This encapsulates our country’s politics of late nicely.
Under Bush Administration initiatives, the American people now have the newly expanded freedom to be unemployed, to be homeless, to be deprived of medical insurance, and to be unable to afford prescription drugs without fear of government interference!
They now have the newly expanded freedom to breathe polluted air, to fear new mercury levels, to see great forests being thinned and pristine lands drilled for oil, and to remain helpless as the planet succumbs to global warming.
They are more free to live with skyrocketing deficits, reduced social programs, exorbitant energy costs, and tax cuts for the wealthy.
They are more free to die in illegal wars, to have their civil liberties disintegrate and see their personal choices invaded by the religious right.
They are more free to be hated by the world community and feared by nations who respected them in the past.
We get to those conclusions from this:
A GLANCE AT MANTRA MANIPULATION
1. Claimed Product: The War on Terror! – Keeping America Safe!
Actual Ingredients:
Terror tactics designed to create a frightened, trusting public willing to believe that we are hated because we are free. Fear mongering designed to give President full, undemocratic war powers to carry out PNAC plans. All the while the real threat to America’s safety is increasing. The Bush administration’s environmental policies alone are a greater threat to life than any terrorist.
2. Claimed Product: The Patriot Act
Actual Ingredients: Violations of civil rights, due process, habeas corpus and other protections provided by the US Constitution in the guise of security measures. The upset of the vital balance of power in US government, placing unnecessarily greater power in hands of executive branch.
3. Claimed Product: Homeland Security
Actual Ingredients: Selective contracts for the party faithful. Gaping loopholes in cargo, nuclear plant and aviation safety; Chemical industry protected from implementing costly security standards. Cities funded without regard to risk levels.
4. Claimed Product: Operation Iraqi Freedom!
Actual Ingredients: Violations of International Law, Geneva Conventions. Control of Iraq oil reserves and pipelines; prisoner abuse and torture; Indiscriminant killingof civilians; chaos, confusion, continued death and destruction. Construction of largest US embassy in the world; construction of 14 permanent US military bases. Huge profits for Halliburton, Carlyle Group, other US contractors. Note: This product was sold to the public as Operation Protect America from a Threat of WMD yet the public never noticed that the label did not match the sales pitch.
5. Claimed Product: No Child Left Behind
Actual Ingredients: Unrealistic and educationally unsound under-funded testing program; dissatisfied teachers, parents, administrators and students. Huge profits for manufacturers of practice and testing materials. Cuts in state and local funding for implementation of mandated program.
6. Claimed Product: Clear Skies
Actual Ingredients: More time for power plants, factories and refineries to reduce their air pollution. More pollution than allowed in present Clean Air Act. Increased caps on emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. Restrictions on states to call for end of upwind pollution by other states.
7. Claimed Product: Healthy Forests
Actual Ingredients: Severe limits on public participation; provisions for logging industry to cut down trees across 31,250 square miles of National Forests. No protection for homes nor for prevention of shrub land fires on private lands in southern California, the site of more than 90% of all fires in the state.
8. Claimed Product: Medicare Reform
Actual Ingredients: Massive taxpayer handout to drug companies; ban on U.S. government to negotiate lower drug prices for senior citizens. Increases of 18%, to be followed by another 12% in contributions to Medicare coverage by seniors. Continued outrageous costs of prescription medications with only minor discounts.
