Shorts

Here's a page devoted to those items that deserve a little comment, but are too imbecilic or too numerous to justify an entire essay.  Considering the nature of the items, the responses will tend to be of the pot-shot variety, so dear to many Americans' hearts.  And considering that the morons currently in power seem to fancy that popularity is a satisfactory substitute for intelligence and justice, I have an uneasy feeling this list will grow rapidly.

Defense

Star Wars - The Sequel

     The threat of global thermonuclear war essentially evaporated with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989.  So why, over a decade later, is George Bush demanding that we blow $everal billion on a space-based missile defense system?  Against whom or what does he propose to use it — even if it could be made acceptably effective without breaking the budget?  Today, the only entities inclined to employ weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. don't even have an intercontinental missile capability.  Nowadays, our enemies hijack airliners, put germs in the mail, bomb clinics, shoot up schools, hack web sites, and steal people's savings.  At best, a Star Wars system was minimally credible even during the Soviet era; in today's world it has no conceivable purpose.  Developing it would only siphon off funds and resources needed to address these other real threats.

     So what's the point?  Does Mr. Bush dream of frying Saddam Hussein's retinas with an orbital laser?  The boy is due for a reality check.  Welcome to the 21st century!

Diplomacy

Bush-League Diplomacy

     In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush raised the specter of an "Axis of Evil," comprising North Korea, Iraq, and Iran.  While there might be some truth to it, the timing of the remark could hardly have been worse.  The fragile "global alliance against terrorism" needs all the support it can muster, and Bush's gratuitous insulting of tentative allies (and their friends) even before the al Qaeda matter is resolved could well precipitate its untimely unraveling.

     It seems the pup from Texas piddles on his own feet when he barks.  His handlers would be wise to note that this could prove more than a little embarrassing, and take appropriate steps.

Economy

Wreck-onomic Stimulus

     As one of his first acts as President of the United States, George W. Bush pushed through his tax cut, using a slackening of the stock market as evidence of an urgent need for an "economic stimulus package."  Presto!  The projected budget surplus, that Americans had all worked for eight years to create, vanished in just one year.  Yup, that old trickle-down stunt still works like a charm, just like when Reagan did it!  Artificial prosperity, floating on a swelling balloon of federal debt.  Except the prosperity ain't showed up yet.  Shucks!
     Dubbya kept the one campaign pledge about "tax relief" for rich folks and some pocket change for the rest of us.  But it's hard to see now how he'll manage the other promises, like not curtailing Medicare or borrowing from the Social Security fund.  Especially now that his "stimulus" to the wealthy somehow hasn't stimulated more than an economic hiccup, and already we're hearing talk of "deficit spending" once again.

     It would be unfair to blame poor little George for all the current economic woes.  But at the very least, our self-styled "education president" seems overdue for remedial courses in math and history.

Health

Embryo Advocacy

     On 1 Feb 2002, President Bush announced a push to classify human fetuses and embryos as "children."  Ostensibly, this is to create greater opportunities for poor pregnant women to receive government assistance.  (Do we all believe that, boys and girls?  Didn't think so; not too many dummies browsing this site!)
     Let's get real here:  If aid is to be given out, whose name and Social Security number are going to be on the check—the fetus's, or the prospective mother's?  Wouldn't it be more straightforward simply to identify and supply the needs of poor pregnant women, than to go the long way around by conferring citizenship upon embryos?  (Just imagine the bureaucratic and judicial nightmares that would entail!)  But this assumes that our big-oil administration is in earnest about helping poor folks.  It doesn't require a genius to figure out what's really afoot here.
     Although the administration denies any ulterior motive, it is the height of naïveté to suppose that such a contrived maneuver would be seen as anything other than just another clumsy right-wing scheme to justify government interference in women's reproductive choices.  It is so transparent that even abortion rights foes, a group not particularly celebrated for powers of objective scrutiny and insightful evaluation, have immediately spotted it for what it is, and wildly applauded it.

     (George, do you really suppose that Americans are that stupid?  Granted, many are greedy, short-sighted, and ill-informed—after all, you did get almost half the popular vote in 2000.  But even the least astute are not fooled by such transparent subterfuge.  If you're going to try to fool anyone, shouldn't you at least let your own buddies in on the plot, so they won't blow the "secret" even before the opposition starts laughing?)

Honesty

Enron End-Run

     In response to questions raised by his administration's apparent connections to the failed Enron Corporation, in February 2002 President Bush announced that he would invoke executive privilege to block congressional investigation of the executive branch in the matter.  One would think that the Chief Executive ought to be eager to assist in rooting out wrongdoers and clearing his administration of any suspicion—assuming, of course, that he and Vice President Cheney have nothing to hide.
     Executive privilege?  Certainly, the President and Vice President should enjoy privacy in such areas as diplomacy and negotiation, national security, and personal and family matters.  But a probe of investment swindling and the theft of workers' retirement funds would hardly seem to qualify.  Bush attempts to justify secrecy here as necessary "on principle."  One wonders what lofty principle would be compromised by investigating corporate fraud that has adversely impacted the lives of so many.

     Doesn't such behavior seem rather peculiar, for people who campaigned so strenuously on the themes of "restoring public trust" and "honor in the Oval Office"?

I suspect that after four years of the Bush-League, I'm going to be extremely weary of having my intelligence insulted.  Already I'm getting a little irritable.  How about you?

=SAJ=

Give 'em a piece of my mind!

(They so desperately need it!)