Bush Resigns
February 10, 2004. In a stunning move that caught Democrats and Republicans alike by surprise, George W. Bush, the man who under false pretenses has usurped without earning the position and title of America's 43rd President, has resigned his court-appointed office and dismissed his entire administration after handing the reins over to rightful President Al Gore.
“I have concluded, as have many of you, that I am not fit to be President of the United States,” said Bush simply in a press conference earlier today. “I have knowingly deceived my people into a political, profit-driven war that has cost the lives of our own citizens and those overseas. I have done this, knowing that it would drain the nation's tax money: money that could have been used to feed, educate, and shelter America's less fortunate has instead gone into sending them to the front lines where they have been injured, maimed, or killed.
“I have knowingly pursued this war for the sake of stripping Iraq's natural resources away from her people to satisfy the greed of a small population of the wealthiest Americans. This war was on our agenda before I even took office, before 9/11, before the 2000 Florida vote was rigged in my favor. And I have used this war to fill the coffers of my friends in corporate America, especially those whose contributions helped put me and my Cabinet into office. I have used the occupation not to free Iraq but to turn it over to those same corporate interests so that they could privatize Iraq's public institutions that thrived until our sanctions nearly wiped them out. I once told America that our troops would be able to leave Iraq and come home once we captured Saddam Hussein, but that was a lie. Until making the decision to resign, I had fully intended to keep American troops over in Iraq to prevent free and fair elections until America's corporate interests had satisfied themselves that there was nothing left over there worth fighting for. I have finally realized that cooperation, not imperialism, is the way of the twenty-first century.
“I have also knowingly taken the money that working middle-class and poor families need to survive and given it to the richest Americans as tax cuts. At the time, it only seemed fair. It didn't bother me that the economy hemorrhaged millions of jobs, cutting off hard-working people from the means to support themselves and their families. It didn't bother me that I was taking away the roofs over people's heads and sending them out to live on the streets and fend for themselves like animals. It didn't bother me that I was taking away the only meal a child might get that day. It didn't bother me that I was making life so much harder—or even impossible—for so many average Americans just so that a few already-rich Americans with more money than someone could ever spend in a lifetime could stockpile even more dollars they didn't need. At the time, it didn't bother me at all. Well, it sure bothers me now.
“Sure, I could deny that I am in any way responsible for any of this. I could blame my advisers for having their own political agendas. I could easily blame every corrupt politician who came before me—every Democrat or Republican who ever bought or sold political influence, every public official who ever sold out the American public for a buck, or at the whim of a corporation. Heck, I could even blame the American people themselves—how many of you out there actually vote? Do you vote in all elections or just the big ones? Do you get involved in your communities? Do you volunteer? Do you even know your next door neighbors? Sure, I could blame anything and everything for what I have done since taking this office. But I won't. Today, I have finally decided not to take a slide—not to get by just on who my daddy is or how much money my family has. Today, I have finally decided to be a man and to admit that I have been wrong.
“The American people deserve better. They deserve a government that will work for the good of all the people, not just a privileged few. They deserve a foreign policy that treats the rest of the world as our neighbors, not as a mindless, soulless resource we can exploit at will. Americans deserve a domestic policy that will allow them to reap the benefits of their own labor with the rights, dignities, and liberties our founding fathers fought for when they rebelled against England. They deserve employers who will treat them fairly and pay them enough to live on. Americans deserve a President who will help provide for the common good, including security not only from terrorist threats but also from environmental threats. As so many of you already realize, we only have one Earth: if it dies, we die.
“Yes, Americans deserve more, not only from their elected leadership but also from themselves. They must unite as one nation under one flag, not take refuge in scattered special interest groups. They must fight to eradicate corruption in the nation's industry and government. They must work together to improve their own communities and to raise more ethical, caring, involved children. They must learn to stop blaming those around them for their problems and learn to fix them themselves. They must demand better from themselves and their representatives. Hopefully, my taking responsibility for my actions today will offer the American people an example they can follow. It is up to each of us to make this great nation of ours the best it can be.
“What more can I say? I guess, despite everything, I actually do have a streak of decency about me somewhere after all ...”
