The Mistake of the Union


By Jim Smith

Last month I gleefully reported on George Bush’s comeuppance at the hands of the “Adults,” the people, like James Baker, who really rule this country (A Very American Coup - Jan. 2007 Beachhead).


Well, never underestimate the chutzpah of a boy wonder like George W. Bush. Instead of acquiescing in the face of such ruling class disapproval, Bush has fought back, firing generals and doubling down his wager on Iraq by throwing in 20,000 more troops.

What reservoirs of support is Bush calling on to back up his bluff? Of course, there are the warmongering neo-conservatives who continue to infest his administration, and fundamentalists who seem to be be counting the days until Armageddon. Most other power centers in America are aligned against the Boy King. The media, outside of Fox, has found new resolve.

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC has turned the viciousness of right-wingers around to focus on Bush. The L.A. Times has dramatically increased their coverage of Iraq, and on Jan. 28, ran an above-the-fold photo of an anti-war march!

Our court-appointed President is able to carry on because he has found a new ally - the Democrats. Fresh from their stunning election victory in November, Democrats in Congress have been distancing themselves from the reason they were elected - to end the war and occupation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid even expressed his support for the “troop surge” in Iraq, before someone sat on him. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, did a good imitation of a cheerleader at Bush’s State of the Union talk.

The State of the Union talk was the best example yet of the Democrats bankruptcy. Not only did they fail to protest America’s number one war criminal, but they rose from their seats repeatedly to applaud every semi-human grunt from the Supreme Leader. And what was up with the-hope-of-the-left-Democrats, Dennis Kucinich, when he grasped both of Bush’s hands in warm embrace, on national TV, as the Fuhrer was leaving the hall.

Did any of the blood on those hands rub off? What message could that send the anti-war public other than that Bush was not such a bad guy after all. On Jan. 26, anti-war activist and Gold Star Mother, Cindy Sheehan, spoke to a sparse audience at the Methodist Church. I asked her about the Kucinich-Bush love fest. She said she was shocked too, and had immediately text-messaged Dennis for an explanation. There was no response from Kucinich, said Sheehan.

The shameful behavior of the suck-up Democrats has been explained by some apologists as merely following protocol and decorum. Say what? Don’t they teach about the Nuremberg trials in the private schools these millionaires attended? Have none of them watched Prime Minister’s Questions on CSPAN, in which Tony Blair is raked over the coals at least once a week? Didn’t they hear about Bush’s speech to the German Bundestag (parliament), where members held up anti-war signs, turned their back on him, and did everything but applaud. How do these apologists weigh the relative merits of decorum with more than 3,000 dead American soldiers?

Even though I abhor torture, I believe every member of Congress should be forced to watch the film “The Road to Guantanamo” until it finally sinks in that this country, with Bush in the lead, has committed horrible atrocities for which all of us may someday have to pay the price.

So what’s to become of the last hope of the naive, the new Democratic majority? Can they muster enough courage to vote for a non-binding resolution against the troop escalation? Will they actually vote to cut off funding for the Iraq atrocity? Don’t count on it.

The proposed troop surge has triggered a “peace surge” around the country. On Jan. 27, hundreds of thousands surrounded the Capitol in a march and rally sponsored by United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ). At the same time, more than 100 other cities, including Los Angeles, held rallies and marches. The L.A. event, which drew 5,000 marchers on a rainy day, was initiated by the people who hold weekly neighborhood peace vigils, including the one in Venice. UFPJ and others have wisely switched from just condemning Bush to also pressuring Democrats to cut off funding for the war. The new Congressional majority will quickly have to decide whether to side with their constituents who overwhelming want out of Iraq, or to prove once again they are not trustworthy in stopping the war machine.

Meanwhile, the Bush counter-offensive may well include the worst crime of his career - attacking Iran. As George Galloway said in the British Parliament the other day, his country’s troops likely will be the first victims of such an inane attack. “Think of the movie Zulu, except without the happy ending,” Galloway said (watch it on YouTube.com). The second victim would be the American soldiers and sailors who are sitting ducks in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.

Even if we avoid this nightmare scenario, Bush is still guilty of blunders and errors of judgement approaching those of Hitler’s when he invaded the Soviet Union. The Middle East today is a hornet’s nest. The peace process between Israel and Palestine has been derailed, the crusader state of Lebanon has been put into play, Iraqis were denied the pleasure of overthrowing their tyrant because of foreign intervention and are now focused on killing each other, Iran has become a defiant state under siege, Afghanistan’s secular and progressive government was overthrown with billions of dollars in aid to the Bin Laden crowd (most of this was the fault of Bush’s political “father” Ronald Reagan), and Pakistan is armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons and is providing military training to the Taliban.

Let’s all give the President a big round of applause!

Posted: Thu - February 1, 2007 at 05:00 PM          


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