Lies and Hypocrisy delivered with sincerity and a moist eye

I bit my tongue and watched the whole State of the Union address. Lies and hypocrisy delivered with utmost sincerity and even a moist eye at times.

From the concern about our pocket books and the economy (let's advance those tax cuts) where in a "Family of 4 earning $40,000" would pay only "$45" a year in federal taxes. While that seems wonderful (I guess) how are we going to fund the war-without-end and ever get out of the trillion plus dollars of debt on $45 a year? Who pray tell makes up the difference? The corporations? Not bloody likely. Which means that something stinks here.

I bit my tongue and watched the whole State of the Union address. Lies and hypocrisy delivered with utmost sincerity and even a moist eye at times.

From the concern about our pocket books and the economy (let's advance those tax cuts) wherein a "family of 4 earning $40,000" would pay only "$45" a year in federal taxes. While that seems wonderful (I guess) how are we going to fund the war-without-end and ever get out of the trillion plus dollars of debt on $45 a year? Who pray tell makes up the difference? The corporations? Not bloody likely. Which means that something stinks here.

The we have those folks on Medicaid who need prescription drug cost relief... no problem ... it's important ... just give up your Medicaid benefits and join an HMO. Stinks of the 'P' word to me (privatization). Of course, we won't mention that HMOs are cutting off serving the elderly (or pricing them out of coverage) almost as fast as Cheney can disappear down his rabbit hole.

And OF COURSE President Bush cares about the environment (that's why he is letting energy producers NOT deal with "costly" pollution control requirements, why he is leasing our protected federal lands to oil companies, why he is saving us from forest fires by getting rid of those pesky trees, why he wants to drill in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, and why he is wants to give businesses who buy SUVs a 75% tax write-off on the cost). So he wants to give 1.5 BILLION to automakers to come up with a hydrogen fuel car (of course they won't give the money back if they never put one in production). And TECHNOLOGY and INNOVATION are going to save us from global warming - we have thought that over and over again.

Ah yes, then the news we were all waiting to hear -- war and terrorism. North Korea - watch out! We will not be blackmailed by nuclear threat (we are building the Stars Wars missile defense shield after all). And Iran, look out - we hear the voices of the cry for freedom - and you have weapons of mass destruction AND connections to terrorist organizations.

But we wanted to hear about Iraq and did we ever.
NOTE italicized portions are my comments.

QUOTE: "Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks to build and keep weapons of mass destruction. But why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack."

And of course WE have the most weapons of mass destruction to ... make us feel safe at night?

QUOTE: "The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages -- leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured."

Of course we won't mention that we helped supply Hussein with those WMDs, nor say ONE WORD while he used them on Iran or on the Kurds.

QUOTE: "Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained -- by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape."

And our training of Latin American dictators, generals, police personnel, in torture and control through School of the Americas run by the US military?

QUOTE: "If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning."

I think we all agree on this one - Hussein is not the only one engaging in "evil".

QUOTE:"And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies -- and freedom."

AFTER we have blocked them with sanctions for 12 years! Is this a bribe?

QUOTE:"America is a strong nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers."

As we fought "selflessly" in Panama, Columbia, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Cambodia ..... all the while helping dictators and despots rise to power; engaging in combat only when "our" interests were advanced. Oh please.

And perhaps most frightening of all -
QUOTE: "Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity."

"WE" apparently are doing "God's"work in expanding this "freedom" to everyone whether they want it (or us) or not.

Full text of State_of the Union Address

Posted by rowan at January 29, 2003 9:00 PM | [eMail this article!] |