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Title: A British viewpoint, as Bush's power wanes
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Published: Aug 22, 2007
Author: Ed Gomez
Post Date: 2007-08-22 16:21:41 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 81
Comments: 6
A British viewpoint, as Bush's power wanes If you're a flag-wavin', Bible-thumpin', my-country-right-or-wrong, George-W.-Bush-lovin', war-cheerin', self-styled "patriot," don't read this news item. The observations and political analysis of the news commentator that it summarizes are - well, let's just say you probably won't agree with them. A woman received emergency care in northern Iraq last week; she was injured in a coordinated series of suicide bombings that killed more than 300 people and injured some 400 others AP That's because the news commentator, British journalist and author Gary Younge, lives in and writes about events in the real world - the real world Bush's cynical handler-cronies long ago dismissed as irrelevant; the real world in which, while devastated New Orleans still struggles, the Bush administration continues to send billions of American taxpayer dollars to fund democracy-crushing regimes in such predominantly Muslim countries as Egypt and Pakistan; the real world in which nearly 4000 American soldiers and countless hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died in a spiraling-out-of-control war that was, when it began, and still is, illegal. Meanwhile, notes U.S.-based commentator Younge, the Guardian's former New York correspondent, Bush political advisor Karl Rove's departure from the White House staff "effectively marks the end of the Bush presidency - from here on in[,] Bush's tenure is about keeping the troops in Iraq and as many of his administration out of handcuffs as possible." Just last week, Younge notes, Charles Krauthammer, the conservative, American, Iraq-war cheerleader, when asked by Fox News how much time Bush has left to promote his political agenda, replied curtly: "None....It's over. There is no agenda." Residents stand near the rubble of a house that was damaged after a mortar attack in Baghdad last Sunday Kareem Raheem/Reuters Residents stand near the rubble of a house that was damaged after a mortar attack in Baghdad last Sunday Never mind that Bush failed to promote democracy or peace in the world, Younge notes. More damning, at least as many of his erstwhile supporters feel - minus those who are still hanging onto a thread of belief in a man whose lies and letdowns they hesitate to admit to, lest their whole worldview should collapse - is that Bush "has failed on his own" terms. Thus, if the Rove-formulated, "ultimate aim of his presidency was to realign American politics to cement a conservative electoral majority for a generation," to date, that has not happened - and it's unlikely that it will, not with Bush's approval ratings at an all-time low. Younge also recalls how one of Bush's assistants "once ridiculed a New York Times reporter for belonging to 'the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'" That Bush aide went on to famously say: "That's not the way the world really works any more....We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality...we'll act again, creating other new realities....We're history's actors ...and you...will be left to just study what we do." Bush calls himself Reuters Bush calls himself "The Decider": Now, as his presidency effectively ends before its time, history is judging the quality of his decisions Younge notes: "So here we are studying." What students of the failed Bush presidency clearly see is that his once famed coalition of gay-hating, war-mongering, reactionary religionists and assorted other conservative and so-called neo-conservative joy riders has "crumbled." What's happening now instead, Younge points out, as Republican candidates vie for their party's presidential nomination, is that ordinary Republicans in "the reality-based community" have seen through the Bush-Cheney gang's lies. Now, they're no longer hesitant to call Bush and Cheney, accurately, "draft dodgers," or as one Republican observed of Bush at a recent town-hall gathering in New Hampshire: "Friends who were obnoxious in their praise for him just don't mention him any more....He's like the embarrassing uncle you just don't want to talk about." As a result, Younge reports, these days, a "sense of doom among Republicans is palpable." He also writes: "There is even talk that Republicans might not invite Bush to their convention," and notes that one Republican pollster believes they would be wise not to. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Symbol of the government's failure: A few days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, city residents wandered along Interstae 10, unaided and with nowhere to go Irwin Thompson/AP Symbol of the government's failure: A few days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, city residents wandered along Interstae 10, unaided and with nowhere to go In response to Younge's commentary, readers posted their comments on the Guardian's Web site. "Cartier" wrote: "[E]ven more depressing than the catalog of miserable failure and moral collapse that has accompanied the Bush regime, is the realization that it may not be over....What if Rove and Co.'s antipathy towards the [']reality-based community['] was, in fact, a genuine reflection of how most Americans now think about the world?" "Rashers101" appeared to cut Bush a bit of slack, observing that "America's decline is a result of structural, systemic and ideological factors beyond George W. Bush." However, this reader also noted, with regret: "In the space of a generation[,] [the U.S.] has gone from the nation that put a man on the moon to the nation that took [five] days to get water to the Superdome [in New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005]....It has gone from a being promoter of human rights to being a nation [that] practices torture and 'rendition' and that clings to the archaic vengeance of the death penalty....America will never recover from the Bush presidency." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, noted yesterday that the Bush White House could be found in contempt of Congress for not turning over subpoenaed documents relating to the authorization and legal justification for the Bush administration's warrentless wiretapping programs Susan Walsh/AP Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, noted yesterday that the Bush White House could be found in contempt of Congress for not turning over subpoenaed documents relating to the authorization and legal justification for the Bush administration's warrentless wiretapping programs Guardian reader "jonwaring" wrote of the leave-taking by Rove and other top-ranking Team Bush cronies: "It's...as if they are departing the scene of a crime - hoping against hope that by the time Bush departs...they will be forgotten by the war crimes tribunal in the Hague, for that is where they all deserve to end up...for creating such a monumental human catastrophe in Iraq. Everything else Bush has done has the stench of incompetence, of venal greed, of rank stupidity, vile arrogance....[T]he smug swagger and the demented frat-boy grin are still there. The man without a clue. Americans should be much more careful not to vote for someone of such obvious staggering banality and whose talent would perhaps have suited a small-town council and no more." By contrast, in response to "jonwaring's" note, another reader remarked: "There is absolutely no chance of Bush or any other member of his administration being put on trial for war crimes....The most punishment Bush faces is the grind of the lecture circuit." Posted By: Edward M. Gomez (Email) | August 21 2007 at 06:26 AM
A woman received emergency care in northern Iraq last week; she was injured in a coordinated series of suicide bombings that killed more than 300 people and injured some 400 others 
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#1. To: tom007 (#0)
There ain't gonna be no lecture circuit for Smirky. Without being able to call out the national guard to protect him, he won't ever dare show his face except in unannounced appearances in front of the few who still, due to clear derangement, think he is somehow a competent and honorable leader, instead of the miserable criminal he really is. When he is no longer president, he will lose the power to create "First Amendment Zones" 2 miles from his speech. Which means any announced speech is going to be flooded with people who hate his guts. There will be no lecture circuit.
I'm not sure how many lecture circuits there are in Paraguay.
Particularly when you speak about 11 words in Spanish, all badly. Heck, though, all he has to do is learn about 20 more and he'll be as good in Spanish as he is in English.
Ouch! Nicely done - thanks.
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#2. To: Mekons4 (#1)
#3. To: lodwick (#2)
#4. To: Mekons4 (#3)
Particularly when you speak about 11 words in Spanish, all badly. Heck, though, all he has to do is learn about 20 more and he'll be as good in Spanish as he is in English.
Replies to Comment # 4.