When Less is More Than Enough
The fourth of July has passed and the Country seemed a little more relaxed. For sure there are huge problems facing each citizen like rising prices and disappearing jobs, and beneath all this sits huge problems of a bloated deficit (over $ 9 trillion), a shrinking dollar (worth about 1/2 of its value in 2000), a disintegrating infrastructure, over 40 million Americans without health insurance, a blackened image and loss of trust for the banking and investment community, and corporate officer salaries measured in millions of dollars and rising while the average worker’s wages remained stagnant. Still there was one voice that was almost silent and that made the holiday just that more enjoyable.
President George W Bush, upon whose watch all of these issues have arisen and against which he has done nothing to combat, was off to a G-8 meeting. With someone who has an approval rating below 20% and whose party faces deep loses in November, it is a wonder he is wasting the jet fuel to attend. I am sure, however, he is looking forward to meeting the new Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev and telling us he has looked him in the eyes and sees a good person. Meeting Medvedev and eating some fancy meals and having his picture taken lots of times should make it a good trip for George.
There are several issues that concern the other participants, however. Global warming probably tops the list. It will be interesting to see if George bends and accepts the 50% commitments this time, especially now that the next President must deal with how to implement. There will also be aid for central Africa which is a situation calling for a world humanitarian concensus. George seems more open to that type of action but will find the others less interested until Green House gases are corralled.
It is also interesting to note that there has been little press reporting leading up to the trip. Why has there not been discussions about a G-8 concensus on Iran or Afghanistan or Africa? Why has the White House not offered to slow down the push for missiles and radar in Poland and the Czech Republic in return for support for ending third country support for Iran, the Taliban, and insurgents in Iraq? Why has the White House not talked about a realistic view of an energy short world and how to improve the lives of several billion poor people?
I do not know the answer but suspect these ideas have never occured to the current crowd. With no realistic vision of the future, the Bush Administrations has charged in one direction or another without every recognizing the connectivity of their policies nor the future consequences. So this past week without any George W Bush speak, the air has been little fresher and more pleasant. Sure it could be better but that will not happen until the next President takes office. For now, however, “less is more than enough”.
This entry was posted on July 7, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Democratic Party, George Bush, John McCain, Politics, Republican Party. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: G-8, global warming, world leaders
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