The foreign policy violations of the Bush regime can be summed up succinctly and simply: They routinely violate national sovereignty and the right to self-determination among foreign nations and the last thing they want to see bud and thrive in foreign countries is real democracy.
Love, Value of Life and Human Worth
In his speech, Mr. Bush stated:
"Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth."
Has Mr. Bush been "surrounding the lost with love" among the people of Iraq? How about the people in Afghanistan or the people in Palestine where he continues supporting the Zionist killer, Ariel Sharon? Does he "value the life" he sees in the fallen U.S. soldiers and 100,000 dead citizens of Iraq? Does he see "worth" in the "unwanted" whom he has had deported through the machinery of "Homeland Security" because they spoke out against his policies? Does he value the lives and find worth in the "unwanted" who languish in homelessness, poverty right here in the United States? Does he find "worth" in the 3,471 men and women on America's death row in 2004 led in number by his home state of Texas?
The Underlying Assumptions of this Speech
There were two points of interest for us in the premises laid down by George Bush in his inaugural address:
- One premise upon which his speech is based is a curious one. George Bush stated:
"In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty."
On the surface, it's a grand statement, one with most people would initially find themselves in agreement. However, this statement is deeply flawed in our opinion. With these words, he (his speech writers) predicates "human rights" on "human liberty". We ask, does this mean that human rights violations can be excused on the path to achieving what Bush thinks of as "human liberty". Do human rights take second place to his notion of "human liberty"? Are the two concepts as universally accepted not one and the same?
- Another premise of his speech assumes that some question the human desire for liberty and that the world has experienced an unprecedented advance of freedom in recent decades:
"Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt."
These are at best "straw-man" arguments to serve as a springboard for more unsupported rhetoric. We ask, just who is it that questions the "global appeal of liberty"? Just who are these people who "doubt" that people universally want liberty? Where have we observed "the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen" in the last 4 decades? Was it in Chile under the Nixon regime? Nicaragua under Reagan? Iran under the the U.S. supported Shah after Mosaddeq was deposed by the U.S.? Is it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine or Palestine under the Bush regime, where people are languishing and dying under the steel boot of the U.S. military? In the United States where the civil rights of Americans have been routinely attacked by the government under Bush? This straw-man argument rests on a false premise that attempts to justify war as a means to bring about "human liberty".
In his article titled, SUPERZERO: Mr. Uncredible Bush Goes on the Warpath, in today's issue of The Mirror (UK), Anthony Harwood writes:
"The re-elected president ignored the disaster in Iraq to use his inaugural address to proclaim that America was on the march for freedom.
"He did not mention Iraq by name - where 1,360 personnel have been killed and 10,500 injured, helping to earn him the lowest approval rating in 50 years for any president starting a second term."
In his speech, Bush stated:
"And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help."
Is this the same George W. Bush who launched unprovoked, unilateral war on the people of Iraq over the objections of the international community and the United Nations? Is this the same Mr. Bush who arrogantly declared his "go it alone" policy on the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction?
Paradigms, Preconceptions and Perceptions
All people listen and read the words of George W. Bush through the paradigm through which they view the world around them. We too absorb his words with preconcepts and through our perceptual filters. To these conditions we freely admit. Through them, we see a lack of well-defined terms, manifold internal consistencies and factual inaccuracies. Those who wish to ignore the contradictions and deceptions in Mr. Bush's speech do so based upon their own preconceptions and perceptual filters. They will float emotionally along with the lofty, meaningless adulations he made of himself and his warmongering, capitalist regime because they want to do so. They will do so under the influence of another weapon of the U.S. government - the corporate media. Today, the Boston Globe grandly headlined:
Many will ignore the deceptions in Mr. Bush's speech even as they lose their homes to foreclosure in the impending burst of the real estate bubble, their loss of their social security benefits, jobs, the devaluation of their dollar against the Euro, their unprecedented national debt and quite possibly a crash of the U.S. economy like none seen since the Great Depression.
Many will ignore these well-crafted deceptions while the killing machine of the U.S. military they fund continues to wreak havoc and death on brown people in foreign lands. But at least half of the U.S. population sees them for what they are: Lies, gilded in the golden wraps of terms like "Liberty", "Freedom", "God", "Love" and "Security".
Act Now Against War, Injustice and Tyranny
We ask the reader to consider seriously what your part may be in the international movement against war. This international movement has many faces and the participants many roles and duties. Those who lead the movement are currently found in the resistance to occupation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Venezuela and many other places on the planet.
We are among the multitudes who will continue to battle this regime with heart, mind, body and soul. Be sure that we will not stand by while the global tyrant in Washington and his entourage continue their doctrine of military dominance, global warfare, racism and their invasions, occupations and colonisations of foreign nations. We will not stand idly by while they continue their corporate empire's attacks on the common worker, their usury and economic violence and their attacks on civil liberties in our country. We will continue to help build the growing international movement against the Bush Regime by protesting in the streets, reporting the truth and educating our neighbors about the real plans for U.S. expansion. We will do so for as long as we breathe - for as long as it takes to bring down this gang of international thieves and killers now holding power in Washington, D.C.
© Copyright 2003 by AxisofLogic.com
Biography, essays and poetry of Les Blough
Below is the full text of George W. Bush's Inaugural Speech on January 20, 2005
President Sworn-In to Second Term
The White House, January 21, 2005
Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:
On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.
At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.
We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.
We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.
So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.
The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm.
We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.
We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.
Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.
Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country.
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."
The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.
And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat.
Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:
From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.
A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.
America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home - the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.
In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time. To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.
In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.
From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?
These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them. Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free.
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.
When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something." In our time it means something still. America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.
May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050120-1.html
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