Re: Family Values (old news)

[Bif <sample@xxxxxxx>]

Robert L Bass wrote:
> Who Would Jesus Torture? The Religion of George W. Bush
>
> July 17, 2004
> By Christian Dewar
>
> In the June 21st edition of Time Magazine, the cover story is entitled, "Faith, God and the Oval Office", in which George W. Bush's
> religious beliefs are contrasted with those of John Kerry. In the same edition, there is an article entitled, "Redefining Torture",
> in which the origins of the use of torture by our government are traced to the highest levels of Bush's administration. Who would
> Jesus torture? Apparently, Time Magazine has no sense of irony.
>
> Around 900 US troops have been killed in Iraq. Thousands more are casualties, many missing limbs. Around 12,000 innocent Iraqi
> civilians are dead. An unknown number of Iraqi conscripts and soldiers died. The "Coalition of the Willing" has sustained death and
> casualties. Our "Shock and Awe" blitzkrieg has devastated the already damaged infrastructure including plumbing and sewage, insuring
> that tens, if not hundreds of thousands, more civilians will die of sickness and disease. Our use of the radioactive and toxic
> depleted uranium munitions will no doubt cause cancer and birth defects among Iraqis and US vets for generations to come.
>
> Meanwhile, the 9/11 Commission has declared that Saddam did not have WMD, he was not linked to Osama or al-Qaeda, he was not behind
> the World Trade Center attacks and his decimated army posed no imminent threat to the US. Oops!
>
> If you kill one innocent human being it is murder. If you slaughter thousands, it is "regime change."
>
> Accounts of Saddam's ability to attack us with WMD were lies. Shipments of Niger uranium to Iraq were lies. Claims that aluminum
> tubes were for centrifuges were lies. Stories of drones that could attack the US with chemical and biological weapons were lies.
> Assertions that Saddam had mobile trucks with WMD were lies. Who would Jesus lie to?
>
> Bush better hope that there is no heaven, no hell and no judgment day.
>
> Ron Reagan Jr. recently commented that while his father believed in God, he didn't wear his religion on his sleeve. While he did not
> mention Bush by name, most observers assumed that he was talking about the man selected by the Supreme Court to be our president.
> Bush often uses code words familiar to his critical evangelical base that fly under the radar of mainstream, moderate Christians.
> Still, it does not seem to be too cynical to believe that Bush's supposed religion is simply a ploy to gain votes from the rubes
> among fundamentalist Christians. Or if he is a religious man, few genuine Christians would believe that his God was the one they
> pray to.
>
> What would St. Peter have to say to George Bush once he stands before the Pearly Gates of heaven on judgment day? Has he been a good
> Christian? Has he led a pious life according to the teachings of Jesus?
>
> In the world of Roy Moore, it is more important for Christians to display their faith by placing a huge granite rock with the Ten
> Commandments inscribed on it in a court room rather than to follow those tenets of Christianity. For the Bush family, patriotism is
> displayed by appearing before huge American flags and wrapping themselves in red-white-and-blue bunting even as they chip away at
> the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Symbols trump substance any day for these Christians and patriots.
>
> According to childhood friends, Bush used to blow up frogs with firecrackers and shoot them with BB guns. As several therapists have
> pointed out, this cruelty to animals is a trait he shares with many serial killers.
>
> Bush was embroiled in a scandal at Yale when it was discovered that he branded pledges at his fraternity with red-hot wires.
>
> A drunken George W. Bush once challenged his own father to a fight, "mano a mano."
>
> Several therapists have commented about Bush's sadistic tendencies and his lack of empathy. A recent book, "Bush on the Couch;
> Inside the Mind of the President," written by the respected Justin A. Frank M.D., is one of many attempts to describe Bush's
> inherent cruelty. The book points out how comfortable Bush is being outside the law, whether it is his two arrests at Yale, his DUI,
> his apparent AWOL status in the Texas National Guard, alleged insider trading, possible perjury or his reported drug abuse.
>
> Polls report that many of those in the Red States believe that Bush is "likable" and the candidate they would most like to have a
> beer with. This about a man who mocks and ridicules those with whom he disagrees. A reporter who asks a foreign politician a
> question in French was derided as being an "internationalist." A citizen who expressed his displeasure with Bush's policies was
> told, "Who cares what you think?" He makes fun of bald journalists. He has cruel nicknames for aides. He calls Karl Rove, "Turd
> Blossom."
>
> During his father's presidential campaign. Dubya served as the "loyalty enforcer", the heavy who was brought in to fire or chastise
> disloyal campaign aides. He once yelled drunken obscenities at reporter Al Hunt in front of his wife and young child for an
> innocuous statement that he had written about his father. Unaware that his microphone was on, he called a New York Times reporter an
> asshole. According to White House insiders, his conversations are laced with profanity.
>
> Dick Cheney recently told a respected senator who is critical of his war profiteering to go "fuck yourself." Bush failed to admonish
> his vice president. Is this a Christian sentiment? Who would Jesus curse?
>
> As governor of Texas, Bush presided over a record number of executions including the mentally ill and juveniles. He mocked
> born-again Christian Karla Faye Tucker's plea for clemency, "Please don't kill me, Mr. Bush." Many of those sentenced to die had
> incompetent attorneys, including one who slept through parts of the trial. Bush's legal counsel omitted mitigating circumstances
> about many of the defendants. Bush reportedly only gave a cursory review of the defendant's legal background.
>
> During the debates with Al Gore, Bush smirked when he mentioned the pending execution of neo-nazis who dragged a black man to his
> death, even as he spurned the dead man's family who begged the governor to back hate-crime legislation. What part of "Thou Shall Not
> Kill" doesn't this man understand? What of "vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord"? What of "judge not, least ye be judged"? Are there
> loop holes and exceptions to the teachings of Christ or the Bible, as there apparently are in US and international law when it comes
> to torturing detainees?
>
> As a failed business man in the Texas oil business, Bush apparently unloaded around $850,000 in stock before it crashed -- A far
> greater amount than what Martha Stewart realized in her insider trading scam. Bush was never exonerated, although Bush Senior's
> cronies at the head of the SEC dropped the investigation. "Thou Shall Not Steal?"
>
> As governor, Bush steered much of the University of Texas's investments to his cronies. He may well have perjured himself in a Texas
> funeral home scandal. The Texas Ranger's stadium was paid for by taxpayers, although Bush and his cronies realized a huge profit at
> their expense. They even created a quasi-governmental agency to condemn the soon-to-be valuable private property around the ball
> field in order to buy the land at fire-sale prices.
>
> As president, his administration has awarded no-bid, cost-plus multi-billion dollar contracts to his campaign contributors. His
> father has profited from his son's wars as a consultant to Carlyle. Dick Cheney's stock in Halliburton increases in value as the
> company gouges US taxpayers with inflated invoices and phantom services.
>
> The vice president is being investigated by the SEC. He may be indicted for a felony concerning bribes by Halliburton to corrupt
> Nigerian officials. Bush's good friend and campaign contributor, "Kenny Boy" Lay has finally made to perp walk. His company
> defrauded California and his employees lost their careers along with their life savings. The "Golden Rule?" He who has the gold,
> rules.
>
> Around $20 billion dollars from the sale of Iraqi oil has gone missing. Oil pumped from the Iraqi wells is unmetered. Money
> allocated for Iraq by the US government is similarly unaccounted for with little oversight.
>
> Are we sure that this war wasn't about oil as ten million protesters alleged before the bombing of Baghdad began? What of the
> proverb that "it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle?" Bush's tax cuts
> mostly benefit the richest one per cent of US citizens as the deficit soars to record heights and social programs are gutted. This
> is compassionate conservative?
>
> What mountain would Jesus strip mine? This administration is giving away America's resources to his wealthy contributors as they
> despoil the land and strip the forests. The extraction industries dump toxins and pollutants into our water. Mercury from coal mines
> renders seafood dangerous for pregnant women's unborn children. Death and illnesses are directly linked to pollution. Under Governor
> Bush, Houston overtook Los Angeles as the country's most polluted city.
>
> This administration is the most vengeful in US history, as Richard Clark, Paul O'Neil and Joe Wilson, among many others, have
> discovered. Turn the other cheek? If you do, this administration will punch you on the other side of your head.
>
> Cheney voted against sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa. He opposed efforts to free Nelson Mandela. What race
> would Jesus hate?
>
> Bush seems to also harbor racist tendencies. He recently refused to address the NAACP. He opposes affirmative action. He reportedly
> collaborated with Lee Atwater on the racist Willie Horton ads. Rove's minions circulated rumors that John McCain fathered an
> illegitimate black child. Jeb Bush disenfranchised thousands of black voters, most of whom would have supported Al Gore. Asked by a
> black woman what he would do for blacks if he became governor of Florida, Jeb Bush replied, "Probably nothing." Who would Jesus
> hate?
>
> John Ashcroft, the attorney general whose department approved the use of torture, is affiliated with neo-confederate, racist groups
> like the Southern Partisan and the Council of Conservative Citizens, the uptown Ku Klux Klan.
>
> Ashcroft is one of the NRA's strongest supporters. What about beating swords into plowshares? Who would Jesus shoot? What heat would
> Christ pack?
>
> Both Cheney and Bush fought to pass a constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriages, even though Cheney's daughter is a lesbian.
> What group of citizens would Jesus hate?
>
> Some of the more strident evangelicals believe that adulterers should be stoned and that gays should be executed. They are in favor
> of the death penalty. As for those innocent death row inmates, they actually believe God will sort it all out in the next world. It
> is doubtful that any of these "Christians" would even recognize Jesus if he returned to earth, especially if he came back as a
> black, gay or an Iraqi.
>
> America's Best Christian (with apologies to the devout Christian Betty Bowers), John Ashcroft, also presided over many executions
> while in office in Missouri. Who would Jesus electrocute? It would appear that his illegal campaign contributions amount to
> stealing.
>
> His Justice Department says that torture stops just short of organ failure. What "stress positions" would Jesus advocate? Would he
> "water board" detainees until they thought they were about to drown? Would he specifically approve the use of dogs to intimidate
> prisoners as Rumsfeld did? Would he sexually humiliate them, leading them naked on a leash? Would he force them to masturbate and
> simulate sexual acts with one another as he video taped the proceedings? Ashcroft's god is not one most Christians would recognize
> from the Bible.
>
> Bush has called our war in the Middle East a crusade. General Boykin, who believes God placed Bush in the White House, not the
> Supreme Court, says this his God is the real God, not the one worshipped by Muslims. His God helped him kill the infidels. Who would
> Jesus crusade against?
>
> It certainly is remarkable that such an insipid, callow, little man like George W. Bush, who has slaughtered thousands of innocent
> civilians as surely as if he pulled the trigger himself, can be described as deeply religious by one of America's most mainstream
> magazines with no sense of irony. American lemmings are now so brain washed that they believe this war criminal is a man of God. It
> would seem that the God he worships is really the Viking god of war, Thor, with his thunder of ongoing, preemptive "Shock and Awe"
> extending as far as the eye can see into our future.

get a life