I’ll preface this by saying it is my first diary so feel free to delete if inappropriate or redundant. 🙂
Maybe I missed it, but these comments Bush made haven’t really seemed to spark all that much indignation around these parts. Is everyone just burned out from the sheer volume of indignations perpetrated by this administration?
Now, a personal savings account would be a part of a Social Security retirement system. It would be a part of what you would have to retire when you reach retirement age. As you — as I mentioned to you earlier, we’re going to redesign the current system. If you’ve retired, you don’t have anything to worry about — third time I’ve said that. (Laughter.) I’ll probably say it three more times. See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.
-George W. Bush, from whitehouse.gov
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I can’t recall anyone openly admitting this before. Sure, the conventional wisdom, yadda yadda, but come on – no one is really disturbed by this admission? I don’t believe the great propagandists of the past would have dared trumpet their trade so brazenly. We have all endured countless Orwellian statements from this president and administration before, some horrifying and some just plain absurd, but this just seemed to slap me hard across the face. I guess for him to be that bold, it makes me angry and frankly – terrified for our country. I’m so tired of the deception and arrogance and tools of division this administration seems to pride itself on. We don’t need that division in our community. There are so many important issues on which we can all find common ground. These days, I just wish we – as progressive-minded people of all stripes – worried a lot less about pies and a lot more about unity.
So that’s why I’m jumping in with my two cents. If it can motivate me to get up from the couch and pitch in, I can at least hope it may do the same for someone else.
We are all in this together. Peace.
Bush’s “catapult” seems to have backfired, as he’s now sitting at 41 percent approval, the lowest of his presidency. If his “propaganda” continues with this level of effectiveness, even his own party will abandon him as they try to save their own skins (unlike him, they have to worry about reeelection).
We shouldn’t hang our heads and feel too glum, as long as his approval ratings are so low, and so are Republicans generally. This can be, if we played it right, an historic moment to help launch the next long-lasting Democratic majority, one that will have all the more staying power since there will be no reason to have “Democratic fatigue” and people will, for a while, remember how bungling and corrupt the other guys were when they had total control of government. I think Dems will do quite well next year and hopefully in ’08 (depending on the nominee and other factors too far out to judge).
Alan
Maverick Leftist
Maybe if those ratings were in the 20’s and I was seeing the word ‘impeach’ on the front page of the newspaper I wouldn’t be as worried. But this ‘eat your own’ mentality swirling around lately could really hinder us down the road, and it is just doing the Repubs dirty work for them. Believe it or not though, I do still have hope. 🙂
Okay, I’m going to have to disagree with you here a little bit. I’ve been a “non-fan” of Howard Dean all along, mainly because I think his constant gaffes are unhelpful. I supported Edwards in ’04 and will support him again in ’08. I think it’s smart for him to distance himself from Dean’s mouth, since Dean is the official leader of the party (if he were just another Democrat, there’d be no reason to say anything). And Deaniacs shouldn’t have a problem with this if they are consistent: after all, they certainly didn’t hold back in their criticism of the last DNC chair!
(I hope I didn’t scare you off on your first diary, btw. I’m a contentious guy by nature; but I don’t mean it in any hostile way whatsoever.)
Alan
Maverick Leftist
Believe me, I wasn’t that Dean-crazed myself – I thought Clark a better choice, personally – but I have to give him props this time around. While I certainly respect everyone’s right to their opinion, i think silence would have been more appropriate in this case. This condemnation or distancing just gives the appearance of a party divided and dissatisfied with the choice of DNC chair IMO.
Oh, cool. I was actually part of the “Draft Clark” movement, but by the time Iowa was approaching, I had jumped ship to Edwards. (That’s a kind of fun thing about the primaries: you can change your choice of candidates without becoming a Republican!)
Alan
Maverick Leftist