It was noteworthy that Bush II told the American Public, when he was asked whether he consulted with his father concerning his foreign policy decisions related to going to war with Iraq, he indicated that he consulted a higher father. Evidently, God gave Bush II guidance on his decision to go to war in Iraq.

In a way, Bush II had to say this since his father’s book “A World Transformed” co-written by Brent Scowcroft explained in detail why invading Iraq made no sense. That book was published in 1999. The pitfalls of invading Iraq were not secret or unanticipated. Prior to the war they were well documented.  Scowcroft, to his credit, was one of the few Republicans to openly question Bush II's poor policy choices.

Richard Clark’s book is even a more damning indictment since he lays out the case that Bush II’s poor policies made us more susceptible to 9/11. Most Republicans can even justify the outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent since her husband was a “traitor.” Forget what dangers that posed to Americans. Similarly, Abu Ghareb was a harmless fraternity style prank. No accountability whatsoever.

I wonder how many Republicans really believe that God wanted the U.S. to invade Iraq.   If God wanted this, then there is a good case that God is a Muslim (or Allah) since the group that paid the heaviest price in Iraq was the Christian community.

Oops – I forgot that “everyone knows” that “they” are all radical Muslims. So, “they” got what “they” deserved. If you question that, you obviously “hate America” and are “negative.”  

Years ago, the Republicans were (to me) the party of logic, reasoning and facts. While many liberal Democrats made excuses for Soviet Communism (and would say things like the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are “equally bad”) and would deny the atrocities of Stalin (remember the New York times in the 1930s?).   Also, the Republicans were correct (to me) concerning the excessive power unions had in 1980. 

Things are very different now.

Immediately after 9/11, when it was clear to me (and most people) that Al Qaeda and Bin Laden were to blame, I believed that we needed to use all of our power to kill/capture Bin Laden and wipe out Al Qaeda. I thought it might be a challenge, but I believed America was more challenged during WWII and during the Cold War – and we made it through those eras.

The world and the United States both understood that Afghanistan was proving shelter to Bin Laden and had training camps for Al Qaeda in its country. I was glad when the United States moved against the Taliban and went to Afghanistan.

Soon after, I started to get concerned. I heard Axis of Evil, in early 2002, Bush said Bin Laden did not really matter. Bin Laden did not matter? No other person had planned and executed the killing of more Americans – and had damaged critical places in this country. Pearl Harbor was no New York City or the Pentagon. Republicans joined in the chorus – he did not matter.

Al Qaeda succeed in terrorist attacks in Great Britain (an ally), Spain (an ally) and in Bali Indonesia (targeting mostly Australians – another ally). Yet Bin Laden did not matter. We needed to get Sadaam Hussein and to conquer Iraq.

I have heard many different reasons for this – some people believe that Bush and neocons wanted Bin Laden free to justify intruding on freedoms. Michael Moore suggested that the Bush family had some connection to Bin Laden. Others believe that 9/11 was a hoax. I never subscribed to those beliefs (though, ironically it might have been better if one of these were true).

I believe that Cheney/Rummy and the neocons really did not think it was WMD or that Iraq was a danger to the United States (there was very little evidence of either – and if these were real justifications for war we certainly would have invaded North Korea – a place that actually developed nuclear weapons and was developing rockets – also our troops were already in South Korea and Japan). I think that the neocons really thought that the war would be easy.

It is funny that GHWB had written a book only a few years earlier describing in detail the reasons invading all of Iraq in 1991 would have been a mistake. GWB believed 9/11 changed everything – but 9/11 did not change what Iraq was. It still was an artificial country that was secular in nature – run by a ruthless strongman.

When an economic advisor in his administration broke from the Bush “line” that Iraq’s oil would pay for the war – and he concluded it could cost $100,000,000,000 (a huge understatement) he was fired. AGAIN HE WAS FIRED!   Republicans did not care.

The first Iraq war, for a variety of reasons, did not bankrupt the U.S. – it did not cost all that much and many countries helped offset our costs.

Most Republicans to this day attack people who question the wisdom of Bush landing on an aircraft carrier announcing “mission accomplished” on May 1, 2003 are traitors or “hate our troops.” With that thinking, the Republican Party will never achieve power again.

Accountability should mean something. Just like the welfare mom who continues to have children out of wedlock – people making big mistakes should not be rewarded by the government.   When Republicans criticized teen welfare moms – they were called “racists” or hateful. Unfortunately, the Republicans who called those who criticized the Iraq war “traitors” or people who “hate our troops” did the exact same thing (but even worse). Rather than examine the issue, people were called traitors and un-American.

It became clear towards the end of 2003 that we were screwing up the war, and the cost of the war would be much higher than the estimates. Again, nobody was allowed to question the war. Even few in the media would do this. It was very troubling to me.

Iraq will never be worth the $2,000,000,000,000 cost. Simply, the spending cannot be justified. People also forget that war is very messy – thousands of innocent Iraqis have died in this war because of the acts of Americans. That was true in all of our wars – but in the case of Iraq it was especially messy since it was really a civil war as much as anything (and a civil war that GHWB said would likely happen if we invaded Iraq).

No President (to date) has encouraged the outright destruction of a longstanding Christian community in a country.   The Iraqi Christians went from being treated fairly in the Iraq pre-invasion, to being hunted down, killed, forced to pray in private, forced to flee, having clergy kidnapped and killed, churches burned, etc.

You might think that the reckless actions of our government were brought about by an administration which truly hated Christianity. People blame the killing of Christians on radicals – but if this were true why did this not occur until 2003? Why weren’t Christians being persecuted in Iraq before that time? How did they survive all sorts of Muslim empires over the years?

People forget that not all of “those Arabs” are Muslims (though there is no doubt most hard-core Republicans view those terms interchangeably). The fact is that “Christians” who do not care about the Iraqi Christians (and celebrate the new “democracy” that has fostered there murder and has imposed sharia law) are not really Christians.

These Christians were brought to the faith before all of Northern Europe and most of Eastern Europe. Some of these communities have been Christian for 1500 or more years.   Well now many of them are gone forever.

As I have heard many Republicans say over the years “who cares.” Certainly, Bush/Cheney/Rummy do not care.

Many Republicans viewed the inability to accept mistakes as strength of Bush. Again, why would that be strength? It certainly aided those who would shout down those who questioned our policies.

Today, most Republicans still do not care that Bin Laden is free. He does not matter. Some even forget telling me that we had already finished the job in 2002 when we decided to invade Iraq. Another technique is to simply call those who focus on accountability “negative.” Forget focusing on points, name-calling is way easier.

Thanks to Iraq, America is not equipped to deal with our economic challenges. When interest and future costs is considered, Iraq’s costs will perhaps exceed $5,000,000,000,000. If we did not have that extra debt, we could much more easily afford to spend and cut taxes to help our economy.

I am very sad that the Republicans have destroyed us – but I admit this is the case. While my party registration has remained Republican, and I voted for the Republican Presidential candidate in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2008 – I do not think I was part of the problem. However, I am dismayed that Republicans have not demanded accountability.

Class hatred, Federalists, Whigs and Republicans

On a recent Rush Limbaugh broadcast, Rush stated a point I have heard for the last 30 years: union members simply “get too much” when they retire.

Defined benefit pensions have literally existed for thousands of years. Humanity has always understood that as we get older, some of us are unable to continue to work, while others might be interested in pursuing family or hobby interests. Auto workers, like many other workers, have traditionally had defined benefits pensions. Like many police officers, and other public sector workers, after putting in 25 years pension benefits can rival what people earned while working full time.

I have heard countless “conservatives” including Rush state that it is unfair that someone should be able to retire at age 55. Why is that? What is wrong with that concept?

Some rich people retire at age 40 with a lot more money than auto workers or police officers. Why do “conservatives” single out auto workers and public sector workers for their earnings?

“Conservatives” could have an arguable point if benefits were going up for retired union workers – but they are not. In the past 30 years, union and public sector employees have been getting worse and worse benefits.

Why do conservatives target middle class retirees for criticism?

At the same time, these conservatives defend an SEC that does not regulate at all (it would interfere with markets) and they celebrate no-bid contracts to politically connected groups (like Blackwater) and justify the non-regulation of hedge funds involving people like Walter Noel and Bernard Madoff.

To “conservatives,” Noel and Madoff are creative people using skills – but an auto worker is a serf that should be replaced by Chinese slave labor.

Much of the Republican ideology (which is every bit as strong an ideology as strident Marxism) touts the Noel and Madoff type of people of this world. The typical response to those who question the value of these people is “class envy” and “jealousy.” 

I have the experience of being around both working class people and Noel/Madoff people – nobody should be jealous of the idle rich with vapid values. Such people refuse to do any physical labor (how many fast food workers in Greenwich are from Greenwich – few) and ridicule those who have performed physical labor.

Madoff/Noel types offer nothing to society – they distort markets and hurt many middle class people who have pension funds tied up with their phony investment scams.

These people have helped seriously damage the Republican party (yes I know Madoff is a Democrat, and Noel is a Republican). 

Read the detailed memos repeatedly sent to the SEC concerning Madoff/Noel. Nothing was done despite detailed reasoning that the funds were clearly a fraud.