Threats, Promises and Lies, by Paul Krugman, 25 Feb 03 NYT

Krugman has been one of the few voices in the traditonal mainstream press who has consistently criticized the Bush Junta's actions without pulling his punches out of deference to our presumed duty to rally around the president and flag during wartime.

What most people are missing is that Bush and his posse have a personal agenda for the world which is as parochial ad it is venal - namely, to increase the welath and power of a handful of energy barons and right wing zealots - who are as comfortable living in a Cayman Island tax haven as they are in Texas - while destroying the ability of succeeding generations to use the federal or any goverment for any purpose other than the advancement of empire by military means. The right-wingers among them have been more than happy to combine its goal for Amercian world hegemony with the Bush family's goal of locking up the worldwide energy sources for the profit of the few (and certainly not the benefit of Americans as a whole, since energy prices have been skyrockerting thanks to Enron and Chevron and the energy cartel)

Check out the Bushies "Mein Kampf" published before the 2000 election:

http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

It matters little to Bush and his handlers that America's reputation is trashed in the process or nuclear proliferation is unleashed or terrorism increases by a factor of 100 just as long as his cronies are enriched in the process.

For an excellent account of how the Bush family in its entirety has worked tirelessly to bend the machinery of goverment to serve its own ends check out the following link:

http://prorev.com/bush2.htm

Bush and the current Republican party (which was hijacked by the superwealthy, corporate class, religious fundamentalist, right wingers and bigots long ago) will say and do literally anything to seize and stay in power.  It always amazes me that the American population at large doesn't catch onto their duplicity quicker.  The Bible belt support Republicans overwhelmingly on social issues even while Bush's economic policies throw hundreds of thousands of them out of work or puts thousands of small businesses and farms out of business via their strong bias toward the big business and the rich. How entire states can continue to put Republicans in office election after election as the economy and freedoms American's purport to love are being eviscerated I'll never know.

Part of the problem is those who are most screwed by Republican policies are the least likely to vote.  The best way we can begin to counter the advantage Republicans have in most-likely-to-vote demographics is to begin changing that demographic to favor those most affected by government policy.  And the easiest way to do this is to ensure that we encourage our kids to register to vote as soon as they turn 18, and to vote in every election.

Something has to be done, and soon, since at the rate we're going it will take a decade or more to undo the damage Dubya and his cronies are doing to our country's world reputation, or Constitution, our economy, and our government.