This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

America is acting like a spoiled child. We all know that child who runs screaming through the store knocking products from shelves, unheeded by his mother's threats, as onlookers roll their eyes and secretly hope the child falls. This is the country we live in, doing what we want as a nation, unconcerned with world opinion. Tuesday, we as a nation decided to continue this mentality for the next four years by reelecting George Bush.

When I was two years old, my brother pushed me into a table, knocking out my two front teeth. To this day he maintains that the bear he was holding at the time was the culprit. Passing the buck is expected of a six-year-old, but the government of the free world should behave a little better. Nevertheless this administration passes blame with heartfelt passion and without shame and will continue to do so to our country and the world's detriment.

Record setting deficit? Bush entered office with an economic downturn. Surplus gone? Blame it on Sept. 11 and two wars. Never mind we started one war unprovoked.

In the worst example of passing the buck, Bush and Dick Cheney have blamed Saddam Hussein for playing a role in the Sept. 11 attacks as one many reasons for the Iraq war. Proven unfounded after the foremost authority on the issue the 9/11 Commission found no link, Cheney continued to maintain this falsity.

To top it off it Cheney then lied to the American people to cover up his first lie. During the vice presidential debate Cheney claimed he had never said such a thing. He didn't learn that lying once leads to more lying, which becomes too complicated to control and you slip up. Cheney was taped on the Sept. 14, 2003 episode of "Meet the Press" saying that very thing.

Like any spoiled child, Bush loathes tattletales and the press is seen as such. This administration has long been criticized for its strict policy of secrecy, frustrating many veteran reporters. Bush to date has only held 11 press conferences. By comparison President Bill Clinton held 13 in his first 100 days in office. Granted Bush's tenuous grasp on the English language and the issues that face the country doesn't inspire much confidence, but he does make important decisions that must be discussed in a public forum.

One of the earliest and hardest lessons we have to learn as children is how to share. It is human nature to fulfill our needs without concern for others, but most moral and religious values promote sharing and responsible parents teach this lesson. American society has had a real hard time grasping this concept.

The income gap in this nation is the largest it has been since 1929. From 1979 to 2000, the income of the top one percent of Americans rose by $576,400 while income for the middle fifth rose a measly $5,500. This leads to an economy where the 2.8 million that represent the top one percent of income earners receive more than the 110 million of the bottom 40 percent of the population.

With all this wealth and only so many gaudy yellow Hummers produced each year to throw one's money at, one would think we as a nation could be a little more generous. But children who make it to the top of jungle gym would rather gloat in their glory then thank all the little guys who gave them a push to the top

Minimum wage has been stalled at $5.15 dollars for years now. This is disgraceful. If minimum wage had kept up with gains in productivity it would be $11.20. If only those CEO's who earn 300 times that of their factory workers could remember the golden rule and share a buck or two.

Another lesson Bush and his friends have forgotten is how to control their impulses. Little Bushie got so excited about handing out tax cuts to all his friends he almost wet himself. Now he can't explain to fiscal conservatives where the money went or how we are going to do without it and the proposed 2005 budget is short by $500 billion. Tax cuts account for $291.3 billion of that short fall. Bush and this administration have lost our nation's milk money.

Any good parent would have disciplined a nation and president like ours long ago. Unfortunately the majority of Americans were unable to see past the smiling face this little brat put on and look at the reality. Progressive Americans and true conservative Republicans need to give the new administration some tough love and be actively involved in raising this spoiled child of a government.