They Sold Our Soul, and Our Energy Security.
To the common American citizen, The Bush administration and their political associates have portrayed the war in Iraq as a war of vital national security from evil terrorist regimes. After the events of 9/11, the beating drum of conflict was personalized by visions of “Mushroom Clouds” and anthrax attacks.
To American business and Bush’s “Base”, on the other hand, the war was sold as a national energy security issue. The company line was that the terrorists, and Saddam Hussein by proxy, threatened our access to oil and natural gas from the Middle-East. This is why, they would say, that a Republican majority was necessary for the welfare of our country, their business interests, and our fossil fuel based economy. This is how they raised all of that money to fund the overthrow of the Texas Legislature, gain Majorities in Congress, and win the White House, twice. At least that’s what we thought.
In the wake of the Abramoff bribery scandal, some extremely unsavory campaign finance schemes have started floating to the surface. From the “Name Your Favorite Charity” bribery scam, to the rebirth of the notorious “Indian Agent” style extortion of Native Americans, the common citizen has become repulsed and disgusted more and more with every floater that rises to the surface. But you don’t see the ire of the American business community, nor the so called religious right, or social conservative voters.
I suppose they feel that the greater good was served because they got to keep us “Pinko-Commie” Democrats from jeopardizing America’s position of strength on the world stage (head nodding in disbelief). But as we have seen so far, the Republicans have done such a bang up job in Asia, Europe, and the Middle-East for our ability to weald any kind of diplomatic strength (sarcasms abound). But this is not only the tip of the iceberg, it’s a loose ice shelf, and they’ve parked us right underneath it.
Here’s the lowdown. We have heard of this U.S. Family Network that’s been tied to Tom DeLay, his chief of staff Ed Buckham, Jack Abramoff, and many others. This was one of many PAC’s and charities under investigation by the Justice Department for things like conspiracy, campaign finance, money laundering, bribery, ect…. But the U.S. Family Network stands head and shoulders… on second thought, sinks to an unforgivable low.
For me, this story’s true impacts came to light in the Ukraine just after New Years. Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off natural gas supplies to Europe over a contract dispute regarding the methods of payment for transit for Russian gas thru Ukrainian pipelines. Here’s a quick overview of the easily discernable situation.
Earlier, back to our side of the pond, Naftasib, an alleged struggling Russian oil company, approached Jack Abramoff to help them get U.S. backing for IMF loans. This resulted in at least 3 trips by Tom DeLay, to Moscow. This Washington Post article does a good job detailing how Naftasib repaid the favors they received. Now we know what the motives of the Abramoff / DeLay crew, money to beat the Democrats. So what if it came from the Russians, the same people that the Republicans claimed were the “Evil Empire” not even a generation ago. But what were the motives of Naftasib?
As it turns out, the IMF loans were just a small part of their take in this transaction. As it turns out, Naftasib is predominately owned by Gazprom, the same company that has gone after Yukos Oil and shut off the gas in Europe this year. This is the same company that supplies the gas running thru most of the pipelines in Eastern Europe. This article from the American Foreign Policy Council will give you an idea who these two energy companies ultimately answer to, as if I had to tell you.
Now, before you read this last article, I would just like to say, “So you think you’ve seen everything, well, hold on to your hosery, cause the Team Bush and band of thieves has sold us all up the river, and all we got was this stupid war!! And high fuel prices, and Islamic terrorism, and a shrinking job market, and a tap on our phone, and so on, and so, on and so on………..
To American business and Bush’s “Base”, on the other hand, the war was sold as a national energy security issue. The company line was that the terrorists, and Saddam Hussein by proxy, threatened our access to oil and natural gas from the Middle-East. This is why, they would say, that a Republican majority was necessary for the welfare of our country, their business interests, and our fossil fuel based economy. This is how they raised all of that money to fund the overthrow of the Texas Legislature, gain Majorities in Congress, and win the White House, twice. At least that’s what we thought.
In the wake of the Abramoff bribery scandal, some extremely unsavory campaign finance schemes have started floating to the surface. From the “Name Your Favorite Charity” bribery scam, to the rebirth of the notorious “Indian Agent” style extortion of Native Americans, the common citizen has become repulsed and disgusted more and more with every floater that rises to the surface. But you don’t see the ire of the American business community, nor the so called religious right, or social conservative voters.
I suppose they feel that the greater good was served because they got to keep us “Pinko-Commie” Democrats from jeopardizing America’s position of strength on the world stage (head nodding in disbelief). But as we have seen so far, the Republicans have done such a bang up job in Asia, Europe, and the Middle-East for our ability to weald any kind of diplomatic strength (sarcasms abound). But this is not only the tip of the iceberg, it’s a loose ice shelf, and they’ve parked us right underneath it.
Here’s the lowdown. We have heard of this U.S. Family Network that’s been tied to Tom DeLay, his chief of staff Ed Buckham, Jack Abramoff, and many others. This was one of many PAC’s and charities under investigation by the Justice Department for things like conspiracy, campaign finance, money laundering, bribery, ect…. But the U.S. Family Network stands head and shoulders… on second thought, sinks to an unforgivable low.
For me, this story’s true impacts came to light in the Ukraine just after New Years. Russian energy giant Gazprom cut off natural gas supplies to Europe over a contract dispute regarding the methods of payment for transit for Russian gas thru Ukrainian pipelines. Here’s a quick overview of the easily discernable situation.
Earlier, back to our side of the pond, Naftasib, an alleged struggling Russian oil company, approached Jack Abramoff to help them get U.S. backing for IMF loans. This resulted in at least 3 trips by Tom DeLay, to Moscow. This Washington Post article does a good job detailing how Naftasib repaid the favors they received. Now we know what the motives of the Abramoff / DeLay crew, money to beat the Democrats. So what if it came from the Russians, the same people that the Republicans claimed were the “Evil Empire” not even a generation ago. But what were the motives of Naftasib?
As it turns out, the IMF loans were just a small part of their take in this transaction. As it turns out, Naftasib is predominately owned by Gazprom, the same company that has gone after Yukos Oil and shut off the gas in Europe this year. This is the same company that supplies the gas running thru most of the pipelines in Eastern Europe. This article from the American Foreign Policy Council will give you an idea who these two energy companies ultimately answer to, as if I had to tell you.
Now, before you read this last article, I would just like to say, “So you think you’ve seen everything, well, hold on to your hosery, cause the Team Bush and band of thieves has sold us all up the river, and all we got was this stupid war!! And high fuel prices, and Islamic terrorism, and a shrinking job market, and a tap on our phone, and so on, and so, on and so on………..
posted by The Blue State Bandit | 9:36 AM
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