Teh stupid and ignorant

There are times when you read something and you wonder, “just how stupid can this person be?”

That the same person repeatedly makes stupid statements in an article doesn’t lessen the fact that they do so, but, only justifies the conclusion.  So, once again, I am here to highlight an article written by Brad Warthan of The State newspaper in South Carolina.

Feel free to it before reading on since my response to it is forthcoming…

My response, sent to the paper, the South Carolina Democratic Party, a McClatchy writer, among others is below:

Mr. Warthan at The State newspaper, ever the GOP apologist, again deigns to show how out of touch he is with reality.

Mr. Warthan writes:  Democrats are thrilled that at long last, in January, Bush will no longer be in office. Me, too. But I’m even more thrilled that after January, I won’t have to listen to any more semi-deranged yammering about the guy. You know that I never liked him — he’s the guy who did in MY guy in the 2000 S.C. primary. But I have never, ever understood why some hate him SO much. The Bush haters can’t simply say, “I disagree with Mr. Bush and here’s why.” Instead, they have to go way beyond reason in condemning him ABSOLUTELY in terms that render him utterly illegitimate and beyond the pale.  Get a grip, people. It’ll be over soon.

Mr. Warthan cannot understand why people hate George Bush?  He simply cannot understand why we merely don’t just “disagree”?  I guess Mr. Warthan has been living in fantasyland instead of the United States, just like many of the people he gives a forum to and spouts about how “smart” they are when he does.  We know this because he finishes his apologist diatribe with:  (Oh, and for those of you who will say, “But the NYT went on to explain its outrageous statement,” let me say now — I read it. They failed to back up that sentence. Sorry, folks, but his playing fast and loose with FISA, to cite but one example given, just doesn’t amount to “trampling on the Bill of Rights.” He should have worked to change the law rather than skirting it, but he did nothing to instill “horror” in a rational person. You “watch in horror” as a gang of thugs rape and murder an old lady — you merely DISAGREE WITH something so bloodless as scanning through telecommunications without proper authorization.)

Since Mr. Warthan has no clue about the reality that was the George W. Bush administration, I guess I will, once again, have to set him straight.

The Economy

– When George W. Bush took office in January 2001, the unemployment rate nationally was 4.2.  By October 2008, the national unemployment rate has reached 6.5, the highest unemployment rate of his administration.  At no time during the Bush administration, did the unemployment rate ever reach the 4.2 that he inherited from President Clinton.

– Under George W. Bush, 22 financial institutions have failed plunging our nation into a recession that bordered upon depression.

– Under George W. Bush, millions of Americans have had their houses foreclosed upon, to include military families whose spouse is, or had served, in Iraq and/or Aghanistan.  

The Veteran

– Under George W. Bush, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have been knowingly denied benefits due to them by the Veterans Administration leaving thousands, if not tens of thousands, of our veterans to fend for themselves.

– Under George W. Bush, we learned that our veterans were treated poorly at Walter Reed hospital and were forced to live in buildings far below any acceptable standard.

– Under George W. Bush, we have learned that veterans applications and paperwork were being shredded at numerous Veteran Administration sites nationwide, effectively keeping our veterans from obtaining benefits or treatment.

National Security

– Under George W. Bush, our nation sustained the worst terrorist attack upon our soil ever committed against the United States.

– Under George W. Bush, the Patriot Act was passed and the FBI was found to have abused the national security letter in literally thousands of cases against American citizens.

– Under George W. Bush, the Military Commissions Act was passed and American citizens, much less non-citizens, were arrested and detained without charge, many for numerous years, and, in a few cases, they were even detained at military brigs inside the United States.

– Under George W. Bush, we found out that the CIA and U.S. military engaged in waterboarding, a technique that is universally classified as torture.

– Under George W. Bush, we learned that several anti-war groups were spied upon by our own government, to include a group of elderly Quaker ladies.

Governmental Agencies

– Under George W. Bush, the Department of Justice turned into a political arm of the Republican Party that targeted Democratic politicians such as Don Siegelman.

– Under George W. Bush, several Attorney General’s were removed from their position because they refused to prosecute non-existant voter fraud cases that targeted Democratic politicians.

– Under George W. Bush, FEMA, run by Michael Brown, was unable to effectively respond to Hurricane Katrina.

– Under George W. Bush, the EPA prosecuted 1/3 less polluters and reduced the number of investigators.

– Under George W. Bush, the GSA tried to use its resources to promote Republican candidates in elections.

Trampling of the Bill of Rights

1) Freedom of Speech

– Under George W. Bush, American citizen’s have been arrested for wearing a t-shirt that was anti-Bush.

2) Freedom to Peaceably Assemble

– Under George W. Bush, there have been numerous protests where protestors were fired upon by law enforcement.

3) Unreasonable Search and Seizure

– Under George W. Bush, the FBI improperly used the national security letter to search citizens papers and effects.

– Under George W. Bush, American citizens are having their laptops seized by the government when they reenter the country without probable cause.

4) Self-incrimination

– Under George W. Bush, American citizens held at Guantanamo prison and military brigs in the United States were tortured into incriminating themselves.

5) Due Process

– Under George W. Bush, American citizens held at Guantanamo prison or military brigs in the United States have been held, some for numerous years, without due process.

6) Right to Counsel

– Under George W. Bush, American citizens held at Guantanamo prison or military brigs in the United States were held and denied their right to counsel.

These are, by far, not the only failures of George W. Bush.  But, Mr. Warthan truly shows himself to be living in fantasyland when he talks about how nothing George W. Bush has done should make a person react in horror.  For this, I present the Iraq war.

It has been proven that the rationale for the Iraq war, all of them, were either flat out lies or misrepresentation of the facts.  There were no WMD stockpiles found, nor, was there an active nuclear program.  The mobile bio labs were found to be false.  The defectors found to be con men.  The 9/11 link to Iraq discredited.  The Iraq link to Al-Qaeda false.  Yet, our nation under George W. Bush invaded a sovereign nation, killed hundreds of thousands of its people, imprisoned tens of thousands more to include children, destroyed entire towns, destroyed its infrastructure, and has occupied Iraq since May 2003 driving millions into refugee status.  That doesn’t even include the 4200 dead American service members and the tens of thousands wounded, many of whom are maimed for life. The magnitude of the Iraq invasion, based on such false premises, alone constitutes horror in any reasonable individual.  In Mr. Warthan’s eyes, only the people of Haditha and children who saw their families slaughtered, or, those who have seen the carnage wrought at Fallujah should  should be horrified.  That Mr. Warthan isn’t horrified speaks volumes.  

Have you decency, Sir?  Does life, any life, other than yours hold so little value to you?  Were you so uncaring as you watched pictures of Katrina survivors trapped while “Heckuva job” Brown sat impotent and FEMA couldn’t even get ice into the area?  Were you so cavalier when Barbara Bush opined about how the people forced to take shelter at the Superdome were so poor that this was “working out well for them”?

You merely disagree with a President who states that he will not enter into negotiations with another country.  You look on in abject horror when your President unleashes the might of your military on an innocent country for reasons determined to be lies or false as you witness the death, destruction, and imprisonment of its people.  And when that President so carelessly tries to remove protections guaranteed to the citizens of your nation, a nation you fought for in its military, ideals that you were willing to give your life to protect, you learn to hate that President.

That Mr. Warthan is wrong is not new.  He has been wrong about many things.  That he has so little compassion, so little comprehension of reality, that he fails to see what horror George W. Bush unleashed during his Presidency is beyond disturbing.