Bush, Conservative Values and the Culture of Death

by SusanG
Sat Mar 04, 2006 at 12:21:56 PM PDT

People appreciate somebody who sets a tone, a tone that values life. -- George W. Bush, June 5, 2000
Fact: Estimated 100,000+ Iraqi civilian deaths.
Fact: 2,506 coalition military deaths as of 3/3/06

Because a society is measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable, we must strive to build a culture of life.-- George W. Bush, Feb. 2, 2005
Fact: 16,742 American military wounded as of 3/3/06.
Fact: Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing by leaps and bounds, White House budget documents assume a cutback in 2008 and further cuts thereafter.

The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example.-- George W. Bush, June 26, 2003
Fact: At least 108 people have died in U.S. custody.
Fact: Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people.--George W. Bush, March 31, 2005
Fact: 1300+ dead in Katrina
Fact: 1,900+ still missing from Katrina as of 2/22/06.
Fact: Hurricane Katrina exposed the U.S. government's failure to learn the lessons of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as leaders from President Bush down disregarded ample warnings of the threat to New Orleans and did not execute emergency plans or share information that would have saved lives, according to a blistering report by House investigators.

I wake up every day thinking about how best to protect America. That's my job.-- George W. Bush, September 30, 2004
Fact: 14 mining deaths in two separate incidents in January 2006
Fact: In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines, according to a data analysis by The New York Times.

I think it's important to promote a culture of life. I think a hospitable society is a society where every being counts and every person matters.--George W. Bush, October 13, 2004
Fact: George W. Bush during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States.

I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life.-- George W. Bush, August 3, 2000
Fact: Prior to Roe v. Wade, as many as 5,000 American women died annually as a direct result of unsafe abortions.4 Today, abortion is one of the most commonly performed clinical procedures in the United States, and the current death rate from abortion at all stages of gestations is 0.6 per 100,000 procedures. This is 11 times safer than childbirth and nearly twice as safe as a penicillin injection.2
Fact: President Bush told abortion opponents Monday that they are pursuing "a noble cause" and making a real difference in the campaign to recruit more Americans to stand on their side.

The question is which one of us can lead America to appreciate life.-- George W. Bush, February 15, 2000
Fact: Half of all cervical cancer deaths - approximately 2,300 per year - could be prevented by a newly developed HPV vaccine.
Fact: In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.
"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.
Fact: The jockeying reflects the growing influence social conservatives, who had long felt overlooked by Washington, have gained on a broad spectrum of policy issues under the Bush administration. In this case, a former member of the conservative group Focus on the Family serves on the federal panel that is playing a pivotal role in deciding how the vaccine is used.

In our time, respect for the right to life calls us to defend the sick and the dying, persons with disabilities and birth defects, and all who are weak and vulnerable.George W. Bush, January 23, 2006
Fact: Estimated 55,000 deaths and 160,000 heart attacks due to Vioxx, a pain reliever for those suffering from arthritis.
Fact: Dr. David J. Graham of the FDA's Office of Drug Safety told Senate investigators he faced resistance to his findings within the FDA and that instead of acting as a public watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration was busy challenging its own expert and calling his work scientific rumor.
Fact: Graham's testimony at the hearing became front-page news after he identified the FDA's handling of Vioxx as the worst public health disaster in its history, resulting in a probable 30,000-55,000 deaths. No official could credibly challenge his Vioxx findings, and he identified five other suspect drugs: Accutane, Bextra, Crestor, Meridia, and Serevent.
A week after the hearing, sympathetic insider colleagues and press contacts warned Graham that the FDA was finalizing plans to exile him from drug safety work within days.

CONCLUSION
The only consistent "pro-life" policy expounded by President George W. Bush and his conservative fellow travelers is toward future, theoretical lives that reside as embryos in individual women's wombs and have yet to draw a breath or prove viability.
Real lives? Being lived in the real world by breathing people with a proven track record of existence? You're not only on your own, you're unvalued, unprotected, unimportant and more at risk than ever before.
Life is only valued when it's hypothetical. Get used to it.