Breaking Down Bush

On November 11, 2005 (Veteran's Day), Bush gave a highly politicized speech that described in full the beliefs of the terrorists and answered that crucial question, "Why do we fight?", at least according to his bull-shit full mind.  Unlike most of his speeches, though, not every word of this one is a lie.  In fact, with just a little retooling, you'll see that Bush is for the first time telling the truth, but it's the truth about himself, not the terrorists.

"The radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted charities, which direct money to terrorist activity. They are strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of radical, intolerant versions of Islam into unstable parts of the world. The militants are aided as well by elements of the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, that feed conspiracy theories, and speak of a so-called American 'war on Islam.'"

-Front Operations:  Anyone know where the money from those "Support Our Troops" magnets goes?  Would anyone be surprised if it went to the RNC?  -People spreading radical, intolerant versions of religion into unstable parts of the world?  Why certainly, Christian evangelists would never do such a thing!  Ann Coulter definitely didn't say that we should convert all Muslims to Christianity, or kill them if they refused.  -A news media that incites hatred and  promotes a war on Islam?  We don't have that here?

"Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions in Iraq -- claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals."

- Bush added, 'but those people are just fucking nuts.  The people that are killing American troops now probably would have traveled across the world and picked them off even if we hadn't gone into Iraq.  Hell, killing those Iraqis' friends and brothers probably made them happier, not angry.'

"We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world."

-I'm sure the kids in Asia that make shoes for half a cent an day are really happy that American capitalism has freed them.  Certainly there's nothing radical about an economic system that has to grow to survive.  And I'll bet American imperialism doesn't "intimidate the world," otherwise Bush would be a hypocrite!  But he's not, so it's cool.

"Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, "what is good for them and what is not." And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers. He assures them that this road - that this is the road to paradise - though he never offers to go along for the ride."

-I can't think of anything Bush has ever done that can be considered "elitist." Nope, not one thing. Thank God Bush is so different from bin Laden, who "grew up in wealth and privilege," and thank God our president has never tried to tell us what is good for us.  He's so different from bin Laden, because when Bush starts a war, he definitely goes "along for the ride."  I mean, here's a picture of him in a flight suit.  That's proof.

"Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for human life."

- I guess the troops aren't "innocent individuals," because they're definitely being sacrificed for Bush's political vision and Cheney's stock prices.  And, on the subject of "cold-blooded contempt for human life," I'm trying to remember which former governor set a record for state executions.  What was his name?  I remember it started with a B...

"Defeating the militant network is difficult, because it thrives, like a parasite, on the suffering and frustration of others. The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization, in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution. They exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting them through radical mosques as pawns of terror."

- Capitalism thrives "like a parasite" on the exploitation of the worker class, on their suffering and frustration.  But we're different, because we definitely didn't try to blame other nations (like France) when we lost our sense of security, and we definitely didn't solve that problem with violence.  Iraq was more of a friendly confrontation than a violent war.  But in order to fight that confrontation, we needed disillusioned young men and women, who we recruited through radical churches as pawns of imperialism.

"Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies. In truth, they have endless ambitions of imperial domination - and they wish to make everyone powerless, except themselves. They seek to end dissent in every form, to control every aspect of life, to rule the soul itself. While promising a future of justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing a future of oppression and misery."

- Which of these does Bush not do? Pursue totalitarian aims?  Pretend to be a powerless underdog?  When the Republicans tried to destroy the filibuster, were they not trying to "make everyone powerless except themselves?" Didn't the USA PATRIOT include a gag order that ended dissent?  Doesn't a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage control every aspect of life?  Doesn't Bush promise justice and holiness, and set us up for "a future of oppression and misery?"

"It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a mosque."

-No contest here. I think whoever did this is a total coward.  But guess who did it?  (I'll give you a hint...it wasn't the terrorists.)

"And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom - by distrusting human creativity and punishing change and limiting the contributions of half a population -- this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible, and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants'  vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past - a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself. And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt. Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation and decline and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future."

Ways the Bush administration has tried to move backwards in time:

-Intelligent Design -Abstinence as a contraceptive -Black people as second citizens - Censorship of PBS

Ways the Bush administration looks to the future:

-Weapons

"The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we've ever faced, unconstrained by any notion of our common humanity or by the rules of warfare."

- Rules like the Geneva Conventions, which ban torture and which, subsequently, we broke.

"The time has come for responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles a noble faith."

- You heard it from Bush: using religion for political gains is wrong.

"Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision - and they end up alienating decent people across the globe."

- Little known fact: The US is the most loved nation in the world because of all the people it doesn't kill!

"Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure - until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent -- until the day that free men and women defeat them."

- Finally, something we agree on.  I'm not looking forward to society's collapse from corruption and decay, but I wouldn't mind  seeing the day that free men and women defeat the tyrant at home.

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