Rant: Americans no longer buy Bush's lies

The Rant
Americans no longer buy Bush's lies
By DOUG THOMPSON
Dec 2, 2005, 07:32

If you read the polls released after President George W. Bush?s laughable attempt to recapture support for his failed war in Iraq you realize the American people may be smarter than originally thought.

The polls show rapidly increasing numbers of Americans have had it with Bush?s lies, fantasies and illusions about his invasion of a country that posed no immediate threat to our way of life.

And Democrats can?t wait to take advantage of Bush?s latest lame attempt to resell a losing war.

?The speech by the President was nothing more than political rhetoric meant to halt his free falling poll numbers. Our troops and their family and loved ones at home deserve more than politics as usual from the President,? says Ohio Democratic Congressman (and failed Presidential candidate) Dennis J. Kucinich. ?The President must be honest with the American people. Things are going badly in Iraq, and our presence as an occupying force is counterproductive.?

Normally, I wouldn?t turn to a fruitcake like little Dennis Kucinich to make a point about Bush but it shows just how badly the Prez has fucked up when even a nutcase like Dennis starts to make sense.

And the media is piling on.

?If President Bush had painted his face blue and re-enacted a scene from Braveheart, it would have been a fitting end to the war speech he gave,? editorialized the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader. ?While he seemed to be declaring victory in Iraq, his larger vision seems to have the country fighting in the Middle East for a long time.?

A long-time would seem to be at least the next three years, which is how much longer the nation must endure the Dubya?s botched Presidency.

Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, the decorated Marine who stirred the pot by calling for an immediate pullout of troops from Iraq, predicts otherwise, saying most of the troops will be home by next year because they are ?broken, worn out? and ?living hand-to-mouth.?

Murtha voted to support the war but now admits he was wrong.

?I admit I made a mistake when I voted for war,? he says. ?I'm looking at the future of the United States military.?

Murtha?s not the only one. Too many people, still shell-shocked by 9/11, believed Bush?s lies about weapons of mass destruction under Saddam?s control along with false claims of proof of existence of a link between Hussein and al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

?Americans are finally awakening to the fact that George W. Bush has been misleading us and has an atrocious record as president (unnecessary war, record spending, deficits, incompetent cronies placed in critical positions, favoritism to corporate looters),? writes columnist Robert McElvaine in the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger. ?Irresponsibility is one of the few areas where Bush is an expert.?

?President Bush is lying to the American people,? says Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. ?Those are words that I have never uttered before in public. To make such a serious allegation against my country's leader is not something I do lightly.?

In the end, however, it is not newspapers or politicians or executive directors of advocacy groups who elect Presidents. It?s the people and the people are pretty damn mad about the state of things.

?There seems to be a divide between those voters who believe G.W. Bush cannot tell the truth and those who believe he is the messiah and can't tell a lie,? says Sam Fuller of Chambersburg, PA. ?Did George Bush lie? You bet he did.?

Asks Bia Vinton of Mount Vernon, Maine:

?The big question that begs to be asked remains: How is it, with all the indictments pending, with all the lies about weapons of mass destruction now exposed, stolen elections, stolen economy, and war crimes in Iraq, that this president can be allowed to make any more nominations or appointments, or ever again touch our Constitution, let alone contemplate more illegal wars??

Bill Gallagher is a former Niagara Falls city councilman who now works for Fox2 News in that vacation city:

?You know the Busheviks are deep in desperation when they drag Cheney from his bunker to denounce critics who dare to say ?the president of the United States or any member of this administration purposely misled the American people on prewar intelligence.? The intelligence was cooked and the only way that could be done was with purpose and premeditation. Only blind partisans and fools argue otherwise.?

The chorus is mounting as public outrage grows. Soon, the only people left who support the Iraq debacle will be George W. Bush and the diminishing number of lemmings who still kowtow to his lies and deceit.