THEY ARE ALL OURS
(June 11, Everywhere, USA) During an unusually candid interview with reporters of The Times of London, President George W. Bush admitted to having a “regret”, or maybe, two. Whatever it is that constitutes a ‘regret’ scurrying around the vast openness of Bush’s cranium, they pale in comparison to those of the American people. Some citizens’ regrets are more profound than others. Indeed, they should be. Perhaps those moms and dads who permitted their sons and daughters to fight in a war of choice have a regret or two. How many of their children were killed in Iraq, how many have returned home minus limbs, abilities, and futures? Certainly the Iraqi people may harbor some regrets about our invasion and occupation of their country so our misguided, delusional imbecile in the White House could help “spread democracy.”
Regrets, Mr. President? There are oceans of them. Oddly, the only regrets Georgie admitted to The Times had to do with how he is viewed by others, by the world and his legacy. It’s all about him; always was, always will be. The Times reporters, Tom Baldwin and Gerard Baker, were able to extract several nuggets of truth from a man more accustomed to lying. All the lies, deceptions and manipulative tactics have, by now, largely been exposed. Some have been revealed a leak, a declassified document, an anonymous source at a time while others have come crashing down on the American public en masse. The landscape of the past seven plus years is a veritable lie and regret strewn wasteland.
Mr. Bush is quoted in The Times saying, “The great thing about the American scene is the president gets to set the tone for foreign policy.” This may be a “great” thing to W, but it has been a tragic, catastrophe for all of us since day one. The “tone” W chose to set was one of unprecedented arrogance, belligerence, and loyalty to single-minded zealots in his administration. The only ‘tone’ W paid heed to was the whispering in his ear of the neo-cons and his boss, Dick Cheney, who came to office with an agenda for ‘foreign policy’ awaiting fulfillment. They clearly got their wish, while we have paid, and will continue to pay, staggering prices. We have paid in blood, life and limbs. We have paid in national treasure, economic stability and global credibility. Perhaps it will be years before we fully recognize what this presidency has cost us.
This administration’s foreign policy has been virtually one-dimensional (“…You’re either with us or against us…”) since Colin Powell left the State Department. Condoleezza Rice has been, perhaps, the most useless of all those ever to be Secretary of State. Devoid of diplomatic efforts on many important fronts, W’s presidency has earned a distinction that will certainly be a prominent feature in his legacy; we have had no foreign policy, no active engagements where they have been desperately needed and no standing or credibility as an “honest broker” on the world stage.
Despite this stark reality and as further proof of his idiocy, (not that any further proof is necessary), George W told The Times, “My focus in the remaining time of my presidency is to leave behind a series of structures that makes it easier for the next president to be able to deal with the problems he is going to face.” Since virtually every problem, foreign as well as domestic, our next president will face is of George’s own making. If the problems do not have the Bush fingerprints all over them, they certainly have thrived under his watch.
Using the question made famous by Ronald Reagan while he was running against Jimmy Carter in 1980, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Most Americans would be likely to answer with a resounding “NO”! Some of our fellow American’s might be inclined to insert several colorful modifiers in front of their emphatic “No” such as the folks who lived in New Orleans as Katrina did her damage while our government’s response was shameful, or a former patient at Walter Reed, or the wife of a serviceman on his fourth deployment who has to collect food stamps to survive in his absence. Probably any parent trying to provide health insurance would be inclined to add a profanity or two and any one buying gasoline today would answer similarly. By every economic indicter, proven in poll after poll after poll, George W. Bush has been a monumental disaster for our country and an absolute failure as a United States President.
Ironically, as The Times reporters were interviewing Mr. Bush, 35 articles for the impeachment of Mr. Bush had been read into the record on the floor of the House of Representatives. Ohio Democratic Congressman, Dennis Kucinich’s resolution to impeach Mr. Bush is highly unlikely to see life beyond its symbolic punch. However, it stands as a stark measure of just how disconnected to reality our current president is. The 35 articles for impeachment, as read by Mr. Kucinich, are largely valid and would, in another time and place in our history be acted upon, the Congress as a whole has been complicit, negligent and cowardly during George W’s entire time in office.
With less than 150 days remaining before Americans elect a new president, Mr. Bush has as much of a chance to do anything beneficial, let alone have a real impact in foreign or domestic policy, as he does for becoming the unified heavyweight champion of the world. Perhaps that is a poor metaphor: W certainly has been a heavyweight in taking us into needless war, running us into debt and so many other infamous precedents. But, the word “unifier” will most certainly not ever be associated with him or his abysmal presidency.