Seen on kiro5hin.org:
Two things were made clear by the recent Presidential election. The first is that clique surrounding George W. Bush is not bothered by scruples in the pursuit of what they want. They will make promises that make no sense, ambush opponents with carefully planted lies, rig the voting machines, and use their power to manipulate the news. Perhaps the boldest and most sinister expression of this character trait was explained to Ron Suskind by a senior Bush aide:
“That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
Such monumental hubris can justify anything.
The second reality the recent election made clear is that, regardless of whatever election-rigging might or might not have tipped the scale in Bush’s favor, it is undeniably true that over fifty-five million American citizens honestly did ignore Bush’s failure to get Bin Laden, ignored the missing WMD’s, ignored the thousand war dead, ignored the back-door draft, ignored the two hundred million dollars wasted, ignored two dollar a gallon gasoline, ignored the plunging stock market, ignored our vanished international reputation and dwindling list of allies, and voted to let George W. Bush keep doing it for four more years.