The View from the Meadow

Observations of the Passing Scene

Political and Social Commentary by Dave Satre

Europeans Question America

It would appear that most Europeans, and probably the rest of the world, are concerned with the current trends in the US. Bush has got them worried, it’s not just the fact that we elected GW Bush and then re-elected him, but the apparent influence of hard-right Christians in America and the massive corruption and squandering of government funds in Washington as well as the war in Iraq. When America is viewed from their perspective it is not difficult to understand their concerns.

The extremist conservative Christian movement is nothing new, this is a historical battle that has gone on for thousands of years all over the globe, but under Bush they have made great strides in this country. Hopefully, with the rejection of the Republican party in the 2006 elections, the movement has peaked in America, at least for a while, and sanity will reign once again.

Actually, Bush & Co employed a fascist tactic, used successfully by the Nazis, in which they secured the support of the largest religious group possible. In this case, the faith-based, non-thinking, ultra conservative, born-again Christians, who are exceedingly susceptible to manipulation. They will blindly follow their leaders and would walk off a cliff for them.

The Republicans thought they could count on a solid 46 percent of the total vote because their greedy and corrupt religious leaders tell these people how to vote and make sure they get to the polls. The Regime promised them what they wanted to hear – but they are now learning that Bush and Company will lie and say anything to win elections. It has nothing to do with their real plans.

But, this time the uncommitted center of the voting block woke up, saw what was happening and threw a bunch of Republicans out of office. This means Bush has lost his edge and is now a true lame duck – not just a lame president. He has lost control of The Hill and this means he can no longer cram his agenda through Congress. He has lost favor with all but the hard right and many less-conservative republicans voted against the party. Hopefully it will mean his legacy will be one of disgrace. I don't think we can hope for an impeachment, but the man certainly deserves it.

I was close to delirious on Wed. Nov. 8th, the day after the election. It was the first time I've actually felt politically optimistic in six years. Thank goodness. It's such a good feeling! We had a good dose of it while Clinton was in office and many of us remember Kennedy, but it’s been a long time ……….

It will now be up to the Democrats to get organized and move this country back in the right direction. I don't hold out a whole lot of hope. They have no real leaders and organizing them would be a lot like trying to get a flock of turkeys to march in step.

We'll see.

The debt culture being pushed by the Republicans has been tried before, especially during the Reagan administration. It only worked for the rich. They got fabulously wealthy and the poor got poorer. Surprise, surprise. Under Reagan they pushed this as their Trickle Down Theory, in which they had the audacity to claim giving more money to the rich would enable them to spend more money and this will eventually benefit the masses. I call it the Piddle on the Peons theory.

The real concept is to spend as much government money as they can, channeling it into their friends' and business partners' pockets in the process. When Reagan went into the White House the United States was the world's richest nation. They increased the national debt enormously and when he left office we were the world's greatest debtors. The economy tanked and the nation's children were told it would take them generations to pay off this humungous debt. That's the reason we threw Bush the Elder out of office. He and Reagan did the same sorts of things the current administration is now doing.

Thank goodness Clinton took over the White House. He proved them wrong and turned the $292 billion legacy deficit handed him from Bush 41 and turned it into a $236 billion surplus. He also started reducing the national debt, not increasing it.

When Clinton handed the budget surplus over to GW Bush he almost immediately squandered it and plunged the country into a debt of a $422 billion within four years. He's also raised the national debt four times in his six years of office and you can expect another increase in the near future because it's reaching the limit once again. The current $8.6 trillion debt is the highest in history and is increasing at over $2 billion per day.

The Republicans lie to their conservative base by claiming to be for lower taxes and smaller government. But, what they really mean is lower taxes for the ultra rich and cutting back spending on the sort of federal programs the people really need -- like health care, better schools and infrastructure improvements.

While they continually call the opposition Tax and Spend Democrats, this is just another one of their deceptive slogans. The Republicans are the worst spenders in the nation's history. They claim to be cutting spending while they are squandering more than ever on the military industry. Iraq is the biggest government trough going right now. Cheney's Halliburton and Bechtel are raking in billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq. The reports claiming billions of dollars have simply disappeared under these contracts are horrendous examples of the current corruption in Washington.

Iraq is all about oil and military spending. It's a big part of The Regime's plan to take control of the world's oil and energy. Bush's family and friends are all in the oil business as well as the military industry. The plan is to channel as much government money as possible into their cronies' pockets. Pushing Democracy in Iraq is just an excuse to cover up Bush’s stupidity in starting the war in Iraq.

It is no wonder that Europeans and the rest of the world no longer trust America.