The Bushies Stole Us Blind ... So, How'd You Like Your Beer?

[Octafish]

It's clear to me, failure to prosecute these crooks is THE major impediment to correcting our nation's current course to disaster.



Prof. Green wrote an excellent reminder of what's at stake, the day before President Obama's inauguration:

The Bushies Stole Us Blind ... So, How'd You Like Your Beer?

By David Michael Green, AlterNet
AlterNet
Posted on January 19, 2009

EXCERPT...

But I'm convinced what most Americans fail to perceive, even to this day, is the true depth of the evil here. What they don't understand is that the incompetence and the partisanship, and even the garden-variety corruption, are the least of what just happened. What they don't get is that the major reason the Bush catastrophe was so catastrophic, is that these people never came to Washington to do good in the first place. They came instead to do well, and boy did they.

If this child in the body of a man were named Putin or Castro or Kim, Americans would get it. If they were observing the country from the perspective of Zimbabwe, instead of the other way around, then they would get it. They can understand the notion of some foreign thug who means to do harm to our country. They get the idea, in other places, of a domestic thug who seeks to plunder his own country. They just can't imagine it happening here. And, therefore, they don't see that it just has.

Most people have completely failed to perceive the magnitude of the Bush crime, because they see it as limited to "merely" dumb policies, poorly implemented, by incompetent stewards of government. Would that that were so. We'd be so much better off as a country and as a world had it been only that.

Instead, this was an American Stalin, seeking to use military power for purposes of overrunning and raping other countries. Instead, this was an American Mugabe, seeking to steal power by any means, in order to plunder the wealth of his own country per the interests of a narrow band of cronies.

This president -- and indeed the entire movement of regressive politics these last three decades (which I refer to as Reaganism-Bushism) -- can only be properly understood as class warfare. Its purpose was never to make America a better place. Indeed, if we define America as a country belonging to its 300 million inhabitants, then the purpose was actually precisely the opposite. The mission of this ideology was in fact to diminish, if not impoverish, the vast bulk of these citizens so that the already massively wealthy among them could become obscenely wealthy.

CONTINUED...

http://www.alternet.org/news/120750/the_bushies_stole_us_blind_..._so,_how%27d_you_like_your_beer/

It wasn't incompetence.
It wasn't an accident.
It was policy.

Now it's time for Justice.

[RainDog]

1. GREAT title - so, how DID you like that beer, assholes?

thanks so much everyone who voted for Bush. stay home next time.

[Octafish]

8. It may not've mattered. SCOTUS picked 'em 5-4 in 2000...

...despite President Gore getting 500,000 (at least) more votes.

What happened in 2004 is another story.That one required everyone to go along with idea that something invisible could represent an actual tally.

History, like a broken record, will continue to repeat, unless We the People realize We are the Government and start acting like it.

[shanti]

30. apparently they discovered

that fiddling with our voting system is easier and less hassle than assassinating our heros. :(

[Octafish]

22. Upon re-reading, I realized I left out the most important part...

Agree with every word you wrote, RainDog. My sentiments, exactly.

[RainDog]

29. hugs to you

been reading you here for years and always learn a lot.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Too true. While the idiots and bush were slapping backs and drinking

beer at the wateringhole his friends robbed everyones house.

[Octafish]

11. Classic Cowboy Movie Theme

Except the crooks today are traitors and the town that's been robbed is the United States of America.

Maybe it's time for some reverse-reverse Robin Hood.

Remember David Crosby's solo album?

Cowboy Movie

Me and my good partners
we were riding back to our camp
we were feeling very fine
the air was clear and slightly damp
and we were riding back to have ourselves a party
to celebrate the robbing of the train.

We were talking kind of low and lazy
about not having to go out soon again
you know we hadn't been back home two hours
we heard a hawk cry out in the night
and you know that's a signal from young Billy, who's our sentry

He's saying something here ain't exactly right
so we quick grabbed some of our hardware
stumbled out of our home
in two minutes flat we had found her
an Indian girl all alone

and Eli said, "Let's take her back to the cabin"
I said, "You don't know she might be the law, yeah"
He said, smiling kind of nasty,
"It ain't too damn likely she'll beat me to the draw."

As we were walking back through the darkness,
I heard the Duke, he's our dynamiter, say,
he said, "What's your name, sweet little Indian girl?"
She said, "Raven." and she looked away.
Right then I didn't trust her, no and I said so, oh no.

Now, Eli, he's our fastest gunner
He's kind of mean and young from the South
he said, "Fat Albert, you're getting kind of old and weird now."
"You'd better get your twelve gauge shot gun right out."

Now Eli and the Duke they got down to it
they each wanted the Indian girl for their own
but when they finally got around to asking her
you know she said she'd come to take young Billy home
Eli said he'd kill young Billy
he'd kill the Duke, and probably me too, yeah

The Indian girl said, "Go ahead now do it"
I said "Stop it", and she bit my thumb nearly clean through
and when they finally started to break down the door
I smeared my face up with blood from my thumb
I laid down on the floor and played real good possum

You know I'm crazy but I ain't real dumb
now I'm dying here in Albuquerque
I must be the sorriest sight you ever saw
you know the reason I'm the only man here to tell it
You know that Indian girl? She wasn't an Indian. She was the law, oh.

[XanaDUer]

37. It was a pretty expensive beer.

nt.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Sneer." - xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

[Octafish]

6. Smirk & Sneer will be their epitaph.

The Truth cannot be changed.

[Sugarcoated]

23. I call them smirk and snarl

[snappyturtle]

4. K&R I agree:

"It's clear to me, failure to prosecute these crooks is THE major impediment to correcting our nation's current course to disaster."

Americans are lazy. Too many do not want to think (oh,my!), do not want to ruffle feathers, do not question what they're told, do not read...anything except entertainment, do not think about the future and don't see the reality of their situation,and just plain don't bother themselves to get involved. That's why what you said didn't and will never happen...sadly. imho

[Octafish]

18. Average American Is Brainwashed

Herman and Chomsky called it "Manufacturing Consent.

It's even more sinister, in my view:

Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests.

I know you know the answer, snappyturtle, but Mr. and Mrs. America need to learn: One famous "political" family has played leading roles in all that for generations -- from eugenics through the Third Reich through PAPERCLIP through MKULTRA to...the present day.

[KG]

7. it can be maddening listening to my dittohead kin. spouting rush/hannity taking points

they just refuse to see the obvious; it's all libs and welfare mothers and furriners wrecking the country. :eyes:

[Octafish]

24. There's almost nothing left to cut, except the Pentagon.

Show them this, The Pentagon and Deficit Reduction. Everything else that can be cut is about wrung to the point of collapse, including We the People making less than 100k/yr. You might then bring up the Forbes 400 vs Everyone Else, those winners agt the top slice of the economic heap are taxed at about 15-percent on their capital gains, compared to what, 38-percent for working stiffs who actually make stuff or perform some service to make this a better world.

[seafan]

9. The simple truth.

It's clear to me, failure to prosecute these crooks is THE major impediment to correcting our nation's current course to disaster.---DUer Octafish


And we will need leadership that comprehends this instead of deliberately ignoring it.


Still searching for that leadership.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. They won't be held accountable until the mainstream understands the depth

of the stealth. They can't do that with the facts they presently have.

[The Blue Flower]

12. Justice and the rule of law are so last century

I can't describe what it does to my heart to know that corruption and criminality are now legal and acceptable, and boldly defended by our leaders. While I can look at the good policies that this administration has put in place, I can't help thinking that these are only intended to be shiny objects to distract us from the slime which they refuse to clean up and which has rotted our foundations as a society.

[Enthusiast]

33. Nice post.

The new world order G H W Bush spoke of has arrived.

[Overseas]

13. It has been difficult to accept the depth of depravity and its sheer power

to corrupt and intimidate the majority of our legislators.

I still held out such high hopes that The Bush Crash would have given my Democratic legislators the cover they needed to reverse course.

I had hoped they could have pushed compassion as grounds for national health insurance and massive jobs programs-- millions were being bankrupted and evicted from their homes.

But even that didn't provide my Democratic majorities with the courage to seize the disasters to push more compassionate and effective policies for our nation's long term success.

Supply Side Crashed and yet my Democratic legislators propped it up and pretended the GOP could be reasoned with. Because many corporations have become more powerful than whole countries, especially when their lobbyists can write the laws.

And too many legislators and "sensible" pundits still pretend -- Budget Crisis! All Must Sacrifice! -- while tax cuts have been extended, giant corporations hide their profits overseas, and war profiteering goes on with little fines to provide a pretense of some accountability.

While our privatized and corrupt mass media promotes the Budget Crisis pretense, not bothering to highlight the fact that the Destroy Obama 2010 GOP Governors Team cut taxes for corporations and then promoted cruel cuts to their most vulnerable citizens to offset those gifts, I am glad that more and more people are examining those truths on the ground.

The polling data showing more Americans understanding the value of unions and the protests against the blatant GOP hit squads are the bright spots for this would be Pollyanna who still hopes we will return to Demand Side economics again. More people are looking at the way the GOP Governors are engaging in still further cruel income shifting, after believing the Reaganite trickle down wealth transfers for decades, even though thousands of jobs were lost while that dogma was being so broadly defended.

Glad more people are asking themselves-- "How is that Tax Cuts for the Rich plan working for you?"
We know how it has worked for Scott Walker; he became governor of Wisconsin.

[Enthusiast]

34. Damn nice post!

If you watch this Sunday morning talk shows you will hear the Republicans claim, "America has the highest corporate tax rate in the world!" and not a single Democrat at the table will refute this claim.

[Ghost in the Machine]

14. A BIG K&R! No, it sure as hell wasn't 'incompetence'...

I get so frustrated by the 'incompetence theorists' that I could scream. You don't get everything you want by being incompetent.

[Enthusiast]

35. PLUS ONE! nt

[northoftheborder]

15. This was written the day before Obama inaugurated. What has changed???

Aren't we just living the extension of the Bush Regime??? Are people (I'm now talking about the average American) now aware of the state of our country and how it got this way? I maintain the answer is NO. The Tea Party is just some rag-tag rabble being promoted by the Crooks previously officially in charge. Are the Wisconsinites maybe a tiny fraction opening up the eyes of a nation in hypnosis and denial? Who, besides a few Progressive speakers and writers are making the case for righting the wrongs? And how many Americans ever hear or read what they say?

I am now a pessimist. (a liftime optimist) I don't see anything happening to really change the road we are being pushed down by a tsunami of history. We are all just tossed about like the Japanese wooden houses, cars and boats.

Altermann needs to write a P. S. for his essay. It is out of date. Perhaps he was one who had hope along with millions. From things I've heard and read from him lately, I think he is losing hope.

[Octafish]

19. The guy is a sage.

David Michael Green

Plus, he's got a dyn-o-mite blog: The Regressive Antidote

PS: Please don't change, northoftheborder. The Reich wants us to give up hope -- and our abilities to dream great things and better days.

[Autumn]

25. That seem like an interesting site. I like this quote

from there

"What we obviously need is change we can believe in that we can believe in."
Too true.

[Hotler]

16. kicking. n/t

[Blue Owl]

17. The Decider snuck out and left you with the bill, BTW...

n/t

[Kurovski]

20. K&R. (nt)

[Rex]

21. We will never see them punished in our lifetime Octafish.

America is still far to corrupt a place for justice to prevail. Doesn't mean we should stop swinging that big ass hammer! Just a little reality for us all - we will never see prosecutions in America over war crimes committed by the Bush administration.

[butterfly77]

26. You got that right..

Many still don't get it and they have a lot of catching up to do.

[Initech]

27. The real crooks are in charge, it's clear now.

[Octafish]

28. ''We have met the enemy. And he * isn't * us.''

"Us" as in "Democrats."

How I informally define a Democrat: One who gives a damn about all others, the United States and its Constitution, the planet and its future; and believes that all people are created equal under the law; that people are more important than things such as property; and that government is to use all its powers to make life better for all its citizens (addendum: not just the super-rich and well-to-do).

It is starkly clear who runs the show. Thanks for being a Democrat, Initech.

[kenny blankenship]

31. I think we have an especially hard time understanding the situation where a figurehead

like Bush comes to power, not so much to get rich himself, but to enrich his friends and class. Americans can grasp that when it happens abroad. We are not so clear eyed when it happens here. On the other hand, most Republicans are absolutely sure that Obama came to power to enrich poor black people. How rich the irony content in that broth is, will be left as an exercise for the reader.

[Enthusiast]

36. I really like your post! nt

[Enthusiast]

32. I completely agree.

'Looking forward' is THE problem. Because there has been no action by the DOJ malfeasance continues at a record level.

Imagine, Republicans on TV are still whining about the poor over regulated corporations.

[Solly Mack]

38. K&R

[chill_wind]

39. K & R.

[Raksha]

40. K & R - I couldn't agree with you more!

Re "It's clear to me, failure to prosecute these crooks is THE major impediment to correcting our nation's current course to disaster."

[XanaDUer]

41. Kick!

nt.

[hifiguy]

42. David Green is ALWAYS worth reading. n/t

[Ignis]

43. And another kick.

:kick: