The fine art of lying to win elections in a democracy

And destroy they did! President Bush's weakest point is his draft-dodging escapade into the Texas National Guard to avoid combat in Vietnam, although he supported the war. Recently, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas at that time told CBS News that at the request of the Bush family he helped George W. Bush enlist in the Texas National Guard by queue-jumping Bush over several hundred candidates on the waiting list ahead of him. As is well known, Bush's attendance at the National Guard was spotty at best and there are no records of him reporting to duty for several months. John Kerry on the other hand was opposed to the war, but volunteered for Vietnam, was injured in combat, fought heroically, won a chestful of medals, and on his return from Vietnam continued to oppose the war. To destroy Kerry, the war hero, the Bush sleaze team enlisted the aid of the devious "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," who questioned Kerry's heroism, his medal-worthiness, and blasted him for opposing the Vietnam War. Although none of the "Swifties" served with Kerry, for two weeks they bombarded America with television commercials that painted Kerry as a traitor! This was such a blatant lie, that Kerry did not bother to respond, until catastrophic damage was done to his campaign. Kerry had forgotten how vicious the Bushies are. Americans now believe that the draft-dodging coward Bush is more of a hero than the genuine Vietnam War hero Kerry. Consequently, with less than six weeks to go before the election, Bush is surging in the polls, while Kerry is sinking.

Almost everything has gone wrong for America under President Bush. Over one thousand US soldiers have been killed in the war in Iraq which the neoconservatives tricked Mr. Bush into waging, which make America the enemy of the Islamic world for a hundred years. Over 7,000 Americans have been maimed. Many of those injuries are worse than death. Nobody seems to care about the close to 40,000 Iraqis who have been killed as a result of the American invasion and hundreds of thousands who have been injured. Every Iraqi death and injury has ominous long-term consequences for the US.

While Mr. Bush has spent $200 billion so far on the war in Iraq, average Americans are hurting. Bush's ill-advised tax cut for the wealthy has resulted in a record $422 billion budget deficit this year alone. Unemployment remains high, close to 6 per cent. Mr. Bush will go down in history as the first President since Herbert Hoover during the depression of the 1920s to record a net loss of jobs during his 4 years in office. Between January 2001 and November 2004, America will have lost at least one million jobs. The stock market is sputtering; the NASDAQ is down 60 per cent from its all time high. More Americans are without health insurance than ever. Mr. Bush has appointed the most rightwing judges to the nation's courts. His environmental record is atrocious. Last week, to please the gun lobby he let the ban on assault weapon lapse after ten years, infuriating the law enforcement agencies who will be the prime target of these weapons. Bush has no exit strategy for Iraq. He has given mass murderer and international terrorist Ariel Sharon a blank cheque to murder more Palestinians and steal more Palestinian lands, which will cost America dearly down the line. Gasoline prices are hovering around $2 a gallon, the highest in history. Astonishingly, for someone who has failed so miserably, Bush remains enormously popular. Why? Because the Bushies know how to scare the American people, and how to lie through their teeth!

These days in the letter to the editor columns of America's major newspapers readers are openly accusing President Bush of lying. They say that he lied about the real reason for invading Iraq which was neoconservative-driven and ideological, while feeding them the nonsense about WMDs, Saddam's nuclear capability, etc. They accuse him of lying about the connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda where none exist, to justify the war against Iraq. They accuse him of feeding America lies about the non-existent link between the terror attacks on 9/11 and Iraq's complicity in it, for political gain, with the consequence that 50 per cent of Americans still believe that Saddam was behind 9/11 attacks. Not all Americans are savvy. Not everyone has the ability to dissect the news and arrive at the truth or detect deceit. They would rather have someone else do the thinking for them. Whatever the President of the United States tells them, they believe him. When the President lies, they believe that his lies are the truth. That is why the average Americans are so misled and President Bush is so popular.

John Kerry's rise in the polls always seems to be quickly followed by the raising of the terror threat level by Attorney General Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Ridge. This way Americans are scared into rallying around the commander-in-chief. Last weak, Vice President Cheney told Americans that if Kerry is elected, America will be hit again by terrorist. The press reported it as "Vote for Bush or Die!" The President continues to assure Americans that America will be safe on his watch and terrorism will be defeated. Who is to remind the amnesiac President that nine months into his watch America got hit on 9/11, and after his invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorism has mushroomed worldwide. Of course the President is not bound by the truth; truth only gets in the way of his reelection strategy.

John Kerry has forgotten how vicious the Bushes can be. In 1988, via the infamous "Willie Horton" ads the senior Bush painted the Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis as someone who did not mind black criminals raping white women. In 2000, when the junior Bush's campaign was faltering and Senator John McCain's surging, the Bushies circulated lies that as a POW in Vietnam McCain may have committed treason, and that his adopted daughter from Bangladesh, Brigitte, is actually his daughter with a black prostitute! As a fellow aristocrat, Kerry expected Bush to take the high road and was blindsided by the ferocity of the low blows coming his way from the Bushies. While Kerry has remained aristocratic, the Connecticut-born Yankee, Bush, now has more in common with Texas rednecks. Sticking to the tactic that worked for him in the Iowa caucus in January -- positive messages -- Kerry's campaign has been overwhelmed by the deluge of Bush's smear. People are questioning Kerry's manhood for not fighting back. They point out that Bush's approval rating plummeted during the Democratic primary when he was being constantly attacked by the speakers. There have also been issue blunders. Kerry has said that he too would have invaded Iraq even if there were no WMDs. Even some Democrats are wondering if Kerry would have done the same thing in Iraq as Bush, why they should vote for him.

Thus far, President Bush has succeeded in fooling all Americans for some time; he will no doubt fool some Americans for all time. His challenge is to keep the lies afloat for all Americans until November 2, when he will be home free. Right now, America is under the spell of his lies. However, I cannot believe that Americans will not see through his lies eventually. President Bush has been an unmitigated disaster for America. Were he to steal another election, it may spell the doom for not only America, but for the world as well. Fortunately sane voices are being raised. On September 16, The Times of New Jersey wrote a half page editorial "[Bush] Kidnapped by the Neocons." One of President Bush's stated goal for invading Iraq was to introduce democracy in the Middle East. If he prevails on November 2, the question will be which version of democracy he is going to promote: the version where one lies his way to victory, or the one in which the candidate receiving 600,000 less popular votes nationwide is declared the winner and the President by the Supreme Court.