Dubya, you're BUSTED

In the four years of Dubya's Conflagration, there has been a steady stream of people who have come forth to warn us:  Dubya is a liar with an agenda, and that agenda is not what's best for America. 

The list contains persons from various professions, political parties, and walks of life.  There are former CEOs, military leaders and soldiers, intelligence professionals, public service bureaucrats, and career diplomats.  Many have been activists in the Republican Party, and many have distinguished, long records of service that span the terms of presidents from both major parties.

When I examined these individual stories, I tried to see if there was any common thread that ties them together.  What do these stories tell us in the context of the words and deeds of the Conflagration and the nature of our contemporary political world?  Are these whistleblowers telling us something as a group, is their collective message bigger than the sum of its parts?

I believe that when you read these stories you will reach the same conclusions that I have.  The individual cases are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and when you put them together and step back a bit, you will see a very, very disturbing picture.  The picture that emerges is dark, indeed.  It shows the beholder an administration steeped in greed and self-preservation.  Policies are determined by expediency, payback, and ideology and then minions are sent out to gather "facts" to support the decisions.  The rewards for such obedient service are obscured, but the penalties for disobedience are clear:  severance from the Dubya Conflagration is often abrupt, painful, and very visible in the press.  The Spin Machine kicks into high gear, and the corporation media are all too willing to run with any juicy tidbits of mud the White House throws at those departing in disfavor.

From Richard Clarke and Sibel Edmonds we learn how Dubya fumbled the handoff that may have prevented 9/11.  From  Anthony Zinni and William Odom we see how political ideology affected military preparations and have left us in another Vietnam quagmire.  Paul O'Neill and Karen Kwiatkowski tell us how the IrakAttak was planned well before 9/11, right from the beginning days of this failed presidency.  Eric Shaeffer shows us how the EPA has been virtually castrated by the political money machine of the coal-fired power industry.  From Ray McGovern, Greg Theilmann,  and Joe Wilson we learn how the nation's intelligence was perverted and distorted to fit into Dubya's rationale to attack Iraq no matter what... and Joe's wife Valerie Plame paid the price when he publicly refuted Dubya's famous 16 lying words about yellowcake from Niger.  John Dilulio provides something near comic relief by exposing Dubya's Faith-Based Initiative for the unabashed handout it provides to the religious wacko right wing of the GOP.

As you read these stories, consider the consequences our nation has suffered because of the foul misdeeds and incompetence these whistleblowers reported.   Our nation's armed forces are weakened, our reputation as leader of the Free World is sullied, our environment is deteriorating at an alarming rate, and American interests at home and around the world have never been in more danger from terrorists.  The cost of the Iraq misadventure continues to climb, both financially and in human suffering.  At this writing we are rapidly approaching 1000 dead Americans and thousands more wounded, while violence spins out of control and Dubya's fractured fantasy of "full sovereignty" handover on July 1st seems more and more remote.

Thanks for nothing, Dubya.

Update December 2004:  the GI death toll is nearly 1300, Iraq is spinning out of control, and the prospect of fair and meaningful elections in January is rapidly slipping away.

Update May 2007:  the GI death toll is 3355, Iraq is out of control, the January 2005 elections empowered a puppet government, the Bush Administration has been shown to have committed impeachable offenses regarding Iraq, and there is no end in sight.  In other words, more of the same.