Prez-idential Meltdown
I’m having this persistent image of George W. Bush sitting in the White House, head in hands, gazing out the window and asking “Where did I go wrong?”
So many answers to that one. Meanwhile, everything–beyond his obvious plummeting in the polls–is just falling down around him.
In the past 24 hours, Americans have been told that the Administration has lowered the bar for the benchmarks set for the big troop surge Congress authorized early this year for Iraq. Don’t expect so much, we’re told. But didn’t millions of us tell him that in the first place? I mean, before the waste of human life, energy and money that went into this ridiculous effort?
In tandem with that announcement comes a developing domestic crisis. We’ve learned that the prez is once again invoking executive privilege after directing two former top legal aides not to testify in the ongoing investigation into the Attorney General’s firing of federal prosecutors. Looks like Bush et al are headed for a showdown with Congress.
And all because this man–lacking intellect and respect for the constitutional process–has only one real characteristic left: stubbornness. Combine stubborn with shallow intellect and you get danger.
I hate the idea of a constitutional face-off between the president and Congress. But that’s why we have the Constitution in the first place, right? Guess we pull it out from behind glass and test it when we need to. This is why we have the whole separation of powers doctrine. Even some of Bush’s longtime GOP congressional pals are beginning to jump his ship (Sens. Lugar, Domenici, Warner…the list goes on), at least on continuing the mess in Iraq. The center is not holding.
I simply can’t get over the sense of Bush sitting at his desk, looking all defeated and dejected, much as Richard Nixon did in the days leading up to his collapse and resignation in 1974. What it must feel like to be George W. Bush right now–a hollow shell. Pathetic.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
George W. Bush has been without a doubt the worst president we’ve ever had. Hell, I go a step further and say he’s been the worst ruler in the annuls of human history. Oh sure there’s been some bad dudes. You’ve got your Kahns, your Napoleans, your Hitlers. At least these guys had a plan. Bush has nothing. Not one iota of anything resembling a rational thought. He’s alienated most of our allies. He gives tax money to faith-based initiatives. He’s created more terrorists. He’s trampled on and then wiped his ass with our constitution. Jeez! I could write all day and just barely scratch the surface. With leaders such as these, who needs enemys? Oh well. Only for a bit longer. Namaste!
S
July 9th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
It’s time for Congress to impeach Bush. Why Repubs have not broken rank sooner is beyond me with so much gone wrong on so many fronts. It’s just time. The country has had enough on both sides of the aisle. Bush would be more pathetic if he were not so lethal to this country.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
`Tis really hard to comment on Bush without becoming apoplectic with rage. A naive frat-boy with no intellectual curiosity manipulated by Cheney…worst master-flunky relationship since Czar Nicholas 2nd and Rasputin.
Good news ? The repubs are starting to run for their political lives. Iraq will end as a fiasco worse than Vietnam…maybe take a generation to restore America`s standing in the world….
I`m starting to calm down…read Zbigniew Brezezinski`s new book `Second Chance`
” The saving grace for America may be that, unlike emperors, U.S. presidents, including catastrophic ones, are limited to eight years in office.”
Amen.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Holly, the image of Bush with his head in his hands asking “Where did I go wrong?” is just wishful thinking. He doesn’t think he has gone wrong. He has no conscience and he is a chronic sociopath beholden only to some mysterious heavenly father and to his corporate buddies.
I just read “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges. He goes a long way in explaining the take over of the country by the right wing conservatives who are duping simple minded, well meaning Christians into blindly following Bush.
I wish Bush could cry and feel shame and remorse but he can’t. He never will. He is as scary as Ronald Reagan, who, according to his wife, “went right to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow”. At least Reagan wasn’t a religious nut.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
You may be right, Larry. Bush is more likely looking out the window saying “Where did THEY go wrong?” As in, blaming the American people for losing faith in him and his ill-fated policies (though “policies” connotes some forethought, and we can’t give that kind of credit to this miserable president).
I have read “American Fascists,” blogged about it several months back. It’s really excellent, but deeply sobering.
July 10th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Perhaps there is a ray of hope in Iraq. The U.S. envoy Ryan Crocker is comparing his role and that of Petraeus to Ellsworth Bunker and Creighton Abrams ( whose 1967 report to Congress started the the downfall of LBJ ).
Maybe some real honesty from our people in Baghdad will give courage to the spineless repubs to end this disaster. LBJ and Nixon were much smarter than W…but they were entangled in Vietnam for eleven years.
Guess Bush is gonna give a speech later this week. Can`t wait.
July 10th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Yes, there are mistakes aplenty, but it will be decades before we can fairly assess GWB as a president. Just reviewing the last 50 years, he has stiff competition for worst president label. LBJ with the Great Society and Vietnam escalation, Nixon’s paranoia, Carter’s Eeyore as President routine…
And saying that President Bush is worse than the greatest mass murderers in history is just pathetic. Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but Hitler, Stalin, and Mao each murdered tens of millions. spencert, you’ve lost all perspective.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I’m posting this comment for “Great Grandpa Bill,” who e-mailed mullentown to say he’s having trouble registering as a new user:
Excuse me, Holly, but I can’t visualize ‘W’ asking “Where did I go wrong?”You’re crediting him with having enough intellect to override his stubbornness/lack of intellect.
I’ve seen presidential elections since the 1930’s. As I recall, it had been sort of a gentlemen’s agreement that a second-term president would not seek re-election. After Franklin Roosevelt got a third term, and then a fourth
(!), the two-term limit was established.
What we need to do now is to find a way of keeping a dim bulb from getting into such a powerful position.
But, the real problem is not the individual, but the individual’s handlers. And that’s what makes me so pessimistic about our country’s future. I’ll not
be around for many more presidential elections, but what I’m seeing in the parade of elections is a change of faces at the top, while the support staff, advisers, consultants, lobbyists, etc. remain essentially the same.
Right now, (besides the dim bulbs) we have too many people in powerful positions who don’t give one good god-damn about our country. All their energy is devoted to keeping, and enlarging, their power to steer rewards to the people who got them appointed/elected in the first place. And the
rewards keep getting bigger. Where will this end?
How to change this? I’m pessimistic.
Great-grandpa Bill
July 10th, 2007 at 11:03 am
If President Bush is privately feeling sorry for himself it’s nothing a couple hours of bike riding can’t cure. In public, he just says that historians are still writing books about George Washington and that means it’s obviously too soon to draw any conclusions about the Bush administration’s success or failure. The resemblance to Alfred E. Neumann is uncanny. “What, me worry?”
July 10th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I’m w/Great Grandpa Bill and Larry. Bush doesn’t have the brains to Know he has NO brains.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
I am with Nic, Great Grandpa and Larry. Reesh. Can I vote for Al Gore again? Turn back the clock for Heaven’s sake.
:)
July 11th, 2007 at 11:59 am
msteele,
First of all, I didn’t even mention Mao and Stalin. Secondly, I’m not denying that the ones I did mention were not mass-murderers and perhaps the worst people to have ever lived. What I was saying is that at least they knew what they wanted and how to go about getting there. In other words, THEY HAD A GOD DAMN PLAN!!! I very much have a sense of perspective and it only gets sharper the longer this asshole is in office.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Oh sorry. I meant to say that they were mass-muderers.
S
July 11th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
The thought of W wondering about anything is totally foreign. He is, as they say, “other directed”. As long as his voices tell him he’s right, he’ll keep on doing what he’s been doing.