Bush’s Dangerous 14 Months–And Ours
by Marcus Raskin and Robert Spero
After the 2006 congressional elections, pundits declared that
President Bush was a lame duck. Each day his power and capacity to
pursue his neoconservative agenda was supposed to drain away until he
went back to Crawford Texas, a beaten man.
But like so much in politics, those who tie themselves to conventional
wisdom are often very wrong. George W. Bush is as strong now as he was
when he gained office for his second term. He is
determined–ferociously, like a bulldog with a bone–to pursue his
agenda even if it becomes a millstone around the country¹s neck for
years and decades.
Why is Mr. Bush, in the remaining 14 months of his presidency, defying
the wishes of the people, when 75 percent believe the country is
heading down the wrong track? For all the obsessive secrecy of the
Bush administration, the president has been remarkably open about his
guide in matters of state and as a personal cleanser to his previous
alcohol addiction: Jesus.
Remember he told us, “Christ…changed my heart,” in the 2000 television
debates and he seems to believe that Jesus is his man. Bush’s rigid
judgment and personal certitude in decision-making fits the classic
profile of a recovering alcoholic. In this context, he was saved by
his ambition which he melded to Jesus and the simplistic symbols of
good versus evil. Whether or not Bush envisions himself as an
instrument of God to advance his agenda or uses his faith as a
political weapon against his opposition, he has put down unmistakable
markers for the next 14 months. These markers have consequences that
cannot be wished away:
* Bush has made clear the Iraq War is his legacy. He intends to make
sure the United States stays his course over the next 14 months.
Nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed. Nearly 28,000 have been
seriously wounded and maimed. Some 660,000 Iraqis have died since the
war began, according to a Johns Hopkins University report. How many
more people will we lose to sustain this murderous folly?
* Iraq has cost over half a trillion dollars. The U.S. currently
spends $12 billion a month on the war. Over the next 14 months Bush
has asked for an additional supplemental totaling 280 billion dollars.
What’s to stop him from extracting billions more from taxpayers for
his war without end?
* Congress must also consider a separate 750 billion dollar defense
budget for this fiscal year. Remember that number when federal
officials say they lack the funds to repair public services, roads,
and bridges decaying before our eyes.
* Promises were made to rebuild New Orleans. The federal government
under Bush has done virtually nothing and that is what can be expected
as that city continues to decay.
* Bush has made clear that he does not care about the impending health
disaster in the U.S. He vetoed a children’s health bill which would
have cost 12 billion dollars over five years on the grounds that it
was too expensive and would protect too large a category of children.
In 14 months he could use his executive power to further damage, even
destroy the health and lives of tens of thousands more.
* On the Bush watch, adults without medical insurance rose to 47
million in 2006, up over 2 million from 2005. Uninsured children rose
by 8.7 million. We may expect these figures to rise by January 2009.
* Bush believes America, under his version of Jesus, must remain the
sole warrior state. He routinely threatens Iran as his administration
continues war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Sahara.
There is nothing to suggest war plans hatched in the next 14 months
would be any more legal, moral, or in the U.S. and international
interest than his misbegotten plan for Iraq. And there is little to
suggest that the Democratic leadership will hasten to give up power
stolen for the presidency by Bush.
* Bush will veto Congressional attempts to strip the Patriot Act of
its most repressive provisions–should politicians summon the courage
to give back civil rights and liberties guaranteed to the people by
their Constitution and Bill of Rights.
* Bush and Cheney have made clear that they have no interest in
restoring the checks and balances of the Constitution. In their
remaining 14 months in office they will press for an executive grab of
power to undertake extra-constitutional acts against citizens and
deepen the U.S. commitment to permanent war. There is little reason to
believe that the enlargement of the imperial presidency will change in
a new administration.
* Bush has made clear that he has no interest in treaties with friends
or agreements with anyone. He has systematically destroyed treaties on
global warming and arms control at the very time when enlightened
leadership could have changed the course of the planet for the better.
* Bush has made clear that he has no interest in pressing for
international criminal courts. Over the next 14 months he could
abrogate other attempts to build a stable international legal system
by his assumption that he alone is the keeper of the flame of justice.
* Bush has issued more “signing statements” than any president in
history. Thus, he has made clear that even if Congress overrides any
of his vetoes he will in effect rewrite a new law with a signing
statement meant to “interpret” it but which really nullifies the
meaning of congress. How many more will he issue in the next 14 months
to suit his agenda?
* Bush will nominate as many “midnight” strict constructionist judges
as he can in the next 14 months as a way of redefining the government
and throwing it back to the pre-FDR period.
* How many vacancies might occur on the Supreme Court during Bush¹s
last 14 months that will be filled by conservative radicals out to
destroy social and economic justice while underwriting presidential
power to make unilateral wars?
* How many more instances of torture at the hands of the intelligence
agencies can we expect to be administered on detainees and prisoners
during the next 14 months?
Under George W. Bush we have witnessed breathtaking irresponsibility
and cynicism, even for recent American presidents. He has used his war
on terrorism to spread fear throughout the land. Kleptocracy-a
government comprised of thieves–is the order of our day. The
coarsening of American life, which comes from continuous war and
selfish public policies, has become more vulgar. The rich are awash in
Bush’s tax cuts, while the poor and the working and middle class
struggle with absurd trickle-down handouts. It is hard to believe that
Jesus would applaud these policies of Bush and Cheney as they will
surely apply them in the next 14 months.
George W. Bush holds the cards against Congress unless it is made
clear to Congress and the president that the nation will not and
cannot afford even one month let alone 14 more months of clouded
thinking, mismanagement, malfeasance, and the cynical killing of our
troops and innocent Iraqis in the name of God or Jesus, and here on
earth fantastical views of remaking the Middle East supposedly to give
Americans cheap oil that now hovers around 95 dollars a barrel.
So we are left with a question: Can the Democratic Party right the
wrongs of the Bush administration with a humane program that works for
the society as a whole and individuals to protect their civil rights
and liberties with economic justice? Can the Republican Party cleanse
itself of its prejudices against Americans of different persuasions
and follow the teachings of Jesus, and, yes, Herbert Hoover who
campaigned for disarmament and against aggressive wars?
Marcus Raskin and Robert Spero are co-authors of The Four Freedoms
Under Siege: The Clear and Present Danger of Our National Security
State. (Praeger, 2007).
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