u201CFor it is a privilege of power that you can ignore the people whom you are driving mad.u201D
~ Paul Collins, from his book Sixpence House
u201CEvil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously…u201D
~ President George W. Bush, October 6, 2005
That master of guitar, satire and beer brewing, Tom Chartier, has coined a new word: imPOTUS. He claims this word sums up the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Esteem him as I do, I must disagree with Mr. Chartier. For the word impotent describes the American public, not President Bush.
According to a recent poll, as many as u201Csixty-nine percent of Americans say things in the United States are pretty seriously off on the wrong track u2014 the highest number since CBS News started asking the question in 1983. Today, just 26 percent say things are going in the right direction." That's right, most Americans know Bush is a horror yet we don't know how to get rid of him.
Ask yourself: What can you do to hold the man accountable?
That is the real issue: we can’t make the man stop what he is doing.
It is estimated that on September 24th, 100,000 participated u201Cin the largest anti-war protest in the nation’s capital since the U.S. invasion.u201D
The Bush people know the war is unpopular, they know the country is broke, but what does Vice President Richard Cheney do? He promises u201Cdecades of war.u201D
What did President Bush tell us October 6th? u201CWars are not won without sacrifice and this war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve.u201D
According to the October 3–5, 2005 CBS News Poll, 59% think that the US troops should u201Cleave Iraq as soon as possible.u201D
Does Bush care what you think? Doesn't sound like it. On October 4, the president took questions from the press:
QUESTION: Mr. President…
BUSH: Yes?
QUESTION: … in our latest poll…
BUSH: The what?
QUESTION: In our latest poll…
BUSH: Latest poll?
QUESTION: Yes. Our latest poll.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Gosh. OK.
QUESTION: I know you don’t pay attention to polls. But anyway, in our latest poll…
BUSH: You run one every other day.
QUESTION: I know.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: You mean yesterday’s poll, as opposed to tomorrow’s poll?
Go ahead. It’s a good way to fill space, Richard.
Bush doesn't appear to care what the rest of the world thinks either.
Bush's intentions toward Iran should come as no surprise. Writing in November of 2004, Steven R. Weisman of the New York Times said: u201CIn an eerie repetition of the prelude to the Iraq war, hawks in the administration and Congress are trumpeting ominous disclosures about Iran’s nuclear capacities to make the case that Iran is a threat that must be confronted, either by economic sanctions, military action, or u2018regime change.' “
Writing about the International Atomic Energy Agency work in Iran, Gordon Prather wrote last December that after an u201Cintrusive and exhaustiveu201D two-year search in Iran, u201Cthe IAEA found no evidence whatsoever of a nuke program.u201D
One wonders, la u201Cfixing the facts,u201D has the Bush administration pushed the Brits into a slanging match with Iran?
With madder accusations and stronger threats, the Bush Administration has so angered the Iranians that the right-wing group in that country has become the driving force of the government and the nuclear facilities.
u201CLeaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the force created specifically to defend the 1979 Islamic revolution, now dominate Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s top foreign policy-making body under the constitution.u201D And the new president of Iran, u201CMr. Ahmadinejad, a little-known former mayor of Tehran before his surprise election in July, is a former IRGC commander…u201D The Washington Times story continues with a quote from the chairman of the National Council of Resistance of Iran,
u201CThe military under the new president is firmly in control of the nuclear program and the nuclear negotiations with the United Nations and the West.”
When nine months ago Peter Disikes of SALON did the digging and the math, he wrote that there were u201C34 scandals from the first four years of George W. Bush’s presidency – every one of them worse than Whitewater.”
Who can keep up?
The American public is not properly informed. Desensitized by bombast and delusion, Americans are too exhausted to care. So, we have mutual indifference.
Consequently, the real perpetrators may get away with all of it.
Will former Pentagon policy analyst Lawrence A. Franklin take the rap for the Israeli Spy Scandal? During his plea hearing, Franklin said u201CIt was never my intent to harm the United States, not even for a second.” Franklin has admitted that he u201Cleaked classified information to two members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”
Perhaps no one should be surprised that u201Cas Franklin entered his plea, he disclosed that some of the material he gave the lobbyists related to Iran.u201D
All right, someone has to be the fall guy. Who will it be for the Valerie Plame affair? You tell me.
During the October 4 press conference, one reporter questioned the president about the Valerie Plame investigation which many people believe is coming to a close.
u201CAs you know, some top members of your administration have been named as part of that investigation. Is it your intention if anybody in your administration is indicted to you remove that person from your administration?”
BUSH: “I am mindful of the investigation. I will remind you what I said last time I was asked about this – I’m not going till the investigation is complete….u201D
Or, as the Jane Austen heroine quipped, u201CI cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.”
October 10, 2005
