117 Questions for the New Year:

As we approach the New Year with the Primary Season upon us and a president about to turn over to a new incoming president, it is time to take stock of the past two terms and to raise the questions that have been ignored, lied about, or gone unanswered in the past. If we are to regain any sense of what this country means, if we are to once again bask in our liberties, and our freedoms, we need to learn the truth.

So, I have gotten the ball rolling by positing one hundred questions that have been suggested by a government so wrapped up in itself, so concerned with its own agenda and covering up the truth, that they beg the attention of all of us.

These questions cover the whole panorama of government and include candidates for the top job as well as preeminent figures from the White House, included our selected leader.

So, let us begin:

1. Will you, Mr. Bush, acknowledge that you knew the truth about the report on Iran backing away from making nuclear weapons? If this information didn’t leak out, would you continue to pursue the rash course of War? ....

2. Did Mitt Romney’s dad really march with Martin Luther King? Was Mitt really with him?

3. Will candidate Hunter get the rest of his wall? And what does it mean to have a wall without a policy?


4. Will this newly appointed Attorney General support Bush or the truth?
It is sad that some of our highly educated officials do not understand that Bush is not a synonym for the truth. If this man’s judgments are a precondition to our ever trusting this government office again, should this consideration be uppermost in his thoughts?


5. What is the status of the NAU? Will the republicans ever fess up that it exists? That it is the government’s intention to circumvent the laws of this land in the pursuit of commerce worldwide?


6. Will the democratic leadership ever find the courage and the fearlessness to accept the idea that the only way we shall cleanse this infected White House is to initiate Impeachment proceedings against both Cheney and Bush?

7. Will Bush admit that he eavesdropped on millions without the approval of FEISA courts?

8. Will Bush ever admit to seizing American citizens and sending them to some third world nightmare for the purpose of torture?

9 Will the former Attorney General, Gonzalez, ever admit to misusing his office at the insistence of the White House and politicizing the Attorney General’s office to use Federal Prosecutors to pursue cases that he claimed involved democratic voter fraud—even though the cases were not only weak but political?

10. Will Scooter Libby ever admit being Cheney’s flunky to expose and embarrass Valerie Plame? Will the man ever be taken seriously again; or should he be?

11. Will the president ever admit that the whole manufactured conspiracy against Iraq was a Neocon fabrication—without legitimate proof or substantiation; that he and his administration tried to twist the truth to fit their prejudiced beliefs—regardless of the facts?

12. Will our legal system ever survive these abuses to its credibility? Will brave people emerge from the shadows and find their voice?


13. Will Bush 43 ever admit to passing along insider information that made the stockholders in Carlyle eminently successful? Will the Bush’s ever admit that they have dealt with Arabian’s who have mixed loyalty to the West in order to make ever bigger profits to feed their own interests? Does Bush & Company’s patriotism end when it comes to matters of their wallets?

14. Will Bush ever admit to accommodating his adviser—and the steel industry—by raising tariffs on foreign imports even though the steel industry took the profits and ran?—an adviser who represented the steel industry as lobbyist and then headed up the republican party? Do they not see these questionable acts as rife with conflict of interest charges?

15. Will Bush ever admit that he cares more about his own bottom line that the welfare of the people he is sworn to uphold?

16. Will Bush admit to never wanting to really release funds to see New Orleans rebuilt the way it should have been after the hurricane that dislodged tens of thousands of the poor of this once beautiful city; and the money that was then released was used to reward “friendly” contractors with loyalty to this administration?

17. Will Bush’s former legal council, Harriet Weiss, ever admit that she got her job by covering up for Bush during his Texas governor days?

18. Will Bush ever admit to lying about the challenges posed by global warming and fudging the facts to make it look as if Global Warming was not a serious threat?

19. Will Detroit confess that it did everything possible to avoid providing maximum gasoline mileage on its cars?

20. Will Rudolph Giuliani ever admit to not being the only one who did anything on 9/11? And will the truth ever emerge about the mistakes made in conjunction with this day that shall resonate with most Americans for all time?

21. Will the truth ever come out about all the questions that continue to circulate about 9/11—from the way Saudis’ got a pass to return home unquestioned even though seventeen of nineteen of the terrorists held Saudi passports; and why did it take over a year to launch a thorough investigation? And why was the most corrupt official asked to lead the investigation?

22. Will the Bush administration admit that it has been complicit in trying to control oil world wide for its ends?

23. Will anyone ever explain why Exxon-Mobil, the richest company in the world, gets tax breaks for exploration?

24. Will this White House ever admit that the reason it wanted to privatize Social Security was to reward its donors in the private sector?

25. Will the Bush administration ever admit tapping into money to be set aside for Social Security to compensate for its unwarranted tax cuts for the very rich?

26: Will the Bush administration ever acknowledge that it’s lame excuse for tax cuts for the rich, trickle down economic theory, is a canard and doesn’t work?

27.Will the Bush’s ever admit that they never did and never will care one whit about the plight of the Middle Class? And have attempted to destroy it with every opportunity?

28. Will the Bush administration ever admit being engaged in an endless war with the worker class to weaken the Unions by exporting jobs and manufacturing?


29. Will Bush explain why the White House touts protection and security and our borders remain porous?

30. Will Rumsfeld ever be brought to trial for sending our boys and girls off to be slaughtered without adequate armored transportation or body armor that was available at the time? And why did the GI’s have to pay for their own body armor?

31. Will the ex-head of the CIA ever be placed in front of a special prosecutor to explain how the White House manipulated the data to make it look as if Iraq was planning WMD?

32. Will Bush and the Pentagon ever admit that the only way that have reduced crime in Baghdad is by working deals with the various groups to buy their allegiance against the Jihadists? And that these protections will evanesce as soon as we back away from our mission in Baghdad and through-out Iraq? Everyone who knows anything about what is going on knows that we are doing business with the “bad guys” in order to keep the peace. Whatever happened to our moral rectitude?

33. Will Bush and Company ever explain why they only sent in ten CIA and special Ops officers to Pakistan to get bin Laden three months after 9/11? Was there a reason that he seemed to slip away on every single occasion?—at times when many of the CIA case officers agree that he was vulnerable and could have been captured? Was that by intent, Mr. President, for without Mr. bin Laden, you couldn’t argue your fear politics to win approval for moves that literally violate our Constitution? Isn’t it then true that we have already lost to terrorism?

34. Will “Bush ever admit that without bin Laden and 9/11, he would have continued to slide in the polls; that 9/11 made Bush legitimate even though he used the opportunity to sow fear and increase control and support for his flaunting of Constitutional rights?

35.What did you see when you looked into Putin’s eyes that convinced you they were our allies?

36. Will Bush and Company ever provide complete and credible figures about the dead and wounded coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan?

37. How can you tout the military and ask for their support when you have cut back on benefits for these citizen-soldiers every chance you had? What provision are you going to make for all the brain-pan injuries that returning GI’s must deal with in the months, years and decades ahead?

38. Why did you, Mr. President, wait seven minutes before doing something after he learned about the planes crashing into the WTC? Why did you then skip to New Orleans and then to Omaha instead of flying back to take charge? Where was that heroism that you flaunt so readily when it came to your own safety?

39. Would anyone like to explain what really happened with Bush’s participation in the National Guard and why he got a transfer out from his first duty station without fulfilling his commitment and going to another base where they didn’t have planes he was qualified on? Why did he still insist on cashing the checks he received even though he hadn’t completed the necessary course requirements in the allotted time?

40. Why did General Tommy Franks receive a medal instead of being punished for being so unprepared, so inaccurate on his projections of soldiers required, and so wrong about the length of the war? In any other war, they would have been immediately fired for incompetence. .

41. Why would we jump in to attack Iran when it was totally unwarranted and turn a blind eye to the needs of Darfur where innocent people were being slaughtered routinely literally in front of our eyes? Is this moral behavior that a spiritual man can walk away from which you obviously did?

42. Why do we allow the Chinese to send us bad food and toxic toys?

43. Why has Bush been allowed to appoint sinecures to all high positions and Cabinet posts? And then when they can’t do the job, the blame never sticks to him? Why? Are they being further rewarded for being good flunkies?

44. Why has the FCC Director been empowered to further consolidate the media in disregard of diversity and variety as indicated by original FCC guidelines?

45. Why has this administration been allowed to ignore the documents that helped found this country?

46.Why have we not restored habeas corpus a fundamental right of American citizens….

47. Why has no one said anything about the Executive’s grasp of power with no checks and balances?

48.Why did Congress accede to the president the power to conclude treaties under Fast Track?

49. Why were two Supreme Court justices not reclused in the election of 2000?

50. Why has the government allowed right wing talking heads to perpetuate their lies and innuendos and come down hard on NPR and PBS for allowing both sides to make their views clear? This is patently absurd since both of the stations listed above go out of their way to be fair in their assessments…

51. Why hasn’t there been a big push by government and the various scientific organizations in this country to go forward with “back-burnered” OSHA requirements on clean air and clean water?

52. If the government cannot show any tangible progress for No Child Left Behind, why don’t they review and change their policies? Why don’t they move forward with aggressive programs to educate our youth—especially those who in the urban areas who have been allowed to fall through the cracks?

53. Why is urban education virtually ignored while funding goes forward for the building of private prisons that mostly incarcerate minorities? The cost of educational funding is known to be far cheaper than the cost of prison; yet we fail to take appropriate action time after time.

54. What hasn’t the government followed the constitution and mandated the separation of church and state?

55. Why wasn’t there an immediate investigation into 9/11 as Roosevelt did with Pearl Harbor? What were we trying to hide?

56. What proof is offered that tax breaks for the rich help the economy? Why won’t this government admit what everyone already knows—that trickle down economics impact is a myth to help the rich!

57. Why won’t the government admit that the unemployment rate is a canard since most unemployed get benefits until they run out and then fall off the charts?

58. Why won’t the government explain its position on Immigration? Why does it keep its position under wraps as it plays both sides of the fence? Why is the burden for anti-immigration policy being jerry=rigged at the State level in order to compensate for the failings of government to take on this burden?

59. Why doesn’t the government admit that its attempts to protect our borders have been feeble at best?

60. How does this government intend to export 12 million illegal immigrants?

61. How could the government do so little so late for homeowners who stand to lose their homes as a result of ballooning mortgages? And do so much for the mortgage companies in allowing them to take advantage of buyers who could not afford the homes they were buying?

62. Why did this government allow its special interest groups to move their businesses off-shore?

63. Why are we spending more on weapons than the rest of the world combined?

64. Why are we spending so much on weaponry and at the same time so lowering our standards, that new recruits are poorly equipped to fill today’s technology mission?

65. Why has diplomacy been seen as the last resort after hostilities instead of before?

66. Why does Condolezza Rice say no to diplomacy when she doesn’t like the country or the leader; Isn’t that when we need diplomacy most?

67. What were Condolezza Rice’s qualifications to take on the responsibility of Secretary of State when the subject of her PhD no longer exists or is relevant to her job?

68. Why are Bush and Cheney allowed to claim Executive Privilege when it was original intended only to protect matters of the utmost security whereby releasing that information might jeopardize national security?

69. Why doesn’t the government demand sacrifice from the rest of the population to save on fossil fuels and wasteful energy practices?

70. Why haven’t we moved ahead with a greater sense of urgency to find alternative sources of fuels?

71. Why hasn’t this government demanded more wind and solar energy usage?

72. Why will we not allow those who commit torture to be identified and tried?

73. Why have we violated the laws pertaining to Posse Comitatus?

74. Why have we not gotten ahead of the Flu Pandemic threat? Why do we always practice too little, too late when it comes to the questions of the national health?

75. Why are we not participants in the Hague Court? What do we have to fear?

76. Why did the Justice Department hire without regard to experience or training ill equipped neophyte religious graduates to assume high ranking roles at Justice?

77. /Why haven’t Constitutional scholars descended on Washington for the violations to individual notions of privacy? Why is the president being allowed to jettison fundamental freedoms?

78. Why is the media threatened with review and/or denied access if it publishes a story unfavorable to the White House?

79. Why did the New York Times sit on a story about violations of privacy until after the elections?


80. Why didn’t the NY Times fess up about its reporters sitting on the truth about the media leaks that led to the downfall of Valerie Plame, a CIA Station chief compromised by a White House with revenge on its mind for the article researched and written by her husband, former diplomat Wilson, that cited that the entire business of Iraq conjuring up enriched nuclear weapons material seemed false and contrived?

81.Will Rupert Murdoch ever confess that the deal he signed onto was to print Gingrich’s book if he got the FCC to loosen up its rules about the same media empire buying up TV stations in a market where it already controls the newspapers….The FCC eventually gave Murdoch permission to expand its control of the media without hearings or debate.

82. Will the president ever adequately explain why New Orleans residents are still living in small trailers two and a half years after he promised to help them rebuild and why money allocated for that purpose has not been released?

83. Will the government fully explain why HUD chairperson, Christy Todd Whitman, told New Yorkers and the government that the air around the Ground Zero was safe to breath? Will those sickened by breathing the contaminated air ever find redress in Washington?

84. Will Cheney ever explain why all the original energy meetings were ‘closed door’ and have not yet been revealed even though he is and was an employee of the American people?

85. Will Cheney ever apologize for describing his office as the Fourth Branch of government?

86. Will the government fess up to why it is underwriting a new warplane at four times the price of the most recent all purpose fighter for which there is no serious competition?

87. When will the government admit that “water boarding” is pure and unalloyed torture?

88. When will the Bush presidency admit that drilling in the pristine north will upset habitat while only providing several million barrels of oil, a quantity that could be made up by simply directing Detroit to improve vehicle mileage?

89. With the current crop of GI’s carrying the burden of War, why have we failed to extend to them the equivalent of the WWII GI bill where GI’s can afford to buy a home and get a full education?

90. When will this government admit to discouraging advances in science to please its own right wing agenda?

91. When will this government realize that turning its back on science does not make it possible for America to maintain its technological edge?

92. When will government move forward with a program to clamp down on the misappropriation of funds at the highest corporate levels?

93. When will the government enforce legislation to assure that the middle class will share in the bonanza of profits accruing to the top ranks of corporations as a result of increases in productivity?

94. When will government admit to turning over tax monies to religious institutions and allowing these institutions to decide who should qualify for charitable support; this is in direct violation of the Constitution.

95. When will this government legislate to provide broader and more meaningful prescription drug benefits to the public?

96. Why has the government allowed the PMA to govern the price of prescription drugs?

97. Why are crack cocaine punishments treated so much more severely than conventional cocaine use violations?



98. Why are lobbyists allowed to write provisions of the law?

99. Why is the president allowed to write in portions of approved bills that he feels that he does not have to comply with?

100. Why is this government not in sync with most of the world when it comes to conforming to environmental legislation?

101. Why haven’t the voting machines been repaired so that they cannot be tampered with? Why haven’t the heads of the two voting machine builders—who have sworn to see the republican party reelected not brought up on charges for building machines that can be easily tampered with?

102. What has the government done in the last four years to improve justice and fairness at the polls?

103. Why are districts being allowed to consider voting their own preferences in national elections when in the past, all votes went to the leading candidate in that state?

104.After failure after failure at every decision you have implemented, after a loss of jobs, a loss of more than 3000 of our young and brightest, after the highest number of foreclosures in history, after the greatest economic disparity on record, after competitive losses in science and technology, what can you imagine your legacy to be?

105. Do you really believe that people will accept the notion that those who don’t agree with you are any less patriots than you are?

106. How can you act like the archetypal patriot when you failed to even fulfill your National Guard requirement which gave you a pass from active service?

107. Doesn’t your sense of absoluteness cause you to question all those you put to death in the electric chair when you were governor in Texas?

108. Do you believe in the Divine Right of Kings; don’t you feel that we should have a monarchy instead of a government founded on documents that state cogently that nobody, not even the president is above the law?

109.How do you sleep at nights knowing that your personal agenda of creating a war against a sovereign country for no provable reason has resulted in the loss of more than 3,000 young people and tens of thousands of injured…

110. Don’t you ever feel over your head making decisions that call on experience, a knowledge of history, compassion, cultural background, and an incisive mind—none of which you possess?

111. How do you hold your head up knowing that your policies have continued to cause illness and disease when you could have pushed for alternative energy programs?

112, Good leaders in history deal through their infinite wisdom; you deal through bullying. Doesn’t that bother you?

113. Doesn’t it sit badly with you that nobody respects the way you think, how you govern and what you are out to accomplish?

114. Doesn’t it eat away at you knowing that you have the lowest standing in the polls for any recent sitting president?

115. How has reading John Paul Satre and Shakespeare impacted your decision process?

116. Don’t you think that the people know that the subtext behind your wars serves to distract critics of your failure after failure in every other venture you have engaged?

117. Mr. president, don’t you feel at least guilty for allocating 264billion dollars for the anti-missile system that has never worked and only given the appearance of performance when those monies could have funded good educational initiatives like building more schools, hiring more teachers, or providing pre school and after school programs.

And when you finish these, Mr. President and your flunkies, we will be sure to have another 117 more…


Les Aaron
The Committee for Positive Change
hubmaster@aol.com