9/11, Bush's Only Hope
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by Sacha A. Boegem
Published on Monday, March 8, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
With all the controversy surrounding President Bush's use of images from 9/11 in his first campaign ads, one could get the impression that this is the first and only time Bush has exploited the tragedy for political purposes. But a look at Bush's actions since the most horrific terrorist attack in American history reveals he has been using America's tragedy as a political tool for some time, and that doing so is his only hope for reelection.
Shortly after 9/11, Bush used the terrorist attack to get passed into law the draconian "USA PATRIOT Act." While containing some worthy provisions, this legislation gives law enforcement authorities sweeping new powers that are easily abused and undermine fundamental civil liberties. Conservatives and liberals alike have spoken out against various sections of the Patriot Act - such as one that allows the FBI to secretly track any person's library loans, and one that gravely limits Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Bush has also used 9/11 to excuse his fiscal irresponsibility. Revealing a level of unprecedented fiscal mismanagement, Bush has managed to turn the largest budget surpluses in American history into the largest budget deficits in American history in only three short years. The principal culprit in this astounding feat is Bush's imposition of gigantic tax cuts in both 2001 and 2003 - both of which disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans. But Bush has attributed these enormous new deficits in part to the cost of the "War on Terror" that he launched following 9/11. This explanation begs the question, however, of why he dramatically cut taxes at the same time he was leading America into this war. Traditionally during wartime, taxes have been raised on top incomes to pay the extra costs of war. In fact, every American president since the Civil War who has gone to war has raised taxes, not cut them.
Bush's most dishonest use of 9/11 was as a justification for his misguided attack on Iraq. By subtly suggesting that Iraq might have had something to do with 9/11 (it didn't), and by arguing that Saddam Hussein might give weapons of mass destruction to terrorists sometime in the future (something considered highly unlikely by intelligence analysts), Bush exploited Americans' fear of terrorism in order to drag the country into an unnecessary and costly war on Iraq. In fact, it is Bush who has turned Iraq into a magnet for terrorists wishing to harm America, and who has given terrorists a ripe target in American soldiers stationed in Iraq.
The use of 9/11 imagery in Bush's first political ads of the campaign season is only his latest attempt to use the tragedy to further his political agenda. Some might remember that around the first anniversary of 9/11, the Republican Party raised money by selling to its donors a photograph of Bush taken on Air Force One on September 11th (for $150 a piece), generating a firestorm of public outrage. Others may recall that Bush and Cheney, under scrutiny about what they knew about terrorist threats prior to 9/11, sternly warned Democrats back in 2002 not to use the tragedy for political purposes - suggesting that to do so would be unpatriotic and unseemly.
The hypocrisy is stunning, and all the more so when one considers that Bush vigorously fought the creation of an independent commission to examine the events leading up to 9/11. Even after grudgingly accepting the creation of such a commission, Bush has refused to cooperate with it - delaying, stonewalling, and under funding it at every turn. Bush and his Republican cohorts in Congress even had to be shamed into allowing the commission an extra sixty days to complete its work. And Bush is still refusing to meet with the full commission, insisting that he will only meet with its top two members behind closed doors, not under oath, and only for one hour.
Bush's policies so rarely benefit the public interest or address the pressing concerns of most Americans that it comes as no surprise that he is pinning his hopes for reelection on his "steady leadership" following 9/11. It is difficult to understand how fiscal meltdown, the loss of three million jobs, and an unnecessary and unwise war on Iraq (costing billions of dollars in American taxpayer money, hundreds of American lives, and resulting in thousands of seriously injured American soldiers) can be sold as "steady leadership," although I suppose one could conclude that Bush has provided America with steadily awful leadership. His abandonment of America's middle-class and his contempt for the public interest on issues as diverse as the economy, tax policy, fiscal discipline, health care, entitlement programs, education, civil rights, the environment, consumer protection, foreign policy, and even homeland security all explain why Helen Thomas, the legendary White House correspondent for United Press International who has covered every president since John F. Kennedy, said of Bush: "This is the worst president ever. He is the worst president in all of American history."
Bush will again attempt to use 9/11 to his political advantage this September when the Republicans hold their nominating convention in New York City. Republican officials themselves said they chose New York City because of the enormous political and emotional symbolism that has become attached to the city since 9/11. As for the timing, the political parties usually hold their conventions in July (as the Democrats are doing this year) or early August (as the Republicans did in 2000), but this year the Republicans scheduled their convention from August 30th through September 2nd. Holding a convention so late is unprecedented. In addition, a World Trade Center groundbreaking is also reported to be planned during the convention. There is little doubt that Republicans intend to use the solemn anniversary of September 11th as a backdrop to their political convention, and as a political tool to help reelect Bush. They know (as does Bush) that exploiting 9/11 is Bush's only hope.
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Sacha Boegem is a second-year law student at Tulane University in New Orleans and president of his law school class. Before attending law school he spent several years in Washington, D.C. working as a White House intern and for an internet publication covering American politics. Comments or questions can be emailed to him at sboegem33@yahoo.com
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