Every four years there is a major event in this country that captivates pretty much all of us – the election of a new president. For whatever reasons – positive or negative, liberal or conservative, pro this or anti that – we all have a stake in the outcome. At least, we should all see it that way because we do.

Regardless of how one feels about the process or the system under which it operates, it is a big deal and all should be of interest and prompt participation by all who are eligible.
In 2000, the Clinton administration was coming to an end and the candidates for the highest office in the land were jousting for position for the final battle – the November election. After a long campaign season, it all came down to two – George W. Bush and Albert “ Al “ Gore.
Election Day was November 7th, but the election was far from over by the end of that day. In what can only be described as a legal battle more convoluted than a halloween corn maze, the Supreme Court finally had to intervene. It heard arguments and then remanded the key issue back to the Florida Supreme Court.It was their ruling which allowed the then Florida Secretary of State’s declaration of George Bush as the winner in Florida to stand. This gave Mr Bush the needed electoral votes to take the election, win the presidency and move in to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We have been paying the price ever since for that curious maneuvering of the court system which in effect appointed the president.
Mr Bush took office in January, 2001 and the journey down a very hard road began. Over the next few years, budgets got out of hand, tax breaks for the wealthy were the stock and trade of the administration and between January 2001 and March 2004, over 1.6 million jobs were lost. This trend would continue well in to the administration’s second term – an election jaded by fear and ignorance – when the official unemployment rate went up to near 8 % and, with reckless economic policies providing the impetus, between December 2007 and December 2008, an additional 3.6 million jobs were lost, most going overseas with unchecked outsourcing carried out by multi national corporations farming for profits in the sweat shops of Asia.

\And then the proverbial manure hit the fan. In spite of many warning signs ( such as the now infamous Phoenix Memos from the FBI Office in Arizona ) the intelligence community failed , or chose not to connect the dots and on September 11, 2001, we were attacked by Islamic agents of Al Qaeda from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It is noteworthy here that the attackers were not from Iraq. This attack precipitated such upheaval on so many fronts, it is hard to gauge the impact even now fourteen years later. What is certain is that a calculated and well planned campaign of fear mongering, outright lies and reckless policy decisions which brought about two unpaid for wars, one of which is still ongoing. There was implemented ( The Patriot Act ) unchecked surveillance on American citizens disguised as keeping the country safe where,it has come out, much of that was to spy on those who were opposed to the wars in the Middle East.
Those who dared to question the authenticity of the so called rationale for it all were chastised as being unAmerican ( sound familiar ) and in one case, when Ambassador Joseph Wilson made public statements questioning the veracity of Vice President Cheney’s charge that Iraq was importing weapons grade uranium from Africa, a White House senior staffer revealed – outed, if you will – the identity of his wife, a CIA covert operative,a clear violation of law and procedural policy.
There is much that has since come to light about the lies and chicanery in the administration, orchestrated by the four key actors in all of this – Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld – far too much to discuss here. Suffice it to say that the mess in Iraq cost near 2.2 trillion dollars and near 5,000 American military lives. One can add over 4.4 trillion in costs for Afghanistan. There is no counting for Iraqi and Afghani soldiers or civilians but it is estimated at over 350,000. One cannot even begin to calculate the toll for this total and complete disruption and chaos caused in the Middle East, paving the way for the havoc existing there now. Again, does this sound sound familiar ? The whole truth and probably far more other secrets may not actually ever be made known by the public but, even with what we now know, one needs to ask the question – why has no one been held accountable. Indeed, even the then Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, finally admitted that he knew he was lying to the U N Security council about the status in Iraq. Why have no charges of war crimes been levied against the former president and vice president and their cohorts, the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Advisor ?

Since those days, to the end of the Administration, reckless economic policies sent the nation in to a deep economic recession rivaling the Great Depression of the twenties and thirties. The administration was handed a modest surplus in the deficit in 2001 but by its end in January 2009, Bush handed a deficit of over six trillion dollars to his successor. The impact of his overall tax plan to date has cost the nation over two trillion dollars in revenue; His policies increased the federal budget by almost 53%. And we are still paying for it.
In an effort to dilute some of this deep deep red ink, the Bush administration vetoed bills for continuing Child Health Insurance, slashed the Veterans Administration budget and crippled the No Child Left Behind Act ( the Elementary and Secondary Education Act updated ) by so much it was rendered almost useless as a means to improve K-12 education. In addition, as if to add insult to injury, especially to seniors and those on fixed income, Mr Bush pushed hard to privatize Social Security – something which Republican presidents have been pushing since the days of Harry Truman. Fortunately, the fear of not getting reelected held sway with even the GOP members of congress and millions of people dodged that bullet once again.The succeeding administration has had to spend well over what would be acceptable levels just to try to bring some level of stability to a crashing economy.Costs for medical and rehabilitation care for the thousands of returning veterans has skyrocketed to over 134 billion,and , with an obstructionist GOP controlled legislative branch keeping them in tact, those tax cuts for the upper 10% continued to add to the deficit year after year until some modest changes were made in 2013. The Bush years drove us to the very brink of complete fiscal collapse and that red ink is deeper than ever due to his complete reckless abandon regarding the well being of the nation.

It is time for everyone to acknowledge the damage the Bush administration has and continues to do to this country. The time for an accounting and accountability is now and it is time for those very courts which appointed this traitor and his minions to be held liable for damages caused.