'War President' :By E. J. Dionne Jr

[jbfam4]

'War President'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27179-2004Feb9.html


By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004; Page A23


"I'm a war president."

On those words, President Bush will stand or fall.


So, because of Sept. 11, it really doesn't matter what Bush said before the war, or what the intelligence actually showed, or whether Saddam Hussein had those weapons. If you understand the "context" of a world in which the United States has been struck by "terrorists with airplanes," anything that Bush decides should be done is, by definition, something that must be done. He's a war president. Don't forget it.

The strange thing is that while Bush is determined not to repeat the mistakes his father made 12 years ago, he is in the process of repeating, almost precisely, the first Bush administration's fatal mistake.

The president and Karl Rove, his top political adviser, see Bush 41's problem as his estrangement from the Republicans' conservative political base. The first Bush raised taxes, so this Bush will cut them once, twice, many times. The social conservatives didn't trust the elder Bush. So this Bush will make sure that they keep faith with him as a man who keeps the faith.

Here's what's missing from this analysis: The first Bush didn't lose because of defections from the right. He lost because mainstream, middle-class Americans decided, fairly or not, that their president just didn't understand much of anything about their lives. They were worried about their jobs, their health care, their pensions, their housing and sending their kids to college. Voters freely conceded that the first President Bush was first-rate when it came to foreign policy. That just didn't happen to be what they voted on in November 1992.

The current President Bush is putting himself in exactly the same place. If Americans want a war president, he's their man. But in light of the failure to find those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, many voters now wonder whether that was a war that needed to be fought.

[opihimoimoi]

1. Bushie 2 has made so many errors, it is now too little too late.

The Tax cuts he was told to be good for America is now looking very much to be the exact opposite. Too late for him to raise those taxes that shouldn't have been cut in the first place.

In addition, he is stricken with a severe case of myopia. Bush cannot see anywhere past his friggen nose. Thus he is in delusion that HIS way is the ONLY WAY. Take the UN for an example. He poo poo'd them in a denigrating way that now when he really needs their assistance.... whadda we get? You know already the answer, nada.

Nope, Bush is Toast.

[420montana]

2. Loving that phrase

"Bush is toast." thanks, Dawg

[xxqqqzme]

3. this brings up

a talking head topic I have never understood. The pundits lay a heavy burden on a presidential office seeker as whether he will have an understanding of foreign affairs. This was a supposed failure of Dean early on and a big + 4 kerry. Most voters don't give a rat's ass about foreign policy. Most can't even find the UK on a globe. squatter, w/ all his wealth 'n privilege, had never traveled outside the US & we can all see how well that has turned out! (I don't count crossing the border, north or south 2 buy weed or booze as international travel) It all comes back to the pocket and the talk around the current equivalent of the kitchen table - the coffe machine @ the office.

[DieboldMustDie]

6. * had no understanding of foreign affairs...

prior to entering the White House, and judging be his actions thees past 3 years, he still doesn't. Any of the Democratic candidates would be superior to him in this, and pretty much every other, regard.

[Snow]

4. I remember with great amusement the enlightenment that

came upon the country when we heard about Bush 41's amazement at seeing barcode scanners in a supermarket. A lot of separation from the ordinary life there, and boy, did that show it up clearly. I'm hoping 43's handlers are likewise divorced enough from mainstream culture that they'll make the same sort of bloopers, loudly and repeatedly.

[Wells]

5. "The Outhouse President"

Sooner or later, DUHbya's supporters recognize his visable lack of empathy. His bumbling looks more like dissembling. Not much of his spittle is believable. His intellectual shortcomings and inablity to express the intent of his administration's policy is detrimental to the American psyche. He is not a leader. His policy is corrupt.

I hope the label, "The War President", sticks to him like shit in an outhouse.

[Snappy]

7. Still the best description.

“George W. Bush is a dullard lacking any moral constraints in his pursuit of gain, loyal to no principle save the comfort of the very rich, unburdened by any thoughtful consideration of the national interest, and a man who, on those occasions when he actually does make a correct decision, does so almost by accident."

Jonathan Chait of the New Republic