As President Bush and the
Democrat-controlled congress exchange words over restrictions on the
President's power, I'm reminded of the Captain of the Titanic. This
is a man who, despite several warnings of icebergs, continued 'full
steam ahead' in an effort to break the trans-Atlantic steamship
crossing record. He was in search of a legacy, a hallmark, a place in
history.
He got one and went down with his ship.
Bush seems determined to do the same thing.
From there, the analogy breaks down. Approximately 1442 people died when the Titanic went down and it only took about 2 1/2 hours for the whole tragedy to play out. By the end of the day, all survivors had been found.
In contrast, Bush has lead the United States into an ill-considered (at BEST) war in an unstable region of the world which has been going on for almost four years, at the cost of 3372 + American lives and between 150,000 and 700,000 civilian lives (Depending on who you talk to). If you throw in the WOUNDED, the numbers soar to well over a million regardless of source.
All this because a former C student at Yale surrounded himself with egregious yes-men who had as much chance of thinking beyond their own narrowly defined world as a blind man had in accurately describing the shape of a cloud. Bush saw in 9/11 the opportunity to create his own lasting legacy by bringing a tyrant's rule to an end. The same tyrant who threatened Bush's father when Bush's father occupied the oval office. It was an unfinished, personal matter.
Four years, a pack of lies and a million or more casualties later, Bush is stubbornly clinging to some minuscule ray of hope that it will somehow be alright if they only "stay the course". His vision of a free Iraq remains intact somewhere in his utterly out-of-touch-with-reality mind despite the violence, bloodshed, instability, inherent distrust and cultural differences that plague the whole region. He still wants his legacy, failing to realize that it has already been written in the blood of Americans who have died so that Bush and his cronies could go down in history as effective leaders.
Let's roll the clock back to September 10th, 2001.
Bush was not a popular president. He was seen by many as having stolen the election (indeed, an unofficial recount of the Florida ballots in 2003 showed Al Gore won), and was not a leader elected by the majority of Americans - he LOST the popular vote, but won by the narrowest of margins in the states that gave him the electoral college votes he needed. There were demonstrations outside of the White House calling on him to resign. His energy policies were being seen to benefit the oil companies to the detriment of the American people and the environment and his leadership skills being questioned by pundits across America. He was already being seen as a one-term president.
Let's fast-forward to the 2004 elections. Bush, Cheney and the recently formed Homeland Security department created a 'terror alert' system to keep the country informed of threats to Americans. This system was adjusted, seemingly on a daily basis, higher and lower as the situation in Iraq and other places deteriorated. All the while, Bush was saying that if Republicans weren't elected, the country would be at the mercy of terrorists and liberals. Later investigations proved that the terror threat levels were DELIBERATELY MANIPULATED to invoke fear in Americans. Despite this, the President was re-elected only on the slimmest of margins, and there are still unanswered questions about the validity of the electronic voting machines used in key states. Electronic voting machines of the same type used in 2004 have fallen largely out of favor since then and when was the last time anyone heard of the Terrorist Threat Level System?
Bush stated that he now had a 'mandate from the people' and proceeded to try to initiate one of the most repressive governments the US has seen since the Civil War.
Fast forward to 2006.
In just 2 years, the greatest reversal of political power in the history of the United States occurred. The Republicans were overwhelmingly voted out of office - a clear and unequivocal shout from the American people that they had had enough of George W. Bush's nonsense. Instead of hearing a "mandate from the people", Bush, our President, continues to follow his own policies regarding Iraq. Apparently, if a majority agree with him, it's a mandate. When the majority disagree with him, it's cowardice, treason, or worse. Obviously, it's to be ignored by our elected civil servants at best. With an approval rating of 28%, this puts Bush's lowest approval rating just above Trueman (23%), Nixon (24%) and ties with Jimmy Carter (28%) He's actually below is father (29%).
Bush's legacy will not be his vision. Like the Captain of the Titanic, who wanted a positive place in history, Bush has failed to win his goal, but instead has been handed a less honorable, less noble place in history - as one of the, if not THE worst, Presidents in US history. It is a distinction, to be sure. But one which carries with it the same notoriety as Hitler, Stalin, Saddam and other single-minded, uncompromising dictators the world over - the vilification of their names and the sincere regret that so many were fooled and died because of a fool.
He got one and went down with his ship.
Bush seems determined to do the same thing.
From there, the analogy breaks down. Approximately 1442 people died when the Titanic went down and it only took about 2 1/2 hours for the whole tragedy to play out. By the end of the day, all survivors had been found.
In contrast, Bush has lead the United States into an ill-considered (at BEST) war in an unstable region of the world which has been going on for almost four years, at the cost of 3372 + American lives and between 150,000 and 700,000 civilian lives (Depending on who you talk to). If you throw in the WOUNDED, the numbers soar to well over a million regardless of source.
All this because a former C student at Yale surrounded himself with egregious yes-men who had as much chance of thinking beyond their own narrowly defined world as a blind man had in accurately describing the shape of a cloud. Bush saw in 9/11 the opportunity to create his own lasting legacy by bringing a tyrant's rule to an end. The same tyrant who threatened Bush's father when Bush's father occupied the oval office. It was an unfinished, personal matter.
Four years, a pack of lies and a million or more casualties later, Bush is stubbornly clinging to some minuscule ray of hope that it will somehow be alright if they only "stay the course". His vision of a free Iraq remains intact somewhere in his utterly out-of-touch-with-reality mind despite the violence, bloodshed, instability, inherent distrust and cultural differences that plague the whole region. He still wants his legacy, failing to realize that it has already been written in the blood of Americans who have died so that Bush and his cronies could go down in history as effective leaders.
Let's roll the clock back to September 10th, 2001.
Bush was not a popular president. He was seen by many as having stolen the election (indeed, an unofficial recount of the Florida ballots in 2003 showed Al Gore won), and was not a leader elected by the majority of Americans - he LOST the popular vote, but won by the narrowest of margins in the states that gave him the electoral college votes he needed. There were demonstrations outside of the White House calling on him to resign. His energy policies were being seen to benefit the oil companies to the detriment of the American people and the environment and his leadership skills being questioned by pundits across America. He was already being seen as a one-term president.
Let's fast-forward to the 2004 elections. Bush, Cheney and the recently formed Homeland Security department created a 'terror alert' system to keep the country informed of threats to Americans. This system was adjusted, seemingly on a daily basis, higher and lower as the situation in Iraq and other places deteriorated. All the while, Bush was saying that if Republicans weren't elected, the country would be at the mercy of terrorists and liberals. Later investigations proved that the terror threat levels were DELIBERATELY MANIPULATED to invoke fear in Americans. Despite this, the President was re-elected only on the slimmest of margins, and there are still unanswered questions about the validity of the electronic voting machines used in key states. Electronic voting machines of the same type used in 2004 have fallen largely out of favor since then and when was the last time anyone heard of the Terrorist Threat Level System?
Bush stated that he now had a 'mandate from the people' and proceeded to try to initiate one of the most repressive governments the US has seen since the Civil War.
Fast forward to 2006.
In just 2 years, the greatest reversal of political power in the history of the United States occurred. The Republicans were overwhelmingly voted out of office - a clear and unequivocal shout from the American people that they had had enough of George W. Bush's nonsense. Instead of hearing a "mandate from the people", Bush, our President, continues to follow his own policies regarding Iraq. Apparently, if a majority agree with him, it's a mandate. When the majority disagree with him, it's cowardice, treason, or worse. Obviously, it's to be ignored by our elected civil servants at best. With an approval rating of 28%, this puts Bush's lowest approval rating just above Trueman (23%), Nixon (24%) and ties with Jimmy Carter (28%) He's actually below is father (29%).
Bush's legacy will not be his vision. Like the Captain of the Titanic, who wanted a positive place in history, Bush has failed to win his goal, but instead has been handed a less honorable, less noble place in history - as one of the, if not THE worst, Presidents in US history. It is a distinction, to be sure. But one which carries with it the same notoriety as Hitler, Stalin, Saddam and other single-minded, uncompromising dictators the world over - the vilification of their names and the sincere regret that so many were fooled and died because of a fool.
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