Can truth, justice and logic prevail? - Tom McGarry

How an entire populace can elect a person to the most powerful position in the entire world (not once, but twice) who has publicly referred to people from Greece as “Grecians” troubles me. When I see the President of the United States holding hands with his good friend and business partner, his Highness Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, I am angered.

Try as I might not to be bigoted, I cannot help but remember that the only reason Saudi Arabia has even addressed the issue of terrorism in passing is because the Saudi regime has experienced bombings within its own borders—to the Saudi government it’s one thing to murder infidels who probably deserved it, but entirely another thing to destabilize the Saudi Royal Family. To President Bush, “business is business.”

We Democrats have developed some kind of a complex. Under President Clinton, we had eight years of relative peace and record prosperity even with a Republican Congress. Despite the fact that President Clinton was in fact one of the greatest Presidents in modern times, he will be remembered for lying about having oral sex in the Oval Office by someone other than his wife (another great leader).

On the other hand many Americans think that Ronald Reagan was so great he should have his mug carved into Mount Rushmore. Under Ronald Reagan, we became a much more cruel and insensitive nation. He reduced poverty by simply raising the income level at which citizens were considered “impoverished.” I always wondered how the Republicans could live with themselves by endorsing such a cynical and artificial gesture. But, then, that’s what Republicanism is all about. Reagan attacked labor on every front—remember the Air Traffic controllers? He wreaked havoc with the environment and mortgaged the future of our great nation to bring more wealth to the wealthy. The public as a whole fell for it hook, line and sinker. People were just as hungry under Ronald Reagan, but Ronald Reagan’s tough talk made us “feel good” and his strategy legitimized the concept of “instant gratification” at the highest levels. By sweeping social problems under the rug and buying weapons (at inflated prices—remember the $600 toilet seats?), we wouldn’t have to deal with the issues now. Since Ronald Reagan’s Presidency, it’s all about individualism and amassing personal fortune at the expense of anyone and everyone. Is that Patriotism?

Am I the only American who is troubled by the corporate practice of incorporating in foreign countries to avoid paying their fair share of taxes while running public relations television ads with flags flying in the background telling us how proud they are to be American? The Republican Congress has made it nearly impossible for an individual with overwhelming medical bills to seek relief in the Bankruptcy Courts, but has made it easier for huge corporations to liquidate and eliminate pension funds in Bankruptcy. Now, the same Republican thieves and cutthroats want to “reform” Social Security! We invaded a sovereign nation based upon falsified data because the President had a personal vendetta against its leader (a bastard to be sure, but you don’t invade sovereign countries because of it). Almost two thousand young Americans have died and thousands more permanently maimed because of the lie. Isn’t that an impeachable offense? I guess not.

Maybe Democrats are like me. They are beginning to see the futility in the fight. How can truth, justice and logic prevail against wealth, power and Madison Avenue spin masters who have convinced Americans that they don’t need education, they don’t need leadership, the poor people in this country are poor because of their own actions, that our domestic problems should be solved by building more prisons, and our foreign problems be solved via alienating historic friends and invading countries with whom the President has a personal vendetta, etc.? Am I the one who is out of step?

Tom McGarry