Jay- Z said it best: “Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t!” Such is the case with current United States president, George W. Bush.
A study featured on msnbc.com calculated the numbers to prove “Dub Yah” and company have lied to the American public. According to the msnbc.com study, “Two non- profit journalism organizations counted 935 false statements in the two-year period [between 2001 and 2003]…by Bush and administration officials.”
Bush led the pack “with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq’s links to Al- Qaeda.”
But, Bush was not the only Pinocchio in the bunch. Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell came in second “with 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq’s links to Al-Qaeda.”
Yes, the black man lied too! And beside every black man is a black woman. So we have none other than Condoleezza Rice being reported by the Center for Public Integrity to have put forth 56 lies out of the 935 made by the Bush administration officials, during the first two years of his first term. While that may not compare to Bush and Powell’s versions of the truth, all of these lies have been deemed as being responsible for “leading the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses,” according to the center.
Even lies resulting from the government’s delayed response to Hurricane Katrina have surfaced. After Katrina hit, White house officials claimed to have never known it’s potential damage. Ironically, extensive research had been conducted at least two years prior, predicting the effect of category 3 and 4 hurricanes on New Orleans and its levees. Meaning they were forewarned and given an additional admonition two days before the storm by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. So was Kanye West wrong in his assumption about Bush not caring about black people? One might think so.
Although the past eight years has been both, historic and eventful, the nation is in need of change. Bush leaves behind a slumping economy, increasing unemployment rates, a nearly immeasurable national debt and hundreds of thousands of troops in Iraq.
But not everyone finds Bush at fault. While many of his own party members have shunned him and his approval rating has dropped to 24 percent, according to a Washington Post- ABC News tracking poll, some GOP members have remained loyal. After Bush made a recent unannounced visit to the Republicans National Committee headquarters, staff members sited Bush’s enthusiasm and high spirits despite the current economical conditions.
“His high energy level and spirit sets the tone for the rest of us,” said Kevin Sullivan, Bush’s communications director, in the article from the Washington Post.
The Post also noted that there are a number of White House staffers “who believe Bush’s reputation has been unfairly maligned for a series of calamities, including the attacks in September 2001.”
High spirits and a positive state of mind in an economical recession are both great in theory. Bush’s disapproval by GOP members are no secret. But in case it was, the ultimate realization came when Colin Powell, former secretary of state to President Bush, publicly endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) as the next president. In an NBC, “Meet the Press” interview, on Oct. 19, 2008, Powell endorsed Obama and confirming he was better suited to handle the nation’s economic crisis, rather McCain.
While this 2008 presidential election and its possible outcomes is all the rave, we must remember the trauma many of us has experienced over the past eight years.
Terrika Mitchell is a junior Magazine production student from Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at journeyassociate@gmail.com