One Of These Days These Boots Are Gonna Walk All Over You
Sometimes I think I give the Bush administration far too much credit. When it comes to political strategizing, the Republicans have been wiping the floor with the Democrats for so long that it’s hard not to give them their props for a job well done. But when it comes to governing, I often make the mistake of assuming their political acumen is applicable to their domestic and foreign policy decisions. I don’t agree with the chess moves they’ve made, but I tend to think that they’re getting the outcome they want, even if it’s bad for the country, more often than not, it’s good for them and their friends. No bunch of idiots could be that lucky so many times. But now I’m having second thoughts and think the entire leadership of the Bush administration is just downright stupid.
It’s been clear from their first week in power that they were in over their heads and they have proved the point every single day since. But with shit blowing up in the Middle East right now and Israel thinking that they can follow Bushy’s lead and invade whatever country they want and expect any better outcome than we’ve had in Iraq, I think this fake President of ours may end up destroying more than just our country in his mad quest for world domination. Just like the kid that plays with matches and then cries himself silly as he watches his entire neighborhood go down in flames, Bush seems totally unaware that what’s happening in the Middle East is all his doing. What a fucking schmuck.
The entire administration is running around with buckets of water trying to put the massive ten-story high flames out while simultaneously hurling blame around hoping it will stick to anyone other than themselves. Steve Clemons over at The Washington Note is blogging about rumors that even Condi is being treated like the petulant little sidekick she is by the Israelis. I guess Condi’s dominatrix boots don’t scare ol’ Ehud Olmert as much as they do Georgie boy. Or maybe Olmert just hasn’t had the opportunity to see the walkin’ those boots can do. Start walkin’ Condi, make Nancy Sinatra proud girl.
And I can’t help but think about Bush’s own words and the “roadmap to peace” crap he loves to throw out. If this is the roadmap to peace in the Middle East, I suddenly understand why all the treasure maps in movies are always singed around the edges. That’s just what happens when you have pirates leading the way. Which also reminds me of my favorite School House Rock(ish) political satire bit where they sing “pirates and emperors, they’re really the same thing.” Ain’t that the truth? Emperors just steal bigger and this one learned at his daddy’s knee, hell that whole family is prodigious in that regard.
So what now? It’s all just so awful, the bombs, the dead civilians, the ruined lives, the tensions in an already tense region on the verge of boiling over and our presence still uncomfortably heavy in Iraq as we tether ourselves to the only country more hated in the region than our own. We thinking people aren’t surprised that we find ourselves here, in a made up “clash of civilizations” that these geniuses in the White House did everything in their power to spark and nourish, but that doesn’t make it any easier to watch.
I think I have chosen to believe that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolten, Perle, Condi and the rest of the neo-con assholes are evil, because the only other possibility is that they are just plain dumb, and that’s so much more frightening. Evil but smart implies that they have some control over the situation they’ve created, whereas downright dense means we’re walking this tightrope without a net while shit burns down below. I’ll give them some credit and assume that they had evil intent but are just too stupid to control what they’ve set in motion. On the rest of the credit, I’m calling in the chip. I just hope their mommies and daddies have the gold to back up their junior underachievers grandiose plans that have come crashing down to the ground. Even if they do, it won’t do us much good now and our future may depend solely on Condi’s boots. I just hope she’s as tough as she looks.
posted by The (liberal)Girl Next Door @ 12:36 AM
11 Comments:
"But now I’m having second thoughts and think the entire leadership of the Bush administration is just downright stupid."
And if that is the case, that they really hadn't any idea that their kooky 'American World Leadership' crap was going to blow up in everyones faces.....
It's too much for my brain this early in the morning.
"....our future may depend solely on Condi’s boots. I just hope she’s as tough as she looks."
And what, pray tell, do you think her options are.....?
Jae--I've seen the way Bush looks at her, she might be the only person that could reign him in (maybe even get him to stand up to Dick). Of course she's shown no inclination to do so but she is probably one of the smartest members of this administration so if there's any chance at all of stopping this train wreck, it would likely be Condi that puts on the brakes. Assuming she cares that is.
Please don't take this as a slam, but as a sincere request. Your feminine writing style is refreshing but you have the feminine habit of stating your complaints in great detail but never giving specific alternatives. Specifically, what should the Bush administration do; don't just leave it at the Bush administration is doing a bad job and should do better.
Just for the fun of it, why not try a paragraph like-- in response to the current conflict in Gaza/Lebanon Bush should immediately do the following...
You are an excellent writer and I enjoy reading your posts; I hope you don't mind my little quibble too much.
LGNG:
If you think Condi is going to lead the Chimpster out of the wilderness, I must be missing something. The only brains in this outfit is Rove, who is a psychopathic media manipulator. Everything else is 4th rate neocon evil idiocy.
"Male" said:
"Your feminine writing style is refreshing but you have the feminine habit of stating your complaints in great detail but never giving specific alternatives."
Let's try a little thought experiment, shall we? Let's substitute the word "African American" or "hispanic" for "feminine" in the above paragraph. Would such a statement make you feel like a racist asshole if it were attributed to you? Congratulations -- you're a sexist jackass instead!
In the future, you might try not attributing some silly preconceived characteristic that exists only in your own mind to 51% of the population. Not only does it make you look like an ass, it happens to be 100% wrong as applied in this case anyway; the LGND did propose a solution -- put Condi in charge.
Now, we can debate the merits of that proposed solution all night long. But hopefully we can do so without the bullcrap sexist stereotypes.
On the main point, there is no road map to peace, because the one that some people thought they were following was feckless and useless, and on top of that, it was really a Clinton thing. If you look back to the first eight months of the Shrub administration, you will see a total lack of interest in the Middle East and any of its problems. And while Israel is surely to blame for its outrages, it's always best to remember what the history is: the State of Israel was created, and the surrounding Arab states, refusing to recognize its existence, promised to drive the Jews into the sea. What follow is the 1948 war, the 1956 Suez crisis, the 1967 six-day war followed by this endless, awful occupation, the 1973 war, the only one the Israelis came close to losing, the two Intifadas, the dozens of suicide bombings in Israeli cities, the first Lebanon incursion following rocket fire across the border onto Israeli farms, the rockets from the Israelis hitting civilians as a side effect (but not really trying very hard to keep that to a minimum), the Syrians propping up Hezbollah long enough to get two of their members elected to the Lebanese parliament, UN resolutions (that the Lebanese government has ignored) to disarm Hezbollah, or at least bring them into the Lebanese army, now that Hezbollah is a political party serving in the parliament, and the kidnapping of Israelis on Israeli soil, leading to reprisals in Gaza and Lebanon and rocket fire in return, accompanied by such bonus items as the explosives-laden drone aimed at the Israeli warship that's part of the current blockade. The chances that the U.S. can help is about as close to zero as it could be, since most of the Lebanese hate the Americans, just like every other country in the region except perhaps Israel, where the Americans are only disliked and relied on. Who can fix this? Olmert, but only by doing two things, which I don't see him doing without having to: first, he has to separate the Arabs from the Israelis, and that involves the significant cost of forgoing the use of cheap Palestinian labour in Israel proper; and second, recognizing Palestine as an independent country, with the right to choose its own government and to be left alone. That doesn't mean granting support to that government or even being friendly, but there won't be peace in the region until the Palestinians find a way to make themselves a government that can enforce peace. You will note that Lebanon, long an independent country, has not been able to do that. After Palestine is separate and recognized as a country, you'll see what its Arab neighbours do to support it and its long-term viability: they will encourage hatred towards Israel, and pay for armaments, when what those people need is working farms and industries, and luxuries like clean water. If we're lucky, peace would be possible after ten or fifteen years of internecine warfare within the Palestinian community until someone finally realizes that peace will be better than war.
On a side point, you want Condi to "rein in" her boss (as in reins, which are used by a rider to guide the horse), not "reign in" -- to reign is to rule, as a monarch. That's what Dubya does.
LGND, I took your "Condi boots" riff to be metaphorical. One can pray that someone in this administration is able to get through to the Prez and tell him the world is burning. Condi might, but I fear she's more bootlick than dominatrix.
One sad aspect of reading America's blogs is to realise how narrow the political debate has become in the USA. The media, bloggers, and the politicians all police themselves and stick to very narrowly defined terms and historical background. Deviate and everyone pounces on you.
Amphimacer's history lesson is flawed. Israel was not created. Rebels overthrew the British in the state of Palestine, terrorized the local Muslim population, and declared an independent Jewish state. Palestine was never "a land without people" and the "people without land" shouldn't have taken it from them by force. Even Ben Gurion said he would never make peace with Israel if he were a Palestinian.
Sadly, I see what is happening in the Middle East today and the response of the White House to be a march of folly akin to the start of the First World War. All we hear is the "official" viewpoint and lies. Business interests are wrapped up in the flag. A group, Hezbollah, once supported by Israel, commits a minor act of agression and Israel goes to war, blockading an entire country and bombing civilian targets. How different is this from a Serb national assassinating Archduke Ferdinand? A single bullet that set off four years of war, revolution, and plague.
Bush stands by Israel. But why should the world's only superpower have no say in what happens? Eisenhower never gave Israel a blank check to do as it pleased. This situation could easily turn into a nuclear holocaust. Of course, Bush and his Bible-belt friends actually believe the End is Near and are expecting the Rapture any day. Perhaps Condi is dressing sharp for her introduction to the Almighty.
Nice job Mollie. Truly incredible writing and yes, the dots do connect the stupid with the evil and whose to know which is which.
The Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission, of course the Federal Reserve System, and we can't forget the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and wow, there are more and more. All kinds of acronymic labels for "think tanks" and other members of the gang.
Yep, that's what I've decided -- this governing body of vipers who call themselves the global elite are nothing more than a mob of racketeering thugs.
We've been set-up to be their Africa, too.
I'm becomming more and more suspect regarding the "conspiracy" plan to create another 9/11."
Wolfowitz and Perle are truly insane.
the augustreview dot com is the best source of how this global domination plan is to shake down and Condi, et al are doing a great job.
Male—I was going to respond to your constructive criticism, but I see that Betty Cracker has done that for me, so I’ll just say, “yeah, what she said.” I notice that your comment only had hypothetical solutions anyway so I think I’ll disregard your assessment that I have less than “a man” to contribute to the conversation. I do thank you for your compliment on my “writing style” though. If you’re interested, I also have nice hair.
Howie—I really don’t think Condi can save us from anything, I’m just pointing out how sad our options are at this point.
Michael—I’ll have to read up on Constance. I’ll take any port in a storm at this point.
Amphimacer—Thanks for the grammar lesson, always appreciated (and really, I’m no being sarcastic, I really to appreciate it) and I agree with some of the points you make, particularly the point about Israel supporting a Palestinian state regardless of whether or not they agree with the choices they make. This is a lesson that George Bush would do well to learn, that democracy means the people choose their own path, not the path you would choose for them.
David—Your assessment of Condi is probably right, she is more bootlick than dominatrix. I think my desire to believe she has some sort of conscience is purely wishful thinking on my part.
Roberta—I too think that our best bet at this point is prosecuting the whole administration for racketeering. They are thieving thugs, nothing more.
LG~
I always assumed from your writing style that you had nice hair. I'm happy to see that confirmed!
Hi Liberal Girl!
That boot song is my karioke specialty. I go long and often.
Great post, go Betty Cracker. Such FEMINIST style. So, wait, if you're a girl, and NOT a feminist, wonder what style it would be? Just askin'. male.
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