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by D.A. Weaz
The
most remarkable thing about what the future holds for Dubya will be the
prospect that he will have far fewer shields for his patent idiocy. For
it was quite easy for George to hide behind Congressional Majority
leaders of both Houses to offer guidance, support and the "jumpstart
the propaganda" sound bytes, allowing the President's own one line
regurgitations to have already had a phalanx of pundits and more
eloquent speakers translating his one liners into a larger policy. The
days of Congressional leaders supporting, rather than challenging, the
President's vision are over. And even Rummy, for all of his arrogance,
bluster and errant judgment, did actually have proficient command of
the English language and a condescending air of authority that hinted
that he might know more than what our own lyin' eyes were telling us
every day. Rummy is history.
So it now leaves a handful of
translators and apologists. And even these are in disarray. "Shoot a
man in the face" Dick Cheney has about the personality and charm of
soiled toiletpaper and is one of the few politicans with an even lower
approval rating than Dubya's. He is not likely to help. Ken Mehlmann,
perhaps after looking like he's aged ten years in two, is rumored to be
on the way out. And though Ken was on the dark side, he was smart
enough to at least be both likeable and knowledgeable about issues, and
yet that didn't stop him from running a clearly racist ad in Tennissee,
which, though detestable, wound up winning the Senate seat in the best
tradition of race baiting Southern politicians. Ken will be sorely
needed, and his loss to the newly needed, kinder, gentler Rethuglican
will be catastrophic, thinking about two years out.
So that
leaves Condi. Articulate and loved by the media, she has constantly
shown that she is incapable of earning the respect of those who matter
most: the President and his army of warmongers. She might have more of
a chance now that all of the NeoCons jumped off of the President's
rotting carcass before yesterday's bloodbath, but there will still be a
Dick in the corner office. And getting around that Dick has really be
tough for Condi. They apparently don't mix well together.
And
yes, there will always be the echoing media. But even these normal
Republican doves have started taking shots at the Administration. They
will surely try to limit the damage as much as possible, for example
still refraining to declare Virginia's Senate race over, though all the
votes are counted. But there is only so much spinning you can do,
especially when Americans have finally woken up to the fact that our
media is ranked #53 worldwide for good reason.
In short, these
two years will be even more taxing than the string of disasters that
brought George to this place. For now Congressional inquiries will mean
that he will finally have to do something that he or his administration
haven't had to do in six years: establish that their conduct fell
WITHIN the bounds of the law. This will tax the President to no end
because the prospect of criminal liability looms. And while he will
certainly not be impeached, who can say what will happen if a
Democratic President emerges in 2008 and we can explore much more
completely the extent of George's criminality. And if then a Justice
Department were worthy of its name, George's already historic string of
bad luck could get much, much worse.
In the meantime, look to
George to put on his most polite manners and congenial, back slapping
persona. But this just reveals what a historically pathetic character
he is: given a bit of power, he runs power amok, intoxicated with
arrogance, infallibility and irreverence. When, however, he is called
to account, he will retreat like a sheepish child, and hope a couple
chuckles and shy smiles will get him out of the mess that he's made.
He
is and has been a national disgrace. Having him explain the actions of
his Administration, after stripping him of the wall of spokespeople
separating him from reality, should be punishment enough.
But it is not. If Saddam can hang, "serious consequences" should ensue to George.
Maybe not now. But his time will come.
Just like he said: "We ARE a nation of laws."
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