In politics, imitation is the simplest way of admitting “gee…I’m out of ideas.”
Nothing will hold us back was the slogan George W. Bush hammered home at the beginning of his speech to the Republican convention. I actually laughed out loud as I heard it repeated over and over. Were Bush’s speech-writers caught off guard to such a degree that this was their only comeback to John Kerry’s stirring speech at the Democratic convention? I’m hoping it’s proof that the President’s writers are simply wretched blow-hards.
The speech was tedious, terrifying, ridiculous, and full of Republican platitudes about tax cuts, and the end of big government. His solutions to health care coverage amount to freedom of access & freedom of choice…unfortunately, poor and low income Americans can’t AFFORD health care, so a choice between expensive and more expensive isn’t access…it’s a slap in the face!
Bush says that health decisions “will not be made by bureaucrats in Washington DC.” In other words, not much of a change, considering that there haven’t been ANY health care decisions made in four years!
He says he’s going to level the playing field on matters of trade with the U.S. This from the leader of an administration that believes free trade means free, but on our terms. Just ask the softwood lumber producers of British Columbia…
He hammers home the value of tough, tougher, and EVEN TOUGHER standardized testing in education. He says he’s going to fight against “the soft bigotry of low expectations” and ensure that “we will leave no child behind.”
Newsflash, Mr. President: good results in standardized tests only prove that children can pass standardized tests. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re literate or educated. Concentrating on math and science isn’t enough…all facets of education should be encouraged. But you can’t say that to a party determined to be better than the Asian tigers.
Take it from a teacher, folks. Bush Junior’s education policy is drivel of the highest order.
Oh, and Georgie boy makes a mockery of John Kerry’s two trillion dollars in spending promises. He calls it the “politics of the past — expanding government instead of expanding opportunity.”
The US is bleeding money like water, and he says John Kerry is going to spend too much? Bush spent one trillion dollars on a tax cut…how much good has THAT done lately? Iraq is a money pit that sinks to the seventh circle of hell…I don’t see him rushing to cut spending on the occupation. “Hello Congress, I need 87 billion dollars!”
Bushie says “religious charities provide a safety net of compassion….that’s why our government should never discriminate against them.” Bushie shouldn’t worry…these groups do enough discriminating with their radical right-wing demagoguery, without any help from the White House. It’s like putting Opus Dei in charge of welfare!
On Supreme Court judges, Bushie says he’ll keep appointing jurists that “know the difference between personal opinion, and a strict interpretation of the law.” So…not only is Abraham Lincoln rolling in his grave, but the Founding Fathers & framers of the constitution are spinning right along side him!
There’s also the required spiel of the war on terror (hold your nose):
“We are staying on the offensive — striking terrorists abroad — so we do not have to face them here at home.”
On the liberation front, Bushie says he’s changed Saudi Arabia from its old status of being a fertile ground for terrorist fundraising. In between bouts of hysterical laughter regarding the supposedly free-and-open Middle East that Bushie is creating, I did manage to wonder aloud “and where is Osama…?”
Oh my god….Bushie STILL says that Saddam was using weapons of mass destruction! There is no delusion this man will not believe! He says he was defending the United States from a mad man…even though Iraq couldn’t launch a bucket of sand out the front door of the Presidential palace in Baghdad without some assistance. Maybe that Scud missile — being used as a sandbox in the backyard — could be useful…
Meaningless cliches about military honour followed. Especially meaningless coming from the mouth of this failed ex-National guardsman. He also paid compliments to his bitch-boy Presidents and Prime Ministers in Australia, Britain, Poland, and Italy, as well as many other countries with the influence of door mice.
He compared himself to Truman, and Iraq to the occupation of Germany post-World War Two!
My only rational response? OH MY GOD!!! (in best Friends/Chandler-ish voice)
How do I close off this rant against such an insipid individual?
Let Bushie Junior have the final word. When speaking of what he learned while being President, he said (and I’m paraphrasing) people will notice your short-comings…and that you’ll notice your strengths, because you’ll need them.
His short-comings could fill the Bible. His strengths take the American people down a dark and dangerous road. This man must be defeated in November’s election. Only then can we finally begin to set the world on the right track…once saner, wiser men prevail.
