The real and imminent dangers to Americans are apparently unimportant to the Bush administration.

Without realizing it, George W. Bush and his PNAC cronies actually were correct when they said that this nation was in imminent danger. In their attempt to deceive us about Saddam Hussein, they inadvertently made consistent and accurate claims that we were all facing immediate and real threats to our wellbeing. The problem is that they tried to convince us that the imminent danger we faced could be lessened if we invaded Iraq. Bush and company had their wires crossed.

In fact, we the people of the United States face multiple imminent dangers from within our own borders. These threats have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism or hoarded weapons of mass destruction. These threats come directly from the policies of George W. Bush and his supporters in Congress!

The imminent dangers to our well being are not being addressed because of the priorities of the Bush administration. The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq and the action taking place in Afghanastan now are costing American taxpayers 6 BILLION DOLLARS per month! At the same time, corporate influence on a GOP congress has resulted in legislation that consistently shows disdain for public health and safety. The imminent dangers to us all continue to increase in direct proportion to the Bush Cartel goals of global domination.

The real and imminent dangers to Americans are apparently unimportant to the Bush administration. The huge deficit caused by the war and the tax cuts adequate funding cannot possibly provide adequate funding to decrease or eliminate any of these threats. Partisan legislation and preferential executive policy have allowed other dangers to increase exponentially. Imminent dangers lurk all around us here at home!

The Imminent Dangers:

1.Threats to our health: Thousands of American lives could be saved each year by medical research funded by a small fraction of the cost of the war. Stem cell research has been seriously undermined, and every day hand guns kill Americans with frightening regularity. Sadly, while the NRA remains a major contributor to the GOP, and while medical research remains grossly under funded, in the year 2000, in this country, there were:

28,663 deaths cause by firearms (intentional and non-intentional).

710,760 deaths from heart disease.

533,091 deaths from cancer.

122,009 deaths from chronic low respiratory disease.

2. Threats from an increasingly endangered environment: The Bush administration, in several strokes of the pen, has managed to:

Reduce restrictions of toxins in our water systems

Lighten regulations on emissions by coal burning power plants

Ordered the EPA not to conduct any studies that may conflict with the Bush/PNAC administrations agenda to pander to corporations at the expense of the health and safety of the public.

Doctor an EPA report to exclude its findings about the dangers of global warming

Withdraw from the Kyoto Treaty and international efforts to reduce the greenhouse effect.

3. Threats to our basic Constitutional freedoms: Using 9/11 as a cover for the most virulent attack on our civil liberties in history, we now live with the following:

The Patriot Act that has all but eliminated the protections provided to us by the US Constitution. (This act was actually in the planning long before 9/11.)

The public no longer has the right to know what the government is doing! Secrecy protects Bush from divulging information about 9/11, the Cheney energy meetings, the Iraq intelligence fiasco, and the archives of the first Pres. Bush.

Media consolidation threatens the public’s ability to access diverse and complete information and opinion.

Misled and coerced by accusations of being un-American, the Congress abdicated its exclusive responsibility for declaring war. By voting war powers to George W. Bush, the Constitution, once again, has been rendered meaningless.

4. Threats from an insane foreign policy. This administration has made this country feared and hated around the world. This is the result of:

An illegal and immoral war and occupation that are fueling extremist violence and inciting global terror and more acts of terror on our own soil.

Initiating a new nuclear arms race by showing that we do not invade countries with active nuclear programs.

A policy that declares that the US and its chosen allies have the exclusive right to develop weapons of mass destruction. Consider that approximately 3,500 people died within the US as a direct result of terrorism (in Oklahoma City and on 9/11)..

A doctrine that declares that the US has the right to launch pre-emptive, and if necessary, nuclear attacks on nations we suspect are hostile to us.

Playing diplomatic games with N. Korea’s nuclear threat, while refusing diplomatic solutions in Iraq.

An arrogant, self-righteous display of moral superiority that tells the world we can go it alone, without alliances and international agreements..

The abandonment of the war on terror, and the pursuit of domination of the Middle East and its oil.

The undue and self-indulgent influence of neoconservatives on foreign policy.

The intrusion of right wing religious doctrine as an integral part of American policy.

The undermining of the United Nations as a vital peace-keeping organ.

Insistence on American exemption from prosecution for war crimes in the World Court.

This is only a starter list. It is not meant to minimize the threat of foreign terrorism, or to suggest that violent acts against Americans are not real possibilities. But preying on our fears must not be the manipulative device used to ignore the internal imminent threats we face as Americans, and to which this administration is a major contributing factor.

Our national debt is skyrocketing as never before. Homeland security is a necessary and vital expense, but a projected stay of years in Iraq will destroy us as surely as another terrorist attack. Our cities and states are bearing the brunt of the cuts in federal spending needed to finance a war that should never have been. Every facet of American life has been negatively and painfully impacted. It has to stop

Those who oppose the Bush administration and its irresponsible policies must begin to develop a mantra of our own that emphasizes the real threats we face as Americans. It is time to wonder why we are spending more time and money guarding our front door when the real enemies are already in our house.

The focus of the 2004 elections has to challenge the American people to eliminate the threat from within. We have to protect ourselves from the most imminent danger we face: the continued menacing policies of George W. Bush.

Peace,
Jesse - Editor, TvNewsLies.org