Free Press History
The lasting legacy of Ronald Wilson Reagan will be Star Wars and a bloated imperialist U.S. military budget. At the beginning of the recent war against Iraq, nearly two dozen years after Reagan first took office, his impact was plainly clear: the mainstream media pointed out that the U.S. military was estimated to be stronger than Rome at the height of her imperialism and stronger than Nazi Germany in 1940.
Reagan, starring in “The Return of the Cold War,” doubled President Carter’s military budget, increasing it from $145 billion to $290 billion in his first year. The Reagan-Bush Administration spent $1.5 trillion in their first five years, the largest military build-up during peacetime ever recorded. Star Wars was funded to the tune of tens of billions of dollars with the stated goal of nuclearizing space. But we were promised if the Soviet Union caved in there would be the mythical “peace dividend.” Americans would benefit from a much smaller military budget.
Reagan, starring in “The Return of the Cold War,” doubled President Carter’s military budget, increasing it from $145 billion to $290 billion in his first year. The Reagan-Bush Administration spent $1.5 trillion in their first five years, the largest military build-up during peacetime ever recorded. Star Wars was funded to the tune of tens of billions of dollars with the stated goal of nuclearizing space. But we were promised if the Soviet Union caved in there would be the mythical “peace dividend.” Americans would benefit from a much smaller military budget.
While the major media screams about the latest beheading in the Middle East,
John Ashcroft's destruction of a man in the middle west -- likely for
political purposes -- has gone unnoticed.
The ghastly court appearance here in Columbus, Ohio, of Nuradin Abdi has underscored the high likelihood that the Bush Administration used variations of torture to break this impoverished Somali immigrant. And his dubious indictment may well have been used to overshadow a campaign visit here by John Kerry. No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio.
On Monday, June 14, the eve of Kerry's two-day visit here, Attorney-General Ashcroft dramatically seized national headlines by unsealing a month-old four-count indictment of Abdi, a Somali native living in Columbus. "The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al-Qaeda cell allegedly which included a Somali immigrant who will now face justice," Ashcroft boasted.
The ghastly court appearance here in Columbus, Ohio, of Nuradin Abdi has underscored the high likelihood that the Bush Administration used variations of torture to break this impoverished Somali immigrant. And his dubious indictment may well have been used to overshadow a campaign visit here by John Kerry. No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio.
On Monday, June 14, the eve of Kerry's two-day visit here, Attorney-General Ashcroft dramatically seized national headlines by unsealing a month-old four-count indictment of Abdi, a Somali native living in Columbus. "The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al-Qaeda cell allegedly which included a Somali immigrant who will now face justice," Ashcroft boasted.
The mainstream media spent an entire week mythologizing Ronald Wilson Reagan. Why did the corporate for-profit media spend so much time creating a cult of personality around a former President with an estimated 105 IQ? Because the actual historical reality of Reagan’s life are so shockingly reactionary you need the pageantry, majesty and imagery of a Hollywood-scripted finale to cover up the thousands of damning facts.
The official word from the Bush administration is that the torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison is not “systematic,” according to General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This type of torture of indigenous and Third World people, however, is well-documented as a pattern and practice of the U.S. military and the CIA.
The new revelations in Bob Woodward’s book, Plan of Attack, provide further evidence to convict President George W. Bush of war crimes.
As one of the 49 original signers of the UN Charter, the United States committed itself to the ideals and practices of the norms of international law. Only two U.S. senators voted against the treaty, which includes Article 2(4) that specifically prohibits “…the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state….” In a September 23, 2003 speech to the United Nations, President Bush noted that both the UN Charter and American founding documents “recognize a moral law that stands above men and nations, which must be defended and enforced by men and nations.” Following World War II, just such action was taken at the Nuremberg trials and American, British, French and Soviet jurists established Article VI of the Nuremberg Charter, which legally defines “Crimes Against Peace.”
As one of the 49 original signers of the UN Charter, the United States committed itself to the ideals and practices of the norms of international law. Only two U.S. senators voted against the treaty, which includes Article 2(4) that specifically prohibits “…the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state….” In a September 23, 2003 speech to the United Nations, President Bush noted that both the UN Charter and American founding documents “recognize a moral law that stands above men and nations, which must be defended and enforced by men and nations.” Following World War II, just such action was taken at the Nuremberg trials and American, British, French and Soviet jurists established Article VI of the Nuremberg Charter, which legally defines “Crimes Against Peace.”
When President George W. Bush signed the Drug-Free Communities Act in 2002, he asserted, "If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terror in America." During the 2002 Superbowl, in the aftermath of 9/11, Bush's Office of National Drug Control Policy aired two TV ads asking the simple question, "Where do terrorists get their money?" The answer: "If you buy drugs, some of it might come from you."
Many marijuana activists have argued that growing your own weed is counterterrorist activity. Still, this line of thinking concedes Bush's simple-minded assertion.
Many marijuana activists have argued that growing your own weed is counterterrorist activity. Still, this line of thinking concedes Bush's simple-minded assertion.
The subject line on yesterday’s email read: “Another mysterious accident solves a Bush problem. Athan Gibbs dead, Diebold lives.” The attached news story briefly described the untimely Friday, March 12th death of perhaps America’s most influential advocate of a verified voting paper trail in the era of touch screen computer voting. Gibbs, an accountant for more than 30 years and the inventor of the TruVote system, died when his vehicle collided with an 18-wheeled truck which rolled his Chevy Blazer several times and forced it over the highway retaining wall where it came to rest on its roof.
American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune And The Politics Of Deceit In The House Of Bush, Kevin Phillips, Viking, 2004.
Kevin Phillips, former Nixon strategist turned insightful political and economic commentator, gives the nation a new and lasting monument to the Bush family dynasty. If you read one book this election year, none can be more important to the future course of our republic than American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune And The Politics Of Deceit In The House Of Bush.
Phillips peels away, through exhaustive research, the mythology of the Bush family. Recently, Jay Hoster, past president of the Columbus Historical Society, pointed out that President George W. Bush’s great-grandfather Samuel Prescott Bush, “served as president of Buckeye Steel Casting Co. from 1905 to 1927, but that’s merely one of his accomplishments.” Indeed.
Kevin Phillips, former Nixon strategist turned insightful political and economic commentator, gives the nation a new and lasting monument to the Bush family dynasty. If you read one book this election year, none can be more important to the future course of our republic than American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune And The Politics Of Deceit In The House Of Bush.
Phillips peels away, through exhaustive research, the mythology of the Bush family. Recently, Jay Hoster, past president of the Columbus Historical Society, pointed out that President George W. Bush’s great-grandfather Samuel Prescott Bush, “served as president of Buckeye Steel Casting Co. from 1905 to 1927, but that’s merely one of his accomplishments.” Indeed.
The Governor of Ohio, Bob Taft, and other prominent state officials, commute to their downtown Columbus offices on Broad Street. This is the so-called “Golden Finger,” the safe route through the majority black inner-city near east side. The Broad Street BP station, just east of downtown, is the place where affluent suburbanites from Bexley can stop, gas up, get their coffee and New York Times. Those in need of cash visit BP’s Diebold manufactured CashSource+ ATM machine which provides a paper receipt of the transaction to all customers upon request.
Many of Taft’s and President George W. Bush’s major donors, like Diebold’s current CEO Walden “Wally” O’Dell, reside in Columbus’ northwest suburb Upper Arlington. O’Dell is on record stating that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President” this year. On September 26, 2003, he hosted an Ohio Republican Party fundraiser for Bush’s re-election at his Cotswold Manor mansion. Tickets to the fundraiser cost $1000 per couple, but O’Dell’s fundraising letter urged those attending to “Donate or raise $10,000 for the Ohio Republican Party.”
Many of Taft’s and President George W. Bush’s major donors, like Diebold’s current CEO Walden “Wally” O’Dell, reside in Columbus’ northwest suburb Upper Arlington. O’Dell is on record stating that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President” this year. On September 26, 2003, he hosted an Ohio Republican Party fundraiser for Bush’s re-election at his Cotswold Manor mansion. Tickets to the fundraiser cost $1000 per couple, but O’Dell’s fundraising letter urged those attending to “Donate or raise $10,000 for the Ohio Republican Party.”
So, Kevin Phillips’ thesis in his new book American Dynasty, is that the Bush family are long-standing war profiteers, Machiavellians and a WASP clan of financial hustlers. To be fair to the Bush family and to test Phillips’ thesis, the Free Press decided to investigate what a lesser-known Bush brother was up to recently. Neil Bush was our choice, since we figured he would be repentant after his embarrassing involvement as a director of the defunct Silverado Savings and Loan in Denver during the 1980s.
Recall that Neil, as a bank director, had a conflict of interest problem after voting to approve loans totaling $132 million from Silverado to his business partners. His partners, in turn, loaned him hundreds of thousands of dollars, which he only had to pay back if he made a profit. His punishment was banishment from investment banking for life. Of course, he did have that little problem after Silverado. According to the Dayton Daily News, he got a $2 million loan from the Small Business Association and “walked on it.”
Recall that Neil, as a bank director, had a conflict of interest problem after voting to approve loans totaling $132 million from Silverado to his business partners. His partners, in turn, loaned him hundreds of thousands of dollars, which he only had to pay back if he made a profit. His punishment was banishment from investment banking for life. Of course, he did have that little problem after Silverado. According to the Dayton Daily News, he got a $2 million loan from the Small Business Association and “walked on it.”