Beware! Do not look upon the Gorgon!
Posted on 10/29/2004 3:17:02 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
Beware! Do not look upon the Gorgon!
The presidential election on Tuesday is one of the most crucial in American history.
There are many reasons -- in foreign policy and on the domestic front -- why President George W. Bush should not be reelected.
Among them is the dominance of the radical right in his advisory councils, who are taking the United States down the wrong road at the start of the 21st century.
The road could lead to more mindless wars abroad and a widening gap between the rich and the poor in this country.
There will be only one way to read the election results if Bush wins: The world will see his victory as an affirmation by the American people of his disastrous preemptive war policy, which led the United States to invade Iraq without provocation.
The U.S. attack on Iraq is a clear violation of international law and has made us helpless to condemn others for similar acts.
If he wins reelection, Bush may see his victory as a signal to follow the neo-conservative dream of a political transformation of the Middle East through military force.
The president also would likely continue his new-style isolationism by giving short shrift to post-World War II treaties, such as those banning biological and chemical weapons. There is nothing to indicate Bush is willing to stop the gross violations of the Geneva Conventions on the humane treatment of prisoners of war.
Dark reports of the shameful treatment and secret transfers of detainees still emanate from Iraq and the U.S. brig at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba.
Despite his vehement denials, Bush may be compelled to call for another military draft if he persists in making war.
He is scraping by now with his all-volunteer military, along with reservists and National Guard members, keeping them on duty longer than planned with a so-called a back-door draft. If he wins a second term, he wouldn't have to worry about running again and would have a free hand to undo his read-my-lips campaign promises.
On the homefront, the rich will be sitting pretty again with big tax cuts while the budget deficit and national debt zoom sky high.
Bush donors from the military-industrial complex are being well rewarded, especially Halliburton, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, which already has reaped no-bid contracts to the tune of billions of dollars.
Organized labor will still be behind the eight ball under a new Bush administration. Workers will be pressured to accept "comp time" in place of overtime pay, and the lowered safety standards imposed by Bush's Labor Department will lead to more industrial accidents.
Don't expect Bush to lift a finger to stem the tide of outsourcing of the nation's biggest companies to China, India and other points East, where they can find cheaper labor.
The president is expected to keep trying to weaken public education with voucher programs to aid private schools, many of them religious. He is certain to follow through on his pet project to privatize part of the Social Security system with voluntary private investment accounts, driving a big hole in the program's trust fund. We should all hope that Congress won't go along with such a dangerous idea.
Social Security was the 1936 Depression-era program to support the elderly, the disabled and deprived dependent children.
Senior citizens, meantime, are staying away in droves from Bush's highly touted prescription drug program, which the administration publicly underpriced by $1 billion. Furthermore, the resident's compassionate conservative legislation banned importation of cheaper drugs from Canada. That is not expected to change in a new Bush term.
Bush also wants to cater to corporate interests by capping damages in medical malpractice suits at $250,000.
If reelected, Bush -- who has injected religion into public affairs more than any president has in modern times -- is expected to continue his messianic mission in the White House. He will blur even more the separation of church and state.
For women and minorities who support abortion rights and affirmative action, there is the scary prospect that the candidate who wins Tuesday may be able to appoint three, perhaps even four Supreme Court justices.
Bush undoubtedly will see his reelection as a mandate to push the country further to the right. And if he elected, he will be answerable to no one.
(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com).
Discuss Helen Thomas' Opinion
If reelected, Bush -- who has injected religion into public affairs more than any president has in modern times -- is expected to continue his messianic mission in the White House. He will blur even more the separation of church and state.
NOOOOOOoooooooo........my eyesssssssssssssssssss
I thought they sent her to Paris for some kind of treatment.
Why? Why was there no warning about the picture?
What you see is the best they could do.
eyes....burning,,,,body turning.....to...stone...aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Geee what was all this I kept hearing about the "right wing News media" for clowns like Moore and Franken?
Hey! Where's the Helen Thomas alert?! Some of us need our eyes.
ACK........
Where is the OBLIGATORY "COSMIC BARF ALERT" label !!!!
And anyone posting a picture of this water buffalo on a Friday night gets 2 hours locked in a booth with John Kerry's convention speech piped in non-stop.....
Jesus Christ! How about a heads-up, I nearly lost my dinner.
somebody please check Helens pulse
I thought doing drugs was illegal, what's she been smokin/tokin/shootin?????
Even though I have seen that picture many times it looks even more nasty today.
She actually thinks what she has to say matters to anyone. Foolish, lumpish woman.
Couldn't agree with you more. Just viewed the following video that tells a lot about GWB faith:
http://www.letfreedomring.com/innerstrength.asp
Hasn't anyone told Helen that she's dead?
Now that The Gargoyle has weighed in, can she finally be destroyed?
It would mean dark times - for the terrorists.
What a frightening Halloween post ;^)
Translation-- "Bush is a moral man who considers abortion evil...."
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