Thursday, January 15, 2009
Farewell Good Bye Adieu
Tonight is President Bush's Farewell address to the nation. In my heart of hearts I would love it to be an apology--for an uncalled for war, for disregarding human rights and civil rights, for shredding the Constitution, for redefining justice, torture and the executive office, for continuing policies that have laid our economy in ruins.
But based on his last formal press conference, he will take responsibility for nothing--it was not his fault that he relied on faulty intelligence that lead to our preemptive invasion of Iraq --Operation Iraqi Freedom (and our development of more hatred towards and potential threats against America); that FEMA did respond correctly to Katrina (just tell that to the still displaced people of New Orleans and Gulf Coast).
His administration's legacy is one of total disregard for human rights and civil rights, an administration that operated without being accountable to the people of the United States which it was to serve, an administration that was flagrant in its disregard of the Constitution, of laws that Congress passed (signing statements,anyone), and of decisions of the Supreme Court not to mention international laws.
I will watch his address tonight and hope that he will be held accountable for his disservice to America.
But based on his last formal press conference, he will take responsibility for nothing--it was not his fault that he relied on faulty intelligence that lead to our preemptive invasion of Iraq --Operation Iraqi Freedom (and our development of more hatred towards and potential threats against America); that FEMA did respond correctly to Katrina (just tell that to the still displaced people of New Orleans and Gulf Coast).
His administration's legacy is one of total disregard for human rights and civil rights, an administration that operated without being accountable to the people of the United States which it was to serve, an administration that was flagrant in its disregard of the Constitution, of laws that Congress passed (signing statements,anyone), and of decisions of the Supreme Court not to mention international laws.
I will watch his address tonight and hope that he will be held accountable for his disservice to America.
Labels: Bush's legacy, W
Saturday, January 03, 2009
The last days of W
Frank Rich's column in Sunday's (1/4/09) NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04rich.html?_r=1 is about the re-visioning of the W presidency and "[T]he man who emerges is a narcissist with no self-awareness whatsoever. It’s that arrogance that allowed him to tune out even the most calamitous of realities, freeing him to compound them without missing a step."
Unfortunately, we will be cleaning up the mess he and his cronies made for a long long time.
Unfortunately, we will be cleaning up the mess he and his cronies made for a long long time.
Labels: Frank Rich, W
Sunday, December 21, 2008
American Dream/Nightmare
Reader advisement: Sit Down, I am coming to the defense of President Bush. [ Well, sort of.:) ]
In today's New York Times (Sunday 12/21/08) the blame for the mortgage melt down was put at President Bush's feet. The blame was placed Bush's philosophy that homeownership
was the way out of poverty “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” — President Bush, Oct. 15, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
Are you sitting down?
President Bush's philosophy of home ownership is not to blame. It is an articulation of is the American Dream, of our founders' concept of vested citizenship. Property ownership gives people ownership in more than just their home, but in their community --they are less likely to litter, and more likely to participate.
Okay, you may relax now. . .
Where he needs to take responsibility and blame is in his free market anti-regulation arrogant philosophy and his old boy network of yes men.
". . .From his earliest days in office, Mr. Bush paired his belief that Americans do best when they own their own home with his conviction that markets do best when let alone. . .But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
Mr. Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants. The president spent years pushing a recalcitrant Congress to toughen regulation of the companies, but was unwilling to compromise when his former Treasury secretary wanted to cut a deal. And the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency. . ."
Here is the White House's response http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/white-house-accuses-ny-ti_n_152713.html to the NYT article...which says in short that the NYT has been against the president,and this NYT article is "gross negligence" with cherry picked quotes to suit the writers. The real reason for the housing meltdown is, according to the President, the cheap money flowing into the US: "For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways."
In today's New York Times (Sunday 12/21/08) the blame for the mortgage melt down was put at President Bush's feet. The blame was placed Bush's philosophy that homeownership
was the way out of poverty “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” — President Bush, Oct. 15, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
Are you sitting down?
President Bush's philosophy of home ownership is not to blame. It is an articulation of is the American Dream, of our founders' concept of vested citizenship. Property ownership gives people ownership in more than just their home, but in their community --they are less likely to litter, and more likely to participate.
Okay, you may relax now. . .
Where he needs to take responsibility and blame is in his free market anti-regulation arrogant philosophy and his old boy network of yes men.
". . .From his earliest days in office, Mr. Bush paired his belief that Americans do best when they own their own home with his conviction that markets do best when let alone. . .But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
Mr. Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants. The president spent years pushing a recalcitrant Congress to toughen regulation of the companies, but was unwilling to compromise when his former Treasury secretary wanted to cut a deal. And the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency. . ."
Here is the White House's response http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/white-house-accuses-ny-ti_n_152713.html to the NYT article...which says in short that the NYT has been against the president,and this NYT article is "gross negligence" with cherry picked quotes to suit the writers. The real reason for the housing meltdown is, according to the President, the cheap money flowing into the US: "For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways."
Labels: housing crisis, W
