BUSH THE EXPLOITER

BUSH THE EXPLOITER

By Peter Fredson

When George W. Bush was awarded the presidency, by the Republican Justices of the Supreme Court, he promised prosperity, peace, compassionate conservatism, and humility. He promised to be a “uniter not a divider.” Like many politicians before him, he exaggerated, misled, and promptly forgot his promises.

He has divided this nation into warring partisan factions, one of which would cheerfully let Bush install a corporate fascist regime in his country. Every day he divides the nation with his smirking, petulant, arrogant, war-mongering pretensions. “National unity” is a symbol for domination, for deception, and for favoritism of Far Right shenanigans.

Instead of union, he gave us ruinous federal budget deficits, launched a costly and illicit war by lies, and ruined the diplomatic efforts of American statesmen to make the U.S. the most hated nation in the world. Bush “humility” promptly turned to arrogance, culminating in threatening preemptive strikes on anyone daring to dispute his imperial power. Bush continually mouths the words “liberty”, “democracy”, and “freedom” as distracting ploys to consolidate his power. One might well say that he callously and cynically exploits the symbols of our democracy for personal advantage.

His “compassionate conservatism” is belied by his record when, as governor, he executed more prisoners than any one before him, and did it by expressing derision at pitiful appeals for compassion. His “compassionate conservatism” is belied by his direct complicity in “shock and awe” directed against the people of Iraq, resulting in the death of many thousands of innocent civilians. His “compassion” was limited by the inability or lack of desire to even count the victims, because they were mere “collateral damage.”

The use of the word “compassion” by Bush must be regarded as a cynical ploy to get votes and cash, and to exploit American feelings and values for personal benefit. Not a tear was shed by Bush for the American soldiers that he sent to their deaths, to seize the resources of a sovereign country, without other provocation than neoconservative greed. In fact, the very thought that someone photographed coffins of American dead soldiers, seemed to embarrass his Right Wing supporters and thus was condemned by Bush for losing popularity, but not because of revulsion toward committing death.

Do Texan Rattlesnakes show compassion? Do Nile Crocodiles show compassion?

When Bush strutted about the deck of an airplane carrier under a sign proclaiming “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” it was to exploit war and to perpetuate the “noble warrior” idea to the hilt. Here is a draft-dodger AWOLER who is commander-in-chief of the mightiest army on the planet that swaggers about in uniform as though he personally had done something brave and noble.

We know that he has exploited the idea of being “commander-in-chief” as it ostensibly gives him more power than a peace president might claim. We know that the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED was NOT accomplished, that war in Iraq, the killing and destruction continue daily. We know that Bush cannot declare the end to war as it would remove his War President status, which he wields like a club. And he exploits this circumstance as he can remain in Iraq as long as he continues to allege warfare, or terrorism, or the presence of oil in Iran or other country.

Although Bush promised to be open and candid with the public
Bush governs like an imperial Roman, entitled to god-like status on all issues. Bush has made secrecy the hallmark of his regime. He seals all records, refused to let recordings be made (remembering the Nixon debacle), and make sure that all notes and memos of secret meetings with lobbyists and supporters be destroyed. Bush rarely meets with protestors, and prevents demonstrations from occurring near him. His secret agents and police monitor any person within a hundred feet of his imperial presence. Terrorism task forces make sure that demonstrators do not demonstrate, or that demonstrations are not considered newsworthy by Fox-type reporters.

Reporters know that any adverse publicity issued by them will result in immediate castigation. To counter-act nosy reporters Bush has several fake reporters at his conferences, asking “soft” questions intended to make him appear in the best possible light. But ask Helen Thomas what happened when she asked an “impertinent” question of Bush. What is more, Bush has his own government bureaus issue glowing reports concerning his administration. In this way Bush exploits news reporting, and controls it by bullying tactics.

Probably the most cynical of all “news” reporting is done by his own press secretaries. They are experts at “spinning” the truth, to obfuscate, bureaucratize, and misrepresent any item considered to be critical of Bush. Thus Bush exploits the press corps by misrepresenting, falsifying, and controlling all news items of his administration. The press corps is well aware of Bush’s attempts to control or spin the news and frequently laugh at the clumsy and overt attempts of the press secretaries to mislead them.

America the Beautiful, from sea to shining sea, the forests, animals and mountains, the very air we breath, and the water we drink, that True Believers says is given by God, is being fouled because the president wants his corporate friends to make a profit from exploiting the environment. He relaxes restrictions on air and water quality and labels them “Clean Air” and “Clean Water Acts” as a cynical way to make people believe in his “stewardship” qualities. He seems willing destroy any form of life or land-form in order to make a dollar from it. His corporate pirates will chop down every tree, kill every animal, and level every mountain to feed their exploitive avarice.

It is amazing how Bush exploited a national tragedy for his personal advantage. Prior to 9/11 he had done nothing of heroic consequence except vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and cut brush. On 9/11 he was caught off guard, sat reading a kid’s book, and then was whisked off by agents to a waiting plane. Dick Cheney too was whisked off to some bunker. Both of them sat doing nothing of consequence, nothing heroic.

But then the Bush advisors had a flash of electoral genius: they would proclaim Bush a genuine hero and great leader by continuously showing shots of the Twin Towers being destroyed, the American Flag waving, President Bush making a speech and showing some of the dead people.

The entire Far Right acclaimed Bush as a heroic savior, and Bush himself repeated 9/11 symbology to exhaustion, far into the 2004 elections. Once Bush latches onto a good lie, he sticks to it, so give him credit for consistence. No National Tragedy was ever so exploited as 9/11 by Bush, and so unwarranted.

Bush has his photographs taken with the American flag in the background. I should say flags, flags, and more flags. All of them waving behind George Bush! Flags in lapels, flag on car bumpers, flags on podium, flags everywhere. Although other presidents have exploited the American Flag, none have done it so regularly, predictably and nauseatingly. For a person that was not willing go give his life for his country, Bush certainly shows he is willing to give other people’s lives for his country unstintingly.

George W. Bush unstintingly exploits war, exploits terror, for his own purposes. We know that the purposes involve world domination by Right Wing Corporate entities. Bush exemplifies a paranoid obsessively worrying about threats to America, who communicates that threat to the public. Bush takes political advantage from resulting fear. His cabinet, his Christian followers, and the Right Wing media propagate that fear endlessly. They intensify the fear by offering to replace it by their policies which will put America into the hands of a few billionaire Right Wingers. Rather than recurring to traditional protection they reiterate that revenge and bullying are the remedy. That the U.N. is weak and should be replaced by American muscle to “give those Muslims a good lesson.”

Criticism has become synonymous with treason. No one dares ask the Bush administration about their lies or plans, but if they do the entire administration, including the Republicans in Congress will issue mass denials and reject any hint of wrong doing.

The entire Warning System of Colorful symbols were designed, not to alleviate fear, but to spread it. The Color Symbols were used lavishly any time Bush was being criticized. The nation was purposely kept in a healthy sense of fear which suited the exploitive nature of the War Hawks. Instead of finding good solutions, the Bush administration suggested using duct tape to seal people’s houses against mass weapons of destruction. Instead of listening to quiet solutions of diplomacy they preferred to bully their way unilaterally in the world, showing their disgust at the “softness” of allies. Instead of peaceful solutions they looked at their arsenals of tanks, guns, planes, and bombs and decided to hell with world opinion...they would wing it alone.

The Bush media magnify and protest and dissent and connect it to unpatriotic action akin to aiding the Enemy. They exploit terrorist terror by claiming that the only remedy is to blast the enemy to hell. The Bush people claim that only they can protect the American people and that without their Home Security Vigilance everybody will be a dead puppy. They claim that “softness” and “diplomacy” won’t work. They would love to see brutes like Bolton destroy the United Nations, they would love to see war hawks like Wolfowitz sack the World Bank, and they loved to see Ashcroft give unbelievers their just deserts. In effect, they glorify strength, domination, bullying as part of our Manifest Destiny to rule the world.

Meanwhile our young soldiers are in harm’s way. They die, not for our country, but to enrich some oil corporation, some aircraft manufacturer, some arms dealer, some evangelist who is determined to make Christianity the only religion on this planet or destroy everyone in the process. Meanwhile a sovereign nation, Iraq, is being despoiled, destroyed, vilified, and is given Bush puppets so that Bush can build huge air bases there for perpetual domination of the entire Middle East.

There is not enough space to go into how Bush exploits other features of the economy, health, medicine, old age, elections, diplomacy or into how he selects people for his cabinet and administration. The topic of exploitation of religion alone, would merit a separate article. But half of the country will call him the worst president ever, and the other half will adore him, no matter what stupidity he advocates.

In truth, Bush exploits just about everything he touches. War, terror, fear, religion, flag, patriotism, people, values, feelings, constitution, destruction, tragedy are all grist for his ego and for his corporate sponsors.

Half the country would rejoice at his regime change, while the other half would mourn the loss of a savior hero who sat reading a child’s book while the world crumbled around him.