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TechnoratiBush's Farewell Tantrum
A story in The New York Times makes it clear White House officials are giving off-the-record interviews designed to dampen expectations regarding Iraq. These officials are saying that the administration will make no interim reports on the situation until September, and that in any event people shouldn't expect much in the way of military or political progress by then.This is a welcome dose of realism after months of optimistic statements from the Bush administration, claiming we would know by the end of the summer if the latest troop escalation was "working." As Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of the American military in Iraq has emphasized, the kind of counterinsurgency campaign his troops are now fighting takes years to "work" in any meaningful sense, assuming it ever does.
Of course the purpose of this ratcheting down of expectations is to try to forestall the political firestorm over Iraq that gets closer with every passing month. That effort is almost certainly doomed to fail: Six months from now things in Iraq are likely to look very much as they do now. Furthermore, the odds that any marked change will be for the worse are far higher than it will be for the better (in a context like Iraq, real progress takes years under the best of circumstances, while all-out chaos is always just around the corner).
The hard political reality is that anything like "success" in Iraq, even as that term is defined down to levels that would have seemed wildly pessimistic when President Bush gave his "Mission Accomplished" speech four years ago, will require several more years of all-out commitment. That commitment will cost, at a minimum, the lives of several thousand more of our troops, along with tens of thousands of serious injuries, and hundreds of billions more tax dollars.
And of course this immense sacrifice might very well fail to achieve even the relatively modest goals the White House is now pursuing (the word "victory" has become noticeably absent from the president's speeches).
Whatever one thought of the original decision to invade Iraq, the political question the nation now faces could not be clearer: Should we ask our troops to continue to fight this war, and our children to pay for it through future tax increases? (The option of paying for it ourselves would require some sacrifice on the part of the average voter, so it never seems to have been considered seriously).
The American people have already answered that question, and their answer is "No." The Republicans lost 30 Congressional seats in last fall's election, while the Democrats lost none, largely because the American people were voting against the war. Every opinion poll shows that, by large majorities, Americans support the efforts of Democrats to force President Bush to begin withdrawing our troops.
That pressure will only grow. As increasingly panicky Republicans are all too aware, this is still a democracy, which means America will begin to withdraw from Iraq no later than January of 2009, even if bringing this about requires an electoral rout of the Republican Party in November of next year.
In the end, President Bush's failure to heed the will of the people isn't so much an act of principle, but rather an outburst of sheer peevishness. With Democrats in control of Congress, he's no longer getting a blank check to fund his military adventures. He finds this frustrating, so he's stamping his foot, covering his ears, and taking his party down with him.
All this is exactly what one would expect in the way of a political farewell gesture from a spoiled rich kid who never grew up. Future generations of historians will note George W. Bush made a mess of every real job he ever had - and, unfortunately for America, the presidency of the United States proved to be no exception.
Paul Campos is a professor of law at the University of Colorado. He can be reached at paul.campos@colorado.edu.
© 2007 The Rocky Mountain News
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21 Comments so far
Show AllAn eqitable distribution of oil weath... who wants that, Chevaz in Venesula or Bush in lraq ?
Fool's tax - best political idea I've heard in, say, 20 years!!
So how do you square it with the secret ballot? Let's come up with a workable, legal proposal.
Problem is, with many foolish political ideas, it may take longer than that for the foolishness to be apparent. But I suppose that's still an improvement in that if we vote in politicians who do stuff that takes 20 to 50 years to prove stupid, that means we have 20 to 50 years to fix it.
Sorry, the textin the article I was responding to was left out of my post. Here it is for clarity:
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I see it a bit different, if not certainly more cynically. The reason that he will not wind down the conflict, that he seemingly thumbed his nose at the report last autumn could be this: He has committed truly impeachable offenses and he knows it, his top advisors know it and so do the vast majority of the American people. But no matter how much we might want him out, very few if any of us would really want to put our troops any further into harms way than they already are. So impeaching the commander and chief in the middle of a conflict?... I doubt, it mainly because no matter how misguided this war is, there is still enough overlap with the very real threat of terrorism aimed against Americans everywhere that Bush can wrap himself in that argument and stave off the threat of impeachment until the end of his term, when the topic becomes moot. Therefore consider this: he keeps the war going to save his own and his top aides skins. He knows that we, the American public, and for sure Democratic leadership, might yell and stomp our feet, but we won't go to the mat on this one. He might be dumb....but he's not stupid.
If valid, and I do mean if.... then the questions is this: What kind of strategy in such a situation might one need to employ to go ahead and get him out prior to the end of term and still fully support those who are doing their duty on our behalf in Iraq? Certainly a much smarter and more refined one than currently on display by our so-called political leadership.
This government under Bush has indeed done so much ill in our world and yet there still seems just enough real world justification to allow it to continue. The circumstances are frankly a bit incredible when one steps back to have a look.
Figuring out a good way to end this nightmare given the complexity of forces at play. That is our challenge as I see it.
I agree with those who say we cannot be too sure about what people will think of Bush in the future. It depends on who writes the mainstream story and whose interests they serve.
I thought Reagan was horrendous and now they name airports after him and talk of the golden age of Reaganism. With that as a point of reference, it seems possible Bush will be added to the Republican and corporate pantheon of American heroes.
And who knows, maybe in 50 years all the schools will be corporation-sponsored and it won't be surprising if Exxon-Mobil Elementary No. 1342 celebrates a Bush holiday every May 1 to commemorate "Mission Accomplished!"
Comanche: I am enjoying your posts. Fool's tax, yep. I figure at least past a current events/civics test, and minus 10 points if your "news" source is FOX or rightwing radio!
For what the Bush administration has done to this country, impeachment is not nearly punishment enough. Bush and Cheney should be arrested. How many soldiers have died over in Iraq? How many Iraqis have died? How much money have we spent? How much money have we lost? How many mercenaries have we empowered? How much credit have we lost with the international community? Why is the intellegence community spying us? How much control do we want the Government to hav? That we have these questions to answer, as well as many more, makes the case I feel for impeachment and indictment.
I apologize for continuing to use the metaphor of Bush and his cronies sending America headlong down the TOILET....
For goodness sake, I don't want give the impression of giving TOILETS a bad name....
George W Bush is an example of our political system, Corrupt, selfservering, and an instrument of the wealthy.
I don't believe he will ever feel any true remorse for the pain, suffering and death is policies have brought about.I give this as an example. When the press asked him why he would not speak with Cindy Sheehan, "I have to get on with my life" he replied.
And so he shall! What will history say? I believe it will say ,this was the most failed presidency in the history of this nation.
Who, coulda guessed?
So Bushco has cut off America's nose to spite his saving of face! Why do I feel no satisfaction from this? Because I have known this guy was a fraud since 09/11/01 and watched helplessly while not anything was done about him.
Watching the opposition party accept this guy's mantle of irresponsibility makes me feel like we will have 8 more years of this if we vote for either Republicans or Democrats. A plague on both their political houses.
Have to agree with provoice (above).
Since I move in circles with people who care about others, it is always a shocker to listen to those who could care less about anyone. Have been accused of having a "missionary mentality" for having a social conscience.
There remain roughly 30% of Americans who continue to support Bush and one wonders just who are those people. War profiteers? Religious fundamentalists? Remember when he stood in front of a fundraising dinner - some astronomically high figure per plate - and said, "Some call you the elite, I call you my base."
The lesson all Americans should take from the Bush presidency is: Make sure the person you elected to be the most powerful individual on the planet is capable and qualified. The people who are most to blame for this tragedy are the people who voted Republican----and not just for the president, but across the ticket. Mr. Bush is a multi-generational parasite. He is dull and unintelligent, and has been a failure at everything he has tried, including speaking the English language. If he ever had an original thought he would have to steal it from someone else, or have a crony buy it at reduced prices. He is a "Muppet" (I know that Kermit and the others will forgive me for the comparison) he could never have pulled this debacle off WITHOUT help from so many others who are just as corrupt and it now seems as incompetent. So what is the answer?
I have suggested this several times before and will elaborate.
This is a very simple proposal but one that would be effective in the future.
Pass an Amendment which could be titled (for sake of conversation) the "If the Voter is a Fool Amendment"
Whether a voter votes Republican or Democrat or any other future party and those elected officials are later revealed to be as corrupt and incompetent as the Bush administration--those voters should be required to pay an extra tax----let's say a "fools" tax for not digging deeper, for listening to the rhetoric, for watching too much television and not reading enough (like reading more Common Dreams) for voting your religion, for believing that "one candidate" will solve the voter's problems, for disregarding the simple rule of "look before you leap"-----"or tread softly", or "let caution rule over emotion".
If you bet on a loosing Horse at the tracks, you loose your money, and money is always a way to speak to people, in volumes----whether you are giving it away----or taking it away.
The Democrats are now able to throw stones at the Republicans---but they have just as corrupt a history as those they throw stones at.
Clean up the system----and Democracy will reign. If not, the rest of the world will not tolerate the US much longer.
God Bless America ---it really needs it.
Bush's administration has NOT been a complete failure... Daddy Bush's net worth from oil and weapons company investments has nearly doubled in six years... from $280 million to over $500 million and GUESS WHO INHERITS THE WEALTH!
What most people fail to consider is that the occupation actually has been a tremendous success. All the war profiteers bottom line profits are breaking records every quarter. This is exactly as planned, and there is no exit strategy and will be no exit strategy. You don't kill the goose laying the golden eggs. I only wish I'd bought a couple thousand shares of Halliburton five years ago ... NOT!
kent shaw
Bush was a FRAUD right from the getgo....
http://www.king-george.biz/
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/
Right on, Paul Campos! It's not only "future historians" who will note Bush's inadequacies and failures, there are several good biographies currently available that spell it out quite clearly. GWB is living proof that hereditary political power is, for the most part, disastrous. Not only has he destroyed the "Bush Dynasty," he may take down the Republican party as well.
How dare anyone question the wit and wisdom of Bu$hCo. No sense changing any
failed strategy now, although no one has yet to define just what the hell
the strategy was in the first place other than lets make lots and lots of
money for my friends. For more insight into the Bu$h-CheneyCo strategies I suggest
watching old episodes of Gilligan's Island. The NeoCons obviously did when they
put these clowns in the White House.
Bush has been consistent. He has bankrupted every company he has ever been involved with. So why should he suddenly be successful? He has been a failure at everything. But keep in mind with all his failures he personally financially profited from it. So he personally benefited from his failures as is the case of his presidency.
Poor Georgie. He thought the Presidency was going to be a walk in the park, a reward for his noble birth. He thought a nice little war would look good on his resume.
Machiavelli said "Many consider that a wise prince, when he has the opportunity, ought with craft to foster some animosity against himself, so that, having crushed it, his renown may rise higher."
How could things have gone so wrong? Now, the old guys, having learned that the draft creates too much resistance at home, have found another way to fail. Their "plan," being a continuation of the same, will amount to grinding the army down to the bone, draining America's life-blood, destroying her reputation on the world stage.
Dynasties rise and fall, but the peasants continue on (because they don't have too far to fall). Best of luck to you all, brothers and sisters!
I hope that Bush destroy's the republican party. It's true the uninformed who voted for this loser are as much to blame as the Bushies.The 30 odd percent that still believe his lies prove that you can fool part of the people all of the time.Bush/Cheney,Rummy,Condi,Richard,and Wofie all need to be tried as war criminals. That would show the world that you can't commit crimes in America and get away with them no matter who you are and that's how it should be
Kent Shaw and Provoice have the straight scoop. To smear salt in the wound I am sure President Bush will go down in our history books The American hero that served our country in 9/11 times with courage. The Texas board of education buys so many text books that the major publishers have to write a version that they approve and are in a bind as to write an edition that fits Texas Christian White American heroes only vision and sell it to all States or write two versions of the text-which choice do you think they make? In all honesty there are one or two who do write another version but it's usually not much different.