If Only I Could Forget

Arianna Huffington lists the things she'd like to forget from 2004; here's a selection:

That the woman who dismissed a presidential briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." as a "historical" document is going to be our next secretary of state.

That a man who finds the Geneva Conventions "quaint" is going to be our next attorney general.

That it took 14 months and public protests from the victims' families before the president OK'd the 9/11 Commission, but only two weeks before the first hearings were held on Janet Jackson's boob.

That the Federal budget deficit hit $413 billion this year, and two-thirds of it is the result of Bush's tax cuts.

That Dick Cheney is talking about another round of tax cuts.

What Colin Powell did to his credibility. "You break it, you live with it for the rest of your life."

That picture of Lynndie England holding the leash.

The way the administration tried to sweep Abu Ghraib under the rug.

That George Tenet, who knew that the intel on Iraqi WMD was thinner than Lara Flynn Boyle on Dexatrim, turned into the Dick Vitale of WMD: "It's a slam dunk, baby!"

That George Tenet was subsequently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

That Osama is still on the loose — and releasing tapes.

That the Kyoto Protocol was ratified — and we aren't part of it.

That Ken Lay has still not gone to trial or served a minute in jail.

That 35.9 million Americans live below the poverty line — 12.9 million of them children.

That 42 percent of Americans still think Saddam Hussein was "directly involved in planning, financing or carrying out" the 9/11 attacks.

That, thanks to presidential cutbacks, we actually have fewer police and first responders on the streets today than we had on 9/11.

That Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld couldn't find time to personally sign letters of condolence to the families of troops killed in Iraq.

That Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz couldn't remember the number of soldiers who'd lost their lives in Iraq.

Comments

[nina]

Wow. That's all I can muster for this one.

[Margaret]

Me too--wow. Very frightening and discouraging.

[spydrz]

I'm confused. Dick Cheney mentioning tax cuts is a good thing. Why is that on the list?

[Karen]

It's really NOT a good thing. Look at the previous item on the list:

That the Federal budget deficit hit $413 billion this year, and two-thirds of it is the result of Bush's tax cuts.

As a nation, we can't afford tax cuts. Bush inherited the largest budget surplus in American history and in record time turned it into the largest budget deficit in American history.