by Cheryl Abraham, January 6, 2008
“Hope for America!” “Change We Can Believe In!” These are examples of the campaign slogans being used by presidential hopefuls to inspire voters that with their vote they can radically change the trajectory of where this country is headed. Many people are looking to the 2008 elections as the only way America can cure the plague that the Bush regime has set upon its people and the world.
Is it possible that electing a progressive for president is all that we need? Can we reverse the horror and crimes that the Bush regime has perpetrated on the world in one election? Can we, as Americans, sigh in relief when, (and if), on election night we hear that a progressive democrat has won the White House?
The belief that the election of 2008 can bring a cure to the Bush regime plague is a false hope. Why? Because the enormity of what the Bush regime has perpetrated on the U.S. and the world cannot be undone, or cured, until these crimes have been brought under a microscope for the entire country and world to see. A microscope where these crimes are examined, investigated, probed and “cured”. It is only by holding those responsible for these crimes permanently accountable that there lies any hope for real change.
Real change for this country cannot come merely from an election. Here is a small list of the legacy of the Bush regime: fascism, theocracy, torture, imperialist domination of the Middle East, war crimes, crimes against humanity, abolishment of civil rights, corruption, the list goes on and on. The complicit mainstream media dares not to mention the long list of crimes of the Bush regime, or at the very least not mention them too long or too often. The high crimes and misdemeanors committed by this administration are blatant, they are obvious, they are monstrous, and they are cruel, but the mainstream media continues in its silence. Where is the call for justice? Without justice there will never be real change in this country. Without a resounding call from the people in the millions demanding this justice now change cannot occur. The distraction of the false hope of the 2008 elections only serves to further the Bush regime’s agenda.
While people allow themselves to be distracted by the false hopes for the next election, the Bush regime continues on its course: soldiers, Iraqis, and Afghanis continue to die, Pakistan is in chaos, codified torture continues, the American people continue to be wire-tapped and put under suspicion, due process has been shredded, immigrants continue to be ripped from their families and deported, women’s reproductive rights continue to be eradicated, next to nothing is being done to stem the rising tide of global warming and it’s dire consequences for the whole of mankind. The election of a progressive candidate, even one who declares that he or she will reverse the fascistic trajectory of the Bush regime, cannot make real change occur unless the whole program of the Bush regime is repudiated. Unless the Bush regime is driven from office and held accountable for their crimes a precedent will be set that may be irreversible for all time.
This precedent will be one where no matter the action there will be no consequences. If George Bush cannot be impeached for torture, war crimes, treason, and corruption – what action by future presidents can ever be deemed impeachable? What action could a future president ever undertake that would be considered a crime if the blatantly criminal behavior of the Bush regime is never held accountable? Therein lies the danger of allowing Bush to continue his term unchallenged, and un-investigated. To allow Bush to finish his term without being brought to justice lessens the possibility of ever holding any of his regime accountable for their crimes or any future regime.
Supporters of the next president elect would say that their candidate would never commit the same crimes as Bush, their candidate has too much integrity, believes in the same things they do, really “gets it”. Unless there is a criminal penalty for what has already occurred there is nothing holding back any future president from enjoying the over-reaching and unprecedented power that George W. Bush enjoys. Any presidential candidate worth their salt would be demanding that the whole Bush regime agenda be repudiated, and they would be forcefully, continually and publicly demanding investigations, demanding an end to torture, demanding impeachment, demanding an immediate pull-out of troops from Iraq, demanding that the media portray the truth, demanding that women have their full reproductive rights restored, demanding that ICE stop their racist tactics, demanding that habeas corpus rights be restored, demanding Guantanamo to be shut down, and most importantly demanding that the Bush regime be held accountable, tried and sentenced, without pardon for their crimes, and this candidate would be demanding all of these things, not just one or two of them. The sad truth is that no viable candidate is calling for all of these things, they may be making speeches about one or two of these points, but none are calling for an all out repudiation of the Bush regime and its agenda.
The 2008 election distraction is a dangerous one. Some people allowed the 2006 elections to be a dangerous distraction too. People thought that a democratic win would bring an end to the Iraq war, and an end to the fascistic direction the Bush regime was leading this country in, and what has happened since? How much has changed in just over a year? What if all the people who put so much energy into that election instead focused their energies on pushing for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney? Where would that movement be now? We will never know because the American public was once again fooled into thinking that an election was the cure for the Bush regime plague, and here we are again at this same crossroads. The truth is that whoever is elected whether they are republican, (and we already know that means four more years of the Bush agenda), or democrat, (popularly thought of as the lesser of the two evils), these newly elected leaders and their cabinets will start at the very same place where the Bush regime left off. This is a truly frightening prospect. We the people must focus our energies on the repudiation of ALL that the Bush regime stands for and has done!
We must be the cure for the Bush regime plague! The future
is unwritten, which one we get is up to us!