101 Biggest Lies... #21 to #25
#21: W Never Said Saddam Had WMDs
Echoing similar denials by his VP and Defense Secretary, George W declares: "I don't think we ever said — at least I know I didn't say — that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein... I was careful never to say that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack on America." Boy, was he ever!
Despite this exquisite 'depends-on-what-is-is' parsing of words, the record demonstrates that the Bush Administration indeed lied deliberately and repeatedly about the threat posed by Iraq, its connection to the 9/11 terrorists, why we were compelled to invade Iraq, and the ease with which we could accomplish the mission.
More>>>
#22: Vote Machine Companies Need No Oversight
In Utah, Emery County Elections Director Bruce Funk witnessed security testing by an outside firm on Diebold voting machines which showed them to be a security risk. But his warnings fell on deaf ears. Instead, Diebold attorneys were flown to Emery County on the governor's airplane to squelch the story. Funk was fired.
In Florida, Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho, discovered an alarming security flaw in their Diebold system at the end of last year. Rather than fix the flaw, Diebold refused to fulfill its contract. Both of the other two touchscreen voting machine vendors, Sequoia and ES&S, now refuse to do business with Sancho, who is required by HAVA to implement a touchscreen system and will be sued by his own state if he doesn’t.
Diebold is said to be pressuring for Sancho’s ouster before it will resume servicing the county.
These are two examples of the hassle state election officials are experiencing, in at least 22 states, when they raise objections to the security issues inherent in electronic voting machines (all of which are manufactured, programmed and "monitored/repaired" during elections by companies with extremely close ties to the Bush administration).
[NOTE: Thanks to Allen Uthman for the above.]
#23: Americans are Outraged Over Indecency
Lawmakers and FCC officials say they need to crack down on the airing of indecent programming because the public is complaining more. Last year, the FCC received 233,531 complaints about indecent broadcasts, compared with 346 in 2001.
Broadcasters say the numbers are inflated because a majority of complaints received by the FCC appear to be email campaigns organized by Christian or pro-family interest groups, like the Parents Television Council (PTC).
PTC complaints were behind the record $3.6 million fine proposed in March against CBS affiliates for an episode of "Without a Trace,". Of about 6,500 complaints filed against stations that received fines, all but three appeared to originate as computer-generated form letters, a Wall Street Journal review of the complaints found. The Journal requested copies of the complaints under the Freedom of Information Act. Only 2% of the people who filed complaints, or about 135, added personal comments.
Indecency fines have historically been relatively rare and usually low. In a typical year, for example, the FCC proposed fines in seven radio complaints for a total of $99,400. That changed in 2003, however, when the FCC began responding to an increasing number of complaints generated by Christian organizations like PTC.
#24: Iran is a Big, Huge, Terrible Threat
It's difficult for progressives to counter fearful spin like, "Well, we DON'T want Iran to get nukes, right?". But in reality, Iran's little cascade of 164 centrifuges has probably produced about enough enriched uranium to make a glow-in-the-dark Mickey Mouse watch. Recent NSA and other intelligence estimates put Iran as much as a decade away from the Bomb.
Meanwhile, the North Koreans already have nukes and so do Bush's Communist Chinese pals- who've also built the missiles with which to deliver them (using technology supplied to them by the other Bush, during the Iran-Contra deals)!
Now, the spin you're NOT getting is all about Iran and Iraq having the world's second and third largest oil and natural gas reserves, and about how they're geographically situated to control the most strategic oil supply routes in the world. More>>>
#25: W is Above the Law
President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, including those that forbid torture; affirmative-action provisions; requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems; ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials; oversight of federal spying on U.S. citizens; and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.
The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the President a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." The President's inaugural oath declares his obligation to defend and uphold the Constitution. Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he interprets as unconstitutional.
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions and theories of Presidential authority represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress; he is upsetting the balance between the branches of government by seizing for himself the law-making role of Congress and the Constitution-interpreting role of the courts.
Next Five
Previous Five
|
