corrente

Finally, that cat's out of the bag.

But first, go read Ron Suskind's latest in The Times Magazine. Do it now. In fact, reward good work by paying the Times tax this Sunday—I did. Read the whole thing. Then make sure all your undecided friends read it, and ask them if they want the country run on the basis of what The Holy Gut™decides for them, or as a democracy, where the people are sovreign?

Now, most of the blogosphere commentary on the Suskind piece has focussed on Bush's "faith", and what it means when a country has a Leader who doesn't believe that facts are important, and who won't take questions because they might undermine his confidence.

However, Suskind also quotes a meeting where Bush lays out his agenda if he is elected, which is what I want to focus on here. It's radical right, and it's going to fuck you, the country, the world, and everybody but Bush's friends, included His deluded followers. Surprise! Be afraid. Be very afraid:

"I'm going to be real positive, while I keep my foot on John Kerry's throat,'' George W. Bush said last month at a confidential luncheon a block away from the White House...

This is before Bush lost the first debate, of course. And the second, and the third.

... with a hundred or so of his most ardent, longtime supporters, the so-called R.N.C. Regents.

The Bush these supporters heard was a triumphal Bush, actively beginning to plan his second term.

He said emphatically that he expects the Republicans will gain seats to expand their control of the House and the Senate. According to notes provided to me, and according to several guests at the lunch who agreed to speak about what they heard, he said that ''Osama bin Laden would like to overthrow the Saudis . . . then we're in trouble. Because they have a weapon. They have the oil.'' He said that there will be an opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice shortly after his inauguration, and perhaps three more high-court vacancies during his second term.

Bush said: ''I'm going to push nuclear energy, drilling in Alaska and clean coal. Some nuclear-fusion technologies are interesting.'' He mentions energy from ''processing corn.''

''I'm going to come out strong after my swearing in,'' Bush said, ''with fundamental tax reform, tort reform...

You know to put your hand on your wallet when you hear a Republican use the word "reform," right?

privatizing of Social Security.''

Ah. So (1) that legalizes the theft of a generation's worth of payroll taxes by Bush for the super-rich ("Heist of the century," back), and (2) guarantees the collapse of the program, all for the sake of the same Wall Street brokers who brought you the dot com implosion ("When they say it's not about the money, it's about the money," back). Nice!

The victories he expects in November, he said, will give us ''two years, at least, until the next midterm. We have to move quickly, because after that I'll be quacking like a duck.''

Ah. Happy memories. The ol' duck pit... So unfairly stigmatized as eliminationist rhetoric... Anyhow:

The president, listing priorities for his second term, placed near the top of his agenda the expansion of federal support for faith-based institutions. The president talked at length about giving the initiative the full measure of his devotion and said that questions about separation of church and state were not an issue.
(via Times Magazine)

Right. Translation: A big ol' spoils system and slush fund for every SIC in Rove's Election 2004 database. Paid for with your tax dollars!

Let's review! Here's Inerrant Boy's real platform:

1. One party control of the government, and the elimination of all checks and balances against the radical right.

2. War in defense of the Saudis. (Um, with what Army? The one He sets up with the draft, of course!)

3. Four Supreme justices (meaning overturning Roe v. Wade and God knows what else, if the Supreme Court becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Federalist Society, as it will.)

4. Total power by corporations over consumers and employees ("tort reform")

5. A national sales tax ("tax reform")

6. Privatizing Social Security.

7. An end to the separation of church and state.

So, don't vote for Nader, OK?