Throw Out The Trash!

The Infinite Echo
B. Thomas Cooper
Editor


It’s time to kick the garbage to the curb.

I’m referring to the corrupt Republicans who currently dominate both the House of Representatives and the US Senate. The situation has become increasingly untenable. The stench of corruption and incompetence hangs heavy in the atmosphere. The answer is simple. When the trash begins to stink, it’s time to throw it out.

Of course, there are plenty of bad actors in the Democratic party, but they cannot be held to blame for the Bush administrations obvious manipulation of Pre-war intelligence, nor the subsequent parade of failures both at home and abroad. According to the governments own reports, George Bush’s illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq has already cost America the lives of over three thousand soldiers, and has increased the threat of terrorism on the home front, yet Bush continues to do what he does best… he lies about it.

Bush insisted Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, even after weapons experts determined to the contrary. Bush blames bad intelligence sources.

Bush claimed Saddam Hussein was attempting to procure “Yellow Cake”, but in fact, he wasn’t. Again, Bush blamed everyone but those in his own administration for the false information.

Bush claimed he spoke directly with God prior to the invasion of Iraq, and God assured him the US would suffer no casualties as a result of said invasion. I suppose God provided Bush with bad intelligence. It’s the only way to explain why casualties have been so high. God lied to George Bush.

George Bush claims the terrorists “hate freedom”, and that is why it is so necessary to dig a trench around Baghdad and lock down the entire city with travel restrictions and a radical curfew. Those darned terrorists just can’t stand the concept of freedom. That is why Bush and cronies insist on violating US and international law through acts torture and rendition. That is why it has become so important for the US to hold suspects in dog cages for extended periods of time without due process. Because it is important for the US to demonstrate to the rest of the world the value of freedom and democracy.

So there you have it. Right about now it should be abundantly obvious to even the most casual observer that the horrible odor permeating the fabric of our nation is coming from Washington. It’s the stench of failure.

So what next?

Americans hate to admit when they are wrong. Americans are not keen to admit when they have been duped. Americans aren’t comfortable accepting failure.

I suppose we can do as the Bush administration has insisted, and “stay the course”. The US has already lost more lives in Iraq and Afghanistan than on 9/11. What’s a few thousand more? We could “cut and run”, but that would embolden the enemy, an enemy that has clearly whupped our sorry ass. We could turn Iraq over to the Iraqi government, but of course, the situation in Iraq is now far worse than prior to the invasion.

Face the facts, kiddies.
This is our own fault. We cannot blame our foolishness on a handful of dead hijackers. Our willingness to accept the lies and transgressions of the most corrupt administration in US history is a weakness we must now deal with. Rest assured, we have not seen the worst of it. Failure in Iraq is not an option. It’s a fact!

So what’s the solution?
For starters, we can kick the trash to the curb.

The Infinite Echo
http://theinfiniteecho.blogspot.com/

The Great Pretenders

The Infinite Echo
B. Thomas Cooper
Editor

The Great Pretenders

Some people never learn. Some never even try.
There’s always someone who can’t resist temptation. You know the guy. He’s the one who hangs around backstage, acting like a big shot, when in fact, he doesn’t know jack shit. In the music biz, these guys are a dime a dozen. Just another pretender, looking to steal his share of the pie.

The internet has opened the door for a whole new breed of scam artists, determined to make a quick buck off some poor sucker. Back in the day, they hawked their wares, knock-off watches and bootleg Lp’s from the trunk of their car, in some dimly lit jack alley somewhere. Perhaps they scalped concert tickets, or God only knows. Well, times they are a changing’ and a good con artist goes where the money is. For a short while, it seemed the quick cash was in internet domain squatting (read story here). These days the trend seems to be returning to that old standby… piracy.

It can be enough to drive an honest man right off the track. Who really wants to go round and round with these guys anyway? I suppose it goes with the territory. Still, these guys aren't that hard to spot. The stench can usually be traced back to the source.

Con artists are certainly nothing new. Remember that story about the boy who traded a cow for magic beans? Jack and the Bean-stock, I believe it was called. Of course, the boy in the story wasn’t exactly conned, so to speak. He got what he bargained for, a hand full of beans. I suppose little Jack could have cut his losses and asked for his cow back, but then, it just wouldn’t be an interesting story, would it.

Brad

The Infinite Echo
http://theinfiniteecho.blogspot.com/