More Of The Bush Legacy

George W. Bush’s life has been one of dodging accountability and being rewarded for incompetence. If he had not become president the rest of us could probably tolerate this. However, he did become president. And worse, he has allowed the practice of dodging accountability and reward for incompetence to spread. And it has spread, not only through his entire administration, but beyond, into the military and business worlds. This is George Bush’s legacy. It is not the legacy of a great leader.

George W. Bush is kind of hung up on his legacy and how history will judge him. George W. Bush is so arrogant that he thinks history will judge him in a positive light. I think history will judge him the way that most people in the entire world judge him right now. As a loser. As a terrible president. In my opinion, part of the Bush legacy will be one of not holding anyone accountable. Including himself.

Responsibility and accountability would go a long way toward fixing many of the messes we now find ourselves in. Holding people accountable now will help to prevent future messes. It’s called a deterrent. It seems that some of the people in power need a deterrent to help them do the right thing, otherwise greed takes over, and they mess everything up for the rest of us. CEO’s are not held accountable for our current economic mess. They are instead rewarded with huge retirement packages, and the companies they messed up are given government bailouts. This is accountability? Bush and Cheney are not being held accountable for Iraq, Katrina, the debt, the deficit… They should both be impeached.

Giving corporations immunity from lawsuits is not accountability. Shame on Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for suggesting that telecom companies should receive retroactive immunity from lawsuits. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Let the Justice Department do its job. The people need more information about what is going on, not less. Power to the people, not to the Bush regime and the Military-Industrial Complex.

After 9/11, Congress appropriated $1 billion in federal emergency money to contractors and subcontractors working at or near Ground Zero. They were to use the funds “to set up a new insurance company to cover potential claims.” This insurance company, however, is now refusing to settle claims filed by firefighters and cleanup crews over illnesses caused by unsafe working conditions; the contractors claim they have immunity from any lawsuits.

Moreover, as we have seen in Iraq, guards from the private security contractor Blackwater have escaped punishment after killing 17 Iraqis in a Baghdad shoot-out and killing a top Iraqi politician’s bodyguard on Christmas Eve 2006.

More than anything, King’s argument shows why telecoms should not be granted immunity.

Grievances need to be heard and dealt with in a fair and just way. Immunity effectively stops this process. President Bush and Rep. King do not believe in liberty and justice for all. President Bush has even gone so far as to mock the concept of justice when he recently sang: “Down the lane I look and here comes Scooter; Finally free of the prosecutor.” They do not believe that rich and powerful people should be held accountable for their actions. They are unpatriotic and Un-American.

The worst part of all of this is how it affects those of us who are not rich and powerful. There are those of us who try to do the right thing as we go about our daily lives. We work at our jobs and try not to cheat other people. We try to provide for our families and abide by the laws of our community. And we are the ones who are being screwed by Bush and King and those like them. We are the ones being punished for doing nothing wrong. Yet the ones who have done wrong suffer no punishment and are even being rewarded in some cases. Ironic, isn’t it? Outrageous is perhaps a better word for it. Yet there is little or no outrage from those watchdogs of our community, the mass media. Because of greed at the top of our business community people at the bottom are losing their homes and their jobs. Because of greed people like the firemen mentioned above are losing their health and their lives. We sorely need accountability and responsibility across the entire spectrum of American life. Without it, we will just continue in the downward spiral that the Bush administration has encouraged and accelerated.