The Said and Done of It
Why is there no huge public outcry about the barefaced and repeated disconnects between what our leaders say and what they do?
What was said: After Katrina, President Bush pledged to rebuild New Orleans.
What was done: Two years later the only part of the levee system that the Army Corps of Engineers has secured, to the tune of $1 billion, is in the wealthy parts of town that were not decimated by Katrina. In the low lying poor areas where the devastation occurred, nothing has been done. Now: President Bush is going back to the Gulf Coast for the two year anniversary of Katrina. You can bet your bottom dollar this photo-op will feature a select group of locals that does not include anyone from the 9th Ward.
What was said: President Bush patted himself on the back proclaiming that economic deregulation was creating an “ownership society” and the supposed-to-be-watchdog Congress twiddled their collective thumbs.
What was done: The lending industry made money hand over fist making subprime loans that turned the economic foundation of the housing market to quicksand. In the past year more than a million homeowners sank in that quicksand and millions more are teetering on the edge. Now: Everyone is shocked, horrified, and finger pointing. How did this happen! And of course there is the inevitable discussion about a taxpayer bail out… not for the homeowners, for the lending industry…the S&L fiasco all over again.
What was said : When he was inaugurated, George W. Bush said, “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.“ In his second inaugural address he said, “On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution.”
At his swearing-in as Vice President, Richard B Cheney said, “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
What was done: A partial list of what they have done is in the August 1, issue of The Washington Spectator: “The willful manipulation of intelligence to justify a war in Iraq; the decision to violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and wiretap American citizens; the outing of a covert CIA official and the subsequent cover-up that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald describes as “a cloud over the vice president”; the use of torture in violation of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, under which both Cheney and Bush could be charged and tried by any of the 194 countries that are signatories to the conventions, meet and exceed the constitutional “high crimes and misdemeanors” standard…” Now: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced a resolution to impeach Dick Cheney who continues to threaten world peace by his attempts to provoke the Iranians with threats of military action. There is no limit to the damage Cheney can do given another seventeen months in office.
If ever there was a time for people to step up and speak out, it is now.
Comments
Trish, what can one say? It's a puzzlement. Our government seems not to be our government. Are they really so inept, or are they totally dishonest? And to what end?
It really boggles the mind, does it not? It reminds me of a movie called "They Live." It's a story of an alien race that walks on our planet, as us. They look, act, and talk like humans, but they are really not, and their purpose is to eventually take over the planet, and change the atmosphere to match the one from their home planet.
Far fetched, of course, but what strikes me is the similar lack of empathy and compassion for suffering and the human condition. I find it difficult to believe that many in our present government really have any empathy or compassion for human suffering. Is it possible they only care about money? And how much money is enough? Is it sufficient to have money for this lifetime, or for the next and the next after that? Can these people really be so incompetent, inept and just plain stupid, or is there another goal? Its so sad that we enter the 21st Century with a general mentality that people are less significant than things.
Our present Administration, and by extension Congress and perhaps the Supreme Court, seem to believe they are accountable for nothing. So what they say or promise, and what they deliver are not necessarily in the least related, as you so eloquently point out.
Day by day it feels as if the USA is sinking lower and lower towards a status of a third world nation. What I question, is whether it's an accident of incompetence or part of a plan? What say you?
Sorry if I'm sounding a bit outworldish tonight, but I just finished a blog about the chronic and incessant Republican sex scandals, and it just kind of creates a numbness of mind.
Posted by: Stephen | August 29, 2007 12:36 AM
Yes, I think it is possible that our slipping toward third world nation status could be part of a plan. Of course you realize that smacks of a “conspiracy theory” – heaven forbid! After all, the powers that be have gone to great pains to pooh pooh the very idea of conspiracy. (It doesn’t seem to bother them that conspiracies abound throughout recorded history.) A great way of killing suspicion before it even comes up.
There are some wealthy people who have a real social conscience and do a lot of good with their money. But there are also the very wealthy who care only about themselves and are willing to manipulate our country for their own benefit. If you look at the third world nations, the very wealthy live just as they please, are unaffected by the conditions of the poor – in fact profit from their condition, are not bound by any laws that force them to share their wealth, and have no restrictions on their business practices.
The snag in all this is that wealth is based on commerce and the U.S. is the world’s largest market. Unless they intend to have some other country develop into their prosperous market as we slip into poverty, then they are shooting themselves in the foot. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time they did that since wealth and intelligence are not always synonymous.
The “tools” they use - our esteemed politicians, the sheep like masses, and the greedy non-thinkers - to complete this plan will suddenly find themselves on the wrong end of the money stream. By that time it will be too late for them to do anything about it.
Or… the whole thing could just be unforeseen consequences of giving too much power to too many incompetents for too long.
Posted by: Trish | August 29, 2007 05:40 PM
Nicely said Trish!
I especially like the reminder that "wealth and intelligence are not always synonymous. Amen to that. We can add that wealth and compassion, and certainly empathy, are not mutually inclusive either.
You would think that those with so much would enjoy being able to help others in need. As you said, there are those that do, and I take my hat off to them. I've always thought it would very joyous to be able to help out others, by simply giving them what was needed when they find themselves in a bind. (And this does not imply living their lives for them, just giving a helping hand at a critical time.)
I recall many years ago when at a sale's convention in NYC, I was in a relatively large glass-partitioned room filled with pay phones. I was on a phone at one end, and witnessed a homeless person at the other side of the room systematically checking the coin change slots in each phone. I slipped a dollar bill in the coin change slot on my phone as I was leaving. I chuckled as I viewed this person from afar, finding paper money in such a place. My only regret, in looking back, is that I had not stuck a ten or a twenty in that slot.
Remember the show "The Millionaire," where each week an agent of an extremely wealthy philanthropist, gave away a million dollars to some poor person or family in need each week? I always thought what a wonderful job that would be.
It puzzles me that so many with so much, are such cheap, self-serving and greedy poor excuses for human beings. Not only do they seem ungrateful for what they have, and so many others do not, but even though many of them profess to be "good Christians" and attend church each week , they don't seem to believe in the judgment of Saint Peter at those Pearly Gates. If so, they might quickly rethink some of their attitudes towards charity, forebearance and mercy.
One of my favorite quotes is from the very popular "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. -- "But you were always a good man of business, Jacob"..."Business!" cried the ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business."
What a concept? Oh the evils of liberalism!
Posted by: Stephen | August 29, 2007 08:59 PM