DOES AMERICA NEED A PRESIDENT?

Since the year 2000 I have followed two world events very closely. There was the moment when Sharon invaded Temple Mount and the Palestinian Intifada began and there was also the election of George Bush. I hailed both events at the time, events which are strangely related, then watched in horror as they both began to unravel.

Leaving the Palestinians issue for another time, since the election of Bush there are two things I'm certain of: Australia should never become a republic and America should get rid of the Executive Branch as fast as possible. Bush has exposed the tragic weaknesses of a republic for the whole world to see.

Firstly, prior to his election, he presented himself as being someone that he's not (not unusual for a politician). For example, he seemed to be reasonably intelligent man of the world who had served his country. He even had a Masters Degree from a (once?) prestigious University. He spoke forcefully, the constant errors in his language and cognitive processes for some reason not all that evident. Gradually the truth about him began to dribble out.

Now, if you read the Bushisms in my sidebar, they reveal much about his erratic, incoherent thought processes. As for being a man of the world, he didn't even know that much of the world existed. He obviously thought that America was the world, had never travelled and knew absolutely nothing about history. As for serving his country, he turned up missing when it came time to go to Vietnam yet he attacked and denigrated Kerry, a decorated war hero, when he came up against him during his re-election bid. What hypocrisy!

I still remember the debates with Gore and the smiling, self-assured Bush promising to govern for all the people. As his presidency unfolded, he clearly governed primarily for the rich, for the corporations, for the religious fundamentalists, for the Zionists, for the media barons, for those who would make America an Empire which controls the world by force. Oh, I forgot, he governs for God too, a shadowy entity that George talks to and who George mistakenly thinks he is an emissary of.

Came 9/11 and Bush for a short period looked like a statesman albeit one who, deep down inside, was looking for someone to attack, someone who he would make pay for attacking America, someone that would elevate him, he who avoided military service, into the status of 'Commander'. Bush was a man who didn't have the wit to understand that America had created many enemies over many years because of its legion of disastrous foreign policy decisions, its hot and cold support for people like Saddam and Bin Laden, its military expansion all over the world, its organizing of coups, etc.

As the war drums began to beat the lies began, the deceptions, the propaganda based on the Axis of Evil and Weapons of Mass Destruction, the fiasco of Powell at the U.N. with his charts, etc. Afghanistan was first cab off the rank. It was followed by Iraq. But neither venture went as well as the incompetent planners and neocons had hoped and today both countries are hotbeds of terrorism despite the massive military force which America has exerted. Then Katrina came along and exposed Bush's incompetency in yet another area to say nothing of the parade of failed officials he'd appointed who came and went like April showers.

And now, using his seemingly unlimited powers as Commander in Chief, Bush has usurped the legitimately elected Democratic Congress and Senate and, despite all the waffle about impeachment, has further escalated the war in Iraq and is happily skipping hand in hand with Israel down a crooked path towards a nuclear attack on Iran, a doomed project which may well end the world.

America in 2007 has massive debt, its people have had many of their rights taken away, they have to get permission to march, they are spied upon by their government agencies, their soldiers are forced to do more and more terms in war zones despite the casualties, the American dollar is under siege, the real estate bubble is about to burst, etc, etc.

America would make a gigantic step forward if it immediately got rid of Bush and the complete Executive Branch forever. It would then make further progress if it completely eradicated all influence by Big Business, Billionaires and carping lobby groups on its Parliamentarians (who should be means-tested and excluded if they are too wealthy).

That done, some sanity might once again prevail in our world! And, as a byproduct, the case for making Australia a Republic would cease forever!

Amen to that!

P.S. Hat Tip to Sam Gail for the great photo!

P.S.S. This article has been published on The Peoples Voice.