archived: 20 - 26 Mar, 2005         Back                 Next

UPDATED:  March 22, 2005                        

                        OF “MOOLAHS,” PUTIN AND BUSH  

So George Bush was in Europe, talking about Iran and nuclear weapons.  While there, Bush said that he strongly endorses the European diplomatic option in pursuit of a settlement with the "Moolahs" on the matter of "nookyulahr" weapons (yes, he used those pronunciations on a sound bite heard on All Things Considered, 2/23/ 05).  "Most important,” he said. “Will continue,” he said. “Absolutely the first option," he said. (He did not say, of course, that his government would engage in direct diplomacy with Iran on matters of mutual concern, any more than his government did with Hussein’s Iraq, or is doing with North Korea, which has repeated requested bilateral negotiations.)   

However, in several previous items in this space, primarily by our Editor-Publisher Michael Carmichael, we have heard, courtesy of Scott Ritter, ex-Marine, ex-US Government weapons inspector in Iraq that Bush has already signed off on a military attack on Iran for June. His statements on “diplomacy” obviously constitute major lying to the world, right up there with the lying to the world on the reasons for the US invasion of Iraq.  At stake with this newest ultra-Imperialist adventure of the Georgites are the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, to say nothing of the future of Constitutional democracy in the US and the US economy, to say nothing of the world’s economy.  Of course the Georgites totally deny the Ritter report, and our inveterate mainstream media seems to have dropped it.   

But if they use nuclear (yes, George, that is the correct spelling) weapons, as I suggested they might in a previous Short Shot, well . . .  

On February 22, 2005, The New York Times lead was: "Bush Says Russia Must Make Good on Democracy, by Elisabeth Bumiller. In a speech in Brussels, President Bush warned Russia it 'must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law. ' Bush said: 'We must always remind Russia, however, that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law - and the United States and all European countries should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia.'" By February 25, 2005, the lead was "Bush and Putin Mute Differences, Latching on to the Affirmative, by C. J. Chivers. At least in public, the presidents muted Western concerns about the decline in the development of democracy in Russia." 

We know what Putin said publicly. He was rather defensive. One wonders what he said privately, might have said privately, could have said publicly. Well, he might have begun with talking about the pot calling the kettle black. He might have said: "how dare you?" He might have said: "Hey guy, 'free press?' You call your privatized Ministry of Propaganda and intimidated-every-other-major-media-source a 'free press?' You say you want a ''vital opposition,' when your strongest supporters from Ann 'Kill All the Liberal Traitors' Coulter and John Ashcroft on up say that any opposition to your policies is treason? You talk about the 'rule of law' when you declare war on your own authority in violation of your own Constitution and declare that you can deprive any person of their Constitutional rights under your 'Patriot Act' simply by labeling them a 'terrorist?' And George, talk about guarantees of free and honest elections, the heart of Democracy. Well, I'm not going to go there, but you know what I'm talking about." 

Surely, we will likely never know what Putin said privately. But regardless of what he said to Bush, this is the message that we and the Democratic Party must deliver over and over again to the American people. And if the still-DLC-dominated Democratic Party won't do it, then we will need to form a Real Democratic Party.  

Or it will all be over, sooner than we think. 

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Junkie:  Dr. Jonas’ article today is a composite of two articles; “There He Goes Again” and “What Putin Might Have Said,”authored for The Moving Planet, Editor Michael Carmichael’s wonderful website.  If you have not visited Carmichael’s site, please do so by clicking on this hyperlink: The Moving Planet 

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Dr. Steven Jonas is a TPJ contributing author.  He is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) and author/co-author of over twenty books. Dr. Jonas is one of America's most perceptive Democratic political analysts.

In his book The New Americanism, Dr. Jonas presents his case that the Democratic Party has come adrift from its founding principles.  He urges the Party to turn to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to find the new vision and mission that it, and our country, so desperately need. "The New Americanism: How the Democratic Party Can Win the Presidency  is available from Amazon.com (just click on the title) and BarnesandNoble.com.

He is also the author of The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022, originally published in 1996 under the pseudonym “Jonathan Westminster,” and republished with a New Introduction in 2004, under the same author's name.  The 2004 edition is available at www.barnesandnoble.com (just enter the title) and www.xlibris.com (“Bookstore,” “Search”).  Both versions are available at www.amazon.com (just click on the title).