Clarifying the record: bush/cheney

I guess it didn't occur to me that people would not know where I was coming from on the bush/cheney post. Looking back, I haven't actually written much about my political views. That's funny, because I have some very strong political views.

When people started to look at GWBush as a serious republican presidential candidate, I thought maybe we had stepped into the twilight zone. And we had. Let's face it, he's not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree. He is a poor copy of his father, who, by the way, did a poor job as president when he had the chance. And yet, people were hopping on board. His running mate was possibly the most greedy self serving opportunists in politics, and was obviously driving the giant steam roller of a ticket. But they were the guys who should run our country.

I kept telling people, everyone who would lend me their ear, that if Bush got in, we would be at war with Iraq within the next year or two. (I didn't have a blog then, or I would have written it.) I told them that he didn't have any better economic sense than his father did, so our economy would take a hit. There were other things I tried to warn people about. His lack of intelligence would make the US look like fools, his lack of integrity would hurt our country etc. etc. etc.

I didn't foresee everything, however. I didn't foresee him stealing the election. I didn't foresee him masterminding the events that would allow him to trick us into a war with Iraq. I didn't foresee his corruption leading us to some of the worst crimes against our economy that we have seen.

I remember the frustration I felt when the California energy crisis was taking place. I couldn't believe that people actually thought we suddenly didn't have enough electricity. Somehow, the population unexpectedly exploded to a point that they couldn't be accommodated. No one could hear me when I said it didn't make any sense, and that there was corruption at work somehow.

I truly believe that Bush/Cheney were behind the 911 attacks. I think Micheal Moore did a great job exposing him in Fahrenheit 9/11. I was utterly shocked and dismayed when that tragedy directly lead to a war in Iraq that has definitely not made things better for anyone. I couldn't believe people were so willing to ignore the fact that Saddam Husein was not Ossama BinLaden, and that he had nothing to do with the attacks on the world trade center, and was not actually seen as a serious threat to anyone. He wasn't smart enough to pull something like that off.

But there the country was, calling anyone and everyone who wasn't on board with the war unpatriotic. Shutting up those who vocalized their opposition with smear campaigns, and economic ruin. We gave up our civil rights so that bush could have his war. We gave up the things that made this country worth living in so that men like Dick Cheney could build on their already immense power.

Bush/Cheney have corrupted our country. We have never been as weak in this world as we are now. I worry that we are irreparably damaged.

We are at odds with our Islamic neighbors. That has been going on since Abraham spawned the three major religions that rip and tear at the fabric of humanity. As long as we see each other as intrinsic enemies, things will not get better. As long as the United States uses its immense power to shove our ideals down the throats of others, there will always be people ripe for the picking in covert operations designed to help our leaders manipulate us into supporting their evil agendas.

Al Qaida is not our greatest threat. Our arrogance is. Our inability to look at ourselves and see that we might not be right. Our unwillingness to hold ourselves and our leaders accountable for the wrongs that have been committed. Our unwillingness to accept the differences that have made humanity great. Our inability to recognize that we live in this world, and we need to get along with each other in it.

We are our greatest threat.