Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiThe End of the Road for George W. Bush
The Gilbert and Sullivan charade of statesmanship played out by George W. Bush and his enabler, Condoleezza Rice, as they wander the Middle East is a fitting end to seven years of misrule. Despots stripped of power are transformed from monsters into buffoons. And this is the metamorphosis that is eating away at the Bush presidency.
Bush stood in Jerusalem, uncomfortable and palpably bored. He mouthed platitudes about a peace settlement that mocked the humanitarian crisis he aided and abetted in Gaza, the rapacious land grab by Israel in the West Bank and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The diminished George Bush, increasingly irrelevant at home and abroad, is fading into insignificance. A year from now one half expects to see him stand up at the next president's inauguration and screech "I'm melting! I'm melting!" as he sinks into a puddle of slime. He will return, I expect, to his ranch, where he will be able to spend the rest of his life doing the only task for which he has shown any aptitude-cutting down brush with a chain saw.
He may yet rise again to torment us with an attack on Iran, condemning more innocents to slaughter. He and his cigar-smoking soul mate Ehud Olmert would like to go out with one more flash of mayhem and violence. But even this will not ultimately save him. Bush will soon be reduced to the cipher he once was, left to spend the rest of his life trying to salvage a legacy of shame and deceit. In a just world he would be put on trial, if not by the International Criminal Court of Justice then by the U.S. Congress. He would be forced to face up to his lies and wars of aggression. But the moral rot that infects the nation has seeped into the bowels of the legislative as well as the executive branch.
World leaders, including those whom Bush desperately wants to intimidate, now dismiss him. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a few days ago that relations with the United States are of "no benefit to the Iranian nation. The day such relations are of benefit, I will be the first one to approve of that."
Bush will have flown from Israel to Palestine to Kuwait to Bahrain to the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia to Egypt in search of a legacy, one that he hopes will lift up his name in history. But, isolated and deluded, he has yet to grasp that he and the United States are reviled and detested for our violence, arrogance and greed. The bands played on the tarmac. He was toasted at state dinners. But even our allies, including Kuwait and Egypt, know Bush is a danger to himself and others.
He publicly displayed his inability to connect rhetoric with reality. He promised peace and cooperation, a new era, a Palestinian homeland. He promised solutions that will arise from negotiations that do not exist. Negotiations, in his eyes, are always about to begin. They were about to begin a year ago. They were about to begin with Annapolis. They are about to begin now. The messy issues between the Israelis and Palestinians that he and his administration have never attempted to address-the borders, the expanding Jewish settlements and outposts, the plight of Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem-will all be seamlessly solved ... one day. But the brutal reality of the Israeli occupation barrels forward. The Jewish settlements and outposts continue to be expanded. The crisis in Gaza, with the cuts in fuel and electricity, the deadly army incursions and airstrikes, has turned the world's largest walled prison into a swamp of human misery. And huge new settlements, like Har Homa, continue to rise up on Palestinian soil.
When Bush met with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah he blithely defended the patchwork of Israeli roadblocks that have turned the West Bank into a series of ringed Palestinian ghettos. The roadblocks, he told Abbas, are necessary for Israeli security. He announced that the 1949 Green Line, the borders established by the United Nations, would never be restored. There would be no discussion, he said, of the status of Jerusalem. And the plight of Palestinian refugees would be solved by setting up an international fund, meaning, of course, that none would ever return. In short, he offered an unequivocal endorsement of right-wing Israeli policy with not a murmur of dissent. And the Palestinians can either have it rammed down their throat or rot. Bush will be back, he has promised, in May to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state. Olmert, no doubt, will again be fulsome in his praise, which is probably what Bush's trip to the Middle East is, at its core, really about. Bush desperately wants someone to pretend with him that he is an agent for peace and statesmanship. Olmert, who knows the callow American leader will give him everything he desires, is happy to oblige.
But as Bush basks in the glow of his own fantasy, the suffering in Gaza, one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, along with the savage occupation of Iraq, continues to fuel widespread anger and rage. Bush has spent his time in office bolstering the Middle East's most despotic regimes, including that of Gen. Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. He approved a $20-billion arms package for these states. He has backed efforts to crush mainstream Islamic groups that have electoral legitimacy and popular support. He has stood by as these regimes have stifled democratic dissent, and he has, with Israeli encouragement, isolated governments, even friendly governments, in the Middle East that raised feeble protests. But his day is past. There is open revolt. Opinion polls show that two-thirds of Palestinians, and three-fourths of Israelis, do not believe Bush can affect events in the Palestinian territories.
The agenda of the Bush White House is exposed as irrelevant, myopic and counterproductive. Most Arab countries are in open defiance of Washington and are actively reaching out to Iran.
"As long as they [Iran] have no nuclear program ... why should we isolate Iran? Why punish Iran now?" Arab League Secretary-General Abu Moussa told The Washington Post.
The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, is in Iran for talks. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended December's Gulf Cooperation Council summit. The Iranian president attended the just-completed hajj in Mecca at the invitation of the Saudi monarch, King Abdullah. Tehran is exploring the resumption of diplomatic ties with Egypt, cut since the 1979 revolution, and has offered to cooperate with Cairo in the production of nuclear energy. And the Syrian and Lebanese governments have ignored Washington's warnings to sever ties with Hezbollah and Hamas.
It is the end of the road for George Bush. The world takes less and less notice of him. He strutted and swaggered across the stage. He bellowed and raged. He plundered and murdered. And now he wants to be anointed as a peacemaker. His presidency, like his life, has been a tragic waste. But he at least he has a life. There are tens of thousands of mute graves in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan that stand as stark testaments to his true legacy. If he wants to redeem his time in office he should kneel before one and ask for forgiveness.
Chris Hedges, who graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, is the author of "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America."
©2008 TruthDig.com
187 Comments so far
Show AllI went back and read this article again today. In light of the international stories from Euroasia & the Middle East making headlines, the article hits home again. After this morning's re read
I have to share that as irritating as these positions are by #43 they still don't "hold a candle to facilitation of the behaviors before, during & after the Sept.11th Sorty on the home land. It would be nice for gen.X & gen.Y folks to get history right, early on. The real actions of this administration are yet to be understood or brought to full light. Insuring that History gets it right as soon as possible must be a priority if we are to learn.
It's not just Bush but years of corruption and deception stemming from Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. The present Bushite is just airing the climax of how our press has deluded the American public by refusing to publish the full accounts of past Presidents not to mention keeping the truth about the slaughter of Iraqis and American troops. We live enclosed and ignorant of what is really going on until the damage has already been made. As for Bush, there are still right-wing talk show nuts braggin about him now that the primaries are in focus. We haven't seen the last of this crime family and don't be surprised if Jeb Bush shows up running for Pres. in the future. Ugh. Barf Out.
Meanwhile, the rain forests are being cut down at an accelerating rate. Not only has Bush wrought death and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, and countenanced the same in Palestine, he has failed utterly to provide any leadership in the overarching global environmental crises that will make terrorism, and even these examples of mindless military carnage and ruthless domination pale by comparison. Problem is, everyone goes down with the destruction of the global ecosphere. We've known better for at least three decades. We're fools led by idiots. I personally hope that the five supreme court justices who appointed Bush president rather than let the comprehensive Florida recount establish that Gore won the '00 election find themselves in the lowest circle of Dante's Spa for Offenders against the Global Common Weal.
The Brainpower,passion, hope and hopelessness, cynicism and optimism that make up the majority of these comments is superior to anything comparable I've yet to come across on the INTERNET....I have absolutely no trust that this "administration" will "traditionally" "relinquish" their power come January 2009.The last three national elections were all questionable. I have heard a journalist ask over C-Span if it is true that this administration is hard at work making sure the next president will be "unable" to ...be stripped of the power to....bring the military out of Iraq incrementally ...short of having achieved the type of result candidate McCain is running on, i.e., total (control) and victory in Iraq even if it takes a 100 years. The national psyche, much less the MILITARY will not tolerate another Vietnam. I don't trust the Clintons approach or her prewar judgement. That leaves Obama. I remember what happened to JFK when he challenged the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex. We are rapidly evolving from a partially Fascist federal government aka General Walker,etc circa l962, into an increasingly total Fascist state one reflecting current overreaching executive control. See Schwartzenegger and Juliani on either side of McCain, another delusional candidate! Checkout the writings of If allowed , a Dem may win but next to nothing will change at all. We are on a runaway trajectory to world dominance nowhere presicent enough to realize that such goals may bespeak the ultimate destruction of the entire planet. The saving grace of all this is that the picture I paint is too dark and reason will return as nationalism morphs into international cooperation and world survival. But the price of this state of ideal affairs may only come about first as a result of a intentional or unintentional nuclear holocaust.
My only consolation is that W is eventually have to answer to the most high for all of his sins on earth. It is laughable that he even considers himself a man of God. If he gets charged in the US for ANY of his crimes I might again have faith in this so called "democracy".
Ron Paul in '08!!! And let's get the US Capitol moved to Brattleboro!
We most definitely need to pray to God for his wisdom and his help.
Isreal has never been satisfied with SHARING their holiest city of Jerusalem with anyone.
They are the troublemakers as far as I can see and History will prove the case. They have started wars and placed blame elsewhere. And their angry aggressive behavior will not allow for peace in the region.
If they maintain that they are the "Chosen People" I wonder how God is evaluating the Isreali's brutal action against their neighbors. If they truly love their God and their bible........God is love, bortherly love. How do they justify their actions to their God?
Their lobbying of our country (USA) has corrupted our system of government. It pays for appeasing their aggression and with demands that should not be honored by our government. They, along with the Zionists in this country weigh heavily on all of our decisions with the rest of the world.
And why are we giving them BILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS EVERY YEAR????? FOR WHAT??????
WE COULD USE RON PAUL AS PRESIDENT to clean this country up and put back on the path of the Constitution.
And not to take the "Road to Peace" lightly, the genocide and pattern of behavior with the people in Palestine is dire. Isreal could help so much by helping these people with jobs and freedom to worship ..........take down the walls. Offer them freedom and aid and the Road to Peace could truly be had.
About Bush in Jerusalem, citizens of the USA would do well to listen to the song by Tom Waits, the lyrics of which follow.
[from Tom Waits' CD, Orphans (2006)]
The Road To Peace
Young Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay) was only 18 years old,
He was the youngest of nine children, never spent a night away from home.
And his mother held his photograph, opening the New York Times
To see the killing has intensified along the road to peace
There was a tall, thin boy with a whispy moustache disguised as an orthodox Jew
On a crowded bus in Jerusalem, some had survived World War Two
And the thunderous explosion blew out windows 200 yards away
With more retribution and seventeen dead along the road to peace
Now at King George Ave and Jaffa Road passengers boarded bus 14a
In the aisle next to the driver Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay)
And the last thing that he said on earth is "God is great and God is good"
And he blew them all to kingdom come upon the road to peace
Now in response to this another kiss of death was visited upon
Yasser Taha, Israel says is an Hamas senior militant
And Israel sent four choppers in, flames engulfed, tears wide open
And it killed his wife and his three year old child leaving only blackened skeletons
It's found his toddlers bottle and a pair of small shoes and they waved them in front of the cameras
But Israel says they did not know that his wife and child were in the car
There are roadblocks everywhere and only suffering on TV
Neither side will ever give up their smallest right along the road to peace
Israel launched it's latest campaign against Hamas on Tuesday
Two days later Hamas shot back and killed five Israeli soldiers
So thousands dead and wounded on both sides most of them middle eastern civilians
They fill the children full of hate to fight an old man's war and die upon the road to peace
"And this is our land we will fight with all our force" say the Palastinians and the Jews
Each side will cut off the hand of anyone who tries to stop the resistance
If the right eye offends thee then you must pluck it out
And Mahmoud Abbas said Sharon had been lost out along the road to peace
Once Kissinger said "we have no friends, America only has interests"
Now our president wants to be seen as a hero and he's hungry for re-election
But Bush is reluctant to risk his future in the fear of his political failures
So he plays chess at his desk and poses for the press 10,000 miles from the road to peace
In the video that they found at the home of Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay)
He held a Kalashnikov rifle and he spoke with a voice like a boy
He was an excellent student, he studied so hard, it was as if he had a future
He told his mother that he had a test that day out along the road to peace
The fundamentalist killing on both sides is standing in the path of peace
But tell me why are we arming the Israeli army with guns and tanks and bullets?
And if God is great and God is good why can't he change the hearts of men?
Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
Maybe God himself is lost and needs help
He's out upon the road to peace
Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
And he's lost upon the road to peace
And he's lost upon the road to peace
Out upon the road to peace.
Snowbird refers to those who oppose war as 'you people', he turns them into the other, this is the most common response of the white male master discourse when confronted with its inherent insanity. As soon as we, common humanity begin to realize our common destiny on this planet and begin to act in the interest of our planet and our fellow men and women we might get to end war. War is caused by those who profit from it and as long as war is profitable it will continue. GW Bush was supported into power by the military industrial complex in the USA, and all those unelected agencies such as the CIA. As soon as he came into office they went in search of enemies.
The people of the USA need to retake democracy away from those who have subverted it, and they need to dismantle those festering cold war institutions and industries that thrive on war. One is surprised that the people of the US even gave this man a second term in office. His global impact has been so negative that I would want to suggest that if the USA assumes that it can be the global bully we the people who are not citizens of the USA should be allowed to participate in your elections given that the outcome of such elections impact on us.
And who may I ask are you people going to "blame" for all the other wars in the past,present and future? Name one war through the history of time itself that one human being has been able to prevent or stop? I lived through the war in vietnam where we lost over 50 thousand soldiers and my dad was in world war two. No wonder this country is in such turmoil..we lost all the humans that could call themselves "men" in war.Its not just the deaths in Iraq but all the deaths in all wars combined.Many of these men volunteered because they felt a sense of duty.These days people only feel a duty to themselves..thats why we are burdened with crime.In the meantime somebody figure out a way to stop war,and when you do,call me.
I don't expect many readers since I'm buried 179 comments "downstream", but can we consider the possibility that Bush was not a failure at all? That he may have reached the "end of the road" but it was a successful journey? That he did exactly what was expected of him?
His accomplishments are many. I cannot list them all: He reinforced once and for all among the American people that Liberalism and Government are useless to protect them. He can take a hit for Katrina among our circle of friends but it is Government that he "proved" didn't work. He demonstrated that militarism is the only way for America to regain its standing in the world and encouraged its gargantuan growth. He cleared the path for privitization and corporatism. He instilled in a genration that since government can't spend taxes properly (not true) the payment of taxes should be resisted as a matter of persoanl freedom. He tore down the wall between church and state. He frayed the social safety net nearly beyond repair. It will take years or decades to fix it and if McCain is President this damage will be irreperable.
So it depends on who is looking at it but to the key 1% - his base - the Bush years have been a resounding success. Wait! You say the economy collapsed under Bush's watch? That was no failure either. They love it. Read Naomi Klein to learn why.
I think that hemp4victory made a good point on January 14th above when he stated:
"If one were to actually understand the real lessons from Orwell's 1984, it's that you can't just get rid of a leader and replace him/her with a better one overnight. 99+ % of the time, it's the system that needs complete reform.When the Progressives, Liberals, and Civil Libertarians get that through their skulls will there be any true hope of real justice."
It possible that we are becoming too confidant that the Bush/Cheney administration will give up their power and allow orderly succession to a rival. This concern is due to the complete disrespect of our values and traditions that has been consistently demonstrated by the actions and deeds of these villains.
Additionally, the President has signed a Presidential Order, giving himself complete authority over Congress and the Court in the event of an undefined but what he can declare a "National Emergency. This is referred to" Executive Order 12919.
Knowing the sinister agenda of a President who has dragged this nation into a war for political benefit, that being reelected, purposely under manning the illegal invasion , as well as insuring any possible good conclusion for the benefit of corporate donors to milk our resources to near bankruptcy. This all this unpaid for but borrowed to burden future generation.
The above mentioned Executive Order gives me great concern that these guys are not about to render the power of the Office of the President to the people, who are bound to investigate the hideous crimes of this Administration.
While I truly hope for the best, these people have demonstrated to be so outrageously untrustworthy, disrespectful, as well completely inebriated by power that I'm deeply concerned. Of course, what can we do about it?
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
A. Lincoln 1809-1865
The Clinton's speeches after Hillary's loss and Bill's blunders in So. Carolina, were classic Bush fantasy, which the American people (and some in the media) have now become expert at reading . . .
The only good reason to support Hillary over Barack Obama is so pundits can play that clip where Dorothy hits the Wicked Witch of the West with a bucket of water.
I think it is terrible what the Bush administration has turned America into. Unfortunately, he has not only broken International Law and violated the Constitution. He had the Republican congress pass through a bill, in which deep inside of the bill he PARDONS HIMSELF OF ANY WARCRIMES!!! He is a truly evil man. Hell can not come soon enough for people like this. Check out the CNN report. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bush+pardon
Also go to You Tube and type in Iraq For Sale. Watch the documentary. It explains who the war profiteers are. It is SICK!!!
I suppose the reason they called this one the Article of the Week was because this is the closest any column can come to "feeling good".
That Bush leaving office on schedule--IF he does--and being regarded as a 'buffoon with no legacy' is some sort of cause for celebration indicates just how far the United States of America has fallen.
And just look at the two anointed candidates who are being groomed to succeed Bush..Hillary "Closet Neo-con" Clinton and John "Mad Bomber" McCain.
Of course we have no idea whether the people are really choosing them...or Diebold. Americans are too lazy to put down the remote control and waddle off their couches long enough to demand clean elections. All the masses care about is sex, TV, and junk food.
News media? Thanks. Street prostitutes have more conscience than most of you; indeed, street prostitutes seem more intelligent and well-educated than most of you.
Christian preachers? Take a bow. You have completely turned the gospels of Christ upside down, rendering the bumper sticker phrase "What would Jesus do?" particularly bitter and ironic. You love money, bombs, and war.
Democrats? Oh, how can I thank you enough for taking the voter mandate of 2006 and throwing it into the fire? You have not done a single thing to rein in Bush in the past fourteen months except wring your hands and mutter that you're too "scared" to look "soft on terror" to the voters. Bush is about to make his State of the Nation address again--thank you, Nancy Pelosi, for helping make that possible.
I can honestly say now that I am ashamed to be an American citizen.
Quite a string...reflects the amazing depth of profound revulsion so many thousands, nay millions, feel about Bush, a man who was supposed to represent as our president the "better angels" of the collective American ethos and soul, and instead embodies the "revealed truth" of a morally bankrupt, insatiably greedy, monumentally arrogant and violent oligarchy spinning itself as a democratic government of, by and for the people...see RichM above for more eloquent detail.
This quote from Michael Rivero captures the fear and ignorance-driven zeitgeist of the past 7 years that allowed this asshole and his minions to elevate "smoke and mirrors" to the complex level of astronomy:
"Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks harm to one's life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all."
The question for us all as we approach another presidential election: Have we lost the ability to think? Are we so intellectually barren and morally rotten that we will accept a veiled continuation of Bush's putrid "legacy" in the form of another corporatocratic president, regardless of "party"? Allow ourselves to be conditioned once again into accepting the lesser of two evils as a valid choice?
Chris Hedges is a fine writer, and comes from a clearly spiritual pov blended with a lifetime of real world experience as a journalist. Will we read his words and heed their meaning? Will we recover our ability to think, as a nation, or remain captive to the insidious power of the 3 M's: media, marketing and mendacity?
I am skeptical, even cynical, but for the sake of my two young sons just entering their adult lives, I must be hopeful.
Dubbya's end will only satisfy me if it involves him swinging from a noose. It's an ugly thing to say, but the man epitomizes treason. You can't redeem or rehabilitate such immensely powerful and amoral criminals. Even locking him up for life wouldn't be enough for me. Impeachment? Ha! It's a slap on the wrist as far as I am concerned.
George the Miniscule was misquoted in Saudi Arabia as I am sure he had the self knowledge to say "They think I am a war criminal"
Extradite Israeli settlers to (sob! my birthplace!) BROOKLYN.
Brooklyn will straighten their asses out.
To all Brooklynites for Justice-We'll always have the memory of the Dodgers.
Hey Armybrat- you believe the polls and MSM, don'tcha?
Way to go Chris Hedges! Your essay was insightful and "on target." Keep your moral compass well honed for when the somnambulists finally awake, your body of work may really make a difference.
Jude Rene' Montarsi
re:lobo 72
You are correct. The deal was closed by the daughters and their trail of purpose shielded by the bogus story of the two of them being asked to leave neighboring Argentina for being "rowdy" in bars.
The purchase is fact! The bastard wants to control the water that will be in extreme shortage within the next decade. Look it up.
Curtsie!
Vote with your dollars, people. YOU have the POWER.
Expose and print out the companies on a website in posters in your neighbourhood, that support corrupt politicians, and companies that do not support fair trade. Afterall, what I have gathered from the discussion, is that the coporations pay campaign finance to the politicians.
Stop buying stuff advertised on the CRAP NEWS NETWORK. Right now the "gestalt" of your nation is being closely studied, and surveys are asking like what is Mr and Mrs Average Americas woes and concerns. These are carried out by media houses. They watch where every dollar is spent and on what.
If the survey/opnion polls show a level of optimism then the adverts to the masses is going to be of the "great American dream" type, and how buying the environmentally freindly gas guzzler is going to save the world, hence fuelling even more spending.
Your dollar is what you will eventually vote with,
therefore make every cent of it count.
The Hague for Bush and his minion of war criminals and torturers.
There no presidential pardon on the international scale.
I haven't seen anything on Commondreams regarding Bush's comment yesterday in Saudi Arabia when he said, "They think I am a war monger." Has he been that insulated that he didn't already know?
..so much damage has been done to the US and the rest of the world by a man without clue with people surrounding him that do.
Israel has been targeted by at least 65 UN resolutions and the Palestinians have been targeted by none. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
Thanks anney,
I didn't know about that problem. I use an Apple with Safri/Unix and everything works perfect almost all the time. Sorry about that. Must be a microsoft explorer thing? I heard people griping about long Url's but I didn't understand what the problem was until you explained it to me.
Cheers,
pac
The Bush name will live on where he knows it counts.
1. At Yale not in the classroom but in the closet where skull and bones played out.
2. Bush league has now meaning, nearly worthless.
3. Dubya nearly got past the eight years without being tagged with his grandfather, but many in Israel the older who remember being robbed by Hitler, know that their money was in the hands of Hitler who inturn invested that money in US by Prescott Bush, the granddaddy .
Didn't I read somewhere that Bush bought a huge chunk of property in Paraguay (with extensive water rights) and plans to retire (escape?) there in fortress style like a cocaine kingpin? Paraguay, as I understand, is the only country in the Western Hemisphere besides Cuba that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S....
The problem of democracy is that, once subverted, it becomes its own worst anathema. A rubber-stamp of faux approval for subsequent outrage of all sorts.
Try Article IV of the Constitution. Then understand what a democracy and the Republic are. No wonder nothing is working in the Nation when the masses don't even know what kind of Nation was created in 1787.
Look up Federalist Paper #10 by President Madison, democracy is of despots - tyranny - leading to destruction
Old saying, if you are part of the democracy - you are the problem - tyranny - despots - remember Hillary/Obama are just the same in democracy with Bush.
Bush will never stand trial for anything. Impeachment, we have been repeatedly told, is "off the table". After he leaves office (assuming he does, I have dark suspicians about that), we'll all be told that it's ancient history, no longer relevant, etc and the public (who aren't stupid as such but tend to be easily distracted) will let it go.
As for the international courts, the attitude of US administrations (of both parties) toward any international body which attempts to check US power has, for years, been one of sneering contempt.
I mentioned the hope of ALBA coming from Latin America in an earlier post above. Nobody paid any attention. Here I repeat. Be serious and pay attention to the sunrise (ALBA)engineered by Hugo, Fidel,Evo and Daniel. There is hope and humanity there. I am willing to help you understand.
What many do not realize is that this imbecile rodent is proud of his presidency. He and his cabal accomplished EXACTLY what they sought out to do. Disembowel the democracy of this once great nation and enrich their supporters. For just one example: Once the full effects of global warming are realized and undenialble, chaos and anarchy will consume most of what is left of the poor and middle class. Are you prepared to die for those cans of pork and beans you've been hoarding? Meanwhile this criminal bastard and his cronies will be insulated to the max from the ravages of what they have unleashed.
Dollars, my friends, dollars. They now have the dollars and the firepower that buys to save their miserable hides from the fury of the masses and the justified resolution that was so graphically depicted in the conclussion of the film "Spartacus".
Remember the remarks of the Mother Bastard Barbara Bush; that the people of New Orleans were "so impoverished anyway" that sleeping on a cot in the Astrodome was "working out quite well for them"?
Anyone believe for one second that these people care about a world of "impoverished masses" soon to be?
Never mistake the fact that a Demon such as Dubya never falls far from its infected, fetid womb.
Curtsie!
Sorry for that first sentence -- the page extends beyond the right screen, not the left.
pacplyer
I know it wasn't intentional, but your EXTREMELY long URL causes the entire page on my browser to extend far beyond the left screen, and the only way to read the article is by moving the horizontal scroll bar for every single line. So I haven't read it.
http://tinyurl.com/ is one way to shorten a long one if you don't use a shorter created link name.
As I say, I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it sure is annoying when you can't read an article because it extends off the visible screen.
Rich M -- "Until December 12, 2000, many of us were under the impression that we lived in a "democracy" that tried to be a "force for good" on the world stage."
Unfortunately many of us knew only too well this was not true. The history of U.S. Imperialism creeps back to a hundred years ... we were never a 'force of good' in the world stage as much as it makes us feel good to think we were.
Of course this point has been argued to no end on CD but hey ...
claudius, last I heard was that GW's library would be at Southern Methodist University - not that that was a popular place for it, but a lot of university trustees there are BIG contributors to the Repugnant party and der Bush. Not only were they talking about being the site for GW's library, but also a conservative think tank would be located there as part of the complex.
If it has indeed been moved elsewhere, I would not be at all distressed.
edit?
We can remember the madman (Reverand Jim Jones) who convinced his flock, that they must all die to be saved. And over 900, __ men, wemon and children died by taking poison. Jimmy then shot himself in the head. He preached Armageddon, it was God's will.
We now have a madman running the country, he has the power to initiate a nuclear war and bring on the Armageddon. After all, he has a coffee break with God every morning and they sit and discuss the current affairs. He's not as stupid as some say, __ he's gonna save us, one way or another.
I was watching Bush on LinkTV the other night and the announcer was explaining to the audience how Bush was traveling there for spiritual reasons; as in part of a personal spiritual journey due to his being what is referred to in the US as being a 'born again Christian'. It gave me the willies, just hearing that.
Considering the evangelical perception of his being 'that' person to lead us into the end times, I feel we all need to understand their direction and what the bible says about false prophets before the elections and really understand what is going on here. Also, does anyone know about the Georgia Guidestones?
I can't see how anyone can believe that this fascist regime has any intention of handing POWER to anyone else.
For instance: In 2004 the people said -we don't want Bush or Leiberman
the regime said- to bad
:Now in NH the people said-we want Ron Paul
the regime said- to bad
How long?
"The fact that most Americans don't care about the direction our country is going proves that you are a very small minority."
Armybrat: I hope more than a small minority of Americans care about the [wrong] direction our country is going in. But because there is so little outrage at what this Administration has done and continues to do in violation of our constitution and international law , then you may be right. Most Americans appear either to (1) be too content with their still comfortable lives of ostentatious consumption to be overly worried about such mundane things, or (2)actually believe that we have the right to treat the world as our private reserve to be used as needed to ensure our own prosperity and comfort. Neither is something we should be proud of. Also, to paraphrase what others have said, just because only a small minority believes something doesn't make it less true.
On his tombstone: "He always acted to the utmost limits of his abilities"
Paraguay
Paraguay does have an extradition treaty with the U.S., but its government is infinitely corrupt so that in the case of George Bush there is effectively no treaty. Northern Paraguay contains a part of the huge Guarani Aquifer, one of the largest fresh water supplies in the world used by five countries. This water is why a small U.S. base is located in Northern Paraguay. If the story about the 100,000 acre land purchase there is true, then my guess is that Bush dis not buy it as a place of refuge from the law - there is no such place - but as a refuge from nuclear war. South America is by far the best place to sit out a global holocaust.
Impeachment, Punishment
Given the extreme ignorance of the U.S. citizenry, impeachment and trial or some other criminal proceeding against Bush is needed for the political education of one of the most foolish electorates in history. People who supported Bush must me made to understand how they were deceived and how they were emotionally manipulate. Impeachment is story that cannot be ignored by the media nor spun into innocence in any fashion. That's why it's essential. It's also absolutely essential for a second reason, namely, in order to redeem the American people in the eyes of the world. A criminal trial by the ICC or some other entity after Bush leaves office would be the second best outcome, after impeachment. An ICC trial would condemn the U.S. population as guilty along with BUsh rather than redeem them, but it's still necessary.
In general I am opposed to capital punishment, but in this case I would hope that any criminal trial is held in the U.S., because if he's convicted in the U.S. of the crimes he's guilty of, then he'll be executed. The important thing is a widely publicized and protracted trial for the benefit of the people's awareness and education. After that he could be tortured, boiled in oil or parachuted from a plane over Iraq. The hell with him.
To all previous posters: RichM, Kem Patrick, Rebel Farmer, etc. and the author, kudos.
See Bush as a malignant cancer, even if excised the remnants won't be completely removed. If the American body politic is to be saved we need to remove all of the cancer not the most obvious tumor.
To all previous posters: RichM, Kem Patrick, Rebel Farmer, etc. kudos.
See Bush as a malignant cancer, even if excised the remnants won't be completely removed. If the American body politic is to be saved we need to remove all of the cancer not the most obvious tumor.
rich m, rebel farmer, kem patrick
the reality so well spoken.
how to enrage the masses to stop em now?
this is so fricken necessary folks.now!!!now!! now!
As was said earlier, Bush has simply removed the illusion of our Democracy and role as a benevolent super power.
Was this accidental, or by design?. My guess is it's by design. As FDR once said, There are no accidents in politics, if something happens, it was planned that way.
So who benefits by the destruction of the American brand? Obviously, those who seek to discredit Democracy and America, at home and abroad. This creates a big void needing to be filled, and the world is fearful. They no longer have a benevolent global policemen, instead their policeman looks more like Blackwater thug, and is seen as more of a threat to world peace than any other country or terrorist group.
But America controls the oil, food, and the currency needed to purchase the oil, and they spend more on our military than all countries of the world combined. Everything needed to control the world. A scary hydra headed beast they wail. Nothing can stop it.
How to bring down America they ask? And even if we could what is the alternative to make sure something worse will not take it's place? Our leaders will then say, "One World Global Socialism" my dears, as Marx envisioned. America has proven that nationalism and democracy will lead to global enslavement or destruction, and their form of capitalism seems about to implode, the dollar is collapsing, and the derivatives are the financial weapon of mass destruction that will destroy their economy.
This leads to the question, which will presumably be asked after our economy collapses at free fall like the 3 WTC buildings on 9/11. Now that the worlds economy is ruined, what economic model shall we follow, and who should run it? Our leaders will say, well, it certainly will not be the US model. How about our UN/IMF Global Government issuing the carbon dollar (x dollars entitles you to pay for X carbon units) and in return, the worlds nations pay a carbon tax.
But who will be our world policeman?. Well, America has a big military machine, but they are broke and financially ruined, so we can hire their military to work for the Global Government, paid for with your carbon tax.
But there is still one remaining problem the world says. Some of the larger countries like China and Russia may not want to go along with giving up their sovereignty. And we also have too many critters, so say the neo-malthusians. Well, this could mean a war may be needed we are told, but our victory is assured.
After the war, those who are left will build the New World Order.
Unsaid is that if no war is needed, we have the GM seeds of destruction, engineered viruses and the like that can cull the herd.
Might be their plan. Who knows.
Couple of links on Bush and Paraguay property, maybe he plans to be President of the New South American Union after we dump Chavez.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cp10202006.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1928928,00.html
And the mute graves in Texas too.
armybrat January 14th, 2008 6:54 pm
"...whining complainers looking at the world - and our own country - from a very radical perspective."
"The fact that most Americans don't care about the direction our country is going proves that you are a very small minority."
Only a small minority of people once believed the earth wasn't flat. I guess that proves it was. That small minority was pretty radical, huh armybrat. Thanks for the compliment.
"To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men" ~~Abraham Lincoln~~
On PBS... Tuesday night on Frontline
Cheney's Law
"For three decades Vice President Dick Cheney conducted a secretive, behind-closed-doors campaign to give the president virtually unlimited wartime power. Finally, in the aftermath of 9/11, the Justice Department and the White House made a number of controversial legal decisions. Orchestrated by Cheney and his lawyer David Addington, the department interpreted executive power in an expansive and extraordinary way, granting President George W. Bush the power to detain, interrogate, torture, wiretap and spy -- without congressional approval or judicial review"
...................
Galen
I like your prediction better than mine :) but sadly, I just don't see that in Americans... I'll hope that you are right and I am wrong though.
"...as he sinks into a puddle of slime. He will return, I expect, to his ranch, where he will be able to spend the rest of his life doing the only task for which he has shown any aptitude-cutting down brush with a chain saw."
Ah...so beautifully put!
Here's Bush's greatest 2 legacies:
1. He created instability in the Middle East, which drove oil prices through the roof and by raising the costs, enervated conservation in the U.S. Drive that Hummer if you can afford it, most Americans will now live with compact fluorescents lights and hybrids.
2. He gave Bin Laden one of the things he most wanted: pulled US troops out of Saudi Arabia (and proudly announced it with his big package "Mission Accomplished" on the aircraft carrier). Only Reagan similarly gave into terrorists by pulling out of Lebanon when 200 (mostly) Marines were killed in a terrorist bombing. More importantly, he spent so much and incurred so much debt, the end of the American empire is coming soon--and that's the terrorists' ultimate goal.
Remember, government policies almost always have the exact opposite effect of their stated goals--its those unintended consequences that are Bush's greatest legacies.
Poet January 14th, 2008 5:07 pm
Okay somebody, anybody give me some link where I can verify this "Bush has property in Paraguay" story or is this just an urban legend?
I know it's a little late and you may not be back, but I googled this for you. There is huge amount of stuff out there in the ether on this. There doesn't seem to be a concensus about this "rumor". A pretty good discussion is over at DKOS from April 2007. Here is the link:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/28/2544/07385
It's a lot of comments to read through, but there sure is a lot of good info.
Bush said he don't have property in South America. Would he lie to us??? Naaa. Therefore, Albelito, you're probalbly right. "North to Alaka". How about another NASA moon mission?
Forget Georgio moving to Paraguay. These guys have their sights on the North Pole, and the Northen Passage, and the future prospects for the next oil bonanza....once they finish melting all the ice.
We Americans bear the most of the blame for allowing this administration to remain in power. I will be more precise: the wealthy Americans who oppose Bush could have pooled their resources and become a counterweight to the MSM. As far as I know, they did not unite to battle the well-organized fascists who have been trying to overthrow our nation since its inception. Jefferson warned of this. He warned us of the dangers posed by corporations. The Skull and Bones Society, The Bohemian Club, The CIA, all have used people in positions of power and wealth to slowly destroy America. They have almost succeeded.
I fear that Bush may create a Causus Belli and attack Iran and then declare marshal law and stop the elections. My one last hope is in the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are apparently sick of this non–leader and will not support any invasion of Iran. Only the military can save us at this point. And yes, the second amendment, if it comes to that.
Colleen: We are not headed for a recession. Or stagflation. We are headed for the ecologically driven end of the empire. Read Richard Hienberg's excellent books 'The Party's Over' and 'Powerdown' as well as J.H. Kunsler's 'Long Emergency'.
We are running out of consumable resources. Oil. Coal. Uranium. You name it. Fresh drinkable water is starting to become a scarce resource. Arable cropland is under increasing threat from overfarming and agribusiness. Urban overcrowding is becoming rampant. The ocean's of the world are becoming plastic garbage choked chemical cesspools that have been overfished to the point of collapse. Global warming is accepted as FACT by the vast majority of responsible scientists and biologists, and the evidence for it is piling up (literaly!) daily.
We have no pie in the sky sci-fi fanasty escape via Faster Than Light spaceships. Hell, we can't even get to the moon anymore!
So what do we do?
Learn to garden, live close the the ground, and get along with our neighbors as we will need them as much as they will need us.
As others have pointed out, Bush is a mere scapegoat for the "left" (whatever that means any more) and the populists.
Fact of the matter is that Bush may be out in a year, but the system, his "base", the MSM, his
enablers, etc. which put him there -- WILL STILL BE THERE. And what are the odds of a Democratic White House,
and Congress, actually going after any of these guys? They'll still be untouchable, doing lots of "good work"
like Kissinger has since the Nixon era.
It's going to take much more than Bush's exit. We'll need a grand entrance of something genuinely new on the
scene -- but I'm still holding my breath why Bush Sr. was never tried for lying about being "out of the loop" on
Iran/Contra.
armybrat
Imo we are now in an economic war. And the US will lose its world dominance with the dollar. We will lose. Other nations are getting fed up with supporting the US dollar while politicians like Bush and many Americans also are so arrogant and ignorant. Americans are carrying huge amounts of debt..personal and also with the government and in the businesses.
The world is headed into a recession...maybe stagflation. I think most Americans are not prepared for that.
The reason that Bush and Cheney went into Iraq was for a cheap source of oil. They failed. The mortgage meltodown is the beginning of a very bad economic future imo. Americans are demoralized and not purchasing and 70% of the US economy is based upon consumer purchases.
(By the way Viet nam is an economic power house in SE asia now. The war held that nation back ..but Viet Nam is now making some good economic progress.)
Your kind of thinking is why the US will lose. Putting so much of our resources into a strong military while leaving millions without health insurance and placing children in poorly run schools will end America as a super power imo.
We will have too many people who are uneducated, with poor health and we will have too large a percentage of our population in jail. We will not be able to compete with nations that have well educated and healthy populations or have such enormous numbers of people ( China and India) that they can afford to give low wages and poor social services and still compete economically.
Europe will do better than the US..but you will not know that with the US media filtering information. But follow the euro and see how it does. The euro wil replace the dollar imo as the world currency.
The media will say that the healthcare of the baby boomers and their retirement is what will cause the economic problems. But the same percentages of retirees will be occuring in Europe and they will not have these economic problems. They prepared for the inevitable by setting up a health care system that worked and was economical.
.......................
Bush was called an "empty vessel"
Bush is not the source of the ideology that has been causing so much chaos. The source can be read on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal. The ideology is an exreme form of capitalism combined with bastardization of Darwin's survival of the fittest and applied to human beings. Cheney speaks for them in our government but after he leaves office they will still be attempting to affect US policies.
but we will see what happens
It is good news that DK will appear on television at the debate. But how much television time will NBC give him? How will his message be heard? Remember how the television camera rarely panned to show DK and Gravel, and instead focused on Hillary, Obama, and Edwards? There are many tricks the media can use to marginalize DK. Nonetheless, it is good news.
Last May on a trip back from Mexico, I stopped at a 7/11 in Hope Ark.. I asked the young black clerk and his girlfriend standing bye whether they were going to vote for Hillary. They both assured me that they would, they liked Bill and equally liked Hillary. The clerk put it this way, "What would you rather have a proud President who got a few blow jobs, or a President who was proud of blowing his job". It's this ignorance, arrogance, and pride put in play that has burried the Bush presidency.....and we've all understood and suffered through it, even teenage clerks at 7/11.
I grew up not too far from the Bohemian Grove. When I fueled airplanes out at the local airport, the entire airfield was covered with corporate jets. Among the crowd included several political (in)dignitaries including Kissinger, Baker, and Scowcroft. A friend of mine worked as a bartender at the Bohemian Grove and had to undergo an incredibly extensive background check. The "big" political discussions do not take place at Camp David. They take place at the Bohemian Grove.
Just a quick note...
Last week the various economic/Corporate/petrochem companies quietly announced that demand for petroleum and it's derivitives had exceeded the world supply, and would continue to do so as the said supply dwindles, exactly as M.King Hubbard predicted thirty years ago.
Now think about the last Middle Eastern hold out to American Imperial hegemony (Iran) and the events last week in the Straights of Hormuz...
Any bets on holding an election? Or a peaceful resolution to the soon to be manufactured war with Iran?
Didn't think so.
"I'm melting! I'm melting!" as he sinks into a puddle of slime..."
Maybe somebody will drop a house on him...
Maybe if John Edwards doesn't make the cut at the Democratic Convention, we can persuade him to go back and be a successful trial lawyer suing Bush and his buddies for a few trillion in malpractice damages to recover what they have cost us and our great grandchildren.
What a shame politicians can't really be held financially liable for their thefts and utter incompetence.
The last time the Israelis took advice from a flaming Bush they stumbled around in the desert for 40 years and finally found a home by committing genocide, rape and pillage.
Hooversay, we could save a lot of money by creating your Bush Library of Truth to contain only items related to truthful statements made by Bush and Cheney. Something the size of a phone booth would be plenty spacious.
I have an IDEA !!!! Lets start a non-profit organization to build, and furnish a "TRUTH FILLED" "BUSH LIBRARY" as close to the official one as possible. It should be called "THE LIBRARY OF TRUTH on the BUSH LEGACY" There should be found every evil act that can be documented, every rediculous and hypocritical statement, his ignorant "gaffs", pictures of the horrors of his war, his prisons, depictions of his tortures, a well documented history of his acts against the constitution, congress, the judiciary, and on and on infinitum !!! you get the idea !!!! This would help the citizens, and world visitors never forget what he did to our country and our world, there should be a wing for cheney too. This building could become very costly because there will be a lot to display in the exibits !!!! What do you think?
I hope his last mile on that road is the Green Mile.
~ARMYBRAT~. Talk about not konwing anything abour world politics or geopolitics. You sure are not well imformed or logical in your analysis, to compare the Vietnam War with the current occupation by the United States militay in Iraq.
The Iraqis don't have the same situation at all. __ Not even close.__ There was a North and a South Vietnam. Our troops were forbidden to cross that imaginary line. We weren't fighting the South Vienamese to any extent, we were fighting the North Vienamese and we were not in their part of that country to fight them.
We bombed the north, but that didn't stop them one little bit most of the time. Sure they fought us, and they won. Our troops never lost a single battle in Vietnam and that is irrevelant, The North Vietnamese won the war. Why don't other nations protest this Bush war you ask? __ Why bother, it is our unjust war, our stupidity and our cost, both financialy and in ruined lives.
You can bet the farm that the Russians and Chinese and most other nations are loving it. WE, the so called most powerful nation on Earth, is going broke, our mighty military is helpless to do anythig productive over there, our nation is falling apart at the seams, financially and morally, and we are soon going to fall on our asses if we don't get our asses out of the Mid-east and leave those people alone. It is not Vietnam brat, it's Iraq a far different situation.
****************BREAKING**************
Kucinich won the lawsuit!!! Judge ordered that Kucinich was to debate on NBC in Nevada tomorrow or debate would be canceled!!! WAHOOOOO...
RE Why would anyone want to be President after Bush? They have to spend the next four years cleaning up his mess.
But that's the story of his sorry life. He always leaves messes for someone else to clean up--or buy out--the results. He's never been allowed to reap the consequences of his actions. There's other people to do that, willingly or unwillingly. My greatest fear is the fear of a few of you fellow posters: What if the remaining days of his office is all it takes for Cheney et al to start another war and declare martial law in this country? I just sort of go into chronic shock over that thought!
BILL FROM SAGINAW: While much of history indeed repeats, there are also new tributaries constantly being formed which challenge the specifics of the repetitive pattern. With that being said, there's never been a time in history when the media has immersed itself so thoroughly in the lives of citizens. With the media answering to corporations who in turn have the money to force Washington to do its bidding, what forces have really had press time to countervail against Bush? I do NOT think he has any gifts whatsoever, other than being the puppet placed into this particular time and historical juncture when everything was set up to favor a "unitary executive" and the co-optation of all branches of government to serve the money masters. Plausibly if he had either intelligence or a moral backbone, he would have screwed up what his puppet masters had intended for him and the nation he will always be the symbol of looting and taking down.
All of this bashing of the puppet dictator, very little questioning of the identity of the arm up the puppet's ass -- no wonder we're having these troubles today.
To reform this nation, to restore liberty and justice, we must repeal the Federal Reserve Act and rework the 14th Amendment so that it applies solely to individual human beings. While many other things need to be done, lacking those two we're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
It is so unfortunate that in the land of DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM and OPPORTUNITY no one could stop this monster from spreading such death and misery throughout the globe!
American people MUST wake up, the world cannot be making excuses for your inaction and tolerance for evil!
Where is your passion for Democracy and Justice?
armybrat (6:54) - Come out into the light so we may see you better.
You show respect for the Vietnamese resistance to the US invaders. But you have no respect for the Iraqi resistance. You think Americans would fight against "foreigners bent on looting our country" (though they certainly don't fight against Wall Streeters & politicians bent on looting our country). You seem disgusted with "most Americans (who) don't care about the direction our country is going," yet you want to ridicule posters at CD for caring about the direction our country is going.
These positions are not mutually compatible. Please explain yourself.
armybrat January 14th, 2008 6:54 pm
"The fact that most Americans don't care about the direction our country is going proves that you are a very small minority."
Yes, armybrat you're right. The numbers who have opposed the genocidal might of our Aryan Empire, have always been a minority. Our FBCIA is dedicated to making sure it stays that way. If they were a fighter aircraft they would show thousands of "kills".
It seems fairly obvious you've never even glanced through Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. It also seems obvious that you have little of our collective history over the last 60 years let alone back to the 16th century here. Yes, we are a minority but you need us.
We're going to bring the hot dog buns to the barbeque. That's when our national HOT DOGS get roasted in the PIT. Seeya there.
Pieces of 8.
armybrat why aren't you out killing some dark skinned people. murder seems to be the game for the us army. the us is a shitty third world country now and deserves gwb and all the rest of'em. but espically armybrats that got no conscience. so, go usa chaos murder hate and racism is the real america that we are seeing now. go go go.
Bush could had never caused so much destruction in virtually all phases of his abusive presidecy--ranging from the environment to mimanaged civil defence to ill conceived wars-- without the aid of ignorant and apathetic voters and a defaulting congress for tolerating this. Wake up America or things will not change after the coming election.
"How many times are ordinarily insightful public intellectuals like Christopher Hedges going to underestimate this guy and the forces that lurk behind him?"
Good question, Bill from Saginaw.
The neo-cons have worked for 30+ years to get what they have now--unpresidented power consolidated in the executive branch; one appointment away from controlling the judicial branch; they have lost the majority in both houses of Congress, but they are strong enought to block any responsible action to reign in the executive.
Do you really think the neo-cons are going to roll over and simply give all this away for something as wimpy as "the will of the people"?
Of course George W. is "over." Two terms is the limit.
Sadly, what's not over is the empire that put him in power. 1) It's the most powerful the world has ever known 2) it has the upper hand 3) it will flail and become even more dangerous when it's power is threatened.
There is no movement in this country popular, strong or savvy enough to take on the empire. So tell me, who's going to stop them?
Doesn't matter who assumes the role of US president. All candidates have been sufficiently screened and no one with the intent or ability to pull back the reins of empire will be allowed to prevail. They'd be assassinated first. Our "front runners" are doing nothing more than escorting the American masses into the fold, where we belong.
"Bush will soon be reduced to the cipher he once was, left to spend the rest of his life trying to salvage a legacy of shame and deceit."
Unfortunately, cutting down brush with a chain saw is not the only task that George the Lesser has demonstrated an aptitude for during the last eight years.
He has also proven himself unusually skilled at scaring, blustering and finessing the opposition Democratic political party into abetting his crimes, and neutering itself internally as a potential agent for meaningful social change, all accomplished by following the best consultants' advice that money could buy inside the DC beltway.
He has diverted billions from the public treasury into the pockets of his rich friends and powerful corporate benefactors in broad daylight, leaving behind but a scant and wholly misleading audit trail.
He has promulgated policies causing mass murder, rape, pillage, and the torture of prisoners stacked nude and stained with shit in homoerotic tableaus, simultaneously preserving his status among evangelical supporters as a born again Christian and a man of God.
He has broadened his party's base for the future by drawing the active duty military into domestic partisan debate, foisting a hydra-headed paramilitary bureaucracy upon the citizenry (in the name of homeland security) that is beholden to him and his successors for its continued patronage, power, and privilege, which can only be justified by waging perpetual war.
And he achieved all this by maintaining his popular image in half the mainstream media as a strong, decisive and steadfast leader cut from the same cloth as Roosevelt and Churchill, while to his critics in the other media half he is a man who made mistakes he was just too proud or stubborn to admit, but whose heart (like that of Ronald Reagan) was basically in the right place.
Cutting brush was always a schtick, just like the Crawford ranch is largely a Potemkin prop.
Left to his own devices, unimpeached and unindicted, Little George will try to do yet again exactly what he has publicly declared that he intends to do: ride off into the metaphorical sunset, to hold up inside some new and shining edifice called the Freedom Center to be built (no doubt with a combination of public and private funds) somewhere in Texas, from which to further hold forth and incubate the next generation of right wing American neo-fascists that are sure to follow the trail he has blazed.
How many times are ordinarily insightful public intellectuals like Christopher Hedges going to underestimate this guy and the forces that lurk behind him?
Bill from Saginaw
I think the comments so far show a very shallow appreciation for global politics. Everyone seems to be blaming Bush and the neo-cons for the state of US affairs - but that is hardly fair, considering the few people actually involved in running this debacle and the 6 billion people in the rest of the world who have done absolutely nothing to change how their own nations react to such political manifestations.
Blame America First is dishonest - wake up, you guys - it takes a patsy to get fleeced. The rest of the world doesn't seem to think things are going all that badly, or they would be doing something about it. And they are NOT. So maybe all your doom and gloom and fingerpointing is just whining.
~FREDHB~ Is that all you have to offer? Go sit in a dark room and stare, or do somethng more useful.
PS - during the American-Vietnam War, the Vietnamese people fought back in a collective national attempt to free their country from foreign domination - we're not seeing any such thing happening in Iraq. Only a few thousand Iraqis are actively fighting the US occupation - if ALL the people thought it was so bad, they would follow the Vietnamese example and collectively fight the occupation, just as Americans would probably do if our country was invaded by foreigners bent on looting our country. Iraqis don't seem to mind living in a war-zone - maybe it just isn't that bad for them yet, just as the economy (and politics, of course) in the US is not bad enough for Americans to do anything about it. You're just a small bunch of whining complainers looking at the world - and our own country - from a very radical perspective. The fact that most Americans don't care about the direction our country is going proves that you are a very small minority.
This is one of the most powerful pieces I have ever read regarding the plight of Palestine, the aggression of Israel and my nation's compliance in this travesty. Kudos to Chris Hedges for his wondrous, exlosive article on this neglected subject. Every person running for presient should be asked serious questions about this issue. Pay great attention to their answers.
Heartily agree NAMOSES!