Chris Moore
Staff Columnist
ecently,
the president took time out of his vacation -- “month of disgusting fundraising”--
to make yet another brilliant declaration. In typical redundant Bush fashion,
he stated that, “The forest policy of our government is misguided policy,”
and went on to declare that, “We need to understand you let kindling build
up and there’s going to be lightning strike, you’re going to get yourself
a big fire.”
So giant, oxygen-producing trees are just “kindling,” and lightning starts all forest fires. It doesn’t have anything to do with the spread of humans into wooded areas, or perhaps the arsons that set the fires, right? No, it’s all nature’s fault, and the human act of logging will cure this disease of fires. Call me crazy, but that sounds like he’s trying to make things easier for logging companies.
Sure, Dubya’s signed plenty of environmental regulations, but they’re mostly voluntary -- and that’s not a law, it’s a suggestion (with a wink and a nod, of course). As for the enforceable regulations, in many cases it’s cheaper for a company to keep paying the fines rather than clean up.
Unfortunately, misleading laws and manipulative lies like these aren’t as shocking as they should be -- they’ve become the norm. It’s simply the Bush administration’s way of handling what should be public relation nightmares.
What is truly shocking is the distorted image of our government and president that’s served up by the media. Bush, who hasn’t earned a damned thing in his life, is somehow passed off as a compassionate man who lives by a “grass roots” agenda, when the reality couldn’t be more different. He is a tool of big business. Bush himself is a product and card-carrying member of corporate America, and both he and Vice President Dick Cheney have corporate crime written all over their resumes. Of course, the media has failed to sensationalize it, whereas Clinton’s sexual escapades were broadcast night and day.
One has to wonder what the national news’ agenda is when oral sex becomes more important than the theft of millions of dollars.
Below is a short list of stories you’ve probably never heard, but nevertheless occurred.
n John Ashcroft recently disclosed a plan which would, according to the LA Times, “allow him to order the indefinite incarceration of US citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants.”
n Our government is seriously considering the “Terrorism Information and Prevention System,” or TIPS for short. This program would recruit American citizens, a minimum of 4 percent of the total population, to spy on other American citizens and report any “suspicious activity.” This is a Department of Justice program and part of the so-called “war on terror.”
n About a month and a half ago, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened to vote on whether to ratify a 20- year-old treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, but failed to do so. One Republican senator used a little-known rule to adjourn the session without voting. We are one of 22 countries not to sign, while 169 countries have.
This is just a very, very short list of atrocious things you probably haven’t ever heard of. The mainstream media completely ignores these stories while personal stories (such as Clinton’s hummers), are all the rage. These stories are blatant smear campaigns that don’t have anything to do with national issues.
What Americans need to do is demand more coverage of the issues that matter. Only then will we be moving closer to democracy ... and freedom.
Chris Moore can be reached at:
DAPerspectives@mail.wvu.edu.
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