That was the weak that was

As bad a week as it arguably was for John Kerry's campaign, it was a worse week for the Bush administration. Kerry capped a week of less than nimble responses to the Bush attack machine with a line so bad that it went directly into a Bush ad. Then Kerry went off for a week's R&R, despite the unrelenting Bushwhacking. But it soon appeared this was a brilliant piece of strategy, as it left Bush all alone on the stage, self-destructing.

The Bush Medicare bill, which was supposed to be a brilliant political move to take away a campaign issue from the Democrats, has been a flop from the start, and now it's getting worse. Almost immediately after passage, the Bush administration admitted that it would actually cost a third more than they said it would. Now a veteran and respected non-political appointee says the Bush people threatened to fire him if he told members of Congress before the vote how much the bill would really cost. Now a Republican Member of Congress charges that the Bushies first tried to bribe him (with campaign support for his son's run to succeed him in Congress) and then they threatened him, in order to get his vote. All this (and more) will be investigated by various administrative and legislative officials, and could lead to criminal charges.

Politically, seniors never did buy that this was true prescription drug coverage or improved Medicare, and of course they're right. But these scandalous revelations are putting a lot of pressure on the major senior political organization, the AARP, which backed the bill. They must be feeling like the former Spanish government right about now.

There was no good economic news either. Gasoline prices continue to rise, but wages and employment don't. It turns out that the Bushies have even outsourced their campaign logo garb, to a country that Bush has forbidden the U.S. to trade with. Hmmmm. Kosovo is causing problems again, and thanks to the crisis precipitated by Bush policies, the first American soldier died in Haiti.

But the big theme for the week was the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, and the attempt to 1)link Iraq with the war on terror, 2) position Bush as the stalwart leader 3) position Kerry as weak on defense.

The problem with linking Iraq and the war on terror is that 1) some recalcitrant allies are linking them but not to Bush's advantage, and 2) at the moment neither is going very well.

The week started with the fall of the Spanish government that supported Bush, replaced by a government openly hostile and resentful of being implicated in Iraq. Following Spain's announcement that they plan to pull their troops out of Iraq, the prime minister of Poland (which is part of the Coalition of the Willing but Duped) complained his government had been misled about WMDs, and there was some noise from South Korea about pulling their troops. Another UN inspector, Hans Blix, says not only that there weren’t WMDs, but that terrorism is worse now because of the invasion of Iraq.

The only prospect for a war on terror success this week rests at the moment in the hands of Pakistani troops. After high profile arrests and charges, holding people for years without charges, and with other police and judicial power any dictator would envy, the Bush people have failed to convict terrorists, and quietly had to drop charges against a chaplain accused of espionage at Gitmo.

Things are not going to get any better very soon, as the 9-11 commission goes public, and several Clinton administration officials will testify that they warned the Bushies well before 9-11 that al Qeda was the number one threat to American security. Plus there's a new book coming out which should have some impact, The House of Saud, The House of Bush by Craig Unger, which details extensive relationships over the years, including more than a billion smackers flowing from Saud to Bush businesses, and the curious flights from America of suspicious Saudis immediately after 9-11, made possible (when no one else in the country was allowed to fly) by the Bushwhackers.

The week also saw several large explosions in Iraq, one of which was seen on split screen with VP Dick "Halliburton? Never Heard of Them" Cheney, talking up Bush success and trashing Kerry. Cheney's trashing was almost immediately countered by none other than Republican John McCain, who said that John Kerry is not weak on defense, don't be ridiculous. McCain carries a lot of weight with independents, so this attack at least appears to have been blunted.

George W. "Bunker Mentality" Bush ended the week with a speech recycled from pre-war, minus any embarrassing references to WMDs. Even TV reporters, to their credit, didn't let him get away with it completely.
Just listen to this rhetoric, though:

"There is no neutral ground - no neutral ground - in the fight between civilization and terror, because there is no neutral ground between good and evil, freedom and slavery and life and death," Mr. Bush said.
"The war on terror is not a figure of speech," Mr. Bush said. "It is an inescapable calling of our generation. The terrorists are offended not merely by our policies - they are offended by our existence as free nations. No concession will appease their hatred. No accommodation will satisfy their endless demands."

What can you say about it? It is absolutist, frightening, and insidiously brilliant. If you apply much of it narrowly to the most fanatical of the terrorists, it is even close to true. And that's why it is so pernicious, because Bush has shown by his deeds that it doesn't so apply. He means it much more broadly. In rhetoric and intent, it is fully as fanatical as anything a fundamentalist terrorist could say.

It's not the sentences that are important to Bush and his Hidden Persuaders, it's the words: concession, appease, accommodation. He's not wishy-washy, he's 100% for war. It's war, and nothing else. It isn't criminal behavior, that isn't really supported by communities or peoples or whole religions. It isn't criminal behavior and fanaticism in response to massive oppression, because if it were, something would have to be done about that oppression that we sponsor and cause. Or the physical conditions that we impose and allow. But no---that would be appeasement, concession, accommodation. Let us turn your country into a parking lot for Halliburton, or die. This is civilization. The rest is communism---sorry, I mean terrorism.

The Associated Press reported this week that "the United States has begun training and equipping armies in parts of Africa that U.S. officials see as an inviting refuge for terrorists as well as a long-term source of oil." Mali, Mauritania, and "Marines are preparing for missions in Niger and Chad."

That’s the agenda. It’s the oil stupid.

But remember that string of absolutes---part Jehovah, part Tarzan: me good, they evil. Since I, George W. "Crusader" Bush am good, anybody who opposes me is evil. Is an appeaser.

Is against civilization. Is against YOU. Might as well be a terrorist, cause there is no neutral ground--no neutral ground.

Plus, if you vote for me, George W. "Burning" Bush, it will make you part of the coalition of the Good. Me Good. Vote for Me. You Good. Vote for anybody else, you're Evil, you'll rot in hell, and when the Rapture comes, screw you. (Actually, we'll screw you a lot sooner than that.)

So the United States of Bush is Good. Everything about it is Good, everything they do is Good, right? Makes it all insultingly clear doesn't it?

Linking terrorism and Iraq is itself insidious, even apart from the failure to concentrate on protecting against terrorism that the Iraq adventure represents. The current rationalizations for war in Iraq (which come down to this: do you think we’re better off without Saddam or not?) debase what’s left of this country’s honor. America goes to war when it has to. America was told it had to go to war to defend itself against WMDs. Now we’re told that this didn’t really matter. That the fact that the U.S. didn’t allow the UN inspectors to finish looking for weapons and instead launched an invasion on either flimsy grounds or false pretenses, doesn’t matter. President Bush took this nation to war, and committed our grandchildren to paying for its consequences, without the informed consent of the American people and the U.S. Congress.

And they impeached Clinton for lying about oral sex.

I wonder when the press will get around to calling this a "scandal-riddled administration"?


The week ends with peace demonstrations in cities across North America and around the world. Not everyone believes that the test of leadership is making like the Old Testament Jehovah in the comfort of the Fortress White House, and sending young men and women from small towns and inner cities to go die, kill, maim and get maimed, some physically, and nearly all psychologically for life, so that Bush and his buddies can get even richer and more powerful.

This is not bravery. It is cowardice. This is not strength. It is the most shameful weakness.