2005: The Collapse of Bush's Authority

[UpInArms]

http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4013&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Whatever one thinks of Bush's politics, there is no question that, at the start of 2005, he had arrived at the pinnacle of his authority. He had just been reelected and the Republican Party controlled both houses of Congress. Indeed, the Republicans were able to defeat the leader of the previous Democratic majority in the Senate. Bush interpreted this not only as a validation of his invasion of Iraq but as authorization to proceed with his very conservative economic agenda -- renewal of the expiring tax cuts, a gutting of the social security program, drilling for oil in Alaska and in general a reduction of environmental protective measures for starters. He said that he was going to implement the mandate he felt he had obtained. Republican discipline was very strong and Bush controlled the signals.

Furthermore, the Democrats were deeply divided over whether they had done so poorly in the elections because they were seen as too far to the left or too far to the right. The former view was stronger among the Democrats in Congress, so Bush felt that he could count on at least some Democratic votes to add to his solid and united Republican bloc to pass any and all legislation that he favored.

One year later, all this has changed and changed radically. Almost all the legislation that was on Bush's list has failed to pass, and is unlikely to pass in the coming year. His unbreakable Republican bloc is now shattered. The so-called moderates have broken discipline. But so have the two right wings of the Republican party -- the fiscal ultra-conservatives and the Christian right. The Democrats are now showing the discipline that the Republicans had previously shown, so that the Republican breakaways have allowed them to win most crucial votes in one house of Congress or the other, but especially in the Senate. Bush's poll ratings are very low. Republicans up for reelection are asking Bush not to campaign for them. And at the end of 2005, some Democratic Congressmen have begun to talk of impeachment. Bush has even, for the first time, begun to admit that he may have made some (minor) errors during his presidency.

<snip>

Finally, however, it is illegal acts that may bring Bush personally down. It is not unusual for presidents of the United States to assert their "inherent" powers. However, the combination of Bush's personal instincts and Cheney's deliberate intentions to inflate the powers of the presidency have led to an unusually exaggerated form of such assertions. Bush started issuing secret orders in 2001, which permitted torture (although he didn't call it that) and illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens -- both in clear violation of quite explicit laws. As this came to light, the defense has been triple: the president has such power "inherently"; the Patriot Act of 2001 plus the congressional resolution in the aftermath of September 11 "implicitly" condoned it; the "rules" were all changed by the new menace of "terrorism."

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[PSPS]

1. All well and good, but...

I doubt many beyond DU will read this "Agence Global" piece.

One very important thing that the author fails to take into account is the stranglehold bush and his RW talk-radio surrogates have on the US media. They'll continue to prop him up until they view their support for him as less lucrative (in terms of money and/or power and influence) than an alternative.

[cliss]

2. Yes, this is all true.

The American people have been hoodwinked. But here's the horrible irony: guess why Bush really went down in the polls?

It wasn't because of all these ugly revelations. Yes, it's true the White House has become a rat-infested dung-heap where they are steadily destroying it. The US is paying an enormous price over what they are doing.

But the real reason he went down in the polls is because of the gas prices. As they went up, Bush's approval rating went down. If you were to lay the 2 graphs side by side, it would be smooth, even.

It's a sad commentary on the U.S.public.