A discussion of how
this century has gotten off to such a bad start.
In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
- Thursday, March 25, 2004 -
Let Us Pray
As a nonbeliever, I'd like to start by leading a prayer to the Fates and to Serendipity, that unpredictable Muse, that the tide may truly shift for George W. Bush. Yesterday's Clarke testimony before the 9/11 commission, charged with investigating who knew what and when, may turn out to be a watershed in this year's presidential election. The Bushies are running scared. What this guy did essentially was to apologize to the families of the victims of 9/11, which no one -- and I mean no one, Republican, Democrat, or otherwise -- had done until yesterday. His remarkable words, that the government had failed them, "and I failed you," may turn out to be the straw that breaks Bush's back come November. This is the "Trust us, we know everything" government, and its central thesis, the reigning political philosophy throughout Washington in every branch, is to never admit you're wrong about anything ever. Clarke added, "We tried hard, but that doesn't matter because we failed."
Now that wisdom will be put to the test. Americans will forgive a thief, but never a liar. What got Nixon wasn't the crime but the cover up. If this White House is caught trying to suppress evidence that it knew something about 9/11 when it said it didn't, which seems more and more likely, it's finished. The "Trust us" part of the credo will be wiped out, and the "we know everything" mantra will blow up in their faces.
This is a "team" blog. We are a bunch of
Americans, whose rising distress
in our leader's decisions brought us together to make this site.
As Bush said, he's a "uniter." Many of us have never even met.
That's the internet for you.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American people."
- Teddy Roosevelt
"Government has a final responsibility for the well-being of
its citizenship. If private cooperative endeavor fails to provide work
for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering
hardship from no fault of their own have a right to call upon the
Government for aid; and a government worthy of its name must make
fitting response."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions, but laws must and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."
"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain
degree."
- James Madison
"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves." - John F. Kennedy
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
More Sites we often
like:
more coming...
"There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America." - Bill Clinton.
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