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Recent
Stories
July
8, 2003
Linda
S. Heard
America's Kangaroo Justice
Saul Landau
The Intelligence Culture in the National Security Age
July
7, 2003
William
Blum
The Anti-Empire Report
Harvey
Wasserman
The Nuke with a Hole in Its Head
Ramzy
Baroud
Peace for All the Wrong Reasons
Simon
Jones
What Progressives Should Think About
Iran
Lesley
McCulloch
Fear, Pain and Shame in Aceh
Uri
Avnery
The Draw
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 7/3
July
4 / 6, 2003
Patrick
Cockburn
Dead on the Fourth of July
Frederick
Douglass
What is Freedom to a Slave?
Martha
Honey
Bush and Africa: Racism, Exploitation
and Neglect
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Rat in the Grain: Amstutz and
the Looting of Iraqi Agriculture
Standard
Schaefer
Rule by Fed: Anyone But Greenspan in 2004
Lenni Brenner
Jefferson is for Today
Elaine
Cassel
Fucking Furious on the Fourth
Ben Tripp
How Free Are We?
Wayne
Madsen
A Sad Independence Day
John Stanton
Happy Birthday, America! 227 Years of War
Jim
Lobe
Bush's Surreal AIDS Appointment
John Blair
Return to Marble Hill: Indiana's Rusting Nuke
Lisa
Walsh Thomas
Heavy Reckoning at Qaim
David Vest
Wake Up and Smell the Dynamite
Adam
Engel
Queer as Grass
Poets'
Basement
Christian, Witherup, Albert & St. Clair
Website
of the Weekend
The Lipstick Librarian
July
3, 2003
Patrick
W. Gavin
The Meaning of Gettysburg
Thomas
W. Croft
There Was a Reason They Called It the Casino Economy
David
Lindorff
Outlawing Subversives: Hong Kong
and the US
John
Chuckman
Lessons from the American Revolution
Jackson
Thoreau
New Far-Right Scheme: Impeach Supreme Court Justices
Stan
Goff
"Bring 'Em On?": a Former
Special Forces Soldier Responds to Bush's Invitation for Iraqis
to Attack US Troops
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 7/3
July 2, 2003
Diane
Christian
Good Killing and Bad Killing
Richard
Falk
After Iraq, Does UN War Prevention Have a Future?
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Bush Administration: Causing Repetitive Stress
Justin
Podur
Uribe's Onslaught Across Colombia
Reuven
Kaviner
Prosecuting Ben-Artzi, the Refusenik
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 7/2
July
1, 2003
Sasan
Fayamanesh
Weapon of Choice: Nukes, Israel and
Iran
Elaine
Cassel
Sex and the Supreme Moralizer: Scalia
and the Sodomy Cops
Susan
Block
A Love Supreme: Our Assholes Belong
to Ourselves
Bill
Glahn
RIAA Watch: No, No Bono
David Lindorff
Weapons in Search of a Name
Gary
Leupp
Occupation, Resistance and the Plight of the GIs
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 7/1
June
30, 2003
Karyn
Strickler
The Do-Nothings: an Exposé
of Progressive Politics in America
Col. Dan
Smith
The Occupation of Iraq: Descending into the Quagmire
Tim
Wise
Race and Destruction in Black and White
Neve Gordon
The Roadmap and the Wall
Chris
Floyd
The Revelation of St. George: "God Told Me to Strike Saddam"
Elaine
Cassel
Kentucky Woman
Uri
Avnery
Hope in Dark Times
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 6/30
Website
of the Day
Bush El Hombre
June
28 / 29, 2003
M.
Shahid Alam
Bernard Lewis: Scholarship or Sophistry?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Meet Steven Griles: Big Oil's Inside
Man
Laura
Carlsen
Democracy's Future: From the Polls or the Populace?
Alan Maass
You Call These Democrats an Alternative?
C.Y.
Gopinath
Bush and Kindergarten
Noah Leavitt
Bush, the Death Penalty and International Law
Joanne
Mariner
Rehnquist Family Values
Ignacio
Chapela
Tenure, Censorship and Biotech at Berkeley
Bob
Scowcroft
Bush's Squeeze on Organic Farmers
Jon Brown
Tom Delay: "I am the Government"
Kam
Zarrabi
Keep Your Hands Off Iran, Please!
Ron Jacobs
Big Bill Broonzy's Conversation with the Blues
Julie
Hilden
Fear Factor: Art, Terror and the First Amendment
Adrien
Rain Burke
The Anarchists' Wedding Guide
Adam
Engel
US Troops Outta Times Square
Poets'
Basement
Witherup, Guthrie, Albert, Hamod
June
27, 2003
Jason
Leopold
CIA: Seven Months Prior to 9/11 Iraq
Posed No Threat to US
David
Vest
Supreme Silence: Bush's Bunker-Hunker
David
Lindorff
The Catch and Release of "Comical
Ali"
Ray McGovern
Cheney, Forgery and the CIA
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 6/26
Website
of the Day
John Kerry, Teresa Heinz & Ken Lay: The Politics of Hypocrisy
June
26, 2003
Sen.
Robert Byrd
The Road of Cover-Up is a Road to Ruin
Jason
Leopold
Wolfowitz Instructed the CIA to Investigate
Hans Blix
Paul
de Rooij
Ambient Death in Palestine
Chris Floyd
Mass Graves and Burned Meat in Bush's New Iraq
Elaine
Cassel
Wolfowitz as Lord High Executioner
CounterPunch
Wire
Musicians Unite Against Sweatshops
Sheldon
Hull
Squatting in Mansions
Ben Tripp
A Guide to Hating Almost Anyone
Uri
Avnery
The Best Show in Town
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 6/25
Website
of the Day
Ordinary Vistas:
The Photographs of Kurt Nimmo
June
25, 2003
Bruce
Jackson
Buffalo Cops Wage War on Pedal Pushers
Mickey
Z.
The New Dark Ages
David Lindorff
Indonesia's War on Journalists
Dan
Bacher
Butterflies and Farmworkers Confront USDA and Riot Cops
Adam Federman
"Success is Not the Issue Here"
Elaine
Cassel
"Ain't No Justice": Fed Judge Quits, Assails Sentencing
Guidelines
Bill Kauffman
My America vs. the Empire
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 6/25
Website
of the Day
You Are Being Watched:
Elevator Moods
June
24, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
Supreme Indemnity
Holocaust Denial at the High Court
Roya
Monajem
A Message from Tehran: Is It Worth
It to Risk One's Life?
John
Chuckman
The Real Clash of Civilizations
David Lindorff
WMD Damage Control at the Times
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 6/24
June
23, 2003
Marc
Pritzke
Washington Lied: an Interview with
Ray McGovern
Conn
Hallinan
The Consistency of Sharon
Wayne Madsen
Commercials, Disney & Amistad
Edward
Said
The Meaning of Rachel Corrie
Steve Perry
Bush's Wars Web Log 6/23
June
21 / 22, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
My Life as a Rabbi
William
A. Cook
The Scourge of Hopelessness
Standard
Schaefer
The Wages of Terror: an Interview with R.T. Naylor
Ron Jacobs
US Prisons as Strategic Hamlets
Harry
Browne
The Pitstop Ploughshares
Lawrence
Magnuson
WMD: The Most Dangerous Game
Harold
Gould
Saddam and the WMD Mystery
David Krieger
10 Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Avia
Pasternak
The Unholy Alliance in the Occupied Territories
CounterPunch
Summer Reading:
Our Favorite Novels
Todd Chretien
Return to Sender: Todd Gitlin, the Duke of Condescension
Maria
Tomchick
Danny Goldberg's Imaginary Kids
Adam Engel
The Fat Man in Little Boy
Poets'
Basement
Guthrie, Albert & Hamod
June 20, 2003
Walter
Brasch
Down on Our Knees
Robert
Meeropol
The Son of the Rosenbergs on His Parents Death and Bush's America
Russell
Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Grannies and Baby Bells
Norman
Madarasz
Pierre Bourgault: the Life of a
Quebec Radical
Gary
Leupp
Bush on "Revisionist Historians"
Steve
Perry
Bush's Lies
Marathon: the Finale
Hot Stories
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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for More Stories.
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July
8, 2003
The Gospel According
to Bush
Good
Christian George?
By CHARLES SULLIVAN
Considering the abundance of empirical evidence
that George Bush and his regime are pathological liars, how does
one come to grips with their popularity with the multitudes?
Aside from the obvious example of the compliant corporate media
as a propaganda machine at the beck and call of neo-conservatives,
what is it about Bush that makes him popular to so many? Why
would any thinking person believe a word that passes through
this vile man's lips? In order to illustrate a point, let us
consider a single pretext: Bush's that he is a devout Christian.
Many people accept Bush's assertion at face value despite the
preponderance of evidence to the contrary. Ask yourself: What
kind of man was Jesus Christ? First and foremost he was a peace
maker. Is George Bush a peace maker? No. Bush has the blood of
thousands of innocent people on his hands. Bush couldn't wait
for the weapons of mass destruction to rain down on the innocent
roofs of the Iraqi people.
It seemed as if Bush would burst out
of his skin if the world didn't allow him to have his slaughter.
Jesus shunned wealth and possessions; he wisely knew that these
things corrupt men's souls. Does Bush shun wealth and possessions?
Hardly. He covets wealth, especially
oil; none more so than Iraqi oil. His policies have placed huge
burdens upon the working poor in America and abroad, while simultaneously
giving more wealth to the rich. Jesus Christ spoke profound truth
in the form of parables. Does Bush speak truth? (Hell, he barely
speaks broken English).
Bush speaks with candor only occasionally
at best. He lied repeatedly about the threat posed by Iraq. He
has repeatedly lied to the world about US imperialism and plans
for world domination. In fact, he has lied about just about everything.
Remember the mushroom clouds over Cincinnati that Saddam Hussein
was about to unleash? Bush has publicly stated time and again
that there is a demonstrable link between the events of 9/11,
Al Qaeda, and Saddam Hussein; so has Rumsfeld, Rice and Powell.
Yet not a single shred of tangible evidence has ever been brought
forth in support of this statement---presumably because none
exists. Even Bush's own intelligence community has stated this,
including, oddly enough, Secretary of State Colin Powell. Jesus
Christ was a socialist (before there was such a term) whose life
was given to the needs of community; especially the outcast,
the poor and oppressed. He was a tireless advocate for social
justice. What has Bush done for the working class people?
The answer: absolutely nothing. He steals
from the working people by inflating the military budget (building
more weapons of mass destruction), thus denying critical social
services to the neediest Americans, including the health care
that every American is entitled to. Simultaneously, Bush continues
to give ever more welfare (tax cuts) to his rich associates and
corporate cronies, such as Kenny Boy Lay of Enron. Bush, like
all neo-conservatives, staunchly opposes raising America's pathetic
minimum wage to an actual living wage. Of course, this is detrimental
to the family structure and has a perverse effect on the entire
social fabric. Bush is a purveyor of class warfare; the avowed
enemy of organized labor. He is one of the ruling classes endowed
with special privileges that ninety-nine percent of us don't
have. His policies always have a common denominator: they disproportionately
benefit the rich and harm the poor. By now it should be apparent
to all but the clinically deceased that a clear pattern is evident.
Is there anything at all and in the least degree Christ-like
about George W. Bush (suppressed laughter)? Are you kidding me?
Bush is the anti-Christ; the polar opposite of all the virtuous
qualities possessed by and, more importantly, lived by Jesus
of Nazareth. Indeed, the only similarity that I can discern between
the two men is that they were/are both mammals. That's about
as far as it goes. To call Bush a Christian is to make a mockery
of all those good people who have truly devoted their lives to
real Christian moderation, self-sacrifice and service to the
poor and politically disenfranchised. Now, Jimmy Carter is a
Christian, as evidenced by his unstinting service to community
and earth, especially the needy. Not to mention the moral authority
he derives from his respect for the truth. Carter isn't perfect
either, but he's putting forth an honest effort. Bush is no more
than a third rate pretender at best.
Nevertheless, and much to my bemusement,
people continue to call Bush a Christian. In the beginning of
a relationship with another person it is well and proper to accept
them at their word. But when it becomes evident that the other
person isn't who he or she claims to be, you no longer believe
them; you no longer give them the benefit of the doubt. By fabricating
lies and distortions surrounding the invasion of Iraq, Bush has
deliberately chosen to give up his credibility_his moral authority_in
the process showing contempt for his audience, for the truth
and for the life of Christ. It is both foolish and dim-witted
to take Bush and his regime of war criminals at their collective
word. There is abundant evidence of deceit by the entire Bush
regime. Yet too many people still think of Bush as a compassionate
man of the lord_an idea no doubt fostered by the conservative
owned mass media. But why do otherwise seemingly intelligent
and reasonably perceptive people continue to believe such verbose
nonsense? Why aren't Bush and his ilk held accountable for their
words and their deeds like the rest of us?
One possible explanation is that the
average American simply lacks the basic skills of critical thinking
that seems inherent in other people of the world. Americans exist
under a constant barrage of corporate double speak and distortions
(marketing) that exists nowhere else on earth or in history in
such overwhelming profusion. Thus, our sense of reality has been
distorted beyond recognition. After all, isn't Disney World as
good as a genuine wilderness adventure? While there may be considerable
truth to this exposition, there are other factors at play that
hold equal sway. The blind acceptance of Bush's definition of
himself as a devout Christian must also be attributed to the
mass willful ignorance of much of the American public. Nothing
else explains this bizarre phenomenon so satisfactorily or succinctly.
Just as we deny our own baleful national history and supplant
it with myth, lies and distortions, people want to believe in
good Christian George. It makes us feel good about ourselves,
despite all the horrible ghosts hidden away in the dark closets
of our national psyche.
But if one extends the same logic to
other people that are applied to Bush by the neo-conservatives,
a man could claim with equal alacrity as Bush claims to be Christian,
to be Zeus himself; or perhaps Moses or Spinoza; or Mr. Potato
Head. Why not claim to be lord of the Universe, if Bush hasn't
already staked out that title for himself? Indeed, that man or
woman would be taken as seriously as if he were Zeus or lord
of the universe, no matter how obvious that he is really only
who he is_Bozo the clown, perhaps. Talk about the emperor having
no clothes; he has no mind and no soul either! But let's continue
pretending that he is the second coming of Christ, a devout and
holy man of deep religious conviction. How much more convoluted
can things get than they are now? America, I hardly recognize
thee. In a land where capitalism and marketing is king why should
anyone be surprised at the travesty now ballooning before us?
Brace yourselves; there is more tragic comedy to come in the
years ahead. But try not to laugh out loud. You don't want to
spoil the grandiose illusion for the believers. The kids still
believe in Santa Claus and the adults believe that Bush is Christ
incarnate. And I am Lord of the Universe---purveyor of all wisdom.
You must not ever forget that (send me all your money)!
While I have never been a supporter of
Bill Clinton (I am a member of the Green party), remember how
every thing Clinton said or did came under intense scrutiny by
the corporate media--- especially the conservatives in Congress?
There were and are countless conservative talk show hosts acting
like huge bellows pumping hot air onto the flaming wreck of the
Clinton presidency. No remark, no split hair, no intended action
went unchallenged by the piranhas who smelled Clinton's blood
amid the foul excrement afloat in the political septic tank.
What greater proof is there of the existence of an ultra conservative
right wing media blitz than this? Countless millions of tax payer
dollars went down the tubes (septic tank) in an effort to bring
to light every detail of Clinton's sordid sex life. Yet Bush
can make war on the entire world, invade any sovereign country
he feels like, kill thousands of innocent people, spit upon the
constitution and shred the bill of rights and in the process
turn the entire planet against us. Amazingly, there is nary a
word of dissent spoke of it in the corporate media. How peculiar
but typically American, in the land of OZ. Aside from other fascist
states, this odd behavior occurs nowhere else on earth. The American
media is so under the control of those in power that it has utterly
abandoned its obligation to the people; it is essentially as
fraudulently propagandistic as any state owned newspaper in the
world's most oppressive self appointed regimes. What is most
amazing about this weird behavior is that Bush is getting away
with it; and calling himself a Christian in the process!
If the Bush regime were held up to the
same standard of investigation as the Clinton administration
was, the entire bunch of thugs, Bozos and thieves wouldn't last
another day in office. They would scatter like mosquitoes at
a frog convention.
As Americans, each of us bears some responsibility
for this weird charade; this dog and pony show that sailed into
Washington on yachts full of PAC money. The world is watching
with bemused laughter our incredible national imbecility. So
Wave your flags self-righteous citizens; March to patriotic music;
feel strong and proud that we routed those fierce disarmed Iraqis.
Ever since our defeat in Viet Nam, like the typical school yard
bully, America picks its fights very carefully. We fight only
the weak and disarmed so that we can feel strong and mighty.
But remember, the emperor has no clothes. The rest of the world
sees us as we really are. Moreover, deep down inside we know
what we are too.
Charles Sullivan
is a veteran wild forest activist, writer and cabinetmaker who
resides on twenty acres of land in the rural countryside of West
Virginia.
He can be reached at: cesullivan@stargate.net
Weekend
Edition Features
Patrick
Cockburn
Dead on the Fourth of July
Frederick
Douglass
What is Freedom to a Slave?
Martha
Honey
Bush and Africa: Racism, Exploitation
and Neglect
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Rat in the Grain: Amstutz and
the Looting of Iraqi Agriculture
Standard
Schaefer
Rule by Fed: Anyone But Greenspan in 2004
Lenni Brenner
Jefferson is for Today
Elaine
Cassel
Fucking Furious on the Fourth
Ben Tripp
How Free Are We?
Wayne
Madsen
A Sad Independence Day
John Stanton
Happy Birthday, America! 227 Years of War
Jim
Lobe
Bush's Surreal AIDS Appointment
John Blair
Return to Marble Hill: Indiana's Rusting Nuke
Lisa
Walsh Thomas
Heavy Reckoning at Qaim
David Vest
Wake Up and Smell the Dynamite
Adam
Engel
Queer as Grass
Poets'
Basement
Christian, Witherup, Albert & St. Clair
Website
of the Weekend
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