The Repuglicans' traditional cries for Fiscal Responsibility are in shreds every bit as much as their shouts for 'Family Values'. Their over-the-top hypocrisy on both fronts is manifest, out there for all to see.
At the same time, as we prepare to right the ship, desperate needs for investment (infrastructure, education, and health care leap to mind) are in front of us.
Here is a modest, and, I think, obvious proposal that may provide hope and simultaneously highlight the rampant profiteering in Iraq and elsewhere. If I've tickled your curiosity, follow me to the jump.
Kossacks are well-versed in the over-the-top corruption this Corporatocracy has brought us. We understand well the cynical Rovian way in which compassion and fear have been utilized to manipulate the masses into at least tacit support for the biggest and most-blatant raiding of the Federal Treasury in American history.
We currently face a real challenge---finding new ways to provide desperately-needed help for Katrina victims who are still homeless, healthcare for a record-high 47 million uninsured Americans, and other urgent needs for poor and middle-class Americans ( the REAL Left Behinds!!!), while extricating ourselves from the financial sinkhole that is Iraq (and hopefully forestalling the "New War" in Iran!!), while avoiding the timeworn tag of 'tax and spend'.
My point??? IT'S THE CORRUPTION, STUPID!!! Time and again, we have seen that those much-discussed 'ordinary Americans' (you know, the ones that are busy w/work and life, and don't focus too much on politics till the elections draw nigh) are willing to spend and invest on priorities (safety, education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc.), but they hate like Hell to see their money pissed down a hole, particularly by a bunch of corrupt thieves.
IMHO, it's time for our friend Henry Waxman to pump up the volume, quit beating around the Bush, and pull whatever stunts he must to highlight the grotesque thievery that has been taking place on a daily basis. The examples are almost without end. 190,000 weapons and Billions of dollars vanished in Iraq without accounting, Billions lost between DC and NOLA, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum.
The problem is that these myriad examples have yet to be brought home to the public in meaningful fashion. High-profile hearings w/vivid examples, good investigation (a la Christiane Amanpour on the Religious Right) by real reporters in the MSM, whatever it takes--I don't pretend to have all the answers--but, IMHO, the time is now.
Bush has the chutzpah to seek $50 BILLION more for Iraq when they've lost, mispent and stolen untold Billions already???!!!! I mean, WTF??? This proves we have not yet made our case. We need Robert Greenwald writ large!
We can either sit here, self-satisfied that we know the truth, or get off our collective asses, and get to work making the case to the public in a way that is accessible and easily-comprehensible.
Just how long will we sit here watching the biggest robbery in history without calling "THIEF"!!!!???
We need a SWAT team of investigators, then a SWAT team of Communicators who can convey these stunning findings in simple American English.
If the facts are out there for all to see, they will no more be able to defend this theft than they can defend Larry Craig's 'wide stance'!!!!
Let's face it, Folks--we have not yet done our job in this regard. It's time for some real moral outrage and loud voices. THIS CANNOT STAND!!!!!