Monday, October 20, 2008

US Elections: The collective responsibility of the citizens of the USA

For the last eight years. The rest of the world has looked on aghast at the Republican Party’s policies lurching from one domestic and international disaster to the next. The new order of the Third Millennium turned into a nightmare as the United States of America, that bastion of freedom and democracy of yesteryear, became the champion of mass murder, torture chambers, rape of detainees, child abuse, acts of sexual depravity more befitting of a lunatic asylum and concentration camps.

It is always amusing when the US media speaks about “The President’s policies” as if George W. Bush was able to formulate a single policy in his head. The real power in the White House is wielded not by this intellectually challenged, perhaps well-meaning simpleton but by the clique of elitists whose grasp on the energy and arms lobbies is complete and who dictate the external and internal policy of the USA. Donald (the Torturer) Rumsfeld, Richard (Dick) Cheney and Condoleeza (I am not a Diplomat) Rice are the most famous faces of the Bush regime, all of whom, including the invisible barons who masterminded these eight long years of failed policies, are intrinsically connected to the Republican Party.

The Republican Party of Bush, Cheney and Rice and now John (Failed War Hero) McCain and Sarah (Failed Hockey Mum) Palin is indeed like an elephant in a china shop. More seriously, the policies that this party has produced have managed to divorce the USA from the hearts and minds of the international community, where a growing number of US citizens travel under the guise of Canadians, so ashamed are they of their country.

While the shocking and horrific act of 9/11 was no different from what the USA has meted out to civilians in other parts of the globe, it was nonetheless unacceptable – yet provided a convenient launching pad for the internationalization of the Bush doctrine, namely a carte blanche for the US to invade sovereign nations under the disguise of bringing freedom and democracy, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of civilians, targeting civilian structures with WMD and military hardware, blasting the limbs off kids, blasting families into oblivion, torturing detainees and the rest, which is unfortunately now the external image of the country and its citizens.

Therefore with the citizens of the United States of America lies today the chance to redeem their great country in the eyes of the world and in the hearts and minds of the international community. While McCain and Palin try desperately to distance themselves from the Bush regime, the fact of the matter is that the Bush regime is composed of Republicans. And what party do McCain and Palin belong to?

And what exactly do they represent? McCain, the great war hero, who was so competent that he trashed how many machines? And spent the war in captivity? What kind of credentials are those? A war hero is someone who fights the enemy, operates behind enemy lines, gets decorated for acts of real heroism, in action, not someone whose incompetence as a pilot and as a soldier sees him sitting on his ass in jail living at the mercy of his captors. This, the man vying for the Presidency of the USA, who chose Sarah Palin because she lives in Alaska and can look at Russia? And who the Hell is Sarah Palin? Some pith-headed bimbo from the back of beyond who knows absolutely nothing about anything at all, whose claims to fame are clowning around on Saturday night TV. What if McCain dies? This, the woman who threatened to go to war with Russia? What does she want to do, get her country carpet-nuked or what?
True, the Barack Obama ticket brings with it a Zionist, Joe Biden. Nobody outside Washington or Tel Aviv supports Israel’s expansionist policies, stealing lands that do not belong to it and perpetrating the most blatant acts of imperialism, constructing colonies for Jews on Palestinian lands. True, the corporate elitists who are backing Barack Obama will want some pay-back for their support.
However, Barack Obama is the closest thing to real change, the best opportunity for the United States of America to change direction and work in tandem with the international community and not against it, that the USA will have in a long, long time. He represents the fundamentals of democracy which Americans respect – debate, discussion and dialogue, not the ABC of the Republican regime, arrogance, bullying and chauvisism, which McCain and Palin represent.
The international scenario which was supposed to follow the third millennium of Christ’s birth soon became a scene more befitting of a horror movie, a visitation of the Devil himself, an incubus right in the heart of the Republican Party. After what these war criminals have done, it is doubtful that a single member of the current regime will dare to step off an aircraft anywhere outside the USA, where they will live the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders. No cocktail circuit for these, no chicken run of after-dinner speeches. Sooner or later arrest warrants will be issued for them to face the consequences of their evil deeds, although Bush might be let off on grounds of insanity or sheer idiocy.
The Republican Party provided the USA and the world with the worst President and Vice-President, the worst Secretary of State and the worst Defence Secretary (Rumsfeld) in history. What is amazing is that anyone at all would dream of casting a vote in their favour – all one has to do is take a look at the mess they have created both internally and internationally. The greatest national security risk is Screaming Sarah Palin and her master who wants to “unleash” his bitch on Washington, Wacky John Mommy’s Boy Temper Tantrum McCain.
I’m Backing Barack. He is intelligent, he is well-read, he is sharp, he is a diplomat and a gentleman. Talking about the colour of his skin is racist and racism is ignorance. He is as black as he is white and as white as he is black, and so what? What matters is he cares and he will be a memorable leader of the best team Washington has put together in decades.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY