Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Russia and the U.S.A. were locked in Cold War frenzy.  However, atomic and nuclear testing agreements were eventually signed by both the U.S.A. and Russia.  Nuclear weapons stockpiles were to a large extent destroyed.  For a brief span of time it appeared that the frightening fears of a nuclear holocaust had been calmed.  

But this feeling did not last long.  War profits were too tempting.  Vietnam became the focal point of the well orchestrated fear campaign.  Slogans such as "the domino effect" were born and the media carried the message "If we don't stop them in Vietnam, all Asia will fall like a row of dominos."  

The flag waving, knee jerk dittoheads were at the front of the patriotic parade.  Even Robert McNamara has finally admitted that there was no way to win the ill-fated Vietnam War.  

Naturally the brave men who did their nation's bidding, going to war in Vietnam, many suffering horrifying injuries, that thousands providing the ultimate sacrifice find it difficult or impossible to believe that the Vietnam War was a betrayal.  This fact in no way minimized the bravery, dedication and loyalty of Vietnam vets or Vietnam death victims.

It was hoped that the U.S. would never launch a war without valid reasons, a war that could only be justified if the U.S. was attacked or threatened.

The war machine brigade recognized that after Vietnam, those who appreciated the sacrifices made by Vietnam vets would never be duplicated by misguided warmongers, chafing at the bit, salivating just thinking of juicy war profits.  

Enter George Bush, whose existence as president of the U.S. was challenged by those patriotic U.S. citizens who were demanding time to carefully analyze voting irregularities.  Bush is referred to by many loyal U.S. citizens as the White House resident, not the president.  

When the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center took place, U.S. Republican leaders had already considered an attack on Iraq.  Now, without deep analysis and a non-partisan investigation, George Bush's moment in U.S. history was self-evident.  

In the infamous State of the Union message Bush presented a well orchestrated fear campaign, using the long time ultimate fear of the U.S. being the victim of a nuclear attack.

"We have knowledge of Saddam developing nuclear weapons," Bush declared, wide-eyed and with great intensity.  "We know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction which threaten the U.S.A."

The war cry had been sounded.  Every profiteer of war materials listened with rapt attention.  The Iraq War debacle had begun.  George Bush's legacy was sealed.

On March 13, 2008, on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC TV show, a new clip of George Bush vigorously waving his hand as he disembarked from Air Force One was shown.  

Bush's statement regarding the Afghanistan War was flashed in white letters across the TV screen.  Bush said words to this effect, that if he was a young man he might consider fighting in Afghanistan a romantic adventure.

When he had such a chance to fight in a "romantic adventure" that the younger Bush declared a necessary battle to turn back the scourge of Communism we know what  happened.  Dad Poppy got him a coveted position in the Texas Air National Guard, jumping the queue over many more qualified applicants.

When it came time for flyer George W. Bush to fly solo over the city of Houston he disappeared, going AWOL -- when Dan Rather and associates at CBS dared to track down this story Rather and his cohorts were fired.

So much for Bush's idea of romantic war adventure; so much for democracy in the corporate media jungle.