Guest Entry: The Red, White, and Bluelag Archipelago

by Jim Etchison

I must admit, it's exhausting to be a critic of the Bush administration. They provide such a ominous list of things to criticize that after awhile you just run out of breath. You want to say "fuck it" and play Tetris until 2008. I’ve seen this burnout in myself, and I’ve seen it in some of my progressive blogging compatriots.

But the fact is, Bush is not relenting on his agenda, so we should not relent on ours. Recently, we all learned that prisoners have been detained by the US in secret prisons in Eastern Europe.

The Bush Doctrine was portrayed as having the goal of "extending democracy, security, and liberty to all regions," but has debased itself to putting other nations at risk of terrorist attack so that the CIA could continue unabated with their agenda of torture without being pestered by the likes of Amnesty International and the American Red Cross.

Bush's blatant disregard for diplomacy started when he disregarded the United Nations' recommendation of continued non-violent measures Iraq. It continues now with his refusal to answer the world regarding the discovery of these "black sites." Reuters reports that Amnesty claims "we are mocking international law."

The Bush Administration promised the world last week that they would respond. The fact that their response is so slow in coming betrays exactly how damaging this allegation is. It takes time to weave a brilliant lie, and that is, in this writer’s opinion, exactly what is going on in the oval office right now. Our straight-shooting President and his team are working out their story. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

There should not be a fine line between extending democracy, security and liberty to all regions, and being an international war criminal. But apparently there is, which might indicate that the Bush Doctrine is flawed.

Where are the democrats with balls big enough to impeach Bush? I trust they are building their case, and will launch their attack when the time is right. Yes, that must be it.

Until then, us bloggers must stay the course, and continue to narrowcast our opinions. Even though our voices are relatively puny, if enough of us keep up the pressure, it might just make the difference between the Bush years starting the dusk of the Age of Reason, and it merely being a brief eclipse.

SoCal resident Jim Etchison is a Renaissance man: writer, manager, father, poker player and many other words ending in "er". More of his writing, including criticism of Bush and his cronies, can be found at The Meat of the Matter. He is also the man behind BooYahoo!, which has garnered national attention from the New York Times, Jim Hightower, Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International. Jim also likes meat.