Moiz Khan - The godless Liberal

Governor George BushBy Moiz Khan

It is safe to say that the majority of Americans now realize that the George Bush administration (or more accurately the Dick Chaney administration) is quite possibly one of the worst regimes in all of American History (and probably world history). As the November 4th election draws near, I feel that is essential to remind people that the presidency of George Bush is more than just an epic failure. In the midst of hundreds (or probably thousands) of mistakes it is easy to lose sight of the magnitude of each failure, but doing so can lead to dire consequences. And with huge failures such as Iraq, it is hard to understand just how important other “smaller” mistakes are. So let us begin put into perspective the rule of Governor George Bush. For those wondering, I refer to George Bush as governor because that is the only office he ever legally held. (thank you George Carlin)

The Bush II regime began with a rather large failure (the failure to receive the popular vote). But, not only did Governor Bush lose the popular vote, he lost it by more than half a million votes! Now, consider that the Al Gore campaign was plagued by the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton and Al Gore’s lack luster personality didn’t help and yet still, Bush wasn’t even able to win the popular vote! He probably lost Florida if it wasn’t for a little good old fashioned election fraud (I wonder who the Governor of Florida was!). So Governor Bush didn’t have the easiest road to office, but once he got there, surely he would make up for it. Perhaps make a couple good decisions that any sane person would have? Unfortunately he wasn’t even able to do that.

After the tragic events of September 11 2001 (the ultimate faith-based initiative),  Governor Bush immediately turned to war as his first resort. Within months, America was involved in a stupid war with Afghanistan and also a global war on terror (whatever that means). The clear and stated goal of this invasion was to eventually find those responsible and hold them accountable. In a country with little over 15 miles of train track…surely it wouldn’t be too hard to track down a couple important “terrorists.” After all, we were able to capture Pablo Escobar, a man who had more resources and connections than any other living person, and we got him in a relatively short period of time. But no, it has been seven long years and still no Osama Bin Laden in custody. While it was the case that Afghanistan at one point was slightly stable and the war was going good, that no longer remains the case. The Taliban seem to be regaining power and other extremists are beginning to consolidate their grapple hold in Afghani politics. So, it is safe to label Afghanistan the first failed war of Governor Bush.

On to the next and perhaps greatest failure of the Bush administration, Iraq. At the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, there were four major reasons given by the administration, and not a single one of them were ever substantiated. The first claim that Saddam was in current possession of nuclear arms, or had the potential to build nuclear arms. Well, no WMD’s were ever found (nor the capability), and the only powerful war materials that were ever found were actually sold by America to Iraq (to attack Iran). The second claim was that the Iraqi government and Saddam had ties to Al-Qaeda. This is most likely case of deliberate lying on the Bush administration’s part. They knew and any sensible intelligent person knew that Saddam had no ties to any terrorist organization. The third claim was that Saddam that had ties to the 9/11 attacks, again completely false. The fourth claim was that Iraq was a threat to the world and specifically to the USA. This is of course a unfalsifiable claim, but I think it is safe to say that this is more nonsense. Alright, maybe the reasons to into Iraq weren’t good, but perhaps we made some real progress? Well no…all we have done is create more terrorists in a country where there weren’t many to begin with. We have created a generation of Iraqi’s who live in the midst of a brutal civil war. Once we leave, (which has to happen sooner or later) the Sunni militia will fall apart and the Shia forces will probably take over the nation (genocide time anyone?). We might have removed a brutal dictator (that we helped install in the first place) but all we have done is make Iraq a much worse place than it was even under Saddam. So, second failed war.

What about the global war on terror? Surely we should have made some progress in that? The first question that should arise is, what exactly is terrorism? Just a few years ago, these people who are now called terrorists were called “freedom fighters.” Fighting a war on terrorism is about as logical as fighting a war on dandruff with tweezers…it just is a futile cause. If we really want to end terrorism, perhaps we should stop bombing their homes? Nah, I suppose that is a bit too logical. Studies have shown that it is not the Israeli occupation nor the meddling in Middle Eastern politics that really results in terrorism, but it is the random (or perhaps non-random) bombings that creates “terrorists.” So the global war on terror can be called (quite rightly too) the third failed war of the Bush regime, and might I remind you…he only fought three wars.

Another failure is the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The annual budget of this program is about 45 billion, and has not resulted in anything. The reason for its creation is “to protect Americans” but programs like this only further injure the freedoms of Americans, which is what the government really should be protect, instead we get protection from imaginary attacks, hooray!

Now to some other failures that are equally important. The Patriot Act…this act basically says, forget your liberty for a little safety. Or rather, forget what it means to be an American. The Patriot Act draws upon nationalism from its name to its content, and it takes advantage of that feeling of pride to demolish our freedom. The No Child Left Behind act, (or, The Every Child Left Behind act) is an example of another failed policy. First, it stresses the concept of standardized testing which have been shown as extremely bad tests to check just how much kids know. Then, it lowers the passing grade for those standardized tests to make sure more kids “pass.” These kind of policies have left Americans quite behind most of the rest of the world as we have a generation of kids who are educated on how to take tests instead of how to think. The Katrina relief effort (or lack thereof). The abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol. The tax cuts that led to a quicker bankrupting of the social security system.  With unemployment rising, a housing crisis, a financial crisis, a gap between the rich and poor that hasn’t been this big since 1929, the veto of federal funding to stem cell research and record low approval ratings, can anyone really call this regime anything BUT a utter failure?

This article wouldn’t be complete without a little torture, and nor would recounting the Bush II failures. The imprisonment of “terrorists” at Guantanamo Bay is more evidence of a failed regime. It has been demonstrated and essentially proven that torture is not very effective at anything (besides causing extreme pain)…and yet this regime continues to torture and imprison people. They have stripped those men of their rights, both human and legal, and have been attempting to do the same to American citizens. Continuing these kind of policies is what will lead to our downfall as a nation. But cheer up! This time, you have a choice in matter! Voting for McCain is tantamount to voting for the continuing of the failed Bush policies…So do something worthwhile with your vote this November 4th and vote for Obama.

Tags: 2000, 2004, 2008, al gore, america, bush, failure, george bush, governor, john kerry, mccain, obama, president