Bush Inauguration Fund Drive Breaks $8M--HE SHOULD SAVE IT FOR BAIL $$.

[Karenca]

Updated: 01:13 AM EST
Bush Inauguration Fund Drive Breaks $8M

WASHINGTON (Dec. 24) - More than $8 million has been donated by corporations and individuals to fund President Bush's reinauguration ceremonies, according to figures released Thursday.

The team handling the festivities announced more than 20 new contributors, including seven who donated $250,000, the maximum amount sought.
Six of those are in the financial services industry: Corporate Capital LLC of New Orleans; Argent Mortgage Co. of Orange, Calif.; Ameriquest Capital Corp. of Orange, Calif.; Long Beach Acceptance Corp. of Paramus, N.J.; Town and Country Credit of Irvine, Calif.; and Golden Eagle Industries Inc. of Charlotte, N.C.

Oil company ChevronTexaco Corp. also contributed $250,000. Other energy companies whose donations were announced previously include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp.

The committee said two weeks ago that it planned to raise $40 million to $50 million for the inaugural events, scheduled for Jan. 18-21.

Presidential Inauguration Committee: http://www.inaugural05.com/

12/24/04 00:16 EST

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/elections/article.adp?id=20041224001809990001&cid=946

[chicagiana]

1. Bail for what ????

Newsflash. Bush will not, and will NEVER go to jail.

[Karenca]

2. I can fantasize. nt

[The Flaming Red Head]

4. I like the way you think!

[dobegrrrl]

3. We can hope - it is Christmas !

[0007]

5. Don't ever bet on it pal. This guy is a war criminal -

that goes beyond the crimes of humanity of General Pinochet. And Pinochet may yet see a rat infested dungeon. But The Hague would be great, wouldn't it?

[chicagiana]

6. Pinochet wasn't a US president ...

Even Clinton and Carter would do what they could to keep Bush Jr out of jail. It would set a bad president to see an American president festering in a foreign jail cell.

I wouldn't say he's passed up General Pinochet yet. Pinochet was a different type of thug than Bush. Bush can hide under some pretense of "freeing Iraqis". Freeing brown people was the same cloak that Johnson hided under.

There is a philisophical dilemna here that a particular strain of thought says we should go overseas and "FORCE" countries into becoming Democracies. Now, I have no illusion that this is Bush's plan. Bush is in it for the oil and the spoils of distributing all those sweetheart contracts to his cronies.

But deep down the message that Bush sells is an attractive one. It says we as a strong moral nation should help others overseas overcome the rule of tyrants and become free and Democratic.

The message itself is based on the false premise that we Americans are truly free. We are not. While we have the power to liberate ourselves, we seldom collectively exercise it. Beyond that the choices we are presented are often between mediocre and atrocious (Kerry vs Bush).

But the most damming fault in the theory is the notion that you can "force" someone to become free. That is a choice. Some people are quite enamored with their slavery. But even if they make a choice to be "free", their vision of freedom is often quite different than yours. And almost universally nationalism will reject foreign influence and spawn popular resistance movements.

Bush will never see prison because he has a pretty little alibi that is compelling to half of America. The same nationalism that fuels the Iraqi resistance will inspire the gut urge to prevent our nation from being "subject" to any international body of "law". Hence, international prosecution of a US president is cosidered surrending sovereignty.

Face it, once your President your a "made man".

[0007]

9. ....time will tell and people change from one minute to the next.

junior may see the inside of a cell faster than you think! And pretty little alibis can swiftly turn to caca .

[chicagiana]

10. I've become a believer in PT Barnum ...

... there's a sucker born every minute. And the suckers seem to be multiplying faster than the wise.

If you want GW Bush, you'll have to fight your way through all his syncophantic suckers.

[booksenkatz]

7. Fundraising... for an oil tycoon!

Maybe they could make some money with a bake sale, or they could wash those fancy cars, raise a few more bucks. Maybe they could sell some trinkets at ebay and get a few more dollars. Boo hoo hoo. Poor little things, working sooooo hard to raise that badly-needed cash for such a good cause!

Meanwhile, there are thousands of causes and organizations that really do need funding -- those millions could do so much good for thousands of desperate people! But no, we need more money for the oil barons so that they can throw a fancy party and hand out Austrian crystal cowpatties and diamond-studded toilets ("We flushed the Johns!") for party favors.

Our priorities are breathtaking.

[chicagiana]

12. Ya know what got me about "welfare reform" ...

What peeved me was that they used the opportunity to force mothers into the private sector and simultaneously depressed wages for other wage earners through government subsidies.

It would have seemed a better route to send all those folks to non-profit organizations. They're pretty much always short of hands. Sending welfare recipients to charity work is a pretty synergistic solution.

Of course, I don't think the corporate powers that be wanted to see the emergence of a "share sector" that traded in compassion rather than dollars. That would undermine their marketshare in human misery.

[noamnety]

8. $40-$50 million?

It's sickening to think what about what better uses that money could go to.

[lonestarnot]

11. Cut back on World Food to finance his contributors through tax breaks!