The public's love affair with the Bush administration is souring. Polls show
that voters are deeply worried about its handling of the economy, although they
still claim to like George W. Bush as a person. It makes sense, of course, since
who doesn't enjoy the company of a charming confidence man?
In the movie, a rakish George Clooney can play him, winking and smirking and
flirting as he hatches corporate scams, squanders his friends' money and rides
a friendly Supreme Court into the White House.
Americans are up against the reality that while the son of old vet Poppy might
make for an interesting dinner guest, telling family war stories and all, like
his father he lacks the seriousness of purpose required to manage daily life in
the real world. And should we really expect more from men who never had to take
out the garbage, let alone worry about paying the mortgage? Men for whom the making
of money was a game without real risk or purpose? Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing?
Heck, what's the big deal? When a big corporation goes under, those with connections
get tipped off long before Joe Shmoe and his pet portfolio. If a Bush loses liquidity,
friends will come running, checkbooks open, as they did for George W. to pay for
his string of failed Texas investments. Besides, the family trust fund is where
the "real" money is kept.
The Bushes are, as a matter of breeding, terminally irresponsible. And while
being a loose cannon can sometimes be useful in making war, it is stability and
pragmatism that breed prosperity.
The Bushes' contempt for government regulation of capitalism has allowed corporate
piracy to drive the nation toward financial ruin. The American public now stares
in disbelief as our infamous boom-Bush cycle wreaks havoc on its retirement plans
and endangers its jobs. Meanwhile, yet another President George seeks to distract
us with patriotic-sounding gibberish.
"I believe people have taken a step back and asked, 'What's important in life?'
" said the president two weeks ago in Minneapolis. "You know, the bottom line
and this corporate America stuff--is that important? Or is serving your neighbor,
loving your neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself?"
Consider the deep cynicism of that statement from a president who spent most
of his adult life milking that "corporate America stuff" for all it was worth,
just as his super-rich ancestors had always done.
Diffident in the face of the traumas of ordinary Americans, George W., like
his father before him, will make the times extraordinary. War against Iraq is
the president's much-planned-for answer if the oft-rumored "economic recovery"
doesn't sustain his popularity.
That's what all this talk of Al Qaeda sleeper cells, homeland security and
knocking off Saddam Hussein is about: a backdrop for the theater of war, a necessary
distraction to a set of domestic policies that has failed miserably. The massive
tax cut brought us nothing but soaring national debt, Alan Greenspan has been
revealed as an impotent Wizard of Oz and the Republican magic bullet of monetarism
has proved a bust.
But while the end of Hussein's tyranny would certainly be a cause for cheers,
the harsh truth is that the most exhaustive investigation in human history hasn't
found a single credible thread connecting him with our current troubles.
In fact, if we are honest, the closest we can come to an identifiable foreign
enemy is Saudi Arabia, where the Bushes love to do business and from whence the
men and money came to destroy the World Trade Center.
The president should heed the call of Richard Grasso, chairman of the New York
Stock Exchange, who said on Sunday, "We've got to wage a war against terrorism
in the boardroom, against misleading investors." But to wage that fight, Bush
would have to get rid of the corporate hustlers who dominate economic policy in
his administration.
So get out the yellow ribbons and cheer those fireworks over Baghdad.
After all, a victory party might take some of the sting off the fact that your
hard-earned retirement chest is nothing but a wistful memory.
Robert Scheer writes a syndicated column.
Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times
###
