For America's sake, if not the world's, George Bush must go

If John Kerry loses the November 2 US Presidential election he will regret not having held George Bush accountable for the 9/11 mayhem. September 11 happened on George Bush's watch, nine months into his administration. Although a CIA brief to the president on August 6, 2001 had a headline that said Osama Bin Laden was planning on attacking America with planes, Mr. Bush continued to vacation in his Crawford, Texas ranch. Yet, in none of the three debates, or on the campaign stumps or in his television commercials did or does Mr. Kerry blame the president for the security lapse that resulted in the unprecedented terrorist act against America on that date.

With such an unexpected and generous pass, Mr. Bush continues to make the case, with much success, that America will be safer as long as he is the president. Bush has succeeded in scaring the American public into thinking that he alone can guarantee their safety. Therefore in the ultimate Orwellian convolution the draft dodgers, Bush and Cheney, have transformed themselves into security hawks, while reducing the real Vietnam War hero to a wimp! It appears that Northeastern Democratic presidential candidates like John Kerry (and Michael Dukakis before him) are too much of gentlemen to tackle gutter fighters like the Bushes, who would do and say anything to win reelection.

Bush's strategy to make a caricature of Kerry and run against that caricature is working perfectly. Bush's own failures, however, are above criticism. Under Bush, the nation is deeply divided as never before. Bush led America into a war of choice in Iraq with deceits and lies, and to please the "Israel before America" neo-conservative Zionists. Over eleven hundred American soldiers have been sacrificed and over 8,000 have been maimed to please the neo-con gods. Over 40,000 Iraqis have been killed because of the US invasion. Bush has turned a trillion dollar budget surplus into half a trillion dollar deficit, while giving tax breaks to the wealthy and signing every spending bill. Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover of the Depression era of the 1920s to preside over an economy that lost jobs (1.6 million).

He has appointed the most rightwing judges to the federal courts to undo civil liberties. He has dangerously relaxed clear air and clean water standards and has wrecked havoc with the environment. Gasoline prices are at an unprecedented $2.05 a gallon.

Bush has given Ariel Sharon's regime carte blanche to murder thousands more Palestinians and steal more Palestinian lands, including all of the West Bank. By showing contempt for the world, Bush has alienated friends and foes alike. America's standing in the world is dangerously low. Yet, none of these seem to matter to many Americans. The Bush campaign realized that they cannot run on Bush's dismal record of the last four years and win. Their strategy has been to make not Bush, but the Democratic candidate John Kerry the issue, and to destroy Kerry through personal attacks and lies. And they have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.

Taking a cue from Hitler's propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, the Bush campaign has proven that lies and distortions repeated a hundred times do sound like the truth! The Bush administration's shifting rationale for invading Iraq has successfully hidden the fact the neocon-instigated war was meant really to make Israel more secure and to give the US control over the world's second largest oil reserves in Iraq. With all the evidence to the contrary, including the findings of the bipartisan 9/11 commission, Bush and Cheney still insist that Al Qaeda had links with Iraq. Bush-Cheney's conflation of Iraq and Al Qaeda is the reason why 56 percent Americans still believe that Iraq and Saddam were responsible for 9/11! Two weeks ago, in a New York Times interview Kerry said that he wanted to fight terrorism hard so that it is reduced to more than a nuisance it was a few years ago.

Bush pounced on the very reasonable statement, distorted it out of recognition and ran an ad that said (I paraphrase): "Kerry thinks terrorism is a nuisance. Obviously he does not understand what terrorism is. How can he keep America safe?" On October 17, The New York Times reprinted a cartoon that exemplified how the Bush campaign distorts Kerry statements. In the cartoon Kerry says, "Osama is very good at masterminding terrorist attacks! That's why we must defeat him!" Bush responds: "So my opponent thinks Osama is "very good"? I don't think Osama is good at all! I think he's very bad!" Adds Dick Cheney: "John Kerry is one of Osama's biggest fans! He thinks Osama is really a great guy! They're practically best friends!"

Bush's negative campaigns work because the average citizens have a low opinion of politicians to begin with. When the president badmouths a politician, they tend to believe the president. Besides, not all Americans are sophisticated. Even Mr. Bush's questionable intelligence and inarticulateness have become his assets. I have actually heard listeners say over the talk radios that because Bush "talks like me" (incoherent) and has "my kind of intelligence" (dumb) I shall vote for him! Because the president has to deal with complicated domestic and foreign issues shouldn't voters expect their president to be more intelligent and more articulate than they?

In the presidential election jargon Kerry states are referred to as the blue states, and the Bush states are labeled red states. MSNBC has done a survey of the education level of all the states and has come up with an education index for all the fifty states. The blue states of Massachusetts, John Kerry's home state, ranks number one, New Jersey (where the writer lives) is number three, New York is number six, and the red state of Texas, George Bush's home state is 33rd. Indeed, there is a correlation between blue or Kerry states (highly educated) and the red or Bush states (low education standards). That is why in the red southern and Midwestern states, Bush's weaknesses are considered appealing!

Bush's handlers hide from the American public the fact that Bush's preemptive unilateralism has made the rest of the world a dangerous place for America and the Americans. Americans who visit Western Europe are repeatedly told by the average citizen and leaders alike, "get rid of this buffoon and we will help you, even in Iraq!" President Bush's policies have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. Free of constraints in the second term, at the minimum, the Zionist neo-cons will force Mr. Bush to shed more Muslim blood in Syria and Iran. Not surprisingly, reversing their decision of 2000 when they had endorsed Bush for President, Muslim American organisations have endorsed John Kerry for President this year. But if Muslim Americans believe that voting for Kerry will solve their problem, they are mistaken. It will take 7 to 10 more presidential elections before Muslim American voices are heard in the corridors of power.

Increasingly cocky, Mr. Bush seems to have mesmerised the Americans into believing that all his lies are true. Says Joe Klein of Time Magazine: "Indeed, Bush's gleeful willingness to personally join in the mudslinging is unprecedented in modern US politics," as is his "blatant effort to mislead the public." Of course, Mr. Bush famously said in the second debate that he has made no mistake in Iraq and elsewhere. As is well-known, those who do not learn from their mistakes, repeat them. Tom Teepen of Cox Newspapers notes: "Bush's most brazen act may not be his decision to rush into Iraq when UN inspections were working. His most brazen act may be that he is daring the nation to re-elect him precisely for all that, and what is more, appears about as likely as not to get away with it."

If Mr. Bush is reelected, his legacy will be that a president can be a catastrophic failure at home and abroad, but as long as he can lie to his people, scare them, and destroy his opponent through more lies and personal attacks, he will win reelection! If the American people so desperately want Mr. Bush, perhaps they should have him and reelect him. Mr. Bush will then truly represent America.