Bush Administration (Undermining Democracy, Lies, Coup, Corporate Interests, Oil)

FACT: President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (the fourth largest exporter of oil in the world) has serious problems with his country's oil industry, which causes prices to rise. Next, administration officials meet clandestinely with Venezuelan military leaders and opposition activists, including an oilman named Pedro Carmona. Suddenly, dozens of Venezuelan military personnel working in various embassies around the world return to Caracas without explanation. There is a military coup, and the pro-Bush, pro-oil Pedro Carmona is installed as interim leader. Hugo Chavez is sent to an island prison where he sees an American plane, which he presumes is there to take him into exile. Venezuela's neighbors denounce the coup, but the Bush Administration quickly recognizes the new government, announces that Chavez has resigned and calls his actions undemocratic. Much glee and rubbing of hands at the thought of all that lovely oil ensues. Surprise - two days later there is a countercoup and Chavez is reinstalled as President. George W. Bush's response? Sickeningly, to tell Chavez that the US had absolutely nothing to do with the coup, and that Chavez must "embrace democracy" if he wishes to be a successful president. 

Bush Administration (Corporate Interests, Oil, Pro Terrorism, Personal Interest, Aristocracy) 

FACT: According to the Boston Herald, Saudi Arabia is, "perhaps the biggest incubator for anti-Western Islamic terrorists." The Bush administration seems skillfully able to overlook this minor detail, what with all the money flowing into their pockets and all. W may like to "root out the evil-doers" but certainly not if they're lining his pockets. Take for example former president George H.W. Bush, senior adviser with the Carlyle Group, an organization which has deep ties to the Saudi royal family. Or Dick Cheney, who as head of Halliburton, Inc. worked to secure several large contracts with Saudi companies. Or Condoleeza Rice, who was a member of the board of directors of Chevron, another company with numerous Saudi business connections. 

George W Bush (Hypocrisy, Pro-terrorism) 

FACT: The Bush administration spent $3.5 million on anti-drug commercials during the Super Bowl. The commercials, which preached that American drug users are funding terrorists, were designed solely to further demonize drugs among non-drug users. "It's so important for Americans to know that the traffic in drugs finances the work of terror, sustaining terrorists, that terrorists use drug profits to fund their cells to commit acts of murder. If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terror in America," said Bush. 

COMMENT: More importantly, while we're on the subject of where terrorists get their money and weapons, let's note that it was Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush who supplied advanced weaponry to the Taliban while they were selling weapons to Iran (a member of the "axis of evil") in order to fund right-wing terrorists in Central America. Who's the terrorist here? Oh yeah, and let's not forget that oil is the true source of funds for terrorism. We buy oil from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia funds terrorists. Terrorists kill Americans. See how it works. So forget the whole drugs-funding-terror nonsense. Instead get rid of the SUV, or better yet, put a true president in the White house, one that has a vision of energy independence, one that will invest in alternative energy sources.

Gale Norton (Corporate Interests, Oil, Anti-Environment)

FACT: On the Department of Interior website there is a short video titled "ANWR in Winter." The video produced by pro-drilling lobbyists, shows clips of a barren arctic tundra, which appears completely devoid of life. You see, Norton wants you to think "wasteland" not "pristine wilderness" whenever you think of ANWR. The fact of the matter is, however, it's illegal for agencies to distribute film "designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress

COMMENT: The day used to exist when our Interior Secretary actually protected the environment. Unfortunately, OIL is the top priority for Norton and the rest of the Bush administration, whether the issue is ANWR, Afgahnistan, the middle east, California blackouts Venezuelan dictators or anything else.

Republicans (ANWR, Oil, Lies, Environment)

FACT: ANWR drilling proponents claim that it will take place in an area only one-fifth the size of Washington's Dulles airport (a figure oft-repeated by Dick Cheney), and yet will employ 700,000 people (according to Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski). This is a lie! The Truth: In 1980 Congress set aside 1.5 million ANWR acres for drilling, but Republican Congressman John Sununu of New Hampshire managed to get an amendment added to the energy bill which would limit drilling to just 2,000 of those acres. There's your Dick Cheney figure. But what proponents of drilling fail to mention is that that the 2,000 acres is spread out over the entire 1.5 million acres. According to a Time article, "Each drilling platform can take up as little as 10 acres. The pipelines are above ground. For space purposes, the amendment counts only the ground touched by the stanchions holding up the pipe." Road widths are conveniently left out of the calculation. According to a Sierra Club spokesman, "It's like a fishing net. If you count just the space of the string's width, that's small. But if you open up a fishing net and count the area it covers, that's much larger." The bogus figure of 700,000 new jobs is an estimate promoted, not surprisingly, by an eleven-year-old study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute.