Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Day I Lost My Faith In W.

I can remember the specific moment when I lost faith in George W. Bush. It was very early on. I had decided in January 2001 that I would support him as President even though there were a number of indicators that he shouldn’t have won Florida (in particular, the blacks whose name had been taken off the rolls, so that when they showed up, they weren’t allowed to cast a ballot).

I was reading the newspaper one evening in mid ’02 and saw that W. had decided to turn back a number of environmental regulations. That was going backwards in my mind, big time. I mean, think about it. We had just transitioned to the new century (millennium) and he was rolling back policies that had been put in place to keep corporations from polluting.



What a legacy to leave our children. How regular citizens could get behind a guy so in league with Big Business was mystifying to me. There is a book that came out a few years ago that deals with the issue of people voting against their own economic interests. It’s called "What’s The Matter With Kansas". This was but the first of many things that caused me to lose faith in him. So while many have been tired of him for a couple years, I’ve been resentful of him for more than 6! Needless to say, my Bush fatigue is almost beyond comprehension.

16 comments:

Timothy Smith said...

I lost faith when the Supreme Court handing him the presidency. Once the balance of power was lopsided giving one party control of the congress, senate and presidency I knew policy would become lopsided as well.

Once you remove the checks and balances things get crazy.

Thomas said...

No doubt. Devising the three branches of government was a stroke of genius by the Founding Fathers (one of many they had).

It's interesting to read that they were against the formation of political parties. We're so used to the two-party system that it's hard to imagine what it'd be like without them.

Timothy Smith said...

Americans themselves are responsible for the two party system as we let ourselves get caught up in the system.

Even if we knew the country would be better off with balance Republicans would STILL not vote for Kerry or Gore and Democrats this year will still not vote for McCain.

We as Americans not only support the parties but support partisan activity then we complain about the results.

Democrats and Republicans are successful at polarizing voters to the point they vote against their own interest to support the party.

Very few see the big picture and even fewer vote accordingly.

Thomas said...

About 10 years ago, my mom said that although pretty much all of her siblings are Democrats, she wasn't because of their views on abortion.

Now it’s fine to be Pro-Life, but many of the Republicans’ other views cannot be construed as pro-life. Being for the death penalty is not nor is going to war when there are still other options on the table (the tens of thousands of innocent dead Iraqi's can testify to that. No wait, they can't).

Not helping the poor or putting enough money in for them to get a good education leads to a entire class who’ve been left out to dry.

Jesus said he could tell the kind of people we are by how we treat the “least among us” and today’s Reps have failed pretty miserably in that regard.

Anonymous said...

I believe the Dems are equally to blame in failing to care for "the least of us." Who's been in charge of congress and the senate?!?!?? However, "the least of us" is pretty hard to define. Is it ANYBODY who happens to make less than say, $250,000 (NOBAMA's magic number)? What exactly is it about working hard and making something of yourself and earning your own way that Dems don't get? Why should we all have equal wealth? Stupid, shallow, and socialist. Anyone who believes Obama's "the one" is a friggin idiot. Jesus would be ashamed of you.

Thomas said...

There's my girl. Thought I'd lost you.

It's a nice theory that the Dems are equally at fault, but they've only been in charge of the House and Senate since January of '07 while the Reps had the run of all three branches for the prior 6 years.

I would say the least among us are those who are living below the poverty line. Restricting abortions tends to actually increase poverty since it leads to women having children who can't afford them.

Teens who decide to keep their children have two pretty weak choices: raise the child on their own when they are still children themselves or have a shotgun wedding like Bristol Palin. Either way, their life has been totally mapped out for them at a ridiculously young age.

In my mind, the Republicans have their priorities screwed up. All the money they spend in Iraq could be put to much better use if it stayed here. It's time to improve things on the homefront. As your McCain once said, Country First.

Sarah said...

i'm a friggn' idiot. yessiree bob. sign me right up.

Thomas said...

Hey, Sarah. How 'bout 'dem Twins?

Sarah said...

twins schmins. i'm all about obama. and football. :)

houstonmacbro said...

I do not believe that all big business is bad. There are many that operate with environmental, social, and other causes in mind. However, I will agree. Bush rolling back progress is mystifying (and yeah! he shouldn't have been 'crowned' King ... I mean, president).

But, I will say this ... we gave him and his administration a blank check by not letting our congress people know how we felt and to stand up for us.

Until Americans wake up, we'll continue to get the governments we elect.

Timothy Smith said...

Too bad most Democrats also supported the war. Of course they were just voting safe which is something they ALL do. Very few politicians vote against the grain. Even Obama voted for big oil tax cuts.

If you vote based on what politicians say then the Democrats are the party for the poor and Republicans are the party for a smaller federal government.

If you go by actions and voting records that's an entirely different story.

Thomas said...

Houston, good point. Some businesses are actually quite exemplary in their conduct with others and should be the model for the industry. And indeed, if we don't tell our Congressmen our wishes, they'll most likely just go whichever way the wind is blowing.

Tim, I was also disappointed that so many Dems supported the war and it's true that many (including me from time to time) don't look carefully at the bills that our Congressmen are actually voting for or against. I'm sure many of their votes would surprise me.

Stephanie said...

I lost faith in G-Dub and the entirety of our political system after watching www.zeitgeistmovie.com. I backed that asshole from day-one after September 11, 2001.

I decided that even though I didn't vote for him in either of the past two elections, he was my president and I was going to back him because I felt it meant I was backing my country. Little did I know.

Now, I'm doing the only patriotic thing I can, which is try to shake people awake! I can't go back to the way things were now that I'm actually finding out what is really going on.

Most people aren't even aware that the Federal Reserve isn't a federal institution, it's a private bank! Why does every dollar that passes through our hands, have to go through the Fed Reserve before making it to us? Money laundering at its best?

I digress.

Timothy Smith said...

Ron Paul wants to get rid of the Federal Reserve and put us back on the gold standard. He also believes in getting rid of the department of education as well.

Both would be smart moves.

Stephanie said...

Timothy, I LOVE YOU! lol

I'm actually writing in Ron Paul as my vote. This whole voting thing is a sham anyway as the POPULAR VOTE DOES NOT COUNT! Yet, they continue to keep trying to divert our attention away from that fact and still jack with the voting system. It's all rigged now anyway. The simple fact of the matter is, I refuse NOT to vote because this was a freedom that was fought for. Even if it has become laughable in this day and age.

Timothy Smith said...

Ron Paul is by far the best candidate we have seen in a very long time. His changes are simply too much for the partisan electoral to accept.

I loved the RNC debates when Mitt, Fred and the other yahoos were telling him he does not understand health care and how the govt could improve it. I could not stop laughing, Paul is a DOCTOR that worked for a veterans hospital!

Paul would bring the troops home, fix education and repair the US dollar.

Obama and McCain will do none of these.