Top 10 most shocking stories about the Bush Administration?

[DaveofCali]

Anyone of you guys here would like to list 10 (or at least some) of the most shocking stories of the Bush Administration? I mean like stories so damning (and indefensible) that they'd shock most people. One example: Cheney doing business with Iran (the enemy) via his position as the CEO of Halliburton during the late 90's.

IF you have any links to any list of such shocking stories, you can post them too :)

[Stephanie]

1. Not bothering to secure the Iraqi nuclear facilities after the invasion

They protected the Oil Ministry but not the known nuclear sites, which were looted. The material stolen could have been sold on the black market, to anyone who wanted to make a dirty bomb. This is clear evidence that Bush/Cheney didn't believe their own lies about WMD's. If they had actually believed Saddam had weapons, they would have secured the nuclear site immediately.

Kerry alluded to this in the first debate, but no one picked up on it.

Search "Tuwaitha" for more info.

[Hog lover]

10. Excellent point --

In the last debate, Kerry said that Bushco failed to secure ammunition dumps, and these weapons are now being used to kill and maim US troops and Iraqis. I don't recall him specifically pointing out that nuclear materials were unprotected.

[Stephanie]

13. Kerry quote:

Now I believe there's a better way to do this. You know, the president's father did not go into Iraq, into Baghdad, beyond Basra. And the reason he didn't is, he said -- he wrote in his book -- because there was no viable exit strategy. And he said our troops would be occupiers in a bitterly hostile land.

That's exactly where we find ourselves today. There's a sense of American occupation. The only building that was guarded when the troops when into Baghdad was the oil ministry. We didn't guard the nuclear facilities.

We didn't guard the foreign office, where you might have found information about weapons of mass destruction. We didn't guard the borders.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/debatereferee/debate_0930.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Cheney's energy policy meeting

with ???? (suspected energy businesspeople)to decide energy policy, and his refusal to name names.

[Stephanie]

4. And the fact that this Energy Panel was reviewing maps of Iraqi OIL FIELDS

And reading documents listing "Foreign Suitors" for Iraqi oil. This would be in Spring 2001.

[Huckebein the Raven]

3. Would PNAC count ?

[DaveofCali]

6. Many conservatives would agree with PNAC

PNAC is not damning enough.

Any stories that sound downright treasonous would count :)

[Stephanie]

9. Kerry has said that Bush lied us into war, but he has not said why.

And I think if he did, that would be the clincher. People can't buy the crime story without knowing the motivation of the perp. Once they hear the grand schemes of American hegemony and global conquest, let's see how happy they are with their Boy King.

[ellie]

5. His abysmal record on the environment

and the dismantling of the Clean Air Act. Really it was a giveaway to his corporate friends to pollute at will.

[DaveofCali]

8. n/t

[ellie]

16. Robert Kennedy Jr. has

written extensively on this subject. He is an environmental attorney:

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1120-01.htm

Kennedy also wrote a book, Crimes Against Nature, that was recently released:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060746874/qid=1097452505/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_2_1/104-5183278-5226328

Also visit the Natural Resources Defense Council here:

http://www.nrdc.org/

Here is a directory of articles, some overlap with the NRDC:

http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317828/us317851/us4225550/us10202703/us10093243/us10093358/

I did a Google search using the search terms, "Bush and the environment" and found more sources, once again, some overlap with previous entries.

On edit: You deleted your previous post asking for links. The environment may not be a hot button issue for some people, but on election night in 2000, I couldn't sleep because I was so worried about what Bush was going to do to the environment. It seems I had reason to worry. He's an unmitigated disaster. Also, since we are strung out on OPEC and oil, Peak Oil is also a worry. Google Peak Oil to find out how we are running out of oil and how this is shaping our foreign policy.

[Hog lover]

7. Outing Valerie Plame as CIA undercover agent --- n/t

[Stephanie]

11. Exactly! And to that add neocons passing secrets to Chalabi, and AIPAC

The neocons have questionable reputations.

[baldguy]

12. Just 10 wouldn't cover it.

Top 100? Naw - Top 1000, no - TOP 10000! That *might* be enough.

[iamjoy]

14. Wasn't There Some Sort of Diversion of Funds

Funds approved for Afghanistan somehow being spent on something in Iraq? I think Richard Clarke wrote about it, but I never read the book...

[linazelle]

46. Yes, I think it was $78 billion approved for Afghanistan diverted to Iraq`

or at least to preparations to invade Iraq.

[DaveofCali]

15. Come on, I need some more

I need some really shocking ones, ones like the Bush Administration preventing the Government from investigating the Saudi's in connection with 9/11. If anyone has some really hard evidence or articles from reputable sources to back them up, please post them :)

Im generally looking for a wider set of damning information that would be enough to make most independents and even Republicans not able to sleep at night knowing that Bush is still currently in office (or even have a chance to get another 4 years).

[Steelangel]

17. Here's

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2472999

I bumped that topic all morning and day. I will keep bumping that topic all week & month if I have to :P

That will affect the global, not only america. Europe and others are worried about that.

[DaveofCali]

18. Anyone have info on the connection..............

Does anyone have info on the connection between the Iraq War making terrorism worse, and the potential for the unstable governments of Saudi Arabia (via the Saudis) and Pakistan (via Pervez Musharraf) collapsing, and that Muslim Extremist (Muslim pro terrorist) governments will take over these countries and would not only shut down the flow of oil in Saudi Arabia's case (thus creating an economic crash worldwide), but in Pakistan's case, basically give Terrorists fresh and usable nuclear weapons? I would like to get information making a connection in this case which would be REALLY disturbing for any American to know (and proves just how dangerous Bush's recklessness is.)

[BlueEyedSon]

19. Abu Ghraib. The Duelfer Report.

[KellyPaDem]

20. Iraq rebuilding

A very under reported story about how the rebuilding money is handed out in Iraq. It seems that instead of hiring people with experience in how to rebuild a country after a war i.e. Bosnia. The Bush administration hired twenty somethings... fresh out of college... no work experience, certainly no experience in BUILDING A COUNTRY (go back and read that part again. I'll wait). The ONLY qualification these children had is that they applied to the Heritage Foundation. A conservative company. They wanted office jobs. No wonder that their is no electric, clean water or working sewage. Also, it might be contributing to the fact that billions of dollars are missing and no one knows where it went.

[ilovenicepeople]

43. I think that the missing money is being used

to build the 14 "permanent" bases in Iraq? Speaking of those bases,does anyone have pictures or video footage of those structures?

[this_side_up]

21. Willamette Week compiled their

Top 10.

http://wweek.com/story.php?story=5543

[DaveofCali]

22. I wish there was a website with this info

I wish that someone would make a website with such a damning collection of articles and hard evidence to make a super solid case to ANY American (that they can't dismiss as just partisan) that supporting Bush is not only unamerican, but treasonous and criminal. I'm not talking conspiracy theories, but just the right amount of shock value to keep the person from going into full frontal denial, yet also solid enough so that they can't dismiss as partisan or that they can't really argue against.

And such a website could be promoted all around the internet as to be enough to sway the election. Americans NEED to know the truth about Bush before they go vote on November 2nd, and need to know the importance of getting Bush out of office.

[hatrack]

23. Having the EPA Lie about asbestos, lead, cadmium etc. in Ground Zero dust

Because, after all, what's a few tens of thousands of cases of mesothelioma and lung cancer next to the all-important goal of opening the NYSE as quickly as possible?

:mad:

[Demonaut]

24. Bush and Karl Rove used to sodomize farm animals as children

would'nt put it past them

[hatrack]

25. Oh yeah, almost forgot - "Bring 'em on!"

Taunting Iraqi guerillas and terrorists, daring them to attack American soldiers. Since this charming taunt escaped his simian lips, more than 800 US forces have died as their opponents on the ground went along with the president's request. Asshole.

[flying_blind]

26. The STUNNING similarities in PNAC & NSS come to mind as 1st

If you have not read the whole things, well, uh, we all shoulda!

http://newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html

On September 17, 2002, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, officially announced the grand doctrine for a new world order, a doctrine that had been in the making for 12 years. Iraq was a smokescreen for the “coming out party” of the new doctrine of conquest.

The official name of this doctrine is the National Security Strategy of the United States of America (NSS). The media call it the Bush Doctrine. In reality, it is the U.S. blueprint for world Empire, the domination and governance by a single superpower over the lives and destiny of billions around the world.

The NSS or Bush Doctrine is a comprehensive formula for taking over the planet, placing it in the hands of the U.S. Empire. The Bush Doctrine aims at taking control of the economic, political, and cultural systems of the diverse societies and countries of the world. It will transform the world by radically altering the roles of key national, regional, and global institutions, of allies and enemies, of client states and competing blocks. The Bush Doctrine will also undertake a sweeping overhaul of U.S. laws and institutions to fulfill dreams of global Empire.

Yet, surprisingly, very few have scrutinized and analyzed the September 17 event with the depth it deserves. It is an urgent task to decode the Bush Doctrine on U.S. Empire and to disseminate this understanding to as many people as possible, including policy makers who are falling into the trap of Empire.
http://www.globenet3.org/Essays/Essay_Bush_Doctrine.shtml

[tinanator]

27. Top TEN?

Well, as small as it might seem compared to mass murder and war crimes, the Bush joke about MLK jr's portrait was, Im sorry to say, a particularly low spot in the dark abyss that is modern American history.

[flying_blind]

28. $135 Billion Medicare LIE

During House Ways and Means Committee hearing Wednesday, CMS chief actuary Richard Foster said that as early as June, he shared with Doug Badger, President Bush's health policy adviser, and James Capretta, associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, his analysis that the Medicare legislation would exceed its target spending goal, the New York Times reports. According to the New York Times, Foster's analysis showed that the legislation "would cost 25% to 50% more than the Bush administration's public estimates" (Pear, New York Times, 3/25). According to OMB estimates released after Congress passed the legislation, the Medicare law will cost $534 billion over the next 10 years, $134 billion more than estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. Foster has said that the higher cost projection was known before the final House and Senate votes on the legislation in November but that former CMS Administrator Tom Scully told him, "We can't let that get out"
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/print_report.cfm?DR_ID=22867&dr_cat=3

[BlueEyedSon]

34. agreed

[doubleplusgood]

29. refusing to stop the rape of California by Enron, et al

In early 2001, when California was getting f*cked over by Enron other enrgy comanies, California elected officals pleaded with the administration to impose price caps to stop the price-gouging that was going on. In a meeting with Dick Cheney, Cheney dismissively told them something like "Your problem is that you don't understand how the market works". Of course, subsequent revelations have proved that companies like Enron, who had lobbied to get energy deregulation in California in the first place, were indeed "gaming the system".

By its' inaction, the Bush administration screwed California's economy and, in turn, the national economy, creating the recession that still lingers today.

[DaveofCali]

30. Someone should make a collection of these and put them on a website n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

31. Here you go

http://www.wage-slave.org/scorecard.html

[Steelangel]

32. awesome. **Bookmark it**

[Nordic]

39. damn! That's perfect!

[Obamarama]

33. Bush "Wins" Election.....

That was pretty shocking....the first of many to come, as we have seen.

[Nordic]

35. showing the top secret Iraq war plans to Prince Bandar

[Nordic]

36. putting a gag order on Sibel Edmonds

[Nordic]

37. refusing to testify to the 9/11 commission

[Nordic]

38. hiding the bodies of the U.S. soldiers killed in iraq

[Nordic]

40. developing "bunker busting" NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!!

[Nordic]

41. the backdoor draft

[Nordic]

42. escalating the arms race through missle "defense"

any missile defense program, any of them, can be simply overwhelmed by sending up more missiles than the system is designed to capture.

They don't even have to be real, there just have to be a lot of them.

Thanks, Bush!

[Nordic]

44. overwhelming use of Orwellian "doublespeak"

"Clear Skies" initiative

"Healthy Forests" initiative

"Operation Iraqi Freedom"

It goes on and on ....

[July]

45. Outing double agent inside al Qaeda

and thus forcing Britain and ?? (forget the other country) to move up planned raids.

[linazelle]

47. Allowing stock options/puts to be placed on terrorist threats...

And not investigating the money trail of those who profitted from the 9/11 attacks. Link to story on profiteers here: http://www.suntimes.com/output/savage/cst-fin-terry27%20copy.html

[linazelle]

48. Redacting 28 pages of the 9/11 report

[linazelle]

49. Sending Colin Powell to make the case for invasion w/forged documents

[RollergirlVT]

50. and so why did we attack Iraq?

Consider these remarks....
George Tenet Feb. 7, 2001 -
On Iraq and Saddam:
“There are still constraints on Saddam’s power. His economic infrastructure is in long-term decline, and his ability to project power outside Iraq’s borders is severely limited, largely because of the effectiveness and enforcement of the No-Fly Zones. His military is roughly half the size it was during the Gulf War and remains under a tight arms embargo. He has trouble efficiently moving forces and supplies—a direct result of sanctions. These difficulties were demonstrated most recently by his deployment of troops to western Iraq last fall, which were hindered by a shortage of spare parts and transport capability.”
then…
On WMD proliferation: “…The three major suppliers of missile or WMD-related technologies continue to be Russia, China, and North Korea.”
and don't forget:
“Beyond Bin Ladin, the terrorist threat to Israel and to participants in the Middle East peace negotiations has increased in the midst of continuing Palestinian-Israeli violence. Palestinian rejectionists—including HAMAS and the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)—have stepped up violent attacks against Israeli interests since October. The terrorist threat to US interests, because of our friendship with Israel has also increased.”
Iran has one of the largest and most capable ballistic missile programs in the Middle East. Its public statements suggest that it plans to develop longer-range rockets for use in a space-launch program, but Tehran could follow the North Korean pattern and test an ICBM capable of delivering a light payload to the United States in the next few years.
and from the State Department April 30, 2001 -
“ Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2000. It provided increasing support to numerous terrorist groups, including the Lebanese Hizballah, HAMAS, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which seek to undermine the Middle East peace negotiations through the use of terrorism.”