By INCITES BY ED SILVERSTEIN
Culling through my clipping file, I became aware of a disturbing pattern. The following is the gist, along with some commentary, of L.A. Times articles and editorials that I clipped over the course of the past month, minus two weeks of travel. Even within this short time span, when viewed together, these articles offer a stark commentary on an administration that has spun wildly out of control. 5/20/04 — The Bush administration produced and distributed to local television stations a mock news report promoting Bush’s Medicare Prescription drug program. The report was aired as actual news without disclaimers and violated a federal law that prohibits the use of taxes for covert propaganda. 6/2/04 — Bush signed an order bringing the number of executive branch offices to ten that are devoted solely to helping religious organizations tap into federal money. Rev. Barry Lynn, executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, charges that the administration’s initiative was designed to curry favor with evangelicals and other core Bush supporters, and accused Bush of state-sponsored discrimination, as these groups base hiring on religious belief. 6/2/04 — Ahmad Chalabi, a Bush-backed former member of the Iraqi Governing Council and favorite of neo-conservatives, is accused of providing top-secret information to Iranian spies. Subsequent articles revealed that Chalabi told Iranian spies that the U.S. had broken their codes, that he got this top-secret information from a drunk administration official and that the questionable Iraqi intelligence provided by Chalabi and used by the Bush Administration to promote war with Iraq, may have been part of an Iranian plot to manipulate the U.S. into getting rid of Iran’s number-one enemy — Saddam Hussein. 6/3/04 — Seniors are confused and disappointed by the Medicare drug plan and few have signed up for the myriad of discount drug cards offered by insurers. The Democrats claim the plan is a total disaster and even some Republicans have begun to push for importing cheap drugs from Canada, a policy that Bush strongly opposes. 6/3/04 — The Bush reelection campaign may have broken federal laws and endangered tax-exempt status of churches by sending out letters urging these religious non-profits to use their facilities and congregations to recruit voters for Bush. 6/14/04 — A pair of car bombs in Baghdad kill at least 20. 6/14/04 — After House Republicans refused to launch an official investigation into the torture, sexual humiliation and murder of prisoners in Abu Gharaib, Democrats launched their own investigation. President Bush, however, is not cooperating and has refused to provide requested documents. 6/14/04 — Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed that politics were not behind the State Department’s erroneous report that claimed that worldwide terrorist attacks had gone down significantly in 2003, when, in fact, they had increased to record levels. The report, which was offered as proof that Bush’s terrorism policy was working, had numerous mistakes and omissions as well as a suspicious cutoff date that left out several November 11 terrorist attacks in Turkey that left 62 people dead. 6/14/04 — It was revealed that the multi-billion dollar, no-bid contract awarded to the vice president’s former employer, Halliburton, was awarded by a Bush political appointee rather than the normal Defense Department procurement agents. Representative Henry Waxman issued a letter to Dick Cheney demanding full disclosure. Cheney has not responded. 6/15/04 — The USDA has declared that frozen French fries are a “fresh” vegetable, inviting comparisons between Bush and former President Reagan, who during his tenure, declared ketchup to be a vegetable. 6/15/04 — Government auditors and ex-workers claim that Halliburton intentionally wasted billions of dollars and equipment in Iraq. According to auditors and whistleblowers, among Halliburton’s many transgressions were paying third-party suppliers without determining if they had done the work and removing spare tires from brand new $84,000 vehicles, then torching those vehicles if they got a flat tire so that they could charge the government for additional vehicles. Rep. Thomas Davis, the Republican Chairman of the Reform Committee, blocked an investigation into the matter prompting Democratic Rep. Waxman to release the results of the audit. 6/15/04 — Bush refused to join a case that would have required that Bell Companies continue to lease local phone lines at lower costs to rivals. This decision is expected to cost consumers $16 billion. 6/15/04 — Justice officials want to use the Patriot Act to charge Steven Kurtz, a Buffalo art professor, with bio-terrorism even after they learned that the Petri dishes and lab equipment discovered in his home when he called 911 to report the death of his wife were part of an art exhibit that had been touring for two years and posed no danger. 6/16/04 — Cheney has, for months, repeatedly denied knowing about the controversial $7 billion, no-bid, Halliburton contract and even stated, during a September appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” that he hadn’t been informed about the contract and that no political appointees were involved in the awarding of the contract. However, the Pentagon has disclosed that Cheney’s office was briefed twice prior to awarding of the contract by the political appointees who awarded the contract. 6/17/04 — Administration officials acknowledged that Donald Rumsfeld and George Tenet broke two international laws when they ordered the secret detention of a suspected terrorist captured in Iraq. 6/17/04 — Bomb hits NATO convoy in Afghanistan, killing 4. 6/17/04 — Suicide bombing kills 18 at Iraqi army center. 6/17/04 — White House asks FCC to delay dramatic telephone price increases, resulting from Bush Administration policies, for one year, which, coincidentally, is after the election. 6/17/04 — Twenty-seven former diplomats and military officials, most of whom had served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, called for the defeat of President Bush, citing his disastrous foreign policy. 6/17/04 — On Monday (June 14), Vice President Cheney declared that Saddam Hussein “had long lasting ties with Al Qaeda.” Tuesday, President Bush suggested that Abu Musab Zarqawi provides the best evidence of a connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq. 6/17/04 — The 9/11 Commission announces that there is no credible evidence of cooperation between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
ASIDE: The same Republicans who foamed at the mouth over the perceived use of Paul Wellstone’s funeral for political gain by Democrats have remained strangely silent over the use of the week-long Reagan funeral festivities to promote George Bush. (Ed Silverstein is a freelance writer living in Santa Monica. He can be contacted at )
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 23, 2004. Read the original PDF.