Truth Be Told...

I am glad that at a time when most are discussing America's exit from Iraq (sort of), somebody stops and looks at the reason(s) that got us there in the first place. Those reasons were as fickle as they were false. What we didn't find there, the thousands of Iraqi victims, and the current state of political and social instability also go to show us that the war was in vain. Those dead did die in vain; they died in the hands of leaders who, led by their own reasons, sent thousands of them to fight a useless, unnecessary, unpopular, destructive war.

Revisionism is a Republican philosophy of life. Sadly, many Americans buy into it time after time. Good thing Rachel Maddow is around to shed some light where light is due, and give credit where credit is due.

Bonus clip:

Trimming the Bush

The younger Bush is well on his way to becoming a hallowed figure in conservative circles, much like Reagan—the president who expanded government more than anybody since FDR and more than his three predecessors combined—is today. It is the purpose of the well-oiled (double entendre is quite intentional) to portray him as a true conservative who improved everything from taxes and the budget to international relations. Everyone with an ounce of functioning brain knows he did nothing of the sort. On the contrary, his tax cuts were detrimental to the economy itself and, of course, the budget; and the international relations can be summarized in one word: Iraq.

Paul Krugman's latest op-ed in The New York Times says this much better, but is worth reiterating how, time after time, Republicans and conservatives in general come back with a rewriting history or a re-polishing of figures in order to, then, shape the future of politics and return to power and keep doing just the same thing that required the polishing in the first place.

A Picture is Worth A 'Lost Decade'

Thank you, George W. Bush and coterie, for this wonderful mess you created for us.

And in your face supporters of the latter's economic policies.

(Found via Think Progress)

The Unequal States of America

Do not take this to mean that I am for redistribution of wealth, but news of the inequalities made possible by the Bush years in terms of wealth and income in the United States are a sobering reminder of the kind of taxation and regulation under Republicans that led to a deeper and darker chasm between economic classes in the U.S., and also to the recession we are still fighting.

The New York Times reports that the rich are finally beginning to feel the consequences of a recession. Not surprisingly, the lower-income brackets are usually the first to suffer, for lack of a cushioning mattress of money, if you will.

The Nation analyzes the numbers a little and informs us that during the expansion of the Bush years was only an expansion for the very, very wealthy, whereas the rest of us not only lingered, but lagged behind and actually lost money.

Fear and Loathing in Bushland

Tom Ridge, Homeland Security secretary during the George W. Bush administration, has given more credence to the mounting allegations that Bush and his officials attempted and successfully managed to sway public political opinion through the use of pollitically motivated fear tactics on the nation.

According to The New York Times and other sources in the media, Ridge claims in his upcoming book that, shortly before the 2004 presidential election, he was asked by the administration to raise the threat level because of a newly emerged video of Osama Bin Laden. What is unusual about this? Two things: (1) the fact that videos had not necessarily constituted grounds for an increase in the threat level until then; and (2) the strong coincidence of this increased threat level with the imminent presidential elections at the time, and the breaking of the virtual tie between Bush and Kerry that had existed in the polls up to that time.

Paul Krugmans thinks this should not come as a surprise to any of us.