Why America Feels Like it's Been Ruled by a Foreign Occupier
As Obama takes over the wreckage this country is in, one can't help but feel like something alien to America has been controlling it these past eight years. The wave of emotion that has erupted with the election of Barack Obama reminds me of the Allied victory in France in WWII. After a long foreign occupation in which foreign German interests occupied the agenda of France, French governance would once again be representing the concerns of it's populace. That hope seems to pervade America after it's long neocons occupation. Here are a few of the parallels that I see.
- American Public Opinion Has Been Ignored
Polling has consistently shown that the American government pursues an agenda far to the right of American public opinion. For the slight margin of victory that Bush had in both elections he won, the sweeping changes he pursued illuminate his disregard for the sizable chunk of our society that disagree with him.
When Dick Cheney was questioned on ABC about whether the fact that two thirds of Americans were opposed to the Iraq War had any influence on decision-making, he basically said that the American people get to make their input every four years and after that they can be ignored. The government is there to represent the people and now that it seems like that is returning; joy is understandable.
- Core American Values Overturned
America fought a revolution to have its opinions represented by it's government. That has faded in Bush's term. America set up the UN after World War II to set up international law and put an end to military aggression and imperialism. That went out the window. Habeas Corpus was inherited from England where it originated in the 12th Century. Bush in that sense has embraced the morals of the middle ages. Along that line, America reinstituted the use of torture. England discontinued its use in the 1600's Frederick the Great ended it in Prussia in 1740, Italy in 1786, France in 1789, and Russia in 1801. Besides moral reasons, the practice was written off as ineffective in terms of yielding useful information. This administrations moral conduct is clearly alien to the values of most Americans.
- Basic Infrastructure Neglected
Bridges, roads, and environmental standards have degraded these past eight years. What could be of more interest to a population than the upkeep of these vital elements of society? Clearly the vital interests of the population did not matter. You would have to be completely foreign to what America is not to see it, as basic infrastructure degraded tremendously in Bush's tenure.
- National Resources Diverted Overseas
If you study any foreign occupation, one common thread would be that national wealth would be diverted into foreign lands. While American healthcare, education, and infrastructure languished, we dumped billions of dollars into Iraq and pursued an otherwise aggressive and destructive foreign policy across the world at large at tremendous cost.
On top of that, national debt doubled the past eight years. It's like America lost a war, suffered an occupation and had to pay a 5 trillion dollar indemnity. We're in a similar position to France in 1870 or Germany in 1919 in that our common interests have been ignored, we've pursued an aggressive foreign policy to our own detriment and we are now deeply in debt.
- Propaganda Tuned Up
Bush took the stance of a foreign occupier in his governance- rational argument would never win the minds and hearts of the masses so crude propaganda such as Fox News was trotted out to scare and paralyze America into obedience. The same quest for obedience through misinformation and crude scare tactics are the same you see in the totalitarian governments from South America to Asia that have brought nothing but misery to their own people and the world at large.
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(How to say this politely?) There was a solid block of Americans that polls suggest stuck with Bush no matter what he did -- no matter what. At one time I would have said that there was just something **uniquely** wrong with this particular block of red staters. I see that I was wrong, wrong, wrong.
It is amazing to me how I can be looking at Obama -- his actions, voting record and choice of cabinet -- and yet so many of his supporters appear to be seeing someone completely different. Amazing! No matter how Bush-like Obama is over the next four years there will be a solid block of blue staters that will support him no matter what.
You say that like its a bad thing
Please, just go away. Naw, keep the money.....
tm
The last 8 years are enough to put any progressive on the therapist's couch for a very long time. I think it is important to read articles like this one and evaluate the psychological damage that has been inflicted by a needless war, having our privacy invaded, being propagandized, losing out homes, jobs and 401k investments, having our treasury looted etc. There are countless victims of this criminal administra
It's not progressives who need psychiatric help. We're the ones who remained sane throughout the entire ordeal. It's the conservatroids who went off the deep end and abandoned any vestige or reason and sanity to dwell in fear and hatred.
... AND THE PARTING SHOT - THE REALLY BIG PARDON
http://pac
Stories just don’t get much better than this, but the Presidential pardon has to be abolished.
Americans have only themselves to blame for Bush and the mess he made. Who voted him into office? Who gave him the power? TWICE? The American people did. They are not the victims here folks, they are just as much to blame for the mess we are in as Bush is. They believed Bush's lies, they were duped by his propaganda, they supported his war, and they are just as responsible as Bush is. If America goes down in flames, don't just blame Bush, blame the people who put him into power (not me, thank God).
The American people never elected B*sh. The elections were rigged.
Of course, millions of deluded people voted for these criminals. There's something very wrong with the political culture when someone as extreme as B*sh/Cheney can somehow get more than single-digit popular support. I any other country, the Republicans would be a fringe right-wing extremist movement, incapable of getting more than a handful of votes. It's incredible that incompetents and criminals can get nearly half the vote. it shows that something is basically wrong with the country's politics.
One even gets the feeling Bush with conscience, awareness and intent drove the country into the ground....
There is no way a consciencious individual would not have changed courses years ago, recognizing the harm his foreign and domestic policies were causing...
He had to have been aware of the destructio
This blog explains exactly the way I have been feeling for a long time-and three weeks later, I am still ecstatic that Obama won and our country is going to be tuened over to the "good guys" again. I have been so ashamed of our country for the last eight years, and now I am very proud that America did not listen to the lies of the left, and could not be fooled again. Now there is a chance to reverse some of the incomprehensible damage done by the Bush administration in the last eight years. This year- for Thanksgiving, lets all be thankful that we now have a chance to turn things around.
Sure nice that America is soon to be free of the Foreign Occupiers.
Wonderful informative well-written article. Horrah for the awakening Media, and especially Adrianna's 'Huff and Puff' -- my 87 and 91 year old parents love love love you. Americans need and thank you.
WARNING to bloggers: George isn't over yet; check out what he and his are trying to do to our environment before they leave office.
4 more years of the same 'leadership' would have led to truthful and intelligently written articles like this one being banned and all contributors of Huffpost being put under surveillance
So.....You
You can be sure that every word written here is being scrutinized.
It feels as if America has been ruled by a foreign power because it has. In George W. Bush we had the first president shaped by the convictions of the Confederacy. He shares those warmed-over feudal values: top-down governance; patron-client relationships; concern for wealth (the ownership of resources -- king cotton, king oil) rather than mere money; attention to preserving the wealthiest castes, because otherwise we would be lost without them. Given his basic presuppositions, from which he did not waver, his Presidency was a success. And we will all be paying the price for a long time to come.
Bush does not and has not EVER cared about the people of this country. His main objective was to put himself in the history books and make his friends wealthy. So he's achieved this but to what end? He will go down in history as the worst president ever. Congratulations, Bushie! You did it. Are you happy now?
After reading many of these well written and thought provoking posts I am starting to realise that the Republican voters have no real understanding of what is and has been going on in our country and moreover in our elected government.
We all know, I mean, many of us know, that Bush did not get the majority of votes in 2000. In 2004 he got a narrow majority; he called it a mandate to do whatever HE thought was right.
The majority of those voting for him were, as we now know, mostly non-college educated, fundamantalist chistian, antichoice, antifeminist, proFoxNews, pro End of Times, etc.
Fortunately in this years election most of the above listed voted for McCain. The people who really care about us as people, and care about our great country and future voted for Obama.
Agree with 99% of postings (although much too soft on the "Bush Crime Syndicate") A statement by Nefertiti ".. has an excellent educational system" is outrageous,and would be funny if it were not outright pathetic!!!! We are becoming a nation of imbeciles!! One of the lowest literacy rates in the industrialized world,and rushing headlong into an abyss of mindless pap!! Here in the "Great" state of Florida,graduating a little more than 50% of of the secondary school population (they'll tell you 81%,however they are only using entry figures for 12th grade which then graduate) So..we wind up up with a basically ignorant voting public, which not so suprisingly are constantly duped by the likes of the cabal which is now leaving office....
Education and clear thinking are important issues, but chanting a mindless slogan, even if it's spelled correctly, would be part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Slogans are only mindless if you let them be. Chants are actually very effective. Remember the little engine that could? I think I can. I think I can.
All to true. I absolutely agree and I'll go one further ;READ, READ, READ, and question everything.
Bye-bye to the Bush-Cheney co-dictatorship and good bleepin' riddance!!!
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