The Ultra Conservative Agenda has Proven to be an Abysmal Failure

Ever since the days of Barry Goldwater, the ultra conservative right wing of the Republican Party has bemoaned the fact that its extremist views were not being given their due. The current representatives of this world view can no longer complain about not being heard; because, many of their wildest dreams have been fulfilled. This, of course, has come at a significant price for the peoples of the world especially the ordinary citizens of the United States, who have been terribly wronged and abandoned by those who presume to lead.

The utter failure of the conservative agenda in both the domestic and foreign arenas has become readily apparent to everyone except those who continue to deny the obvious and attempt to defend the indefensible behind lies, obfuscation and disingenuous behavior. A partial list of the abysmal record of the current leadership includes:

The initiation of an illegal and immoral war against a sovereign nation that had in no way endangered the security of the most powerful military power on the planet. This has cost countless Iraqi and American lives and failed completely at the half-hearted attempt to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq that we destroyed on two separate occasions. The purposeful disintegration of this infrastructure has lead to the death of over one million Iraqis since the beginning of the First Gulf War. The current conflict was initiated on entirely false pretenses with the unstated goal of gaining a permanent military presence in the Middle East in the hopes of securing unfettered access to the oil supplies and using such leverage to dominate this rapidly dwindling resource.

The ascendancy of corporate power under the current leadership is nearly complete. The blind allegiance to corporate interests has insured our absolute dependency on foreign oil and explains our refusal to pay attention to the scientific community’s warnings about the growing threat of global warming and all its deleterious ramifications. These dangers exemplify the great threat posed by having unwavering ideologues in positions of power. Another example of this blind adherence to an extreme set of beliefs is the installment of Michael Bolton as this nation’s UN representative. The current expanding crisis with the government of North Korea is a direct result of the cessation of the diplomacy that was successfully initiated by the Clinton administration, and the inflammatory pronouncements made by Mr. Bolton that do nothing but aggravate an already tense situation.

The exhaustion of the nation’s economic resources has come as a result of the mass transfer of wealth from the middle to upper class through the medium of tax cuts and the vast expenditure of financial resources the nation does not have to fund an illicit conflict. These grossly irresponsible policies have resulted in an exorbitant and staggering national debt that has largely been financed by such countries as China and Japan. This staggering indebtedness has also led to unconscionable cuts in the budget for monies earmarked for vital social services for the people, cuts in student loans, Medicaid and Medicare being obvious examples. The current government, Congress included, is so tied to the corporate class that it demonstrates absolutely no compassion for the many millions that require some form of assistance. The statistics in regard to the extent of poverty and the many who lack health insurance represent a patent testimonial to this reality.

During the current administration there has been a steady erosion of civil liberties in the United States through the use of the clearly unconstitutional use of widespread wiretapping without court order and flagrant abuses of the right to privacy and freedom from arbitrary harassment by the government as guaranteed in the Constitution.

The severely myopic vision of those who claim to be the nation’s leaders has led to a steady and inexorable deterioration of the natural environment as well as the basic infrastructure upon which the entire society depends.

These are but a few of the many examples of the failures of this government. If the voting public does not have the understanding of this essential reality nor the determination to demand significant change, the future is indeed bleak for those who will be facing the consequences of these policies.