by James Glaser
April 1, 2004

First off, I don't do April Fools Columns. I was in town today talking to a few older WW II veterans and they were telling me what they thought about what is going on in our country today. One interesting thing they said is that we have way too much information about our government. When they were young it was the newspaper and that was pretty much it. Also, compared to today, any world news was old news by the time they read it.

Now something happens in Iraq or Korea and we know about it in minutes. Not only do we have newspapers, but each paper has a web page with constant updates. We have 24 hour a day news channels on television and the same with radio. Americans are bombarded with news and sometimes there is so much happening, that one new story will block out your thoughts on the last one and then another new one pops up to cover the new one you were just starting to think about.

We wonder why people don't vote. Well, I don't think they do it as a form of protest, I think they are burned out by the campaign news and advertisements. This year's campaign really just started and to tell you the truth I don't like George Bush or John Kerry any longer. They are both jerks that run around badmouthing each other and they have their campaign workers doing the same.

Start reading the Letters to the Editor page of any major newspaper and you will quickly see that each side hates the other's candidate. People no longer write in to extol the virtues of their man, they only write to tear down the other fellow.

I try and sift through all the things written about America, knowing in the back of by mind that each writer has some sort of an agenda. Some can hide it others are honest and up front with theirs.

So to get back to the title of this column, here are a few of the things I think are true. These are my "opinions" about what the heck is going on.

I think that when George Bush sent our troops off to war in Iraq on either, out and out lies or false intelligence, he murdered those young Americans that got killed in combat or in accidents over there. Yes, that is right; it is my opinion that President George Bush murdered 600 Americans and maybe 15,000 Iraqi soldiers, most of who were young conscripts, and another 10- 15,000 innocent civilians.

The guy (President Bush) could have waited a little longer and found out that Iraq didn't have Weapons of Mass Destruction nor did Iraq have the means to deliver the weapons to the United States even if they did have them. So because George Bush started a war with a nation that never even threatened us, a nation that didn't even have the ability to threaten us, I believe all the people that have been killed or will be killed in that war are his responsibility. Now that we know that the war is bogus and we don't stop it, I think some of that responsibility is passed on to the Congress, as they hold the military purse strings.

I have come to believe that George Bush and his administration knew that there was a very good chance that the United States would be attacked by terrorists in 2001 and did nothing to stop it. I don't think they envisioned 3,000 Americans getting killed, but some smaller amount would have been acceptable. I think they failed to warn our country about a possible attack, so that after it, they could start their war with Iraq and try and make the whole world into something they thought was better. Playing with the lives of the Iraqi and Afghan people like we are doing now, is just the start for this Bush administration. It is my opinion that these people in our Executive Branch, think they are helping the world and our country by starting wars. I think they are sick in the head.

I don't think our President can be Pro-Life and be a War President at the same time. Maybe he can be Pro- Fetus and War President, but really now, chances are good that he has murdered some Iraqi and Afghan fetuses in both of his wars.

Hey why stop now? I think George Bush is out to destroy our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Just this week it has been reported that because of the War on Terrorism, "Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business. The decision to allow that came from the case titled, United States v Kelly Gould, no. 0230629cr0 and was made by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That is a Federal Court and other States will start doing the same.

Today, there are American citizens in solitary confinement at military prisons. They have been charged with no crime, they have seen no judge or lawyer, they have been held for two years now, and they can be held as long as President Bush wants them to. That in my opinion is real scary.

Today in America if someone speaks out about President Bush or his administration there is a whole squad of people that take to the airwaves to commit a Character Assassination on the person.

Now even members of Congress join in. The Republican Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist is stating that Richard Clarke committed perjury when he testified before the 9/11 Commission about how the Bush administration put terrorism on the back burner before the 9/11 attack. Frist said that Clarke's testimony in the open session was different from his testimony in the closed hearing. The next day Frist admitted that he never saw, heard, or read Clarke's testimony. Hey, but he got that word "perjury" planted in people's minds.

Last year Bush sent former Ambassador Joe Wilson to Niger to find out if it was true that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from that country. Wilson reported that it wasn't true and when Bush told the world it was true anyway, Wilson exposed Bush's lie. Well Bush and his team didn't come out with new information about how they thought it was true, no, they got mad and somebody exposed Wilson's wife as being a CIA undercover agent. That ended her career and maybe got some of her contacts killed. For some strange reason, no one can find out who in the White House exposed this agent.

This didn't just start now with Bush or the Republicans, but I am hitting on him and them because they have the whole game. Bush has the White House and the Republicans have both the House and Senate.

Even before George became President he was trying to destroy people that pissed him off or told the truth about him. When John McCain was running against Bush, the Bush campaign smeared him and his family, his wife and child, with vicious, false attacks.

In the next election, the Republicans took up where Bush let off and went after Senator Max Cleland in his bid for reelection. He was accused of not caring about protecting our nation. Cleland lost both legs and one arm in Vietnam. He was awarded the Silver Star for Valor in Combat and they told lies about the man and still do to this day. It worked, the Republican was elected.

Larry Lindsay a Bush economic advisor and General Eric Shinseki told America about what they thought it would take to win in Iraq. Bush didn't like what they said so he got rid of them and you know what? They were right.

I remember what happened to Paul O'Neill, the former Treasury Secretary, when he told us that Bush wanted to attack Iraq in the first weeks he was in the White House. People who worked with him, tried to destroy him. They were on the TV, in print, and on the Radio doing it. They said he had used classified "Secret" papers to help write a book about his time in the Cabinet. Now months later we find out that isn't true, but hey, it worked. They got that line about using classified material, like he was some sort of enemy of the United States out to the public.

This tactic of going after people works and there are probably many people thinking about telling what they know about Bush, but can't, because their careers would be over. Richard Clarke could, because he had his thirty years in and retired before he testified about George Bush and his people. What do you want to bet the IRS checks him out every year that a Republican is in charge?

Don't think that it is just George Bush or the Republicans that do this shit; Democrats will turn on you just as fast if you start to rock the boat. Washington and politics are a big money game and these people play for keeps. If Bush could get away with it, he would have the Clarkes in his life killed, but this is still America and George Bush is not an Emperor, yet.

POST SCRIPT

On Monday nine Americans were killed in Iraq. Five were young soldiers who were duped, not only by their recruiter into thinking they would be sent off to defend America, but also by George Bush, who told them and the world, that Iraq was filled with terrorists trying to get at us. When I was in Vietnam, I and millions of other young Americans were duped with the same story from our recruiters, but a little different story from our President. It wasn't terrorists back then, but evil Communists.

Four civilian contractors were killed yesterday too, but I felt nothing for them. They were the real reason for this war and they were over there making the "BIG MONEY." If you really think about it, that Big Money is the reason those young troops had to die yesterday and that is the same reason my friends had to die in Vietnam.

Am I Still Bitter? You Bet.