Let's write history: Pretend you're writing a chapter about bushco 30 years on

[cali]

for a high school text. Write your first paragraph (or sentence) using this as a start:

The bush administration was characterized by.....

Here's mine.

The bush administration was characterized by corruption at the highest level from its very inception. Mr. Bush gained office by being appointed to the Presidency by the Supreme Court, in a decision now widely seen as illegitimate. His foreign policy led the country into a disasterous war, and ignited tensions in the mideast and elsewhere.

Hey, this is kind of fun.

[shadowknows69]

1. Ok here goes

Cockroach 1: Damn, Jeremy nice living room set.

Cockroach 2: Thanks, my 6000th cousin, twice removed found it for me in an old place called 'Francisco' the radiation there is the best this time of year.

[Hoosier Dem]

2. My submission...

The administration of George W. Bush ranks as the low point of American history. Taking office after a disputed electuion marked by fraud, Bush and his allies brazenly introduced corruption to Washington on a scale never before seen.

After the horrific attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration embarked on a disastrous war in Iraq based on falsified intelligence and shameless yellow journalism. Using the idea of "protecting Americans from terrorists", Bush and the Republican Congress set about a coordinated effort to strip Americans of theri civil rights and civil liberties. Habeas corpus was restricted, torture became US government policy, and thousands were held incommunicado in secret prisons.

Finally, the Bush Revolution collapsed under its own weight in 2006. With the Iraq War dragging on and on with no end in sight and new corruption scandals popping up frequently in Washington, the Republicans were swept out of power in 2006. Upon re-taking Congrees, the Democratic Party began to reverse the abominations of the Bush Administration.

If we were to title this chapter, I'd suggest paraphrasing th title of JFK's fisrst book: WHile Americans Slept. After all, the majority of Americans who sat by disinterested as these clown ran rampant should share in the blame as well.

[happyslug]

3. Lets give you a Scare

The Bush administration was characterized by the same level of Integrity and honesty as his daughter's Reign. Our Present War of Terror started under Bush II and we continue to fight and win the war. The Terrorists in Harlem and Watts our being held in Check by our Federal Police Force while the US Army is holding the line against the terrorist attacking America out of the Appalachian Mountains. How nasty and evil these terrorist are can be seen last November when they all showed up in Polling Places and demanded the right to elect a President and Congress. These Terrorist want to hold elections even while they hold sections of America so that they can force people in they regions to vote for someone other then our present President For the Duration of the War on Terror. Don't they know we can't hold elections while the Government does NOT control the whole of the America. Once the Government defeats these Terrorists then and only then can we hold an election. Anyway given Congress's delegation of all of its powers to our Leader just before Congress was dissolved they is no need for an election for our Leader today has been granted not only the Power of the President but also all power held by Congress. This was approved as a valid delegation of power under the Constitution by the US Supreme Court so no one can question the authority of the Leader to do as she sees fit.

Bush II also started our Army of Liberation in Iraq, Iran and Arabia. Terrorists in those countries have refused to permit the people of Iraq, Iran and Arabia to relieve the Freedom given to them when we overthrew the tyrants that ruled them before we liberated them. These Terrorist have stooped the flow of Oil out of the region so that we Americans can no longer drive, this is a crime beyond redemption and I support our present policy of using Nerve gas to weed out these terrorist (as I do against those domestic terrorist preventing America from being a United Country behind our Leader.

Thee terrorist have cost America a lot, do to the actions of the Terrorist China took over Taiwan in 2012 and Japan in 2020, this lost is the direct result of the Terrorists by denying our Leaders the ability to prevent the take over of these two Countries. The Russian move to retake the former States of the Soviet Union was also the result of these Terrorist preventing out Leader from taking decisive actions against Russia. There is NO truth to the rumor that Russia paid our Leader off by Supplying Oil to the Army of Liberation so we could hold onto Iraq, Iran and Arabia. We had plenty of oil to hold onto those areas but it was the Terrorists who tied up our forces to prevent our leader from stopping China and Russia NOT the need for oil.

The terrorists in Iran, Iraq and Arabia were assisted by those Domestic Terrorist and they fellow travelers the Draft Dodgers. How dare Americans desert the US in its time of need. We Americans sent troops into Canada in 2012 to assist the Canadians to picking up these Draft Dodgers and to free Canada from control by those radical communists that had run Canada since WWII. American Troops entered Canada and we abolished they National health Insurance to free them from the tyranny of being denied the choice of who can provide them Medical Insurance. In exchange Some Canadians form terrorist groups to oppose our liberation of Canada. With the help of Honest Canadians we are rounding up these Terrorist.

As to the Harlem, Detroit and Watts, these are hotbeds of Terrorist Activities. The Afro-Americans there are being used by Terrorist to terrorists Americans. The Terrorist promise the Afro-Americans improved Schools, better health care, better housing when everyone knows that all of that is best done by the Free Market and the people living in those areas just do NOT want to pay for such items. That is they choice and they should STOP asking us loyal Americans for assistance in these area. How dare these terrorist offer the poor services the poor really do not want or need for if they needed them or wanted them they would pay for them just like my parents pay for my private school education.

Not only are the draft Dodgers running off to Harlem, Detroit, Watts and other Black and Minority areas, they are running off to Appalachia or the Rockies. These Draft Dodgers avoid fighting for America but think nothing of fighting for Terrorist out of both sets of areas. Shows you how deep these terrorists have sunk into the American Culture, people subject to the draft are complaining about the poor wages and lack of food. There have to understand THIS IS WAR and we all have to make sacrifices. I can not fly down to Aruba just because the Airlines do not have enough oil. I tried to book a passage on a ship but the Ship Master told my father he could not guarantee the safety of the ship as it flows through the Caribbean and the Government says it does not have enough ships to escort his ship to Aruba. My private School was assign the job of defending this area from Air Attack, I know no one has EVER launch an air attack on American since 9/11 and the US has complete Air Superiority over the Mid-East and the US but you can not be to careful, they might get a plane through. Thus I participate in the Same Draft as my Fellow Americans, I can not help it that the schools they go to were assign the job of supplying infantry. Their parents should have spent the money to get them into a School like this school which was assigned the duty of AA defense.

Hopefully the War on Terror will be won, I am doing my part defending against Air Attack, I wish those other high schoolers whose parents were to cheap to get them into a private school, just accept that they are to be infantrymen and stop deserting and joining the terrorists. Our Leader should adopt the rule advocated by Bolton II, if the child dessert the parents should be sent to Jail. I know that was tried in Appalachia and lead to the present difficulties there but that was how deep the terrorists have infiltrated into that section of the Country, it will work in the rest of the Country for they are settled by Good Loyal Americans who will gladly fight the War on Terrorism under our Leader.

[Robbien]

4. Thirty years from now public education will be a thing of the past

Anyone receiving schooling would be a member of the rich elite and they would be looking back on BushCo with great fondness.

[Peace Patriot]

5. The Bush Junta will mark the end of American democracy, in the history

books written 30 years from now, or the rebirth of American democracy, depending on....

us.

I could write both paragraphs, because, at the moment, it still could go either way. A lot will depend on the American people's rejection of electronic voting, run on "trade secret," proprietary programming code, owned and controlled by Bushite corporations. And that's still up in the air, although there is a fast-growing movement, and many wonderful and brave activists, fighting the good fight for transparent vote counting. Another unknown (and in-progress) is the ability of the American people, Congress and/or patriotic members of political, legal, military or intelligence establishments, to restore the "balance of power" in our government, and bring the Bush Junta criminals to account. The jury's still out on that one as well.

It is remarkable that 56% of the American people opposed the war on Iraq, before the invasion (Feb. '03), and we still had that war shoved down our throats--and that, currently, 70% of the American people want the war ended, yet the President is about to send 40,000 more troops into Quagmire #2. This is the contest. Imperial President conducting a war of choice, at the command of war profiteers vs. the Will of the People, who want peace, who want war to be a last resort, and who believe in diplomacy first. How can the President be defying 70% of the people? That is the question on which the future of our democracy depends, and it is the crucial issue on which future written history will written.

It is heartening that, if the wisdom of the people that emerges through the democratic process, had been heeded, and had been enfranchised, the Iraq War would never have happened. All polls indicate that well over 50% of the people rejected the war option on Iraq. The highest of them--56%--would be a landslide in a presidential election. But the will of the majority was frustrated, and defied.

Another chapter on the history of this era, 30 years from now, will be devoted to failures of all democratic institutions--the free press, the political parties, the election system, the courts and the legal system, and the "balance of power" that Congress is supposed to provide--on the war that was begun in 2003, and the election on it in 2004--and also on the signs of recovery in some of those institutions (for instance, the ability of the grass roots Democrats to mount a successful campaign to take over Congress in 2006, and the ability of the American people to create their own word-of-mouth news systems via the internet). Will American democracy end, or will it be saved by its citizens?

A final chapter may be devoted to global warming, and America's ability or inability to address this crisis. The World Wildlife Fund currently predicts the death of Planet Earth 50 years from now, at present levels of pollution and consumption, from a combination of global warming, deforestation, extinctions of species and major disruptions of natural ecosystems, and the pressures of human population. Twenty-five percent of the impacts of pollution and consumption are inflicted by the United States alone. So the failure of our political system--and its domination by Corporate Rulers who do not want their short-term profits in any way curtailed--may have dire consequences.

30 years from now the death of Planet Earth will be only 20 years in the future. All children born in that year will not live to the voting age, if we are not able to reverse the impacts of Corporate Rule and its consumer culture. They will die with the planet. And perhaps one of their older siblings will be writing the history of our era, and cursing the day that all of us were born, who failed to act.

I tend to be optimistic, even though I also tend to see dark truths with some clarity. Perhaps its my age. I think that our ability to posit a future--many different possible futures, in fact--will save us in the end. It saved our ancestors from starvation. They learned to store up food grains for the lean years. And we are clever and industrious creatures, who love solving problems, if we are not prevented from doing so by our baser elements, such as the greedbags of the Bush regime. So here's a back-to-the-future prediction: I vote for us and for the future of humanity. I think we will "live long and prosper," as the Vulcans like to say. I think the history of this time will be positive. And I think American democracy will be reborn, and will indeed be much improved, as a result of the lessons of this dreadful fascist setback.

[Kelly Rupert]

6. Well, since history books now gloss over the negative parts,

"...until his retirement in January 2000. He was replaced by George W. Bush until 2008, at which point Barack Obama won control of the Presidency.

Mr Obama was..."

[WI_DEM]

7. Bush attained office only after the United States Supreme Court voted by

a 5-4 vote to stop a recount of ballots in Florida. The court, dominated by Republican appointees, and it's decision forced Gore to relinquish his efforts despite winning the popular vote by over 500,000 votes. Upon taking office Bush presided as if he had been elected in a landslide and rather than being a "united, not a divider" the nation endured eight years of division unrivaled since the US Civil War.

Bush was in Florida when terrorists crashed two jets into the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. This was the defining moment of Bush's administration and he appeared on camera to be shell shocked and spent several long minutes reading "My Pet Goat" to pre-schoolers rather than reacting to the shocking events. Bush finally exited only after his aides told him to. From there Bush went into hiding for three days only to emerge in NYC with a blow horn in hand for one of his famous photo-ops which he would become famous for. The shock of the attack united the American people and shot Bush's approval ratings up to record levels. He demanded that the US would fight a "War on Terrorism" and one of his first acts was to propose the so-called "Patriot Act" which proved little help in the war on terror, but had the desired effect of curtailing liberties of American citizens and groups which opposed the administration.

Bush pledged to get Bin-Laden, the mastermind of 9/11, "dead or alive" and the world community was behind us, then abruptly, Bush changed the focus from that fight to take on an old family foe, Saddam Hussein, and began a serious effort to involve the United States in an invasion of that country--unprovocked, all in the name of fighting terrorism, even though there was no evidence that Iraq or Hussein had anything to do with 9/11. The administration steadfastly said that there were "weaponds of mass destruction" in Iraq which Hussein was hiding, and doctored intelligence to spur the US Congress into passing a resolution which would allow Bush to commit troops to removing Hussein. In March, 2003--Bush authorized the invasion and Hussein was removed and went into hiding. In May, 2003 on the deck of the USS Lincoln Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished", but no troops came home and infact, fighting got worse as US Casulties were as high as 3000 by early 2007 while estimates of several hundred thousand Iraqi deaths. The country was in civil war, and discontent about the war grew.

In 2004, Bush won re-election over Sen. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, who was "swift-boated" a term used against many people who fought for their country to lessen their contributions and cause questions about their committment to a strong America and the fight on terrorism. The media ate it up and the irony being that Bush, who didn't serve in Vietnam, but served in the National Guard, may have gone awol in his last year in the guard. When these allegations were made by CBS reporter Dan Rather, the media came down hard on Rather, but the evidence he presented was never disputed. Bush won the election, in part, because of dirty tricks in the state of Ohio, which almost certainly pushed that state into Bush's column giving him the necessary amount of electoral votes to be selected president again.

In 2005, the great test of Bush's administration domestically happened when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleons, LA. Bush was vacationing at his pig farm in Crawford, Texas when briefed about the hurriane and its potential. He downplayed it and didn't want to cut short his vacation. The Hurricane surpassed every expectation and a major American city was almost totally destroyed and thousands of residence were displaced and many died. Bush still didn't see the seriousness of the situation and was reluctant to give up his vacation, and infact waited several days before flying over the wreckage. The disaster was immense and the administrations response was shocking for its short sightedness. Despite this, Bush told his aide, Michael Browne, the head of FEMA, "Great job, Brownie", a remark which came back to haunt him because it was clear that the federal response was a disaster.

From that point forward Bush's political clout fell, not to mention his approval ratings. In November, 2006 the Democratic party won control of both the House and Senate in a vote which was widely interpeted as a rejection of Bush and his policies, particularly with regards to Iraq which most Americans believed was a mistake. But Bush, true to form, misinterpeted this election as well and rather than pull back from Iraq as many suggested he began making plans to stretch the US military even more with calls for an additional 30,000 troops for Iraq.

Bush's administration is widely viewed as a failure. His legacy was dividing the American people and causing world wide disharmony due to his policies. He sold a war based on misleading intelligence which caused thousands of deaths and then escalated it even after evidence surfaced that the war was based on bad or faulty intelligence. His domestic legacy was one of providing tax relief to the very wealthy and his ineffectual leadership during Hurricane Katrina. Politically his legacy is leading the Republican party further away from the mainstream. When he left office, no major University or college wanted his presidential papers and library housed on their campuses. He eventually built it on his pig farm in Crawford, TX.