In this collection of essays the authors, professors of history and political science at US colleges and universities, analyze George W. Bush's record on domestic issues ranging from women's rights to the environment, power, transportation, taxes, abortion, education, welfare, healthcare, homeland security, and employment. The need for such an examination was sparked by what many informed and responsible Americans have seen as serious blunders committed by President George W. Bush, even during his first term of office. Especially troublesome was the 2005 Inaugural Address. That address illustrates how Bush II is derailing the purpose of America as a nation. Bush II could not perform this derailing all on his own. He had help. Both the introduction and the lead article present a framework of Republican activities covering a wide range of conservative thinking reaching back to the Nixon era. The remaining articles show how various additional individual policies have failed. It is this conservative thinking that has undermined the roadbed and allowed for Bush II s distortion of the nation s avowed stand for freedom and democracy. The perspective of Republican activities also helps show why various Bush II policies that many see as blunders have been able to go unchallenged. Hopefully, this book will succeed in informing voters where other media have failed. Other books have attempted to describe these informational limitations. Neil Postman s Language in America rings as relevant today as it did when it pointed out the problem of media intensity four decades ago. Three decades ago, Alvin Toffler described the problem of time crunching in Future Shock. James Gleick has reiterated both media intensity and time crunch dilemmas in his book, FSTR: Faster, the Acceleration of Just about Everything. Books themselves, with their more deliberate and hopefully more cognitive and in-depth research capabilities, are no panacea, either. Special interests, personal prejudices, religious leanings, and outright dishonesty can slant books just as easily as they do other media programs and presentations. Also, books are just as susceptible to logical fallacies and propaganda devices as other media forms are. The writers represented in A Bird in the Bush: Failed Domestic Policies of the George W. Bush Administration have attempted accuracy and honesty, above all else. I am most grateful to all the scholars who have contributed so generously of their time, talent, and yeoman effort, to say nothing of their love for and dedication to their country, in preparing these articles. They join me in one of the most patriotic efforts imaginable responsible, constructive, and caring criticism of our government. When Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft intimate that critics of the Bush II administration are committing treason (the same argument was made during the Nixon and Reagan presidencies), they need to recall a statement from The Arrogance of Power, written by one of America s and the world s most distinguished thinkers, the late Sen. J. William Fulbright. Fulbright not only approved such dissent but called it a duty. Unfortunately, this duty promotes anger from the targets of that criticism, which can result threats from them and create fear among the public. The discharge of the duty of dissent is handicapped in America by an unworthy tendency to fear serious criticism of our government. This threat and fear process was once again illustrated by Bush when he contended that those politicians who opposed his social security legislation would be sorry.
Author(s): Dowling Campbell, Dowling Campbell
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 228
A Bird in the Bush......Page 3
by Dowling Campbell......Page 5
Table of Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 13
by Dowling Campbell......Page 15
by Dowling G. Campbell......Page 31
1) The Folly of the First Presidential Debate......Page 32
2) The Folly of Fear......Page 36
3) The Folly of Pretense......Page 40
4) The Folly of the “Religious Right,” with Its Halo of Fundamentalism......Page 41
5) The Folly of Pride......Page 49
6) The Folly of “No Child Left Behind”......Page 51
7) The Folly of Neglect......Page 61
A Selective Bibliography......Page 65
Introduction......Page 67
Bush and the 2000 Presidential Elections......Page 68
Historical Analysis of Abortion Law and Policy......Page 69
Executive Appointments and Reproductive Health Policy......Page 71
Bush’s Judicial Appointments and Reproductive Health......Page 72
Contraceptives, Emergency Contraception and Pregnancy Prevention......Page 73
Teen Sexual Health and Sex Education......Page 74
Family Values, Strong Marriages, Infertility and Child-Adoption......Page 75
The HIV/AIDS Pandemic......Page 76
Bush: International HIV/AIDS Policy......Page 78
The Bush Policy: Our PostScript......Page 80
by Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu......Page 83
Sources Cited......Page 92
Introduction......Page 93
Bush and Water......Page 94
Deregulation and the Clean Water Act......Page 95
Transfer of Regulatory Power to States......Page 97
River Management Policies......Page 99
Deregulation and the Clean Air Act......Page 100
Climate Change and “Sound” Science......Page 103
Bush and Energy......Page 104
National Security and ANWR......Page 105
The Roadless Rule......Page 107
Snowmobile Bans......Page 108
Healthy Forests Restoration Act......Page 109
“Sound” Science and National Security......Page 110
Conclusion......Page 111
Don Rich......Page 113
Plan of Attack......Page 116
General Overview of Bush’s Tax Cuts......Page 118
Comparative Perspective on Budget Deficits......Page 120
General Observations About Budget Forecasting and Fiscal Policy......Page 122
Security and the Budget......Page 129
No Veto......Page 133
Long Term: The Entitlements......Page 134
Conclusion......Page 139
Bibliography......Page 141
Introduction......Page 143
The Rome Statute and its Purposes......Page 145
American Opposition to the ICC......Page 147
American Servicepersons Protection Act of 2001 (ASPA)......Page 150
Article 98 Agreements......Page 152
The Campaign at the UN......Page 156
Conclusion: Possible Scenarios for the ICC in light of US Opposition......Page 161
The Bush Administration’s Record on the ICC......Page 164
SEC. 2002. FINDINGS.......Page 166
SEC. 2003. WAIVER AND TERMINATION OF PROHIBITIONS OF THIS TITLE.......Page 168
SEC. 2004. PROHIBITION ON COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNA TIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.......Page 170
SEC. 2005. RESTRICTION ON UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION IN CERTAIN UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS.......Page 172
SEC. 2007. PROHIBITION OF UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSIS TANCE TO PARTIES TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.......Page 173
SEC. 2008. AUTHORITY TO FREE MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CERTAIN OTHER PERSONS DETAINED OR IMPRISONED BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE INTERNA TIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.......Page 174
SEC. 2009. ALLIANCE COMMAND ARRANGEMENTS.......Page 175
SEC. 2011. APPLICATION OF SECTIONS 2004 AND 2006 TO EXERCISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITIES.......Page 176
SEC. 2013. DEFINITIONS.......Page 177
SEC. 2015. ASSISTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS.......Page 179
Appendix 2: The US-Proposed “Article 98” Agreement Template......Page 180
Appendix 3: UN Security Council Resolution 1422......Page 182
Appendix 4: UN Resolution 1593 (2005)......Page 183
Works Cited......Page 184
by Jerry F. Hough......Page 187
The Republicans and the Red-State Strategy......Page 190
The Possible Democratic Responses......Page 197
The New Democratic Suburban Strategy and the Republican Problem......Page 201
The Erosion of the Old Cultural Issues......Page 206
The Issue of Nationalism......Page 210
George W. Bush and Nationalism......Page 214
The 2004 Election and Beyond......Page 216
Contributors......Page 223
