A Reality Check

By Lorenzo A. Canizares
Sunday, 01 April 2007

Many Americans are counting days and minutes waiting for the November 2008 Presidential elections. The expectations are that the result of the Congressional elections of 2006 will also carry to the presidential elections. Even astute political observers like Harold Meyerson has said "If the United States is still in Iraq come November 2008, the Democrats will sweep to power."

I have no doubt that if a fair election is held in November of 2008 that whoever is the Democratic presidential candidate will win with a significant margin.

But, can we be so naïve to expect an administration that has spent so much time manufacturing lies, hyping threats, underestimating costs, ignoring rational warnings, painting unrealistic futures, and viciously attacking its opponents will sit passively while the country is handed to their political enemies?

If we start from the premise that this administration began its term in power through usurping it, then we might begin to pay attention to the dangers looming ahead.

We might also want to pay attention to the political patterns that have been followed. Can you tell me that you were surprised by the Walter Reed fiasco? Are you surprised about the firing of the prosecutors? If you tell me you were then you have been missing the essence of this administration.

This administration main concern is to grease the pockets of their network of friends and supporters, period! Katrina, Walter Reed, lack of armor for our soldiers, the Medicare prescription nightmare are no concern of theirs. Their main concern is to utilize every opportunity to economically benefit those few Americans that are in their inner circle.

Ruthlessness of operation is a trademark for the Bush/Cheney team. They might leave Osama Bin-Laden alone (he is needed alive to keep the fear-mongering), but they are making sure that major political opponents pay the price of their "disloyalty." From Joe Wilson to the fired prosecutors we see that political alignment is not really the matter. The matter is your stand regarding corruption from the top being able to run rampant.

Another trademark of note is to manufacture lies. The nation has now even seen how the press has been utilized to propagate implanted lies to justify the nation going into war. Let's not forget how the Cheney team utilized New York Times reporter Judith Miller to propagate the lies about the weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush/Cheney team wants to keep us in what is clearly an "unwinnable" war. A war that was started on lies, with its real reason hidden to most. If we pay attention to what Saudi Arabia King Abdullah just said referring to his request for the U.S. military to abandon the Middle East we will realize that our presence is not wanted, even by our allies, but that also the greed of some is so monumental that it will keep us in a perpetual state of war.

As it stands the only winners from our efforts in Iraq are the radical Shiites and their political allies in Iran, Al-Qaeda, our own mercenaries (Blackwater and others), military contractors such as Halliburton, and the oil companies. The deeds of this administration and their allies are so blatant that to protect their gains they need to remain in power. The newly designed Iraqi "oil revenue sharing law" is going to need military protection to be enforced.

The firing of the prosecutors is not an inconsequential matter. The firings are part and parcel of a policy to make sure that no obstacles are on the way of those that have been anointed to be able to exploit the American people. The firing of the prosecutors is also important to indicate the real goals of the Bush/Cheney administration. At the time that Alberto Gonzales is blessing the firings, the FBI is misusing the Patriot Act to spy on Americans, to spy on the political opposition. It is a new twist on the Bush/Cheney doctrine - To fight terrorism through expanding corruption! What all this should tell us? Partisan politics is more important to the Bush/ Cheney team than the laws of the land! Is this partisan-looting rampage to cease in November of 2008?

Astute political friends tell me that the Bush/Cheney team wouldn't be so crazy to attempt such a move. Really? What about Gonzales interpretation of the constitution that the right to Habeas Corpus does not exist in it? The ground, my friends, is being prepared for a fertile and prosperous dictatorship! Those tax dollars that the vanishing middle class pay so willingly will continue to be shifted to the well-connected looting team of Bush/Cheney friends instead of being used to provide health care for all uninsured children; grant four-year scholarships (tuition and fees) to a public university for all this year's graduating seniors; built half-million affordable housing units; fully fund the amount the Coast Guard estimates is needed for port security; and tripled the federal commitment to renewable energy and energy conservation. All of this could have been accomplished with what we have spent on the war so far, and still there would be enough money left to cut this year's budget deficit in half!

The Bush/Cheney team is banking on the thought that the masses of the American people are not willing to fight as long as they are not deeply hurt economically. Sell-out of Americans are done by its peers continuously. The modus operandi is to take care of number one. That soldiers go to war without proper equipment; that fellow workers are betrayed at the altar of immediate convenience, is just an accepted way of behavior.

My friends, nothing that this administration has done has created a major upheaval amongst the American people. What makes you think that if a "concocted happening" occurs we will react any different? Many of those that could lead a resistance might not even be around enjoying the sunlight, plus a properly executed surprise play usually scores a touchdown. Please do not underestimate the Bush/Cheney team, when it comes to looting they have always shown proper execution!

(Rerefence material from the Liberal Opinion edition of March 28,2007)