Bush continues: (he has been thanking everyone in Colorado,
individually and personally, for at least 20 minutes, without any
substantive policy statements), “I’m a little mad at Ben Nighthorse
Campbell (an American Indian senator) for retiring, but I feel a lot
better knowing that Pete Coors is gonna be in the U.S. Senate.” Well.
That makes one of us. Pete Coors is running ads all over Colorado
television making fun of IOWA. Pete Coors, talking about frivolous
governmental spending, says, “They allocated (fill in your own figure
here) for a rainforest in Iowa. IN IOWA!” He says this last part very
sneeringly, as though Iowa is a synonym for excrement. I have a lot of
classmates and close friends who left Iowa to teach in Colorado; not a
one of them was amused by this demeaning ad, viewing it as a colossal
put-down of our state, (which it is and was.) Keep that in mind if you
are a transplanted Colorado resident, out of Iowa.

I might add, if Coors is so upset over waste in governmental spending,
maybe he should read the article “Waste Not, Profit Not” (“Mother
Jones”, page 23), in which colossal waste is reported by those actually
IN Iraq,  caused by the sweetheart Halliburton deal. James Warren,
a former KBR Convoy Truck Driver says, “The theft was rampant. Most of
the stealing was done between 9 p.m. and midnight, when the trucks were
at Camp Anaconda. I reported this to my convoy commander, Don Martin,
who told me, “Don’t worry about it. It’s the Army stealing from the
Army.” (See Joaquin Phoenix 2003 movie “Buffalo Soldiers” for more on
this topic, in general). 

Warren went on to say, “In March, I called KBR President Randy Harl
personally and told him about the theft going on at night at Camp
Anaconda. He promised he would get to the bottom of it, and thanked me.
I never saw any evidence that KBR tried to stop the theft after my call
to Mr. Harl.” Or we might quote Michael West, former labor foreman for
Camp Anaconda who said, “Of the 35 or so Halliburton employees at Camp
Anaconda, only a handful had anything to do….The human resources
supervisor said, ‘Don’t worry. Just write down 12 hours. Walk around,
look around, look busy.” Henry S. Bunting, former Procurement Officer,
reports that he was requested to break purchase orders down under
$2,500 in value, so that “we wouldn’t be required to solicit more than
one quote. Large requisitions were split into smaller requisitions
below the $2,500 level. I questioned this practice early on, but was
told by my supervisor to get back to my purchase orders.”

So, if Pete Coors wants to worry about “waste,” a rain forest in Iowa
sounds like a pretty good idea right about now, compared to continuing
to support this misguided war. But I digress.

Bush continues, “With your help, we will carry Colorado again and win a
great victory in America.” After this pronouncement, I called Patrick
McKiernan, Press Secretary for Colorado Victory 2004, who said, “This
state is dead-even right now. The failed policies of the Bush
Administration have lead this country in the wrong direction and the
people of Colorado recognize it’s time for new leadership and it’s time
for a change.” McKiernan comments that the field staff in Colorado for
Kerry/Edwards is “the largest ever seen.” I ask how large that is. He
says sixty field staffers, commenting, “There are a lot of upset voters
in Denver.” I ask the logical question, “Well, if this is the largest
ever seen, how many have worked for the Democratic ticket in other
years?” McKiernan says he doesn’t know; he wasn’t there. Hmmmmmmm.
Ominous.

Now begins the familiar rhetoric (Bush): “I believe that every child
can learn and every teacher should teach. I will not settle for the
soft bigotry of low expectations.”

Well, no, what he WILL settle for is knocking 300,000 more children off
child-care assistance under his Administration’s new budget, which also
freezes funding for Head Start and cuts funding for after-school
programs. The Bushies also want to impose new work requirements on
families who receive welfare. It is explained, by Frank Luntz, the
Republican pollster and spinmeister, that when the Bush team works a
room full of women, they say something along these lines, “I want you
to tell me what really matters to you. What’s your greatest challenge?
Because I think I know what it is. Ladies here, I’d say that your lack
of free time is one of your greatest challenges.” Luntz notes that the
“ladies” present are soon nodding their heads in agreement with this,
and he goes on to say, “At that moment, you have bonded with those
women.”

“That’s the Bush solution for overstressed working moms. No overtime
pay. No child care. No Head Start. No after-school programs. But, hey!
At least they’re willing to bond!” (page 31, “Mother Jones” October
issue.)

Bush is now beginning to talk about Medicare. “We have strengthened
Medicare and we’re not turning back.” Don’t get me started. I can’t
even begin to talk about “No Child Left Behind,” as a 35-year educator,
or my blood pressure will rise and I’ll stroke out (probably the
intended result). If I begin examining Bush’s position on Medicare or
Social Security and how his tax cuts have and will affect it, that will
drive me to drink. I don’t think I can really discuss this
mis-statement in greater detail without damage to my own health, and
God forbid that I would need health care in this land at this time.

On to “Dishonesty in the board rooms of America.” If I were George W.
Bush, I believe, with his close ties to Enron, Ken Lay, etc., I’d just
stay away from this topic all together. Lord knows, it can lead nowhere
good for him if you’ve been reading the papers and have half a brain.
Does anyone really believe this man on this issue when he says, “We
will not tolerate dishonesty in the board rooms of America?” (I am
tempted to put in another “Yeah. Right,” but I’m becoming redundant).

The Economy: (Somebody look up the REAL statistics for me, please…the
accurate ones.) Bush begins by saying that 1.7 million new jobs have
been created since August of 2003. There is no mention of what KIND of
jobs we are talking about. My guess: “Do you want fries with that?” My
impression: he has the worst record since Hoover and the Great
Depression.  He also quotes a 5.4% unemployment rate….”lower than
the average rate of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s” and cites, specifically, a
5.1% unemployment rate in Colorado. I had just been at a book signing
in a very blue collar town of 12,800 where the prison system is the
main employer. The people at the book signing roamed the coffee
house/bookstore, but did not buy anything, saying, “I can’t afford to
buy anything. I just come here, browse the magazines and books for
free, and have a cheap cup of coffee. I don’t make enough money to buy
anything.” I believe them. Same way with my junior college students,
who were struggling to try to support families and pay college tuition.
We are becoming a very divided society in more ways than one; the rich
get richer and the poor…well, the poor just get screwed. No democracy
has ever been able to withstand this kind of “class” division, not to
mention the Christian Right’s ramming their positions on everything
else (stem cell research, prayer in the schools, etc.) down our
throats. Want a couple of good quotes? How about, “I don’t believe
there is a separation of church and state.” (Tom DeLay) Or, “George
Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters. He was appointed by
God.” (General William Boykin) When the Attorney General spends $8,000
on curtains to cover the “naughty parts” of the statues “Spirit of
Justice” and “Majesty of Law,” that should tell you something about
John Ashcroft. Had enough? Me, too!

Bush continues to intone: “The economy is strong and we’re not turning
back.” This, of course, gets a huge round of applause, but he quickly
leaves the topic to return to the cornerstone of his re-election bid:
national security and how he, a draft dodger, and Cheney, another draft
dodger (five deferments), are better suited to defend the United States
of America over a man who was decorated under fire and won three Purple
Hearts. “My most solemn duty is to protect America. If we show
uncertainty and indecision, the world will drift towards tragedy. That
is not going to happen on my watch.” Interesting. What is it we are
“drifting towards” now? The iceberg that sank the Titanic? And, as far
as helping make our homeland “safer,” I would refer you to Michael
Moore’s telling interview(s) with the poor guys assigned to police
miles and miles of coastland on a budget of about $1.98.

Bush gets personal: “I’m proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. I admit
he doesn’t have the waviest hair. I picked him for his judgment, not
his hair.”

Frankly, Mr. pResident: I would feel better if you had picked him for
his hair. His judgment has been spectacularly wrong and, in one recent
mean-spirited speech in Des Moines, which even the staunchly Republican
“Wall Street Journal” denounced, he as much as said that terrorists
would strike if Kerry/Edwards were elected. Just what we need, our VP
suggesting that, if we don’t vote for him, we’ll all die. (Get your
duct tape, folks. I think there’s a special on it at K-Mart this week!)
Steve Chapman of the Chicago “Tribune” editorial board wrote, on
Thursday, September 16th, “Bush, we are told, is a tough man for tough
times. But his record suggests one of two things: Either he isn’t that
tough (citing numerous screw-ups, such as letting Moqtada Sadr leave
Najaf, Iraq, unmolested, with his supporters, to fight again another
day) or toughness isn’t much of a solution.”