Opinion

Bush's enemy action

By Nancy Miller Saunders
Online Journal Contributing Writer

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September 24, 2005—When trying to figure out what is going on, I look for patterns, much as police detectives look for patterns, or MOs (modus operandi), when trying to solve crimes. Or as my husband Budd would say, "Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Third time is enemy action. And there's no such thing as a coincidence."

Once: Remember Bush's first year in office. There was a terrible energy crisis in California. Prices sky rocketed while people suffered repeated blackouts. Enron—an energy company run by Bush's good friend "Kenny Boy" Lay—made a bundle. Enron hadn't yet collapsed under the weight of its own corruption. Four years later, Kenny Boy still hasn't been tried, if he ever is. (And if you think any of that was an accident, I've got a bridge to Brooklyn to sell you.)

Twice: Think of our troops in Iraq. Two and a half years into the war and they still don't have the protective equipment they need. No-bid contracts were given to Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Vice President Cheney's old company Halliburton. KBR's making a fortune. And it just got another no-bid contract. Meanwhile, Bush would not even pretend to comfort Cindy Sheehan for the death of her son.

Third Time: Think about gas prices. For the last year they have been rising while companies like Exxon-Mobil have reported record profits. They also got a big tax break on those profits. Then along came Hurricane Katrina , followed by Rita, and gave them the perfect cover for price gouging to take even more of our money. People's lives were swept away because projects, designed to prevent destruction of New Orleans, had been scuttled by Bush and his Republican Congress who cut the appropriations.

That is enemy action. We are being robbed. And worse, many of us are being killed, maimed, or have lost everything.

With the changes being wrought on the Supreme Court, we are running out of time to indict and jail these crooks who are destroying our country, our democracy, and the quality of our lives.