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Title: COMPASSIONATE SOCIALISM: The Ideology Of George W. Bush
Source:
The Intellectual Activist
URL Source: http://none
Published: Oct 1, 1999
Author: By Andrew Lewis
Post Date: 2005-10-29 00:27:57 by Uncle Bill
Keywords: COMPASSIONATE, SOCIALISM:, Ideology
Views: 595
Comments: 17
The Intellectual Activist BEFORE THE PRIMARY RACE HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN, George W. Bush has been all but anointed as the Republican presidential candidate for 2000. His greatest source of appeal seems to be his reputation as a “moderate” and as a political pragmatist—which, the Republicans have concluded, is more popular than the more ideological “revolutionaries.” But Bush’s reputation as a pragmatist merely serves as useful camouflage for his deeper philosophical premises. His campaign platform of “compassionate conservatism” is more than the inevitable culmination of decades of Republican compromise with the Democrats; it is the explicit adoption by a conservative of the fundamental principles of socialism. Examine the premises smuggled into the title of the platform. Prosperity, Bush tells us, needs a purpose. “Conservatism” –which allegedly represents Capitalism—is practical, but lacks moral feeling. This is half true. Capitalism is the rational, practical system, and although it does have an underlying moral premise, that premise is not feelings, but justice. To Bush, however, the justice and practicality of capitalism are not a sufficient basis for a political system; they must be tempered by “compassion,” which is allegedly a feature of socialism. “Compassion,” in this view, is the exact opposite of justice; it is the idea that one must give to others, not as a choice to recognize the deserving, but as a duty to reward the undeserving. He says: “Compassion” is the euphemism Bush uses to enshrine altruism—enforced or otherwise—as this country’s moral code. “Compassionate conservatism,” the, is no mere compromise, but the official attempt to subordinate advocacy of the free market to advocacy of altruism. In practice, today’s conservatives and “compassionate” liberals are not separated by any profound gap. The two sides have always shared a basic agreement on essential values. Liberals, however, make no attempt to hide their socialism. Their cherished programs—universal health care, Social Security, and welfare programs, to name but a few—are all promoted in the name of collective responsibility and service to the needy. Today’s conservatives officially reject socialism, yet their commitment to religion and thus to the morality of altruism has led them consistently to betray their nominal commitment to the free market. Pragmatism and a lack of “political will” do not explain the Republicans’ repeated embrace of liberal policies, such as maintaining a welfare “safety net,” “saving” Social Security, supporting antitrust enforcement, promoting the volunteerism summit (which Bush’s father co-sponsored), and so on. Rather, it is the moral conviction and strength of political will they have found in adopting a more religious agenda that has brought them closer to the socialists’ program. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the ideological odyssey of Marvin Olasky, the “godfather” of compassionate conservatism and one of Bush’s leading advisors. Olasky, an evangelical Christian and ordained elder of his own church, founded New Start, a “faith-based” welfare-to-work program that is the model for Bush’s “armies of compassion.” Born a Jew, he renounced religion within a year of his bar mitzvah, then joined the communist party during the Vietnam War. While writing a thesis that began as a defense of the Reds allegedly persecuted by Hollywood, he reverted to religion—this time to Christianity. According to a recent interview, the conversion began when Olasky wondered whether Lenin might have been wrong about God’s existence. In 1989, he began researching charity organizations and the lack of religious instruction in welfare programs. His book, The Tragedy of American Compassion, trumpeting the need for religion as the basis of welfare, was published in 1992. William Bennett, former Secretary of Education, called it the “most important book on welfare and social policy in a decade,” and Newt Gingrich distributed copies to all incoming Republican freshmen, declaring that Olasky and Alexis de Tocqueville provided the cornerstones of Republican philosophy. Bush met Olasky during his 1993 gubernatorial campaign, and in 1995 he recruited Olasky for a task force that promoted religious drug-treatment centers, prison ministries, and religious day-care centers. Olasky is now Bush’s unofficial conscience and philosophical guide. Olasky’s series of conversions puzzles many, much as Fidel Castro’s enthusiastic welcome of the Pope mystified many last year. But an examination of their shared principles solves the mystery. The long war of words between religion and communism has always been superficial. It amounts to Olasky’s single objection to Lenin: the existence of God. Olasky’s dispute with Lenin was not “Suppose he was wrong about sacrifice and duty?” or “Suppose he was wrong about individual rights?” or “Suppose he was wrong about faith and the limits of reason?” Merely, “Suppose he was wrong about God?” In essence, religion and socialism agree on a single axiom; your life is not your own. That is the premise on which Bush bases his “compassion.” His “armies of compassion”—squads of semi-private volunteers who would allegedly replace government welfare, sacrificing themselves for the needy—descend directly from his father’s and President Clinton’s volunteerism summit. And notwithstanding those “armies,” Bush avowedly advocates the maintenance of all aspects of the current welfare state, especially Social Security and Medicare. But don’t forget that Bush’s compassion is “conservative”—and accordingly there is additional assault on freedom that he supports: the introduction of religious propaganda into state-financed welfare programs. Questioned recently about the dangers of merging church and state, Olasky cited the apparent success of his New Start program and said, “Are you willing to put up with these religious practices that you feel very uncomfortable with?...Or would you rather end those practices and see more assaults, rapes, drug use, and homicides?” Individual rights and the safeguards established in the Constitution mean nothing to Olasky—nor to Bush—if the “public good” is at stake. To regard Bush as a mere pragmatist is dangerously superficial. In fact, he is a ideologue. His ideology is a more consistent version of faith and altruism that would move the Republican Party even further away from the principle of individual rights. George W. Bush - Traitor to the Constitution - Worldnetdaily George W. Bush's Big Socialist Accomplishments BUSH - Spending the U.S. into Socialism - Insight Magazine Bush's skip down Socialism Lane - 15 year-old gets it Surge Of Socialism Under George W. Bush George Bush's Move to the Left - Socialism in America Bush administration land grab in the name of Green socialism Compassionate Conservatism Means Big Government Conservatism - "October 20, 1999" No to 'compassionate conservatism' It left me feeling empty. ..Marvin Olasky, the former Marxist journalism professor who coined the term. But he and George W. Bush are barking up the wrong tree if they think "compassionate conservatism" is going to rally popular support necessary to effect the real change needed to turn this country around." WALKS LIKE A DUCK; TALKS LIKE A DUCK George W. Bush - The Case for Impeachment - High crimes and misdemeanors Bush and God Bush’s “Third Way” Communitarianism is the “Worst Way” BUSH: MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS WORSHIP THE SAME GOD! I'LL TAKE THE WORD OF GOD OVER THE WORD OF G.W. BUSH Evangelical outrage over Bush's 'same God' remark Bush's Coming Betrayal of the Evangelicals Why Christians Should Not Vote for George W. Bush Polls / Re-election If Just One Or Two Percent Of Previous Bush Voters Simply Stay Home On November 2, Bush Will Lose Bush Is Losing: Kerry Ahead Of Bush In 13 of the 16 Battleground States - Wall Street Journal Washington Times - Bush Is In Big Trouble - Polls Show He Will Lose Bush Headed In Right Direction - Down Does A GOP Implosion Await? - [Real Conservative Consensus - Bush Sucks] Boycott Socialist Bush In 2004 Bush Is In Trouble, Big Trouble Kerry Is Winning - John LeBoutillier, Newsmax Bush Losing Electoral College Scoreboard: Kerry Picks Up Ohio, Leads 316-222 Writing On Wall For Another One-Term Bush When Bush Loses In November, He Will Have No One To Blame But Himself POLL FINDS MOST ARE PUT OFF BY BUSH VACATION WHY KERRY WILL WIN - By Joseph Farah President Kerry? - By Joseph Farah LATEST ZOGBY NUMBERS: KERRY STILL AHEAD - Kerry 47% - Bush 44% POLLS SHOW KERRY AHEAD ON ELECTORAL VOTE 64% - BUSH MORE TO BLAME FOR NOT PREVENTING THE 911 ATTACKS POLL: 80% OF CANADIANS DISLIKE BUSH POLL: INDEPENDENTS MOVING AWAY FROM BUSH - Only 45% approve of Bush GOP Frets About Bush Re-Election Chances BUSH DROPS AGAIN IN NEWSWEEK POLL - ONLY 44% WANT BUSH RE-ELECTED Bush Disapproval Rating on Iraq Exceeds 54% in Poll AG TARGETING JUDGE MOORE IS BUSH NOMINEE BILL PRYOR'S SHOCKING COMMENTS DURING ROY MOORE'S "TRIAL" AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ENDING JUDICIAL TYRANNY: DON'T COUNT ON THE REPUBLICANS SUPPORT FOR BUSH DOWN IN LATEST POLLS - Has Fallen From 80% to 42% Bush's approval rating drops three points Dick Morris: Bush Approval Rating in 'Free Fall' Bush losing his conservative base KEY GOP VOTERS TO REJECT BUSH IN '04 Conservative groups break with Republican leadership Say anything, who would know? The Bush Betrayal - Chapter One Bush and GOP Socialism GEORGE W. BUSH - THE BIGGEST SPENDING SOCIALIST EVER Betrayed By Bush - "The Republican Party Has Signed Off On Economic Treason." Socialist Bush Team Keeps Conservative Agenda In Check - The Washington Times George W. Bush's Never Ending Socialism WHAT SHOULD REAGANITES DO NOW? U.S. Advisers Call for Health Insurance for All - BushCare Coming FROM DAWN TO DECADE -NCE : Big Government Socialist Bush/Republicans George F. Will: President Bush Has Turned Conservatism On Its Head, Infuriating Many Supporters Bush Administration Embraces Welfare State Fighting Our Way To Big Government Contact White House To Remove The Bush Lie From White House Website U.S. Sues 3 Businesses That Refuse to Withhold Taxes U.S. Economy: Budget Deficits Force Record Government Borrowing Drug Plan For Seniors Risks Replay Of 'Catastrophic' Past GEORGE W. BUSH - The Mother of All Big Spenders WHY REPUBLICANS DISGUST ME - By Joseph Farah GEORGE W. BUSH - A Bush Presidency Will Be Very Dangerous For America Immigration Isn't An Issue Says Congressional GOP Bush Open to Accepting Illegal Aliens International Socialist Conference Celebrates - They Admit Bush's Limited Government Hot Air BUSH: Clinton-style Amnesia Returns Nothing Frugal About Republicans A 'Big Government Conservatism' - Breed Socialism, Get With It! GEORGE W. BUSH - YOU'RE NO RONALD REAGAN WHERE'S THE FISCAL OUTRAGE? - BUSH AND THE GOP ARE TOTAL FRAUDS SENATE APPROVES $401.3 BILLION DEFENSE SPENDING BILL WHY I AM NOT A CONSERVATIVE - Joseph Farah REPUBLICANS REACH PRELIMINARY MEDICARE DEAL - SocialismRus WHERE ARE THE FISCAL CONSERVATIVES? A DECLARATION OF U.S. GOVERNMENT BANKRUPTCY? - Testimony of Kent Smetters - $43.4 Trillion Debt THE $44 TRILLION ABYSS - Bush Hides Findings FEDERAL SPENDING SOARS UNDER BUSH'S WATCH Federal Spending Skyrocketing Under Republicans ME TOO, PAL, ' says Bush, Hanging Up BUSH HUNG UP ON CONSERVATIVE CONGRESSMAN Republicans vow to move on judicial nominees - November 24, 2002 PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS WETLANDS ACT BUSH BETRAYAL: SMALLER GOVERNMENT Medicare expansion and the mirage of fiscal responsibility REPUBLICANS TURN EFFORTS TO THE UNINSURED - More Bush/GOP Socialism WHAT'S NEXT FOR BIG BROTHER? - Bush/GOP Treason - CFR P G & E BAILOUT PUTS BURDEN ON CONSUMERS Who Outspent Who On Global Welfare--LBJ or George Bush? "CONSERVATIVES" INTOXICATED WITH BIG GOVERNMENT Ron Paul: GOP Abandons Conservatives BUSH SAYS: "subsidize home-buyers with downpayment and closing costs." Bush budget contains $10 in new spending for every dollar in tax cuts "This farm bill will cost the average American taxpaying family $4,300 in higher taxes." Federal Taxing and Spending Benefit Some States, Leave Others Footing the Bill STATE OF THE UNION: IN JEOPARDY DRUNKEN GOP SAILORS - The Wall Street Journal Commission to Allow Insurance Cuts for Retired Employees Since the Republicans took over Congress in 1995, the budget has grown by 50% "The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest." "I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." "No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable." Freeing the Nation from Debt "I consider the fortunes of our republic as depending in an eminent degree on the extinguishment of the public debt before we engage in any war; because that done, we shall have revenue enough to improve our country in peace and defend it in war without recurring either to new taxes or loans. But if the debt should once more be swelled to a formidable size, its entire discharge will be despaired of, and we shall be committed to the English career of debt, corruption and rottenness, closing with revolution. The discharge of public debt, therefore, is vital to the destinies of our government." "There is a measure which if not taken we are undone...It is to cease borrowing money and to pay off the national debt. If this cannot be done without dismissing the army and putting the ships out of commission, haul them up high and dry and reduce the army to the lowest point at which it was ever established. There does not exist an engine so corruptive of the government and so demoralizing of the nation as a public debt. It will bring on us more ruin at home than all the enemies from abroad against whom this army and navy are to protect us." "To preserve the independence of the people, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses, and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes, have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account, but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow- sufferers." "No earthly consideration could induce my consent to contract such a debt as England has by her wars for commerce, to reduce our citizens by taxes to such wretchedness, as that laboring sixteen of the twenty-four hours, they are still unable to afford themselves bread, or barely to earn as much oatmeal or potatoes as will keep soul and body together. And all this to feed the avidity of a few millionary merchants and to keep up one thousand ships of war for the protection of their commercial speculations." "Our distance from the wars of Europe, and our disposition to take no part in them, will, we hope, enable us to keep clear of the debts which they occasion to other powers." No Mention of Fiscal Gap Estimated As High as $72 Trillion - It's All Over Lessons in how to make $43 trillion disappear HOW BIG IS THE GOVERNMENT'S DEBT? - $33.1 trillion+ $3,400,000,000,000 Of Taxpayers' Money Is Missing THE WAR ON WASTE - Rumsfeld Says 2.3 Trillion Dollars Missing The Baby Boomer's Retirement Bubble Is About to Burst? - CNSNews Bush, GOP and Abortion PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION BAN - THE BETRAYAL IS NOW COMPLETE PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION BAN - THE BETRAYAL IS NOW COMPLETE PARTIAL-BIRTH BAN OF NO EFFECT Bush and Guns GUN GROUPS MAY NOT BE BUSH CAMPAIGN WEAPON Bush will back ongoing ban on assault weapons UPSET GUN OWNERS SET TO DUMP BUSH BUSH ADMINISTRATION POLICIES PROMPT SOME GUN OWNERS TO RECOIL Bush will back ongoing ban on assault weapons Bush Snuggles Up To Homosexual Agenda Bush cheers 'gay' church after 'Marriage Week' - LINKS Bush and War on Terrorism BUSH KNEW of Terrorist Plot to Hijack US Planes " I'M 100 PERCENT SURE THEY KNEW " - BUSH - 911 A Day In The Life of George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Saudi Arabia Falluja withdrawal plan signals reversal in US policy FBI AND US SPY AGENTS SAY BUSH SPIKED BIN LADEN PROBES BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11 Republicans Want Terror Law Made Permanent Chronology Of A Cover-up: George W. Clinton FBI Failed To Use Credible Intelligence and Forewarnings To Move Against Terror Cells In Time WE LYNCHED LADY LIBERTY: He Says We’re Good Little Patriots Soldier Might Face Court Martial For Radio Comments BUSH TO IGNORE RULE ON WRITTEN NOTICES OF INTELLIGENCE ACTIONS CHINA DOLL - The FBI's "Parlor Maid" Bush Gets a 'Can Do Better' From Terror Panel Bush / Border / Illegal Aliens Bush Immigration Plan Borders On Treason BUSH AMNESTY PLAN PRODUCING HUGE INCREASE OF ILLEGAL ALIENS BORDER INVASION ABROAD, BORDER BETRAYAL AT HOME Michelle Malkin calls Bush Delusional on Fox News Show Our Immigration Policy Has Gone Beyond Reckless Immigration Plan Envisions 'Incentives' To Illegal Aliens Savage: Impeach Bush over immigration plan BUSH GIVES COUNTRY AWAY - Joseph Farah AMNESTY BY ANY OTHER NAME - Phyllis Schlafly WAVE GOODBYE TO CALIFORNIA - Alien Invasion MEXICO SAYS LEGALIZE CROSSERS OR NO DEAL Bush, backers part ways on immigration reform BASHING BUSH FROM GOP STRONGHOLD WHITE HOUSE VERIFIES IMMIGRATION REVIEW - Bush To Give Amnesty For Millions Of Illegal Aliens SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS PRESIDENT Wants to GRANT AMNESTY to 4 Million ILLEGAL Aliens MEXAMERICA HERE WE COME - Patrick J. Buchanan Border council calls Bush plan 'slap in the face' Bush Open to Accepting Illegal Aliens FOX GUARDING NARCO HEN HOUSE - George W. Bush's "friend" Home A Safe Haven For Mexican Suspects WHAT PART OF "ILLEGAL" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? INVITING CONTEMPT WITH THIS AMNESTY THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULE OF LAW FINA - Section USC 1324(a) (1) (A)(iv)(b)(iii) - Just Curious, When Does Bush Go To Prison? REAL MESSAGE OF THE BUSH AMNESTY - Pat Buchanan Bush's Immigration Package Makes Bad Policy Worse AMNESTY - We're Giving Away the Whole Enchilada! BACKERS SAY BUSH PLAN GOES BEYOND IMMIGRATION VOTE AGAINST BUSH'S AMNESTY IN YOUR STATE PRIMARY! BUSH IMMIGRATION PLAN A BAD IDEA - David Limbaugh AMNESTY MEASURE A FAILURE ON ALL FRONTS BUSH IMMIGRATION PLAN BORDERS ON TREASON U.S. DEPORTS ONLY 1% OF ILLEGAL ALIENS GOP DEFIES BILL CLINTON ON ILLEGAL ALIENS BUSH: AGENTS TOLD TO BE SILENT ON DETAILS OF BORDER PLAN Evil Never Dies; It Just Goes To Hell To Regroup - Bush Amnesty Border Authorities Fear Influx From Bush Plan AMERICANS OPPOSE INCREASE IN IMMIGRATION BUSH "AMNESTY" PLAN RAISES IMMIGRATION CONCERNS Bush immigration plan could pass Congress, aides predict Illegal Aliens Get Christmas Gift From White House - "AMNESTY" Immigration Isn't An Issue Says Congressional GOP GOP bill offers legal status to farmworkers TOM RIDGE: DO YOUR JOB OR RESIGN OR BE FIRED "I've shown that they've ruined the country and Bush should be impeached." "The plan is so disastrous to our country's well being and so fraught with potential risk to our country's security that the plan should be regarded as bordering treason!" "83 percent of Americans support mandatory detention and forfeiture of property for illegal immigrants, followed by deportation." "Conservatives are not interested in the Republican Party or a "big tent." Conservatives are interested in the country, the Constitution, limited government, personal liberty, low taxes, a strong military and national security. Conservatives believe that they are the loyal supporters who worked, voted and contributed money for Bush, yet ever since his inauguration they've seen him ignoring them and reaching out to his enemies. They think Bush cares more about pleasing his political foes than his friends. They feel taken for granted." "Beyond undermining the rule of law, this plan devalues the uniqueness of American citizenship" "Bush has a 'yes, we can't' attitude when it comes to imposing discipline on the illegal problem" "Now I know the definition of a compassionate conservative: it's a person who campaigns as a conservative, then sells out key conservative principles." "Bush claims he is "against blanket amnesty," but "blanket" is his weasel word. He apparently is for amnesty for the 8 to 12 million illegals already in this country." "Eagle Forum will not support any member of Congress who votes for this, or for amnesty in any form," "Hey, you know all those illegal aliens you risked 'life and limb´ to apprehend? FAH-GED-ABOWD- IT," Bush /Enron / Harken BAXTER DEATH LOOKS A LOT LIKE FOSTER'S Enron Probe Crosses Many Political Borders IRAQ Exposing Bush's Talking-points War - U.S. Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski Bush, Washington, D.C., Not Baghdad, Threatening Our Liberties "Our case is alleging that Bush and his puppets Rice and Cheney and Mueller and Rumsfeld and so forth, Tenet, were all involved not only in aiding and abetting and allowing 9/11 to happen but in actually ordering it to happen. Bush personally ordered it to happen. We have some very incriminating documents as well as eye-witnesses, that Bush personally ordered this event to happen in order to gain political advantage, to pursue a bogus political agenda on behalf of the neocons and their deluded thinking in the Middle East." Bush is beginning to sound desperate: President can't control news from Iraq Bush administration has used 27 rationales for war in Iraq, study says "We found the weapons of mass destruction." National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice Defends Prewar Assertions San Francisco Chronicle (Baltimore Sun) | 4 Oct 2004 | Staff What did the Bush Cabal say when he first took the office? "We are able to keep arms from him(Saddam Hussein). His military forces have not been rebuilt." "He(Saddam Hussein) has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction; he is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors." Washington -- National security adviser Condoleezza Rice defended on Sunday the emphatic statements she made in the run-up to the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein was rebuilding his nuclear weapons program, as a news report said prominent officials had voiced doubts much earlier about the evidence behind her claims. Rice acknowledged that she knew in 2002 of a dispute among intelligence officials about a central piece of evidence that she and other senior Bush administration officials were using to justify the war -- that Hussein was trying to obtain high-strength aluminum tubes to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. But she said the administration did not want to underestimate the threat of Hussein, so it took the evidence seriously. "A policy-maker cannot afford to be wrong on the short side, underestimating the ability of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein" to build a nuclear program, Rice said on ABC's "This Week." Rice was responding to a report Sunday in the New York Times that the government's pre-eminent nuclear experts had said as early as 2001 that they did not believe the aluminum tubes were part of a nuclear program, but for small artillery rockets. Vice President Dick Cheney said in a September 2002 speech that the United States had irrefutable evidence that the tubes were for Iraqi uranium centrifuges. That same week, Rice told CNN in an interview that the tubes "are only really suited for nuclear-weapons programs," adding a now-famous phrase: "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." "We found the weapons of mass destruction. .. And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." "Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons." "If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world." "The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it." "We know for a fact that there are weapons there." "Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent." "We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, and is determined to make more." "We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have." "So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? . . . I think our judgment has to be clearly not." "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." "Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes." "There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them." "I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction." "One of our top objectives is to find and destroy the WMD. There are a number of sites." "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." "Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find -- and there will be plenty." "I think you have always heard, and you continue to hear from officials, a measure of high confidence that, indeed, the weapons of mass destruction will be found." "We are learning more as we interrogate or have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them." "There are people who in large measure have information that we need . . . so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country." "We'll find them. It'll be a matter of time to do so." "I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming. We're just getting it just now." "We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country." "I'm not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam Hussein -- because he had a weapons program." "U.S. officials never expected that we were going to open garages and find weapons of mass destruction." "I just don't know whether it was all destroyed years ago -- I mean, there's no question that there were chemical weapons years ago - - whether they were destroyed right before the war, or whether they're still hidden." "Before the war, there's no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical. I expected them to be found. I still expect them to be found." "Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we're interrogating, I'm confident that we're going to find weapons of mass destruction." "They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer." "For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on." "It was a surprise to me then, it remains a surprise to me now, that we have not uncovered weapons, as you say, in some of the forward dispersal sites. Believe me, it's not for lack of trying. We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there." "But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." "You remember when [Secretary of State] Colin Powell stood up in front of the world, and he said Iraq has got laboratories, mobile labs to build biological weapons ...They're illegal. They're against the United Nations resolutions, and we've so far discovered two...And we'll find more weapons as time goes on And we'll find more weapons as time goes on." "We are going to assemble that evidence and present it properly to people, a complete picture." (Of a new intelligence dossier with fresh evidence about Iraq's illegal arsenal) "We've made sure Iraq is not going to be used as an arsenal for terrorist groups. We're going to look. We'll reveal the truth. But one thing is certain: no terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime because the Iraqi regime is no more." "We didn't just make them up one night. Those were eyewitness accounts of people who had worked in the program and knew it was going on, multiple accounts. 'Oh, it was a hydrogen-making thing for balloons. ' No, There's no question in my mind what it was designed for." "For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on." "Iraq had a weapons program. Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a weapons program. I am absolutely convinced with time we'll find out that they did have a weapons program." (From a Cabinet meeting on June 9) "The president, in saying programs, also applies that to weapons. The president had repeatedly said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that includes everything knowable up to the opening shots of the war. We still have confidence in that information. You could say Iraq continues to have weapons of mass destruction. We have confidence we're going to find them. They're still there." "We did not know at the time, maybe someone knew down in the bowels of the agency, but no one in our circles knew that there were doubts and suspicions that this might be a forgery. Of course it was information that was mistaken." (From Sunday interview) "I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons… I don't know anybody in any government or any intelligence agency who suggested that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons. That's fact number one." "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his nuclear mujahideen.... his nuclear holy warriors.. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof.... the smoking gun.... that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." "This nation acted to a threat from the dictator of Iraq. Now there are some who would like to rewrite history; revisionist historians is what I like to call them" George W. Bush - A Coward and a Liar "Iraq did not have the weapons that our intelligence believed were there," Say what? Is Bush Going Crazy? His Own Administration Officials/Aides Think So New Information Suggests Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional Bush Going Crazy, Say Bush Aides "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear." What I Have Learned From The Twentieth Century "I can no longer think of any moral reason not to "shoot the bastards." "COMPASSIONATE" SOCIALISM: The Ideology of George W. Bush 
"COMPASSIONATE" SOCIALISM: The Ideology of George W. Bush
By Andrew Lewis
Volume 13, Number 11
November 1999I have a conservative mind and a conservative heart. It is conservative to cut tax rates and compassionate to help families still left struggling. It is conservative to set education standards and hold kids to them, and it is compassionate to see that not one kid gets left behind. It is conservative to expect people on welfare to find work but compassionate to encourage charity and help those who really can’t make it.
Compassionate conservatism is about socialism
"Well, we've all witnessed the "compassionate conservative" convention.
Celebrating Bush's tax cuts is like thanking a pickpocket for returning $10 of the $100 he just stole
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson - letter to William Plumer, July 21, 1816.
George Washington, Message to the House of Representatives, December 3, 1793.
Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1809. FE 9:264.
Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1821. (*) FE 10:193.
Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. ME 15:39.
Thomas Jefferson to William H. Crawford, 1816. ME 15:29.
Thomas Jefferson to C. W. F. Dumas, 1790. ME 8:47.
Michael Savage - The Savage Nation - January 12, 2004.
Chuck Baldwin - Source
MARK STEYN - January 11, 2004 - Chicago Sun Times.
Rush Limbaugh - Source.
David Limbaugh - Source
Bill O'Reilly - Source
LAURA INGRAHAM - Source
Phyllis Schlafly - Eagle Forum President - Source
Phyllis Schlafly - Eagle Forum President - Source.
John Frecker - Vice President, National Border Patrol Council.
Stanley Hilton, attorney for 9/11 taxpayers lawsuit, former Bob Dole aide and counsel.
George W. Bush - SOURCE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/g8/interview5.html
CONDOLEEZA RICE - July, 2001.
SECRETARY POWELL - February, 2001.
George W. Bush - SOURCE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/g8/interview5.html
WMD Quotes Before & After The Invasion
Dick Cheney - August 26, 2002.
George W. Bush - September 12, 2002.
Ari Fleischer - December 2, 2002.
Ari Fleischer December 6, 2002.
Ari Fleischer January 9, 2003.
George W. Bush - January 28, 2003.
Colin Powell - February 5, 2003.
George W. Bush - February 8, 2003.
Colin Powell - March 7, 2003.
George W. Bush - March 17, 2003.
Ari Fleisher - March 21, 2003.
Gen. Tommy Franks - March 22, 2003.
Kenneth Adelman, Defense Policy Board member - March 23, 2003.
Victoria Clark, Pentagon Spokeswoman - March 22, 2003.
Donald Rumsfeld - March 30, 2003.
Robert Kagan, Neocon scholar Robert Kagan - April 9, 2003.
Ari Fleischer - April 10, 2003.
George W. Bush - April 24, 2003.
Donald Rumsfeld - April 25, 2003.
George W. Bush - May 3, 2003.
Colin Powell - May 4, 2003.
Donald Rumsfeld - May 4, 2003.
George W. Bush - May 6, 2003.
Condoleeza Rice - May 12, 2003.
Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, Commander 101st Airborne - May 13, 2003.
Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps - May 21, 2003.
Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff - May 26, 2003.
Donald Rumsfeld - May 27, 2003.
Paul Wolfowitz - May 28, 2003.
Lt. Gen. James Conway, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force - May 30, 2003.
George W. Bush - Interview with TVP Poland - May 30, 2003.
George W. Bush - Press Briefing - May 30, 2003.
Prime Minister Blair - London Daily Telegraph - June 2, 2003.
President Bush - New York Times - June 5, 2003.
Secretary Powell - Time - June 9, 2003.
Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz - Vanity Fair - July 2003
President Bush - Washington Post - June 10, 2003.
Press Secretary Fleischer - Washington Post - June 10, 2003.
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor - Los Angeles Times.
Donald Rumsfeld June 2003.
LISTEN To MP3 Clip
George W. Bush - October 2002.
LISTEN To MP3 Clip
George W. Bush - June 17, 2003. Source.
George W. Bush - October 7, 2004. Source
Marcus Tullius Cicero (42B.C)
Claire Wolfe - August 9, 2004. Source
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
#1. To: Uncle Bill (#0)
Did you know about the 500 tons of Yellow Cake found in Iraq?
Yeah.. right, lie much? OR maybe you just meant Betty Crocker has been seen in Bagdad.
"I want to apologize for spending way too much of your money, we need to get our act together. If we don’t turn it around, we’ll pay in 2006. We have tripled and quadrupled the number of earmarks on our watch. Shame on us." We're sorry we're faster spending socialists than the Democrats, but please vote for us anyway.
Too little, too late. Sorry Lindsey, I once admired you...no more.
#14. To: robin (#13)
GOP/Bush 2004 Party Platform - Limited Taxes, Limited Spending, Federal Government Should Be Limited And Restricted To The Functions Mandated By The U.S. Constitution GOP.Com | 1 Sep 2004 | By Serfdom Facilitators of the GOP http://www.gop.com/media/2004pl at form.pdf "We believe that good government is based on a system of limited taxes and spending. Furthermore, we believe that the federal government should be limited and restricted to the functions mandated by the functions of the United States Constitution. The taxation system should not be used to redistribute wealth or fund ever-increasing entitlements and social programs."
He spends too much to be one of us Los Angeles Times AS A LIFELONG conservative, I have to be honest: George W. Bush is not one of us and has never been. There can be no denying that he has enacted policies contrary to conservative principles on far too many occasions. In my view, his greatest failing has been a total lack of control over federal spending — to the point where liberal Democrat Bill Clinton's administration is looking more and more like the "good old days." According to the Office of Management and Budget, overall spending has increased from 18.4% of the gross domestic product in 2000 to 20.8% this year, an increase of 2.4%. Clinton, by contrast, reduced spending from 22.1% of GDP to 18.4% during his two terms, a reduction of 3.7%. (This is really the best way to look at spending because it holds constant things like inflation that distort dollar figures). Although much of the Bush increase is accounted for by national security and entitlements such as Medicare, the fact is that domestic discretionary spending has also risen. Education spending, for example, is up 137%, according to Brian Riedl of the conservative Heritage Foundation, and spending on community and regional development is up 342%. Moreover, Bush has repeatedly pushed for big projects, such as the manned mission to Mars that NASA can ill afford and that will come at the expense of basic science. The number of identifiable pork-barrel projects that benefit particular states and congressional districts has risen from 958 in 1996 to 13,999 in 2005, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group. Spending on such projects has risen from $12.5 billion per year to $27.3 billion. Bush, like most presidents, decries this wasteful spending. But unlike others, he refuses to use his veto pen to stop it. He is the first president since James Garfield, elected in 1880, not to have vetoed anything. But Garfield at least had the excuse of being assassinated shortly into his presidency. John Quincy Adams (1824-1828) is the last president to serve a full four-year term without a veto. And one must go all the way back to Thomas Jefferson (1800- 1808), our third president, to find one who served in office as long as Bush without vetoing a single bill. Bush's greatest sin, in my book, was ramming the Medicare drug benefit through Congress by covering up its true cost and strong-arming principled conservatives into voting for it. According to the Medicare trustees' latest report, the program has an unfunded liability of $18 trillion in current value terms. That means we would need that much in a mutual fund today, earning a return, to pay its unfunded liability. Although there was a case for allowing Medicare to pay for prescription drugs, the rest of Medicare has an unfunded liability of $50 trillion. Bush's action, therefore, pushed it up to $68 trillion in total. By contrast, the unfunded liability of Social Security, which he told us time and again last year was in dire financial straights, has an unfunded liability of just $11 trillion. I and a growing number of other budget analysts now think the only way of avoiding a financial Katrina when the baby boom generation starts to retire is a massive tax increase. Future presidents may be the ones to enact it. But Bush's policies will have caused it.
BTTT
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#4. To: _Jim (#1)
Did you know about the 500 tons of Yellow Cake found in Iraq?
#12. To: Zipporah, christine, robin (#4)
Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican-S.C. - Source.
#13. To: Uncle Bill (#12)
Shame on us.
Replies to Comment # 13. 
#15. To: robin, OKCSubmariner (#13)
By Bruce Bartlett
BRUCE BARTLETT is the author of "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted
America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," just published by Doubleday.
March 12, 2006
#17. To: robin (#13)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 13.