Home > The GOP Campaign: “There’s a sucker born every minute and two to take him”

The GOP Campaign: “There’s a sucker born every minute and two to take him”

by Open-Publishing - Sunday 22 October 2006

Wars and conflicts International USA Mary MacElveen

The GOP Campaign: “There’s a sucker born every minute and two to take him”

By Mary MacElveen

October 22, 2006

In the month of October as cited in this article "U.S. sees deadliest month in ’06 in Iraq" we have lost 78 American troops. We depend upon our soldiers to be the front line of our national security. With this astounding number lost to our collective national security under the Bush/Cheney/GOP led government, are you feeling secure?

I think of our soldiers as being our ultimate first-responders and they keep dying over in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you are a mom or dad whose son or daughter comes to you with papers wishing to serve, how agreeable are you to let them when all hell is breaking out in Iraq? If the draft were to come back given the current leadership of this country, will that little voice in your head be telling you to hide your son? I say son since any current draft system does not include women. All parents wish of their children to grow up in a safe and secure world, what happens if your son’s number does come up? Just ask a parent that lost a son in the Viet Nam War and they will tell you.

Leaving the ‘illegal occupation by an occupying force’ aside, as I was looking up the very definition of security, one definition of it said “freedom from danger, risk, etc.; safety.” Now think of Katrina. Just how prepared was this GOP led government in protecting the citizens of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi? They had no such freedom from danger as they huddled inside the Super Dome or trapped in homes. There was a risk to all of them and this government led by the GOP failed these victims. All of us sat in abject horror as we saw correspondents like Anderson Cooper report from Mississippi and Louisiana as the bodies floated by. We saw him lose his composure on air. Hey, we even saw a Bush-kisser in Geraldo Rivera speak out angrily outside the Superdome. I just wish Geraldo kept with that train of thought. Oh wait, he works for Fox News. Um, never mind.

We are not secure as a nation when it comes to natural disasters as evident above. I once wrote an article for Buzzflash.com called And We’re Worried About Box Cutters? I want all of you to read that and think if a similar scenario happened under this Bush/GOP led government, just how secure is this nation? Please think back to how un-prepared we were before 9/11 when Bush ignored the warnings and his bungling of Katrina. The event portrayed in this scenario has far more devastating affects to us all.

Another definition of security is “freedom from care, anxiety, or doubt; well-founded confidence.” Just how anxious are you when it comes to this economy. Yes, the DOW which really has no affect on you and me went above 12,000. But, that is a rich man’s game and you and I are not invited. Just how secure are you when it comes to holding your jobs when Ford recently laid off 10,000 workers? Is there that little voice in your head raising doubts about your job protection?

Well be prepared to have some more anxious moments, doubts and no freedom from care when it comes to the NAFTA Super-Highway.

As reported in this article, it states, “Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn.”

As Congressman like Peter King aggressively calls for border security, this is what Pat Buchanan had to say of this NAFTA Super Highway “The American people never supported NAFTA, and they are angry over Bush’s failure to secure the border - but a shotgun marriage between our two nations appears prearranged. Central feature: a ten-lane, 400-yard-wide NAFTA superhighway from the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, up to and across the U.S. border, all the way to Canada.” So, what about that 700 mile fence that was sponsored by Peter King in the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (HR 6061) which will provide 700 miles of two layered border fence.

Either we shall have a fence to protect our borders or a high way that leaves that border open to support this super highway. Well, what exactly is going on here? Yes, I know it is confusing, but then again many things in Washington, D.C are indeed confusing. I bet you anything that Tylenol and Advil have record sales in Washington.

Now, you are worried about your job since there has been many jobs lost during this Bush/Cheney/GOP led government, well what about the health care that goes with your job if you are lucky enough to have health benefits. Then again, there are many that hold down jobs without health care. I would say that they feel down right anxious when their child does get sick.

Do you as a parent hearing your child cough in the middle of the night and having no health care; it sends you into a panic? Oh yes, we need money for Iraq and to hell with health care for our citizens.

If you are a woman that wants to get pregnant and you see this GOP led government promoting the right to life, will they fund your obstetrician bill and the hospital bill if you do not have health insurance? I would say that goes hand in hand with the anxiety these women do face. Or worse hinder her decision from getting pregnant.

As boomers approach the age of retirement and it will hit this country like a perfect storm, many will rely on Social Security, but the GOP looks at these funds as being theirs. Does anyone remember when former Vice President Al Gore said he would protect these funds in a ‘lock box’ when he ran for president in 2000? Once Bush came into office they sprung that lock wide open and all of them just drooled over the sheer amount of money that was now theirs.

I want all to pay close attention to this definition of security “an assurance; guarantee.” With the many lies told to us by Bush, by Cheney and by the GOP, exactly what assurances do we have as well as any guarantee for a better life here in the United States? They all remind me of snake-oil salesman and when I do think of the many lies or promises they say they will keep, one quote comes to mind by P.T. Barnum (co-founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus) in which he said, “There is a sucker born every minute and two to take him” That is the GOP campaign in a nutshell.

http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2006/10/22/2435439.html

*Please go to the link above to read the hyperlinks included within the piece.