Dubbyuh's Inauguration Speech...Between the Lines

On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution (Which I will ignore at my convenience), and recall the deep commitments that unite our country (You do what I say, when I say it). I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.
At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half a century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical. And then there came a day of fire.
We have seen our vulnerability and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder, violence will gather and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.
We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands (So, as long as we are engaged in illegal and unjust wars of aggression abroad, I will continue to curtail civil-liberties and undermine the Constitution here at home.). The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion (Of US markets…) of freedom in all the world.
America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one (America uber allen!). From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value (Not so much so, since slavery was an institution in this country for the first 100 years or so, but I knew that), because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government because no one is fit to be a master and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.
So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture (But only so long as they allow US corporations to exploit their resources and populations unchecked), with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary (And…whenever we feel like it.). Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens (Just like in Iraq.), and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities . And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may (Just like in Iraq.) reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling . Our (Just like in Iraq.) goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way (Just like...Awww hell, you get the idea.).
The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations(So we’re gonna be at war for the foreseeable future…Get over it) . The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable (At least it was before I pissed it away by invading Iraq.), and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause (Whenever we feel like it or when US corporate interests are threatened.). My most solemn duty is to protect this nation(Especially US corporate interests abroad.) and its people from further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm.
We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude (Unless, of course, they’re single mothers on welfare, living in poverty, and can’t find a decent job or affordable daycare), or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies (Unless, of course, you disagree with me.).
We will encourage reform in other governments (Offer void in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, China and all of Africa) by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies. Yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty (Unless they interfere with US corporate interests and their profit margins).
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals (But they should be surprised if I actually live up to them.). Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery (Unless, of course, it yields a higher annual profits for US companies and my campaign contributors.). Liberty will come to those who love it.
Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you (Offer void in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and the whole of Africa.).
Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country (But only so long as you allow US corporations and my campaign contributors rape your nation.).
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it (But not me…I’m on a mission from God.).
The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people, you must learn to trust them (But only as long as they agree with you. At the first sign of dissent, crush them like grapes.). Start on this journey of progress and justice and America will walk at your side (If I feel like it.). And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel (When I feel like it), and we depend on your help (But only when I’ve gotten America’s ass in a crack that it can’t get out of.). Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies (And I’ve done a pretty damn good job of isolating the US from the rest of the world). The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat (Just like in Iraq.). Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens: From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America (And I really haven’t done anything to secure America.), which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon (You remember that thing about our ass being in a crack?). Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom (Where did that happen again?). And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well, a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress (Get in our way and we’ll bust a cap in your dumb ass.), and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world. A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause (Me too! Just like in Vietnam.) in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy, the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments, the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real (I see it every time I look in the mirror.), and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country (But only to that of my campaign contributors.), but to its character (Which I totally lack).
America has need of idealism and courage (Which I totally lack.), because we have essential work at home, the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty (At least until I suspend the Constitution and declare myself “President for life”.).
In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence (Until it interferes with the profits of my campaign contributors.), instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence (For as long as we can get away with keeping you there.). This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time (We’ll gut them like fish so my buddies on Wall Street can charge everyone fees out the wazoo.). To give every American (Not really, just all y’all that donated so much time and money to my coronation festivities.) a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools (But the funding will never be made available because I’m gonna make them tax-cuts permanent.) and build an ownership society (Owned by me and my good buddies.). We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny (Social safety-net…? You must be joking.), we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear (Thanks to our ministry of propaganda, also know as the “mainstream media”, that's what you'll think anyways.) , and make our society more prosperous and just and equal (With me and my campaign contributors being waaaaay more equal than the rest of y’all.).
In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character (Which I am completely lacking…), on integrity and tolerance toward others (Also completely lacking…), and the rule of conscience (Nope, don’t have one of those either.) in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self (My colorful past shows how capable I am of that.). That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy and a heart for the weak (Compassionate conservatism – Shoot the wounded. It’s a mercy, and we don't have to pay for their health-care.). Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth (Especially as cannon fodder and slave labor). And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.
From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom (Not on my watch we won’t!)? And did our character bring credit to that cause?
These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes and I will strive in good faith to heal them (I’m gonna reach out to the loyal opposition…And bitch-slap ‘em until they do what I tell ‘em.). Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart (Remember…? I told y’all to go shopping.). And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free (So, y’all just keep shopping and ignore what’s going on in the rest of the world.).
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation (That’s because I’m God’s chosen.); God moves and chooses as He wills (And his will is my will because he told me so.). We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages, when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty, when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner Freedom Now they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty (And liberty is what I tell you it is, so GET OVER IT.).
When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, It rang as if it meant something. In our time it means something still. America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength, tested but not weary we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.
May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America (‘Cuz God’s on our side. He told me so this morning.).

Irony and Hypocrisy: Dubbyuh's Close, Personal Relationship with God

An interview with a woman just leaving Dubbyuh's coronation...er...inauguration left me chocking on my coffee. She stated that she was "glad to see a good Christian man like George W. Bush as president...". Now, I don't know about anyone else, but "good" and "Christian" are not two words I would use to describe Dubbyuh.

For a man so passionately devoted to Christ, his actions are singularly devoid of anything which reflects that devotion. He carefully avoids any mention of being born again or being an evangelical, and there is little evidence that he attempts to spread the gospel, beyond what makes a good sound-bite in his speechifying. This in contrast to Jimmy Carter whose telling every foreign dignitary he met about the good news of Jesus Christ is legendary. But then, Carter walks it like he talks it.

Dubbyuh is, at best, a salad bar Christian. "Hmmm...I'll take a bit of this...A little bit of that...Oooh, and that looks yummy...", but that describes many who call themselves Christian these days. Dubbyuh's distinction lies in that he picks and chooses those parts of biblical scripture which work to his political advantage.

For example, there are around fourteen (give or take a couple) verses in the Bible which make reference, direct or indirect, to homosexuality. Yet there are over three thousand which deal with providing aid and comfort to those less fortunate than ourselves. But which one was a theme of Dubbyuh's campaign and a plank in the Reichpublican platform? Yep, homosexyality, and not a word about helping those in need. If anything, Dubbyuh's plans for the next four years will only serve to throw more people into poverty that he already has.

Yet many born-again evangelicals accept Dubbyuh as one of their own. For one to be born-again, one must acknowledge their innate sinfullness and then they must turn away from it completely. But Dubbyuh, twice within the last year was, apparently, stymied when asked to name mistakes he had made during his first term. An appaling lack of humility in one so devoted to his religion.

Over the years, Dubbyuh's policies, both as Governor of Texas and POTUS, have failed to show a triumph of religious values over partisan politics, at any point. Nor has he shown that he pays more than lip service to his religious values. The true irony, though, is that so many who call themselves Christian, regard him as a fellow traveler, this despite his apparent hypocrisy.

This guy just doesn't quit...

In his continuing endeavor to prove just how unfit he is to serve as Attorney General, Alberto Gonzalez has announced that, "Officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and other nonmilitary personnel fall outside the bounds of a 2002 directive issued by President Bush that pledged the humane treatment of prisoners in American custody..." while at the same time stating that, "the C.I.A. and other nonmilitary personnel are fully bound", by Dubbyuh's directives on the humane treatment of prisoners. Indecision is a terrible thing.

In his written testimony, Alberto continues to dodge the question of just what constitutes torture or which practices should be banned. It seems that Dubbyuh and his merry band are quite willing to condemn the torture of prisoners in US custody publicly, but behind the veil they are more than willing to sanction its use. This administration has shown us that in fighting the beast, they are all too willing to become the beast. One can only imagine the rapt fascination with which they gaze into the abyss, never realizing that the abyss is gazing back...until it is too late and they are swallowed up by it.

The Smoking Gun...

As referenced in Alberto Gonzales' memo of January 25 of 2002, on January 18 of 2002, George W. Bush declared that the Geneva Convention did not apply to Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners captured in Afghanistan. For the first time in over a century, since the US was signatory to the Second Geneva convention in 1882, the US government has decided not to honor its obligations under the Conventions.

In 1956, the US signed and ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention. And it was in 1996 that Congress passed the War Crimes Act. Thus, a "grave breach of the GC is a federal crime punishable by the imprisonment of the violator "for life or any term of years". The GC also states, in no unclear language that,

The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances. - Article 1 (emphasis mine)

The upshot of this, and the ICRC analysis of Article 1 agrees, is that nations signatory to the Geneva Convention are bound by its provisions under any and all circumstances. There can be no valid reason for failure to respect any part of the Convention.

In denying Geneva Convention protections to Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners, and later to prisoners in Iraq, which falls under Article III of the Convention as an occupied territory, the Bush administration has, in essence if not in fact, sought to subvert the Geneva Convention. This is a violation of federal law under the War Crimes Act of 1996. Thus it behooves the Senate to call for a special prosecutor to investigate this matter and, if warranted, begin impeachment proceedings for George W. Bush et al. Any who had a hand in the formulation and implementation this policy, beginning with Alberto Gonzales, former Deputy Attorney General John Yoo and Special Counsel Robert J. Delahunty, should be brought before the bar to answer for their actions in this matter as well.

The smoking gun has been found. All that remains to be seen now, is whether anyone is possessed of the courage to use the evidence before us and bring a close to this sorry chapter in American history.

We lost the war, and we never even noticed...

Could it be that Dubbyuh has already lost the "war on terrruh" and we haven't so much as even noticed?

It all began with the disclosures of the photos from Abu Ghraib. In them, Iraqis were subjected to abuses that are almost unspeakable to Muslims. Forced to strip naked...forced to mastubate in front of other Iraqis, US MP's and MI personel, some of them women...prisoners flexi-cuffed into what are euphemistically called "stress positions"...beatings...all recorded for posterity, causing further shame for them, and outrage in the rest of the Muslim world.

Then we were confronted with the Taguba Report, the memos from Alberto Gonzales dismissing the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and "obsolete", the definition of torture as being "pain equivalent in intensity to major organ failure or death", the IRC report that methods used to interrogate prisoners at GTMO, Abu Ghraib and other US installations were torture.

All this, taken as a whole has ensured contiuing conflict with Muslim extremists for the foreseeable future. But what makes all this even more tragic is that these actions were relegated to a far back-burner. While they are being investigated by miltary authorites, those investigators can only look down the chain of command and not up it, to where the real culpability lies. With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, one can rest assured that no active investigation will take place that might assign blame where it truly belongs...The Oval Office.

While we are shocked by the images coming from Abu Ghraib, those images have compartmentalized prisoner abuse to a "few bad apples" at that facility, despite documented evidence of such abuses being wide-spread in Iraq and elsewhere. The abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners, a direct outgrowth of Administration policy, has raised no outrage amongst US citizens. The Administration stands, albeit delicately, clear of the fallout from these abuses. And we, the people, continue to wonder, "why do they hate us?" We've lost the war...and we never even noticed.

Bitten in the ass...

Abu Ghraib, Gitmo scandals leave no room for U.S. to talk of human rights: Khatami

DAKAR (IRNA) -- President Mohammad Khatami rejected Saturday U.S. charges of human rights violations in Iran, denouncing Washington's own record in abusing prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba.

"Of all the people entitled to speak about human rights, we don't regard the Americans as having the right to talk about the respect for human rights in Iran," he told reporters here.

The United States was quoted Thursday as having expressed 'grave concern' over the human rights situation in Iran and potential court action against 2003 Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Khatami said, "I believe the Americans' claims of human rights violations in Iran are lies and they had better stand accountable for their own crimes in Iraq's Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons."

Thanks to the policies promulgated by the Bush administration with regards to prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Afghanistan, we have lost the moral high-ground. By denying prisoners from the Taliban and Al Qaeda, detained in GTMO and elsewhere, protection under the Geneva Conventions the Administration has abandoned the ideals for which generations of Americans have fought and died for. The Adminsitration has also acted contrary to both US and international law in this arena.

The end result now is that a nation with a miserable record on human rights, such as Iran...or China...or Myanmar...or North Korea can tell the US to pound sand with impunity. The decision to torture prisoners was made at the highest levels in the Administration, even to the Oval Office. The architect of those policies, Alberto Gonzalez, now stands to be the next Attorney General of the US. If he is confirmed in that office, America will lose what moral authority it has left, and we will all bear a measure of guilt for the policies he was instrumental in developing and the President allowed to be implemented. Most of us stood by passively and allowed this to happen. The scandal that should have bright down an administration was shuffled quietly into the background, and was not even an issue during the campaign, though it should have been.

So, when do we take a stand? If not now, when? If we let Alberto Gonzales become the next AG, how can we ever erase the shame he and the Bush administration have brought on this nation...For the first time in our history, our government sanctions torture, and makes a mockery of the values of "freedom and democracy" that Dubbyuh claims to be delivering to Iraq and throughout the Middle East. Write, e-mail, call, or camp out in, the office of your senators...let your voices be heard.