He set out to show that government is useless, expensive and stupid, and in the waning days of his Presidency, the man is proving it beyond all doubt.
Forget Katrina, the war in Iraq, the violation of individual rights--misadventures that might have happened to any brain-dead President--but now our lame duck is giving us his "What, Me Worry?" grin as the economy crumbles around our ears. A catastrophic Bush Depression would be the final gift to his government-hating supporters.
Watching the leader of the Free World address the Economic Club of New York yesterday, Gail Collins muses that "you had to wonder what the international financial community makes of a country whose president could show up to talk economics in the middle of a liquidity crisis and kind of flop around the stage as if he was emcee at the Iowa Republican Pig Roast.
"We’re really past expecting anything much, but in times of crisis you would like to at least believe your leader has the capacity to pretend he’s in control. Suddenly, I recalled a day long ago when my husband worked for a struggling paper full of worried employees and the publisher walked into the newsroom wearing a gorilla suit.
"The country that elected George Bush--sort of--because he seemed like he’d be more fun to have a beer with than Al Gore or John Kerry is really getting its comeuppance. Our credit markets are foundering, and all we’ve got is a guy who looks like he’s ready to kick back and start the weekend."
Home prices are plummeting, foreclosures are soaring, the Fed pumps billions into propping up Bear Stearns and his Treasury Secretary belatedly starts talking about overseeing cowboy mortgage lenders, but the President is sure that our country is still "the economic envy of the world" and that "sending out over $150 billion into the marketplace in the form of checks that will be reaching the mailboxes by the second week of May" will cure it all.
But then again, why worry? He probably owns the ranch in Crawford free and clear.
Everyone is just waiting out Bush, hoping he doesn't do anything else before we finally get rid of him.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is Hillary Clinton. She's doing all she can to insure that McCain gets elected.
The solution to the ecomonic crisis is simple...Just give more and larger tax cuts to the wealthy. Right? That's about as Bushian as one can get.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like breaking something to prove it doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteFunny; government had been working quite well until the "conservatives" got a hold of it...
ReplyDeleteIt's all part of the Conservative plan:
ReplyDelete1. Government has only two legitimate jobs: defense (internal & internal) and morality.
2. The way to cut out all the unnecessary stuff (health & welfare, economic inequities, environment, science, etc.) is to bankrupt the government.
3. The best way to bankrupt the government, besides cutting taxes and engaging in expensive military operations, is to nominate and elect idiots to the White House.
Well said. It's breathtaking, the ineptness of Bush, his handlers and cronies. Unless their intention was never more than to rob the treasury. Then I guess you'd have to say they are very efficient.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, political satire can be found here:
ReplyDeleteAdjust Yourself
@Afterthought, etc....
ReplyDeleteThere's conservatives, there's "conservatives" who aren't, and then there's the Bushit regime. They had to invent a new word (neoconservative) to mindlessly repeat in the MSM to confuse people into thinking that they were actually conservative. Bush is as authentic a conservative as Ehud Barak is an authentic Rastafarian, and pouring billions of (US) taxpayers' dollars and foreign lenders' dollars into a marketing campaign won't change reality.
A lot of my (authentic, small-c, no-prefix) conservative friends are starting to realize that Obama is their best shot out of the three currently in the ring. See, e.g., Bacevich for howw this comes about. Money quote:
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Granted, when it comes to defining exactly what authentic conservatism entails, considerable disagreement exists even (or especially) among conservatives themselves. My own definition emphasizes the following:
* a commitment to individual liberty, tempered by the conviction that genuine freedom entails more than simply an absence of restraint;
* a belief in limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the rule of law;
* veneration for our cultural inheritance combined with a sense of stewardship for Creation;
* a reluctance to discard or tamper with traditional social arrangements;
* respect for the market as the generator of wealth combined with a wariness of the market’s corrosive impact on humane values;
* a deep suspicion of utopian promises, rooted in an appreciation of the sinfulness of man and the recalcitrance of history.
Accept that definition and it quickly becomes apparent that the Republican Party does not represent conservative principles. The conservative ascendancy that began with the election of Ronald Reagan has been largely an illusion. During the period since 1980, certain faux conservatives—especially those in the service of Big Business and Big Empire—have prospered. But conservatism as such has not.
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The enemy of my enemy is somebody I should at least think about trying to become friends with - if he reciptrocates.