they were linked to 9/11 and developing WMD’s. In reality we attacked them because they had oil. Oil is a national security concern; any administration would be foolish not to admit it. We did not attack North Korea even though they were developing, and now claim to have, weapons of mass destruction.
Who is “Asleep at the Wheel"? President Bush, or is it us? The best answer is likely both. We allowed governance and election campaigns to degrade, into pandering spitting matches, and baby-kissing festivals; and elected office, into an orgy of political favors and cronyism.
President Bush is doing the job he believes should be done. He seems to be thinking short term in the constraints of political expedience and party politics to retain power and possibly secure the respect of those special interests that he will be working with after he leaves office.
We should question his reasoning and motives. To do so, we must be aware of those motives. Beware; they are well masked behind the rhetoric.
It’s really more of a wake up call for democracy in our republic. Americans must ask themselves how, and why, did we allow it to go this far?
In reality, this is the perfect time to question. If we wait till it gets too hot, it actually might be too late?
Think, discuss, and take action to increase choice and reduce special interest influence in governance. We need to stop saying we can’t fix it, and get down to the job of fixing it; because the reality is, if we don’t... we all lose the election.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 18, 2008. Read the original PDF.