A Valentine Wish For Mary Mornin

You may have seen or heard BoyGeorge's back and forth with a single mom working three jobs, who has one mentally-challenged adult son, and two adult daughters. She and all of the attendees at this staged Social Security "Town Hall" seminar had been screened and invited to attend. I've seen and heard the exchange between BoyGeorge and Mary Mornin, and DubyaSpeak.com has an accurate transcript of the the comments as shown below:

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DUBYA: Mary is with us. Mary Mornin. How are you, Mary?
MS. MORNIN: I'm fine.
DUBYA: Good. Okay, Mary, tell us about yourself.
MS. MORNIN: Okay, I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.
. . .
DUBYA: There's a certain comfort to know that the promises made will be kept by the government.
MS. MORNIN: Yes.
DUBYA: And so thank you for asking that. You don't have to worry.
MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
DUBYA: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
DUBYA: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. Get any sleep?
-- Dubya takes pride in the fact that in America, this woman has to work three jobs to stay afloat, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005.

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Bush ended his exchange with Ms. Mornin this way: THE PRESIDENT: "Well, hopefully, this will help you get your sleep to know that when we talk about Social Security, nothing changes."- Oh really, nothing changes, Mr. Bush? (read the entire transcript here)

Perhaps the most blatant lie in that exchange came when The Boy said to Ms. Mornin: DUBYA: "And so thank you for asking that. You don't have to worry."- YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY - a callous misrepresentation if ever there was one.

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Forget the bizarre "compliment" that it's "uniquely American" to be working three jobs, and how it's "fantastic that you're doing that." Worry, and worry each and every day this administration remains in power.

And now, tonight, I saw the first barrage of slick, "presidential" messages hawking all of the talking points promoting the privitization of Social Security.

Let me make myself clear. A brief, understandable challenge to the Bush administration's first major salvo designed to begin the dismantling of Social Security is avaiable at my entry at "Hustle, Desire, and Want-To". Links from that piece take you to sites where you can do your own homework on Social Security "reform." But, as always, it's up to each and every one of us to dig for the truth as classic Republican code words like tort "reform" and devious doings like the latest bankruptcy Bill make another pass in the Senate as chronicled in a recent diary at DailyKos.

Make no mistake. The Chamber of Commerce made history with their record $53.38 million dollar contributions to both the Executive and Legislative branches during 2004. Attempts are being made to end class actions suits, transferring legal redress from the State to the Federal level, where stricter rules will effectively bring an end to your right to hold corporations accountable for their mischief that's already ruined millions of lives. The people who claim to represent you and me are fast becoming no more than the whores of corporate interests and BoyGeorge's "vision" for America's future.

And so, I offer these alternative challenges to the glossy, spoonfed media fluff pieces that permeate our airwaves, in hopes that Mary Mornin and others will take the time to question our government's real motivations, rather than simply take the word of media-savvy propagandists bent on consolidating power much in the same way multi-national corporations continue to consolidate power in the hands of the few.

To me, Valentine's Day means making a commitment to the ones we love and care about. I care about the possibility that Ms. Mornin has been fooled by the scripted HappyTalk in Omaha. And offer this gift to look beyond the rhetoric in an effort to uncover the truth, the motivations, and the cynical attempts to erode citizens' abilities to hold our government accountable for its attempts to shut down debate, label dissenters as "liberal elites" and continue the brazen plans to steamroll their anti-New Deal, anti-Great Society, even the anti-Nixonian EPA legislation. Ms. Mornin, don't be fooled, don't give up or give in. Seach out and test the voracity of the many intelligent, well-researched challenges to this nightmare of fear, intimidation, and Orwellian DoubleSpeak.