Really! If the "main stream media", otherwise known as EBF (Everybody But Fox) was as liberal as the right-wing radio airbags claim, one of them would be creating a pilot for a fall show featuring the former Vice President. It could run behind "I'm a Celebrity. Get Me Out of Here". The concept plays right into the hands of the liberals. As long as Cheney keeps talking, the Democrats will never have to worry about losing another election...ever. Thanks to the ex-VP the GOP will be able to hold it's next convention in the conference room at the Topeka, Kansas Best Western. Consider that in 1992, the year Bill Clinton rode to town, 47% of voters 18 to 29 said they were Republicans. In 2009 that number is 33%. Can these guys throw a party or what?
Every time Cheney opens his sneering mouth, thousands of moderate voters run screaming for the exits. The man virtually oozes smugness. His message is simply a cynical effort to twist the facts and justify his illegal actions during his tenure as de facto President. Lord deliver us from Dick Cheney's protection.
If you're looking for enlightenment in the Republican dialogue, consider Colin Powell, the man Dick Cheney is determined to ostracize from the Party by any means necessary. Apparently, the General committed the ultimate sin by endorsing Barak Obama for President. Rush Limbaugh, the other turd in the Republican punchbowl, called that endorsement purely racial. For the Cheney-Limbaugh tandem to impugned the motives of Colin Powell is laughable. Between the two of them, they have exactly zero days of service to this country.
As the Republicans scurry about attempting to determine who they are, or who they want to be, Cheney and Powell offer a stark contrast both of vision and style. Powell was a lifelong independent. (It doesn't help your military career to be overtly political.) He joined the Republicans in 1995. (Apparently he didn't realize he was black until 2008.) He became the assumptive Secretary of State for George W. Bush in the 2000 campaign although Bush never actually asked him to join the team. None of Bush's gang of handlers liked Powell. He was too difficult to control (read: too honest) Nevertheless it was common knowledge that George W's resume was a touch light on world affairs (he couldn't find Montreal with Mapquest) and the General added some badly needed gravitas.
Powell served the puppet-masters in the Bush White House for four years without once complaining. They sent him to the UN prior to the Iraq invasion to shamefully mislead the world about what we knew. Powell never moaned or broke ranks. He played the good soldier until after the 2004 election in spite of the dismissive treatment he received. Had he spoken up about the lies and treachery of the first Bush term prior to the election, John Kerry might well have been elected President. That, however, was not in Colin Powell's code. In short, Colin Powell's career has been about honor, service and loyalty. The Republicans could do a lot worse.
Then we have Dick Cheney, the Snidely Whiplash of American politics. Too busy to serve in the military, Cheney spent his entire career fighting America's wars from various desks in the Capital. He has been: Chief of Staff (Ford), Representative from Wyoming (Reagan), Secretary of Defense (Bush I) and, of course, Vice President (Bush II). Most of Cheney's time in Washington was unremarkable. As VP however, he became Machiavelli and Rasputin all in one. His deceit and maneuverings as VP, (WMD, Valerie Plame, Enhanced Interrogation) are legend. Tired of being a bridesmaid, Cheney decided that Vice President was close enough to absolute power considering that GWB was such a light weight. His scorched earth Vice Presidency made a mockery of the Constitution and the idea of exporting our values into a punchline.
Given a choice, which of these men appears to exemplify the traits we look for in leaders? Powell has yet to break faith with an administration that excluded him from everything but photo-ops. Cheney ran for Vice President on a bigoted platform opposing homosexual relationships while his lesbian daughter was conceiving her first child. Hypocrisy, anyone?
Granted it's difficult to smell a rose in a field of manure but even the social conservatives must notice that Powell's Republican Party appears more palatable. Debates about guns, abortion and marriage are healthy and demand more than bumper stickers. Be opposed to the closing of Guantanamo for reasons that make sense, not because you heard that Obama wants to free the detainees and relocate them in Austin. Try substance instead of sloganeering. And please God, get Karl Rove the hell out of the party.
But hey, don't listen to me. Nominate the ticket of Palin and Joe the Plumber in 2012. Let Rush, Michael Savage and Glen Beck tell you how to think. Let the Christian Right set your agenda. Just get used to hearing, "Will the Democratic nominee step forward to be sworn in?"
Showing posts with label Colin Powell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colin Powell. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
...or is kicking a man when he's down really the only time to do it?
Thoughts at the close of 2008 Volume I:
We would all be delighted to allow George W. Bush to slink off the stage and forever be consigned to the obscurity he so richly deserves. Think Nixon at the helicopter door. Unfortunately, a few remaining Bush apologists who still have access to the media (and who don't have tell-all books headed for publication) are determined to keep Curious George in the papers, if not in the headlines.
Most vocal thus far is Condoleezza Rice. Having been one of the architects of the Bush Doctrine (Don't feel bad, Sarah. I didn't know it had a name either.) Secretary Rice can be forgiven for applying a little grease paint to her foreign policy porker. In several interviews granted last week, she expresses no remorse for the senseless deaths in Iraq. She is confident that history will vindicate both her and her boss. Patriotism may be the last refuge of scoundrels but history is surely the last refuge of bone-headed policy-makers. Secretary Rice has also postulated that, thanks to the efforts of GWB, the Middle East is in much better shape than eight years ago. I suspect the cheering crowds in Jerusalem and Amman are being drowned out by the falling bombs and rockets in Gaza.
The entire eight years of Bush foreign policy can be written in one word: Iraq. History may ultimately see the invasion of a sovereign nation as a bold stroke with glorious results. Sadly, the 4,219 Americans and 50,000 Iraqis killed since 2003 won't be around to read about it.
But Condi is not alone in her praise for the outgoing CIC. Not content to pack up the trailer and return to Texas, Laura Bush has decided to break eight years of silence in defense of her much-maligned hubby. Naturally, the venue of choice was Fox News. Mrs. Bush arrived with the usual wagon-load of excuses as to why her husband is held in the same high regard as O.J. Simpson and Rod Blagojevich. She blames, who else? The media.
It was the news coverage of Katrina that made Clueless George look a buffoon, not the complete ineptitude of FEMA. After all only 1,800 people died in the storm and it's aftermath, not the 10,000 originally reported. It was those liberal reporters and photographers that kept showing all that human suffering rather than focusing on John McCain's birthday party...like the Commander in Chief did. Laura, sweetheart, stop talking! We liked you much better when we thought you were a cardboard cutout.
And last and least is Karl "with enough money and dirty tricks I could get a pound of headcheese elected president...and did" Rove. Thanks to his weekly gig in The Wall Street Journal, Rove continues to justify and excuse the bag of hammers that became Bush 43.
This week Karl was busy praising GWB as an avid reader. According to Rove, George polished off 95 books in 2006 alone. The President's reading list runs mostly to biographies and history. Tragically, a few titles missing from the list include, "Waging War For Dummies", "Chicken Soup For the Families of 4,219 Fallen Americans", and "Everything I Needed To Know To Be President I Learned From Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney". I wonder if the list from 2001 included "The Pet Goat".
Rove is the worst kind of apologist. As a modern day Rasputin he stood in the shadows, always careful not to soil his hands. It's unlikely that any subpoena will ever bear his name. Colin Powell will be remembered as the Secretary of State who lied before the entire United Nations. Rumsfeld will be forever blamed for the conduct of the Iraq War. However, none of the Bush failures, and they are legion, will land at the feet of Karl Rove. We can only hope that, without a power base as a threat, Rove's band of trolls will turn on him. There are plenty of publishers out there just itching to print the dirt. The book will be called "If He Did It, The Sequel".
We would all be delighted to allow George W. Bush to slink off the stage and forever be consigned to the obscurity he so richly deserves. Think Nixon at the helicopter door. Unfortunately, a few remaining Bush apologists who still have access to the media (and who don't have tell-all books headed for publication) are determined to keep Curious George in the papers, if not in the headlines.
Most vocal thus far is Condoleezza Rice. Having been one of the architects of the Bush Doctrine (Don't feel bad, Sarah. I didn't know it had a name either.) Secretary Rice can be forgiven for applying a little grease paint to her foreign policy porker. In several interviews granted last week, she expresses no remorse for the senseless deaths in Iraq. She is confident that history will vindicate both her and her boss. Patriotism may be the last refuge of scoundrels but history is surely the last refuge of bone-headed policy-makers. Secretary Rice has also postulated that, thanks to the efforts of GWB, the Middle East is in much better shape than eight years ago. I suspect the cheering crowds in Jerusalem and Amman are being drowned out by the falling bombs and rockets in Gaza.
The entire eight years of Bush foreign policy can be written in one word: Iraq. History may ultimately see the invasion of a sovereign nation as a bold stroke with glorious results. Sadly, the 4,219 Americans and 50,000 Iraqis killed since 2003 won't be around to read about it.
But Condi is not alone in her praise for the outgoing CIC. Not content to pack up the trailer and return to Texas, Laura Bush has decided to break eight years of silence in defense of her much-maligned hubby. Naturally, the venue of choice was Fox News. Mrs. Bush arrived with the usual wagon-load of excuses as to why her husband is held in the same high regard as O.J. Simpson and Rod Blagojevich. She blames, who else? The media.
It was the news coverage of Katrina that made Clueless George look a buffoon, not the complete ineptitude of FEMA. After all only 1,800 people died in the storm and it's aftermath, not the 10,000 originally reported. It was those liberal reporters and photographers that kept showing all that human suffering rather than focusing on John McCain's birthday party...like the Commander in Chief did. Laura, sweetheart, stop talking! We liked you much better when we thought you were a cardboard cutout.
And last and least is Karl "with enough money and dirty tricks I could get a pound of headcheese elected president...and did" Rove. Thanks to his weekly gig in The Wall Street Journal, Rove continues to justify and excuse the bag of hammers that became Bush 43.
This week Karl was busy praising GWB as an avid reader. According to Rove, George polished off 95 books in 2006 alone. The President's reading list runs mostly to biographies and history. Tragically, a few titles missing from the list include, "Waging War For Dummies", "Chicken Soup For the Families of 4,219 Fallen Americans", and "Everything I Needed To Know To Be President I Learned From Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney". I wonder if the list from 2001 included "The Pet Goat".
Rove is the worst kind of apologist. As a modern day Rasputin he stood in the shadows, always careful not to soil his hands. It's unlikely that any subpoena will ever bear his name. Colin Powell will be remembered as the Secretary of State who lied before the entire United Nations. Rumsfeld will be forever blamed for the conduct of the Iraq War. However, none of the Bush failures, and they are legion, will land at the feet of Karl Rove. We can only hope that, without a power base as a threat, Rove's band of trolls will turn on him. There are plenty of publishers out there just itching to print the dirt. The book will be called "If He Did It, The Sequel".
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