Motivation

[WilliamPitt]

Author's note: They've got me doing readings of these articles now, so if you're interested, the audio file of this essay is beneath the first paragraph here.

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(Photo Illustration: Troy Page, t r u t h o u t; Adapted From: ibcbulk, adambrock, rabih, bionicteaching / flickr)

Motivation
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Wednesday 28 October 2009

I can tell you that one of the most amazing surprises of the presidency was the fact that people's prayers affected me. I can't prove it to you. But I can tell you some days were great, some days not so great. But every day was joyous.

- George W. Bush, motivational speaker, 26 October 2009

George W. Bush made his debut as a motivational speaker to a packed house of adoring fans in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday. Mr. Bush, who has been all but invisible since last January's inauguration of Barack Obama, is apparently trying to raise his profile before the release of his book. He spoke about prayer, challenges and walking his dog.

"In the crowd of real estate agents in suits, housewives in jeans, students and senior citizens, Chris Clarke, 25, a salesman from Dallas, stood at the back," reported The Washington Post on Monday. "Like many people, he said that other speakers were better - Colin Powell was his favorite - but he thought Bush was good. In fact, he said, it could turn out that Bush may be more suited to motivational speaking than being president. He said when Bush misspeaks, it sounds 'incompetent if you are president. But here it can be inspiring. It makes him seem like a regular guy, no better than me.'"

"Man, my life has changed!" said Mr. Bush on his new situation.

Well, so have a lot of other lives since he departed office in failure and disgrace, and not for the better. Unemployment has skyrocketed. The banks took the money he gave them and ran, to the detriment of millions. Mortgage foreclosures continue unabated.

Some things, however, remain exactly the same.

Last Sunday, two gigantic explosions ripped through Iraqi government buildings in Baghdad. The justice and local government ministries, as well as the provincial government headquarters, were targeted at the busiest time of the day. More than 150 people were killed, and more than 500 were wounded. Among the dead were dozens of children at a day care center. The next day, a bomb on a minibus exploded outside Karbala, killing three people and wounding eight. On the same day, gunmen killed two people and wounded two others in Mosul.

In the days before the Sunday attack in Baghdad, gunmen attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing one soldier. A car bomb wounded two in Baghdad. A suicide bomber killed one and wounded two in Baghdad. The list goes on, the violence continues every single day, and for Iraq, nothing much has changed at all.

In Afghanistan, eight US soldiers and one civilian were killed by roadside bombs on Tuesday. The day before, 14 Americans, including several DEA agents, were killed in separate helicopter crashes. An American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb on Saturday. A NATO soldier and two US troops were killed in separate incidents - a firefight and a roadside bombing - on Friday. The list goes on, the violence continues every day, and for Afghanistan, nothing much has changed at all.

Just so we are all clear, Mr. Bush is responsible for this. Mr. Cheney is responsible for this. Mr. Powell is responsible for this. Ms. Rice is responsible for this. Mr. Rumsfeld is responsible for this. Mr. Wolfowitz is responsible for this. Mr. Feith is responsible for this. Mr. Libby is responsible for this. Mr. Rove is responsible for this. The Republican majorities in control of the House and Senate until 2006 are responsible for this. The corporate news media, who championed these catastrophes for years and years, is responsible for this. The defense contractors who look at these two wars as grand paydays are responsible for this.

Not one of these people has been called to account for the murder and mayhem they engaged in during the eight monstrous years of the George W. administration. In fact, according to a recent New York Times editorial, the acts and activities of the previous administration may never be brought to light, thanks to the acts and actions of the current administration:

The Obama administration has clung for so long to the Bush administration's expansive claims of national security and executive power that it is in danger of turning President George W. Bush's cover-up of abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism into President Barack Obama's cover-up.

In the United States, the Obama administration is appealing a sound federal appellate court ruling last April in a civil lawsuit by Mohamed and four others. All were victims of the government's extraordinary rendition program, under which foreigners were kidnapped and flown to other countries for interrogation and torture.

In that case, the Obama administration has repeated a disreputable Bush-era argument that the executive branch is entitled to have lawsuits shut down whenever it makes a blanket claim of national security. The ruling rejected that argument and noted that the government's theory would "effectively cordon off all secret actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the C.I.A. and its partners from the demands and limits of the law."

The Obama administration has aggressively pursued such immunity in numerous other cases beyond the ones involving Mr. Mohamed. We do not take seriously the government's claim that it is trying to protect intelligence or avoid harm to national security.

In a similar vein, Mr. Obama did a flip-flop last May and decided to resist orders by two federal courts to release photographs of soldiers abusing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last week, just in time to avoid possible Supreme Court review of the matter, Congress created an exception to the Freedom of Information Act that gave Secretary of Defense Robert Gates authority to withhold the photos.

We share concerns about inflaming anti-American feelings and jeopardizing soldiers, but the best way to truly avoid that is to demonstrate that this nation has turned the page on Mr. Bush's shameful policies. Withholding the painful truth shows the opposite.

Like the insistence on overly broad claims of secrecy, it also avoids an important step toward accountability, which is the only way to ensure that the abuses of the Bush years are never repeated. We urge Mr. Gates to use his discretion under the new law to release the photos, sparing Americans more cover-up.

Feeling motivated?

http://www.truthout.org/10280911

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Yes , Motivated to to bring up President Kennedy's speech on secrecy & covert

operations or how children aren't taught in school about heroes like Gen. Smedley Butler ,or why people never see president Eisenhower's warning about the military complex becoming to lucrative. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuvGEdR0THc&feature=related

[bertman]

2. We can be as motivated as we want. Or are inspired to be. But it's not going to change the fact

that this country is never going back to being the democratic republic, albeit the weakening democratic republic, that it was before the Bush Cabal took control.

The Big Guys have a hunger for control, for power, and for money that the citizenry cannot turn back. Especially since most of the citizens can only dimly comprehend that it needs desperately to be turned back and have no idea how they would turn it back if they did comprehend it. The Big Guys got into the vault and stole the gold, then they used it to buy all the Power. Now they are safely beyond the reach of the usual remedies such as are provided by our Constitution. So far beyond the reach that the Current Change President doesn't even pretend to intend to pursue the robbers or to seek justice. He's more interested in keeping everybody focused on the future.

Big Bummer.

Now I need a motivational speaker.

[NICO9000]

3. That quote jumped out of the page at me

The first thing I thought when I read how "joyous" every day was for him, was of course, that happiest of days, September 11, 2001. I'm sure he was overjoyed as he flew around the country like a scared rabbit that day. We all know for a fact how happy he was that day in March 2003 when he got his war on, not to mention all the drowning black folks in Louisiana in August 2005.

My wife mentioned to me after I read her that quote that it just goes to show what an absolute sociopath he is. He also said how the prayers of the American people helped him every day of his criminal, fake "presidency." He's the textbook example of religion and/or patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel, although "scoundrel" is too nice a word for the hideous waste of skin that is George W. Bush.

BTW, the L.A. Times article on his speech explicitly mentioned that Dubya didn't bother offering any motivational themes in his 28 minutes on stage, just more self-serving bullshit from the idiot son of an asshole (thanx to NOFX for that line).

[WilliamPitt]

4. Morning kick

[sinkingfeeling]

5. I've decided to keep my screen name... sinkingfeeling.

[Time for change]

6. That is one of the things about the Obama administration that has upset me the most

[Ellipsis]

7. Kick n/t