Kevin, Hopefully you know that when people say "Bush", they usually mean his administration? That certainly was the case here.
I don't hate Bush. I don't think he is evil. (Cheney, though, very well could be evil. I think some of the things he advocates he KNOWS are wrong, but does not care.). I don;t think his administration is evil. I do think that many of them are giving away the store to clients and friends, things that they don't really have the right (or shouldn't) to give away. I think that some are using this adminstration to rape and steal all they can from whoever they can , and are getting away with it. Here are a couple of questions for you: Do you think that the Bush administration holds the rights of individual (read poor) citizens as equal to or more important than those of corporations? Do you not see a determined trend during the last 8 years to give corporations every advantage? Not that previous administrations had our collective good in mind at all times, but there has been a significant trend over my lifetime, and it has picked up renewed vigor during this administration, to take rights away from individuals and cede them to corporations. I don't see corporations as evil. I see them as they were originally envisioned, "corporate" or living beings that have their own interests and personalities and reasons for doing things. Unfortunately, these corporations have a lot more "weight" in the world than an individual. More money, more political clout, more opportunity to do great good or great ill. The one thing the government is for, in my opinion, is to keep people playing nice together. To keep the little guy from being trampled, either accidentally or purposefully. When one person or group stops playing nice, usually the only remedy is government and/or courts (since shotguns are typically frowned upon as mediation tools). The shift recently has been to indemnify corporations against any consequences for their actions, and to remove the ability for the "common man" to have a say in what the government and the corporations are doing to us. This has never been more true than during this administration. From the FCC to the EPA to the Congress passing laws to the Interior giving rights away to friends to the lobbyist scandals to the courts being stacked with pro-business judges to the Justice Department weighing in on the side of business over individuals time and again. Can you give me ONE example in the last 5 years of any Bush administration official or appointee doing one thing in support of individual rights over the rights of a corporation? Again, I am not against corporations. I am actual against ridiculous lawsuits, and many class-actions. I am also against large payments to lawyers for these settlements. That just encourages them. But I don't believe that all business is good, that the market should be entirely free (or that it should be entirely free except for monopolies and anyone eating at the public trough.) On 1/20/06, Kevin Schmidt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Welcome to the world of dreamland... > > Why is everything Bush's fault Jerry? > > Here's a good piece from the WSJ describing you to a T! > > Many of my friends ask me why I criticize President Bush, when they feel he > is trying very hard to protect America and stand up for the American > people," writes one Patricia Bruch of Amherst, N.Y., in the Buffalo News: > > It makes me nervous that the president ignores Congress so often. > Everything makes me nervous lately. I dread turning on the news or reading > the paper. I certainly don't feel safer because of his war on terror. > > I guess my mother says it best. Whenever the president comes on TV, she > sighs and says, "I just wish he wasn't there." > > Me, too. My friends may think he loves America, and he probably does, > but I will continue to criticize him because my life under Bush has become > very stressful, to say the least. > > This is not an angry piece; the tone is quite civil, and Bruch actually > offers some specific criticisms of the Bush administration that are at least > plausible. It sounds as though one could have a reasonable, adult > conversation about politics with her. > > And yet. The piece does capture, in a milder form, something of the > psychology of the Angry Left. Bruch doesn't seem to hate the president, but > her distaste for him is, in her description, something of an unhealthy > obsession: "Everything makes me feel nervous lately." > > We witnessed a far more severe case the other day. An old lady was standing > at a bus stop, wearing a button that said YES, I REALLY DO HATE GEORGE W. > BUSH. Another old lady walked up to her and said, "Right on!" The first old > lady replied, "Well, at least I still have the right to wear this button." > The tone in which she said this suggested not that she recognized her good > fortune at living in a free country, even if she doesn't care for its > current leadership, but that she fears that her freedom to wear obnoxious > buttons is in danger. This is a totally irrational fear. > > Whatever the merits of the underlying political viewpoints, people who feel > nervous about politics all the time or who are consumed with hate are > suffering from a certain lack of perspective. There is no reason to think > that those on the political left are inherently more prone to this sort of > problem. Richard Hofstadter's "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" was, > after all, largely an essay about the American right circa 1964. As we > suggested Tuesday, this seems to be one of the hazards of being out of power > politically. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jerry Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 9:31 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Verizon, WTF > > Michael, welcome to the world of the new republic. > > In Bush and his supporters' dreams, citizens have no rights, > businesses have all the rights, and the courts will be stacked so that > any case will be decided for business over government over people (if > indeed the law even gives you the right to sue anymore. congress is > passing more and more laws to make businesses and the government > immune to any lawsuit whatsever.) > > Not that the top Democrats are much better, but at the moment anything > is better than the "business is always right" mantra of the current > administration. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:193489 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
