January 5, 2007
by James Rothenberg

The January 3 issue of the Wall St. Journal featured an op-ed piece entitled, "What the Congress Can Do for America". The writer? George W. Bush. At the bottom of the piece it notes, "Mr. Bush is the president of the United States." Heady. OK, so we know that George didn't write it. It was written for him. Still, it's likely he read it and signed off on it, and so we can speak to it as if he did actually mean it.

I will state some of the more self-serving thoughts in this piece and refute each as I do, in case Congress can't do it for America.

"I believe that when America is willing to use her influence abroad, the American people are safer and the world is more secure."

"Influence" is an interesting word choice here. It covers all sorts of nasty possibilities, including what neutral observers might describe as brute force. "Influence" of the kind practiced by Bush/Cheney renders the American people less safe and the world more insecure, that is in the opinion of those unaffected by the daily onslaught of US propaganda.

"When our nation was attacked, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the Patriot Act and reform our intelligence agencies."

Our nation was not attacked, contrary to what both political parties claim. It was a terrorist action, one the public knows too little about, thanks in part to the 9/11 commission. The magnitude of the action does not change its essential nature. If our country is ever really attacked, in the conventional armed invasion sense of the word, doubtless we will be able to distinguish it from an isolated terrorist act, a distinction with which the Iraqi people are intimately familiar.

"Our priorities begin with defeating the terrorists who killed thousands of innocent Americans on September 11, 2001--and who are working hard to attack us again. These terrorists are part of a broader extremist movement that is now doing everything it can to defeat us in Iraq. "

It's comforting to know where our priorities are. Still smoking out the terrorists even as the movement has broadened to Iraq, once antithetical to al Queda.

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"But we can help Iraq defeat the extremists inside and outside of Iraq--and we can help provide the necessary breathing space for this young government to meet its responsibilities. If democracy fails and the extremists prevail in Iraq, America's enemies will be stronger, more lethal, and emboldened by our defeat. Leaders in both parties understand the stakes in this struggle. We now have the opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus to fight and win the war."

Remember why we were taken to war? This war we're still fighting? We were in imminent danger from Iraq, now a budding "young government"  whose breathing space is through a life-support tube labeled "US/UK privatization", and leaders in both parties certainly do understand these stakes.

"By balancing the budget through pro-growth economic policies and spending restraint, we are better positioned to tackle the longer term fiscal challenge facing our country: reforming entitlements--Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid--so future generations can benefit from these vital programs without bankrupting our country."

So it's Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that need reform lest we bankrupt our country. Substitute the Iraq War for those three historically successful programs - its "reform" could save future generations even more than the one to two trillion dollars this war could potentially cost - it could save the nation's heart and soul.

"The strength of our economy also requires us to address some of the biggest issues facing the American people--greater energy security, comprehensive immigration reform, and affordable health care. While progress has been made in each of these areas, we must do more."

Yes, we must do more. We must begin. "Greater energy security" is why we invaded Iraq, though this falls short of a direct confession by the president. You can't have "affordable" health care when tens of millions of Americans don't have a dollar to spare, this in the richest country in the world - rich in millionaires and billionaires, poor in spirit. Immigration reform is doing great. Tens of thousands of Iraqis are said to be fleeing their country each month, an estimated 1.8 million already. Until recently the Bush/Cheney administration had planned to resettle just 500 Iraqis this year. How much more reform can you get?

"And we will show our enemies that the open debate they believe is a fatal weakness is the great strength that has allowed democracies to flourish and succeed."

Our own dear leaders believe open debate is a fatal weakness. They hypocritically claim the opposite. What has allowed our democracy, so far as we have one, to flourish and succeed has not been granted by our government but won from it. At times in our country's past, from tiny beginnings, people's movements have sprung up to demand from their government what are now some of our most cherished freedoms - abolishment of slavery, workers rights, women's rights, voting rights, civil rights - not granted from above but won from below through popular resistance. And speaking of resistance, to quote the president, we must do more.

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James Rothenberg [send him email] is a writer and activist.