Boycott Bush’s Damn Speech!

Steven D

19 years ago

It’s a simple decision. You know he’s going to lie. Even his supporters know he’s going to lie. He has to. For one thing, the facts are definitely against him:

Car bombers have struck Iraq 480 times in the past year including Thursday night’s attack on the convoy in Fallujah and a third of the attacks followed the naming of a new Iraqi government two months ago, according to an Associated Press count based on reports from police, military and hospital officials.

The unrelenting attacks, using bombs that can cost as little as a carton of American cigarettes each, have become the most-favored weapon of the government’s most-determined enemies Islamic extremists.

More after the break . . .

The toll has been tremendous, according to the AP count: From April 28 through June 23, there were at least 161 vehicle bombings that killed at least 586 people and wounded at least 1,747.

Of course, these stories haven’t been headlined here, here or here, (because after all, a shark attack story takes precedence over Iraq any day of the week) but the reality is starting to sink in nonetheless.

Nearly six in 10 Americans oppose the war, according to a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll taken June 16-19. Just three months ago, the public was split and a survey taken in 2003, a month after the war began, showed seven in 10 favored the war.

And despite all the talk of Bush needing to fine-tune his message on Iraq, or of the need for him to offer specifics on how he intends to deal with the growing insurgency and the effect the Iraq deployment has had on our over-stretched military , I don’t really expect Bush to provide any startling new details about his plan to win the war, do you?

I mean what can Bush say to the parents of this soldier to justify his death? Not much, is my opinion:

Guindon was the first member of the U.S. Air Force or Air National Guard to commit suicide after a stint in Iraq. He was also part of an unprecedented deployment that integrated the state’s airmen with Army soldiers, sending them into a war zone to carry out missions that were nothing like most of the training they’d had.

It is not known how, if at all, Guindon’s time in Iraq is related to his decision to end his life. The Air Force’s investigation into his death is still open, and probably no one will ever be able to determine whether he suffered from trauma brought on by months of combat.

But those who knew Guindon and were familiar with his unit was doing in Iraq say he and his fellow soldiers were thrust into a situation they weren’t ready for. And they suggest that when Guindon began to falter, perhaps not enough attention was paid to the warning signs.

So he will continue to lie, and repeat the canards of his henchmen, such as Donald Rumsfeld:

“Those who say we are losing this war are wrong. We are not.”

or bluster that only Conservatives like himself are willing to protect our nation from terrorists, echoing the words of his “brain”, Karl Rove, on the matter:

Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. In the wake of 9/11, conservatives believed it was time to unleash the might and power of the United States military against the Taliban; in the wake of 9/11, liberals believed it was time to… submit a petition.

And no doubt he will talk about “spreading freedom” and he’ll talk about the need to stand firm or stay the course or some such nonsense, much as he has done before:

“They figure if they can shake our will and affect public opinion, the politicians will give up on the mission,” Bush said of the insurgents who have stepped up attacks against American troops and Iraqi civilians. “I’m not giving up on the mission.”

But something tells me the voice of this person is starting to resonate more with that portion of American Public not already permanently enthrall to the Bush cult of personality:

“You can’t just say it’s better without making it better,” said Cindy Sheehan of California, co-founder of the Gold Star Families for Peace.

. . . “This war was based on lies and distortions, and that’s what we should be talking about, not making Americans feel good about the war.”

So I say, boycott the damn speech! Don’t listen to it. Don’t bother discussing the finer points with your neighbors or fellow workers the next day. If someone asks, just say them:

“You wasted your time listening to him. Bush lied about Saddam’s WMD to get us into a war that hasn’t made us safer, that’s needlessly killed thousands of our soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians, and which has generated billions of dollars of business for Halliburton and other contractors with ties to the Republican Party. He said the mission was accomplished when it wasn’t. He said he was going to get Osama Bin Laden, but he hasn’t. He said he supports the troops but he’s failed to supply them with enough armor to protect themselves, and he cut their VA benefits when they got back home. Why should I believe a word he says when nothing he’s said in the past has been true?”

Now I know many of you, maybe most of you, are not going to take my advice. Some of you will write wonderful diaries about the outrages contained in his speech. Others will provide a sterling analysis of his lies and obfuscations, of his bombast and fulminations. More power to you. Who knows, maybe some good will come of that effort on your part. Hell, I’ll probably read them and recommend them.

But for me, I plan to spend my time doing something more profitable than listening to his bullshit. I watched the debates last year, and frankly got enough of that from him at that time to last me until the next Ice Age. I don’t need any more.

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