KANYE WEST GOT IT WRONG.
The recent statement by Kanye West, that "Bush doesn't care about black people", was born of a furor that we all share, after seeing what we have, down in New Orleans, over the past two weeks. However, like all that results from furor, it is limited in vision, and comprehension of the bigger picture.
Bush, indeed, doesn't care about black people- but he also doesn't care about white people. He doesn't care about asian people, arabic people, indigenous people of any stripe, or any other race. He doesn't care about the servicemen and women he sent to Iraq- whatever their race. He doesn't care about the millions who have slipped into poverty, since he took office- whether they be black, white, or whatever.
Bush, quite frankly, couldn't be bothered to wipe his ass on anyone who doesn't make less than $200,000 a year, and then, only if they're republicans. One might also say that he reserves his care for massive corporations which, even though they exist on paper, hold all of the benefits, and none of the liabilities, of "personhood".
Just thot I'd point that out...
In recent weeks, the opposition to Bush has been rightfully, and understandably focused on the utter failure of Bush's policies, on the homeland front.
However, the past few weeks in Iraq, have been equally damning- contrary to Cheney's assertion that the Iraqi resistance was in it's "last throes", carbombings and attacks have increased in both frequency and deadliness, in recent days. While US and "coalition" troops continue to die, to prop up a weak government that has recently bolstered itself by issuing a constitution that would make the late Khomeini proud, Bush surrogates continue to preach a "stay the course" policy, which is utterly at odds with reality.
It's only a matter of time, before full civil war breaks out. One might think that the neocons would see this as a challenge to their strategy, but they doggedly continue their rhetoric, saying that "this is only a phase," en route to a golden future. This line of thinking would be funny, if it were not so deadly. They're determined to fight, until the last drop of other people's blood is spilled, and none remains.
Bush's "relief and rebuilding" plan for the gulf coast, beyond being the traditional "dollar late and a day short" policy that earmarks the republican agenda, is abominable.
I'll tell you, straight up: when I watched Jesus Jr's speech, the other day, I spent half the time screaming at the TV, and the other half, weeping in disgust. Yeah- Bush made a lot of positive noises. If one might, for one second, ignore the fact that every word that has ever issued out of his mouth has been just that- words- one might get the impression that he came to a personal epiphany, after suddenly realizing that there are actually poor people in this country, and felt the need to address the myriad problems that "small government" conservatism has inflicted upon us all.
But- Bill Maher put it best: Bush, in making this speech, was like the abusive husband, who, after a five-year frenzy of drunken wife-beating, tries to make good, by presenting the victim of his abuse with a bouquet of flowers, expecting that this half-hearted gesture will make everything right.
And what a bouquet it is- 200 billion of defecit spending, a vast majority of which will be shuttled to religious organizations (I hear the Scientologists have descended on New Orleans with a vengeance), and no-bid contracts for Halliburton, KBR, and other corporate republican contributors. It almost brings a tear to the eye- this generosity (actually, it makes me want to puke, more than cry- but that's neither here nor there.)
The real disgrace? Where this money is coming from- it's common knowledge that Bush has pretty much ruined our economy, and turned Clinton's record surplus into a defecit that boggles the mind. Where will Bush find the money to shuttle towards this massive reconstruction effort?
Repealing the tax cuts to the richest 2% that he's shuttled through the congress in recent years? Dream on. The rich weren't asked to sacrifice one penny, while we bankrupted ourselves with the war in Iraq, and they can rest easy, between their silk sheets, that they won't have to pay one cent more, in taxes, in the difficult fiscal times ahead. Being rich, after all, is such a great burden- why should a single millionaire be asked to give up one more cent of their hard-won stock dividend earnings, simply because some poor people drowned? To think otherwise would be positively marxist, dont'cha know?
So- the question remains- where will this money come from? Here's a hint- the republican-controlled congress is due to pass a bill that cuts funding to Medicaid (a government program that is often the last resort for the millions of impoverished and needy, for healthcare) by 13 billion dollars.
Yep- the Bush bowl will use this disaster, as an excuse to cut back or eliminate the few remaining public programs that aid the most disadvantaged in our society. In addition- look for Amtrak to be either eliminated, or privatized. Goodbye to funding to the arts, education, AFDC, public broadcasting, AmeriCorps- watch, in coming weeks, as the religious right rejoices as the last taxpayer funds are pulled from planned parenthood (and watch them further rejoice, as the Roberts court repeals Roe Vs Wade, early next session- but that's another subject entirely.)
I am willing to tentatively predict that Jesus Jr, and his cohorts in congress will actually forego the permanent abolition of the estate tax, in the wake of recent events- a small concession that will inevitably be hailed by the corporate media as a "brave and bold policy change."
Our country is already bankrupt, and so far in the red that (again), it will take generations of democratic presidents and congresses to fix it. What we're looking at now, is the permanent destruction of the middle class, the permanent abandonment of the poor, and the permanent formalization of a naked plutocracy.
This is a cynical, heartless "relief effort" that makes one think that all judgement has fled, and that there is no hope.
And ya know- that's precisely what the Bush bowl wants us to think.
They want us to give up. They want us to see this heartless fiscal boot descend upon the last few glimmers of hope in this country, and just throw up our hands, and surrender. They want us to be cynical- even more cynical than they are. They want us to assume that because they choose to ignore the will of the people, that will means nothing.
Screw that...
We can sit, and lament this horrific administration, this callous disregard, this sick abandonment of the promise that our nation once stood for. We can just throw up our hands, and say that we can't do anything, because these bastards hold all the reigns of power, and we're but lowly citizens.
Screw that.
We can mope about, and ask "Where are our Martin Luther Kings, our Sojourner Truths, our Waclav Havels, our Nelson Mandellas, our Gandhis?", and sit on our asses, waiting for them to appear, or:
We can take a look in the mirror, and realize that we are the ones we have been waiting for.
Yes- you- YOU- are the solution. YOU are the one who can make a change. YOU are the spark that will light a fire whose fierce light will dispell the darkness that engulfs our nation, and banish the spectres of greed, ignorance, and provincialism that have held sway, for far too long.
Again- YOU are the solution- get off your collective asses, and make it happen.
Yeah, yeah- I know- you don't have much time- you don't own a car- you live in a solidly red state- you don't know how. Sorry- those are weak excuses.
When I was in College, a debate was sponsored by the university I attended, between a white South African landowner, and a black South African ANC activist (apartheid was still extant, in those days), and I remember, to this day, the black activist describing how his mother walked a ten-mile round trip, daily, for over a year, to ensure that he'd be able to get proper education, so that her son would be able to rise above the squalor of the township that he had been born into. Every day, she had to expose herself to the groping full-body searches of the guards that controlled the checkpoints that led out of the barbed-wire enclosure that she and thousands of other "bantus" were forced to live within. She walked this distance, and suffered this indignity, every day, for one hope- that maybe, through this herculean effort, better things would come.
She fought this indignity, this oppression, this injustice, and won.
Let me ask you- if one, illiterate woman, living in a nation that officially decalared people of her color as "inferior", was able to make this effort, for nothing more than a dream of better things to come, why can't you do the same? Why can't all of us?
YOU have the power to stem this tide- YOU have the power to take this country back.
People routinely ask me: "What can I do? I want things to change for the better, but where do I sign up? Where can I go?"
Dennis Kucinich had the best answer for this:
"You've answered your own question- you reached out to me- keep reaching out- Reach out to your friends, your family, your co-workers, and community of faith. More likely than not, they are every bit as concerned about how things are going, as you are- build networks- build coalitions- make change, in your own life- be an example, encourage others, and be the change you want to see."
Each and every one of you is an inspiration, a movement, a hope, and a promise, waiting to happen- embrace your destinies, and let us, together, stem this blood-dimmed tide. Some might say it is far too late- I, for one, say that it is never too late. Redemption lies within us all.
BUSH EXCEEDS THE WORLD'S RECORD FOR THE NUMBER OF FECES THAT HAVE EVER FLOWED FORTH FROM A HUMAN MOUTH, PREVIOUSLY HELD BY REAGAN..
Didja like that show, tonight, America? Gone are the crowds of adoring GIs- tonight, Bush strode, alone, towards the microphone, in 2005's version of the infamous flight suit- a wal-mart worker's shirt, fresh from the plastic wrap, with the sleeves rolled carefully into place, by his handlers, assuring the sheeple that he's ruff, tuff, and ready to "git to work!"
PLEASE, please, please, people. This was another last-ditch effort by Rove, to salvage his charge, and it just doesn't sell...
Bush's words, tonight, were, well- words. Time and time again, we have learned, through painful experience, that not a single word uttered by this son of a bitch can by taken, at face value, other than as a textbook example of "hypocrisy."