Seriously, what does it take for some Americans to realize how completely incompetant and outright callous this administration is?
What is truly amazing to me is that even with this administration's track record of failure and incompetance, a huge portion of American's don't seen to get it, or don't seem to care.
On this administration's watch:
* We had the worst terrorist attack on American soil ever.
* Our brave firefighters and policemen were knowingly lied to about the air quality at the World Trade Center site.
* We went into Afghanistan and removed the Taliban. They are now back, and opium levels are at a new high.
* We went into Iraq on false pretenses and removed a dictator who not only posed no threat to us, but acted as a counterbalance to Iran.
* Iraq has descended into civil war.
* Over 2,700 soldiers have been killed in Iraq.
* We tortured Iraqi's at Abu Gharaib.
* We ran secret prisons across Europe.
* We performed extraordinary rendition, shipping people to other countries where they could be tortured.
* We have held "terrorist suspects" at Gauntanamo Bay for years with no charges and no trials.
* He is Jonesing to attack Iran in yet another war we don't need.
* The city of New Orleans was flooded, destroying large portions of it. FEMA response was ineffective.
* The number of people living in poverty has increased every year.
* The real working wage (post-inflation) for the average worker has decreased, meaning you are effectively making less now than you did in 2000.
* The number of people without health insurance has gone up.
* Bush has tried to dismantle the social security system, and plans to try to do so again in 2007.
* It is now much harder for the average citizen to declare bankruptcy (to get out from the weight of crushing medical bills, for example).
* The new Medicare system is worse than the old one, and drug expenses have gone up.
* The national debt has increased significantly.
* Scientific information has been intentionally falsified or altered to support Administration beliefs.
* There has been a record of voting fraud, especially with electronic voting machines. Every single instance of this has gone against Democrats.
* Gas prices have hit record highs.
* Policies have been enacted that significantly reduce your privacy rights (eg. the Patriot Act).
What else has to happen in order for the average American to realize that this administration is not only incompetant, but dangerous, and that their policies are threatening to the lower and middle class?
How has "God, Guns, and Gays" become so persuasive in our society as to make people vote against their best interests when the failures of this administration are so obvious?
Is this a failure of religion? Are churches leveraging the ignorance of their "flock" to increase their own power? Are they convincing people that America would be better off as a theocracy?
Is this a failure of the media? Is the media abdicating their responsibility to provide hard-hitting, factual, unbiased stories? It seems like every story these days consists of "here are the facts that reflect badly on this administration", but ended with "here is the administrations fabricated rebuttal that makes no reference to any sort of factual evidence supporting their position, but rather just points out that any accusers are liars or traitors".
Is this a failure of American pop-culture? Has anti-intellectualism and edutainment taken such a hold on us that we are incapable of processing reality any longer? Have we become so self-absorbed in our day to day activities that we've forgotten how to see the big picture?
Is this a failure of ourselves to hold both ourselves and each other to high moral standards and take personal responsibility for our actions? Have we become so scandal fatigued that we've forgotten how to care? Forgotten how to make a difference on a personal level?
What, exactly, is going on here? Because all I really know for sure is that I am tired of being ashamed of my government, my president, and a large portion of my fellow Americans who have somehow forgotten about both the American dream and the foundations that once made America great.
What is it going to take to get through to these people? How many more Americans have to die or suffer before we collectively rediscover our compassion?