Perrspectives - Bringing light to Darkness

Spinning in Their Graves

October 27, 2004

President Bush, in his latest cynical act of political whoredom, is pursuing swing state Democratic voters by invoking the heroic words of Democrat heroes past, and finding John Kerry wanting in comparison:
"The party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy is rightly remembered for confidence and resolve in times of war and in hours of crisis. Senator Kerry has turned his back on 'pay any price' and 'bear any burden."
Well, Mr. President, I knew the words of FDR, Truman, and JFK, and you're no wartime leader:
FDR: "We Have Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself."
Contrast the rhetoric of George Bush and Dick Cheney with FDR's inspirational words:
"The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us - biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans...That's the ultimate threat. For us to have a strategy that's capable of defeating that threat, you've got to get your mind around that concept...I don't think there's any evidence to support the proposition that he [Kerry] would, in fact, do it."
Truman: "The Buck Stops Here."
The man from the Show Me state famously took credit and blame for the policies of his administration and for its successes and failures. President Bush, on the other hand, has showed his cowardice and pettiness throughout his presidency. As his pathetic April 13 press conference and St. Louis debate performance revealed, George W. Bush cannot admit error or accept accountability:

  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for Iraq WMD?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for Abu Ghraib?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for poor war planning and underestimating needed troop levels?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for outing CIA agent Valerie Plame as payback to her husband?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for the record budget deficit?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for the fraudulent Medicare budget numbers presented to Congress?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for his smearing of John McCain?
  • Did the buck stop at Bush's desk for virtually anything else?
  • JFK: "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You..." and "Pay Any Price"
    George W. Bush clearly believes otherwise. Wartime deficits are not unusual. Cutting taxes during war is almost unheard of. During WWII, tax rates were dramatically increased, with the highest marginal rate reaching 91% by 1945. The contrast with the behavior of war president George W. Bush could not be more stark. Far from increasing taxes to raise the revenue needed to prosecute the war against terror, Bush proceeded without hesitation to implement his $1.6 trillion tax plan from the 2000 campaign. His cuts initiated major upward income redistribution to the wealthiest Americans, with the top 1% taking over 40% of all the benefits.
    In 1961, JFK told Americans fighting the Cold War to "pay any price." George W. Bush after 9/11?
    "Fly and enjoy America's great destination spots. Get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life."


    About

    Jon Perr
    Jon Perr is a technology marketing consultant and product strategist who writes about American politics and public policy.

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