i want it to be said that the bush administration was a results-oriented administration, because i believe the results of focusing our attention and energy on teaching children to read and having an education system that’s responsive to the child and to the parents, as opposed to mired in a system that refuses to change, will make america what we want it to be – a literate country and a hopefuller country.

㊠-george bush
washington, dc; january 11, 2001

does anyone else find it discomfitting/disconcerting that the bush administration have underwritten and promoted a coup d’etat against aristide in haiti?
he was a democratically elected leader who still had 2 years left in his term.
partisan politics aside, it kind of seems as if the bush camp have completely lost their minds.
the bush administration almost seem like kurtz in ‘apocalypse now'(‘heart of darkness’) or marlon brando in that terrible remake of ‘dr moreau’.
i think they’ve completely lost the plot.
i mean, really, facilitating a coup d’etat while the whole world is watching?
or, as reuters reported:

by steve holland and adam entous

washington (reuters) – former haitian president jean-bertrand aristide said on monday he was forced to leave haiti against his will by the united states.

aristide denied washington assertions that he resigned willingly, calling it a “”coup d’etat”” and likening his “”forced”” departure to a kidnapping.

“”they lied to me, and they may lie to you, too,”” he told cnn in a telephone interview from the central african republic, where he is in temporary exile. “”they used force to push me out.””

“”no one should force an elected president to move in order to avoid bloodshed,”” aristide said.

the bush administration denied the charges.

“”the allegations that somehow we kidnapped former president aristide are absolutely baseless, absurd,”” said secretary of state colin powell.

defense secretary donald rumsfeld and air force gen. richard myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, flatly denied aristide had been forced to leave. white house spokesman scott mcclellan called the charge “”complete nonsense.””

but democratically elected haitian president aristide insisted: “”i am telling you the truth.””

asked about allegations he was kidnapped, he said in a text of the interview released by cnn: “”as i said, i called this coup d’etat in a modern way, to have modern kidnapping.””

he said he was not taken away by haitian forces, but rather by “”americans and haitians together.”” he said they surrounded “”the airport, my house, the palace.””

“”i could see with my own eyes. it was when i was on my way to the airport,”” he said. “”americans had the total control.

moby

the bush administration, knowing that most people are focused on their holiday plans, opened 300,000 acres of the tongas national forest in alaska for logging on tuesday, december 23rd.
that’s the bush administrations idea of a christmas present to the american people: environmental destruction and corporate welfare for republican campaign contributors.
of course the mainstream media will, once again, lie back and not mention the fact that bush & co. are, once again, destroying the environmental heritage of the united states.
moby

if the bush administration wants a tax-cut to stimulate the economy and promote job growth, then why are they proposing to cut the capital gains and the dividend tax?
capital gains and dividend taxes, as far as i can tell, will not help the economy and lead to job growth.
why not provide tax breaks for small businesses?
why not spend money on education and training programs?
why not give tax credits to individuals and corporations who hire and train people?
why not make it easier for people to start businesses?
why not give greater support to the high-tech private sector that has been the source of most of the job growth in the united states in the last 20 years?
giving a tax-break to the wealthiest americans in the hope that they’ll spend more money and thus stimulate the economy is what’s known as ‘trickle down economics.’
it’s what led to massive deficits under the reagan administration, and george bush senior has even referred to it as ‘voodoo economics’. the only good thing about george bush jr’s flawed economic policies is that they will most likely lead to his losing the next election.
it’s just a great shame that he has to bring the rest of the country down with him. i just hope that whoever runs against george bush plans on mentioning that 2 million jobs have been lost so far since bush took office, and i’m sure that more jobs will be lost by the time he leaves.
-moby