How Did We Get Here? - Democratic Underground

NanceGreggs

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Fri Jan-18-08 09:08 PM
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How Did We Get Here?

The numbers are in. Look at the results of any poll asking whether the country is on the right track or the wrong track, and the answer is more than obvious: the vast majority of US citizens believe the country is on the wrong track.

Which leads to the question no Republican, especially those currently running for office, wants to answer: How did we get here?

How did we get from the surplus left by Clinton to the current, unprecedented national debt? The party of fiscal responsibility was in charge when that debt skyrocketed. So how’d we get here?

Before BushCo and his more-than-supportive party took the reins of office, the United States was respected and revered as the model for democracy and freedom. Our world image has plummeted, and we are now perceived as war-mongering bullies. How’d we get here?

Prior to 9-11, we had never experienced such an astonishingly successful attack on our own soil. How’d we get here?

Was it a Democratic national security advisor who said that “no one could have foreseen anyone using airplanes as a missile”, even though that had been discussed as a possible scenario for years? Was it a Democratic advisor who sent an “unactionable” briefing to the president on August 6, 2001 – unactionable because it was ‘old news’ while, in the same breath, stating that the briefing was delivered on the specific request of the president for ‘updated information’? Was it a Democratic administration that ignored the warnings of experienced intelligence personnel who pointed out the ‘increased chatter’ that foretold of imminent disaster? How’d we get here?

We used to have a Constitution that was abided by, and a system of checks-and-balances between the branches of government. The Constitution has gone from being the foundation of our democracy to being a ‘piece of paper’ that can be overridden or ignored by an executive branch that has seized power never meant to be in its clutches. How’d we get here?

For the two centuries-plus of our existence, we have been the white-hat-wearing ‘good guys’ who stood firm on principles that excluded such barbarism as the use of torture. Now we are the country of waterboarders, renditions, not-so-secret prisons, and ‘enemy combatants’ who don’t count as ‘persons’. How’d we get here?

We used to brag about the access to education we afforded to all of our children, and their ability to compete in an ever-changing world. Now we watch in horror as our children’s test scores, when compared to other nations, fall far short in comparison. How’d we get here?

We were once a country that manufactured goods to be sold to consumers around the globe. Now we purchase inferior and oftentimes dangerous goods from our global competitors, because we no longer manufacture those goods ourselves. How’d we get here?

We used to pride ourselves on our transparency of government. Now we have ‘executive privilege’ stamped on anything and everything – including the visitors’ log at the White House. How’d we get here?

The nation that once held itself out as a world-wide example of individual rights and freedoms now wire-taps its citizens, reads their email, and tracks what books they borrow from the library. How’d we get here?

The country that once touted the separation of Church and State now includes one’s religious beliefs as part-and-parcel of one’s electability. How’d we get here?

The obvious answer to how we got here is a direct result of a Republican-controlled government. And that’s why you won’t hear a single GOPer acknowledge the question, no less answer it.

After all, when you’re the party that laid the track and promoted the fact that it was headed in the right direction, you’re not about to answer the question as to why it wound up leading to a place that turned out to be so terribly, horrifically, and obviously wrong.