Chicken Hero

The winner of the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections, the man who had so much political capital that he strutted like a rooster, let us see his real chicken side as he finished his G-8 cameo appearance.  George the chicken hero Bush rushed away from the G-8 meeting where he had been outshined by everyone attending and headed to Rome to see the Pope.  The Pope certainly has enough problems to deal with, like priest abusing children, too few men (all men except practicing homosexuals) signing up for the seminary, dwindling money giving parishioners, and great worries about darwinism, but never the less he had time to see George.  (My guess is that the Pope figured he was someone with more problems than he had).

George rushed to the Popes side and with his head bowed was heard to say, “Man oh man, have I ever screwed things up in Iraq.  Your Holiness, do you have any ideas or miracles you can work?”

The Pope was heard to reply, “Yes George, you were a dumb excuse for a human being for letting let all those radicals and fundamentalists run unbounded.  You should have known that Cheney, Rumsfeld, Pearl, Wolfowitz, and Feith could not be trusted.  Didn’t Pastor Falwell tell you anything?”  The Pope continued, “the only miracle I have for you is that just maybe you can get through this term without getting impeached”.

For these words of advice, George told reporters he was awed by the Pope.

But the “chicken hero” award (first place) goes to George’s display on Sunday walking triumphantly through the crowds in Albania to the cheers of thousands.  It probably did not occur to the Albanians that George was thinking they really liked him when in fact the Albanians hold positive memories of the US for principly the work of Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton.  But for our chicken hero, the cheers were for him.

The G-8 summit turned out much better than I had expected and George did little to add to the US embarassment.  In a perverse way, it was wonderful to see someone who is so full of himself playing second or third fiddle to other heads of state.  You can fool heads of state once or twice (as George and company have done) but on this meeting, they knew they were dealing with a poker player who held no cards. 

The chicken hero is now home and will turn his attention to the immigration debate.  While his work on this issue can not over come the damage done by his Iraq policy in terms of his legacy, he will try mightily.  Watch and see the chicken hero show his colors when he caves on the humane and sensible aspects of the legilation in order to get enough votes to pass something.  The chicken hero is done. 

Russia is our Friend

President Bush arrived yesterday in Prague in route to the G-8 meeting in Germany.  He was greeted politely with the official Government delegation but on the streets it was a different story.  It is June but the people are feeling the icey winds of another cold war and they wanted everyone to know they did not like it.

It is difficult to know whether Russia has anything legitimate to fear about the US anti-missile program because to date it has been thoroughly a flop.  The only success the anti-missile program has enjoyed is that is has consumed billions of tax payer dollars.  But the Russians have reacted and strongly.  They do not want to see this system deployed and in no way is it acceptable to deploy so close to the mother land.  Think how George the righteous would react if the Russias installed a similar system in Venezuela and Cuba and said they were intended to defend the Russian homeland against attack from rogue South American countries.

This situation should not come as a surprise to anyone.  The anti-missile program has been hanging around for many years and dates back several administrations.  It is clearly a good employment project for some Congressman and is a pacifier to the more right wing conservative faction.  One of the first acts by George (under instructions from Dick Cheney) was to abrogate the ABM treaty thereby freeing the US to work on commercialization of this system. 

This is a missile program that brings little or nothing.  Here is what you get:

1. There would be bragging rights and potentially bluffing possibilities if it did not work everytime.

2. There will immediately be counter missile developments that will produce intercontinental missiles that in some way evades these anti-missiles.  The US would then need something even bigger, say a space launched missile system.  And so on.

3. The lucky countries that get to host the forward radar and missile units will become the first target of any intelligent pre-emptive attack.  Once these foreign eyes are put out, then the “rogue” missiles will travel unimpeded.  (Pretty smart plan the Administration has proposed).

4. The American tax payer will get the chance to continue diverting billions into non-return defense projects and absolutely no increased security.

Why then would the Administration push for deployment?

1. Despite the lack of a proven demonstration, the Russians can not be sure it won’t work.  They will immediately have to regenerate their defense spending and the White House hopes will once again bankrupt the country.

2. There is a relatively large group of conservative Americans who found comfort in the cold war.  There was a clear understanding of who the enemy was and where you could find him.  A return to cold war simplicity portends a more manageable world, and an American voter who is biased toward these Republican heros.

3. With the Iraq War and its spending about to wind down, the White House is looking for ways to keep spending alive in other programs.

4. The more discussion and attention on this program, the less time there will be for attention to Iraq and the complete failure of the Bush Administration’s policies.

Much of the world (both governments and citizens) are unset with US policy, especially our conduct in the Middle East.  This program and its use of former cold war buffer countries is just sticking your finger in the Russian eye and laughing about it. 

The anti-missile program is consistent at least with other Bush policies.  None of them make sense or are related to each other, or take into account actual reality.  They all reflect a world the neoconservatives and Bush/Cheney would like to think exists.  They all ignore the real strategic issues facing our country and continue to delay actions that would really secure the future of the US.  The real US security is tied to

1. Rejuvenating the US global competitiveness through emphasis on math and science.

2. Rebuilding the US social infrastructure

• Affordable healthcare with dignity for all
• Sound and secure Social Security system
• Energy policy free of dependance on the Middle East and in harmony with reductions in global warning emissions.
• Developing a dynamic educated work force that can compete successfully with China, India, and other emerging low cost countries.
• Rekindling the spirit of reasonable discourse and sensibilities to all those living in the US.

3. Acknowleging the independence of all countries and building the diplomatic skills and policies that protect our national interests in a world composed of multi racial, cultural and religious views.

George Bush and Dick Cheney are wholly unqualified to lead this country in the world we find ourselves in today and the one that most likely will follow.  What more embarassments will George bring to the G-8?  

Can You Connect the Dots?

President Bush is heading to the upcoming G-8 meeting in Europe with a lot on his mind.  I wonder what he is really thinking?

1. After Paul Wolfowitz got his richly deserved boot in the pants and resigned as President of the World Bank, George Bush has nominated Robert Zoelleck to be the next President.  Zoelleck should have been the nominee the last time but where would they put Wolfowitz who was a larger problem to the Administration, so expedience won.  Is George thinking he should not have listened to Cheney?

2. Bush has pledged the US will double its spending on AIDS prevention and treatment ($ 30 Billion over the next 5 years).  I am not sure whether this is to make up for 7 years of campaigning for abstinence as the preferred prevention step or this is a true awakening.  Is George thinking that Karl Rove got this one wrong?

3. Yesterday George was instructed to give a speech calling our attention to global warming and the role CO2 is playing in it.  It was certainly a surprise to learn of this great crisis from our President since (1) all Academic peer reviewed literature for the last 7+ years has been loudly warning of an impending catastrophe and (2) the Administration has seemed brain dead on this issue.  Rather than announce specific steps that the US (the world’s largest contributor to CO2 emissions) would immediately take, George, the sly one, said he would call a meeting with the other large emitters and talk about the situation and what each country could do about it.  It certainly is movement but I can sort of see Dick Cheney standing just off camera speaking into George’s ear plug saying “that will keep that ball bouncing for another two years!”  Has George awakened or is he still trying to trick us?

4. General Raymond Odierno, ground commander in Iraq, is now reporting he can not produce positive surge results until January, way past the September date originally promised by General Petraeus.  I am sure General Odierno is at least half correct, that is there will be no sustainable positive results by September.  I am also sure that given the current pace and troop strength, there will be no “sustainable” results by January either.  George and Dick have driven the US into a sandy quagmire where the only exit is a unilateral withdrawal.  George and Condi (with plenty of Dick’s help) have burned so many bridges that any politically negotiated settlement will always be weighed by the interested parties on the basis of whether they have made the US look bad enough (just to get even).  I doubt George is smart enough to even think this but maybe he is.

George is used to being certer stage at these G-8’s.  He wears a nice suit and gets his picture taken.  He bluffs and makes his stupid jokes and ignores the issues other countries are worrying about.  His worryis the war on terror.  His more educated international peers at first bought this line but as time has passed, they have concluded that George has made this mess himself (actually he has had a lot of help from Cheney, Rumsfeld, Pearl, Wolfowitz, and Feith, George is simply not smart enough or diligent enough to have sold the “imminent threat story”). 

There is no doubt that the Islamic radicals and extremists represent a threat to most Western countries but no sensible country would attempt regime change as a means to deal with an amorphous, non-country specific movement.  These other countries would have expected a much more robust and thoughtful plan from the world’s only super power.  Adding to his foolish and sophomoric Iraq policy, the Bush Administration abrogated the ABM treaty (stuck his finger in the Russian’s eye), rejected the Kyoto protocol (turned his back on most of the rest of the world), declared abstinence as the preferred method for dealing with AIDS (screwed the developing 3rd world countries and truly baffled the developed world), limited stem cell research for non-scientific reasons (spreading glee to those countries trying to grow through science), and welcomed “intelligent design” as theory worth considering (left the educated world speechless).

Rome was not made in a day.  So undoing these “wrong way” strategies can not be undone in a day either.  I suspect the Administration has one eye on the 2008 election and wanting to reinvent itself as modern leadership and the other eye on the G-8, where they would like to limit the criticism George will surely and deservedly receive.