In praise of George W. Bush. No, really. Well, kind of.

[vixengrl]

I have an active dislike for George W. Bush, if anyone is interested. It's palpable, in fact. I believe he has deep-seated fundamental psychological hang-ups that have impaired his judgement and impelled him to make decisions that were simply not good for this country. He is narcissistic and nihilistic, a dangerous combination--when he cares, it's because his crusade feeds his ego. And when something does not affect him--it might as well not exist. This is why he went after Saddam Hussein, the man who "tried to kill his Daddy." This is why he did little in regards to Katrina. He has been so flawed in fact, that the smart money is already down on history judging him "The Worst President Ever."

But I will praise him now, because of history. An alternate history I can almost forsee--a history where his successor is John Sidney McCain.

George Bush, of course, came to office on a cloud of smears and having buried a lot of his own dirt--anyone who's read Hatfield's muckraking Fortunate Son knows that a lot of political hay could have been made of certain failures and indiscretions he may have had, but he very successfully minimized his negatives by, with the help of Karl Rove and his own ambition, creating a truly mythic narrative for himself. He bought the Crawford ranch and made himself a brush-clearin' Texan, a man of faith and values. A Reagan redux. A "uniter, not a divider." His campaign had excellent message discipline. Bush said the things he needed to say, all the time. He was groomed for it--he'd been a part of his father's '88 campaign. He brought together very talented people to help him spread his message.

Is it any wonder, that despite the callous disregard for truth or cynical pandering with the promise of Faith-Based initiatives and promises of "no nation-building" in answer to the right's concern about Clinton's humanitarian efforts, that he trounced McCain in the 2000 primary? He had the mojo--but more than that, McCain had just his Straight-talk, and no answer for outright smears. He didn't know what to do, his campaign was sloppy, (damn near as much as his primary campaign this season was, leaking dollars and with personnel shake-ups, late last year and early this year.)

Though newer to the business, Bush handled campaigning like a professional. Maybe Dick Cheney chose himself as VP, but Bush was nonetheless smart enough to take him up on his offer--and get the necessary "Foreign policy" cred he lacked (so much so, people joked about him learning foreign leaders' names by Condi Rice giving him flash cards.) It was always understood that W. surrounded himself with smart people to make up for his own deficits, in the words of Dennis Miller, "like a hole surrounds itself with a doughnut." (I'm pretty sure that was Dennis Miller, when he was still a little funny.)

Who does John McCain surround himself with? Mark Salter--his ghostwriter and image-consultant? Steve Schmidt and Karl Rove--Sith masters? Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham-say did the talking head who chatted up Graham today, to find that he thought Sarah Palin was a good choice, ever think to ask Graham why he himself was not even on the short list? I never heard Graham's name bruited about. His answer to that might've been interesting. Bud Day--a former POW himself, and Swift-boater--kind of makes you wonder about the old "too honorable" for that kind of politics line. Orson Swindle, another one, with a name I would've changed if I found myself in politics with it. People who reinforce his "bubble" in regards to the sacrosanct nature of the McCain myth. People who tell him he's still a straight talker if he tells a convenient mistruth. People who let him know he's so brave and deserving--he can afford to be a little bit of a snot-nosed prima donna about his press needs. And coddle his senior moments and guard him from the press that he used to engage, when he felt cleaner, and kind of enjoyed the sport.

Bush always knew he was a little bit of a media creation. He laughed at himself. Does Mccain?

Bush actually had division in his cabinet from day one, even though the moderate voices got, first, drowned out, then, forced out. He had to know Cheney represented a hawkish presence, and might've known Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld would not be natural friends, and while he greatly admired Condileeza Rice, he knew that as a woman, she'd have to struggle sometimes to make herself heard in the testosterone-drenched arena of a War Room. But he was confortable with women. Mary Matalin. Karen Hughes. Gale Norton, Ann Veneman, Christie Whitman--he respected ladies. Maybe because his mom was such a strong figure.

And John McCain picks Sarah Palin for Vice President.

She's no Dick Cheney. I don't know if I can name another woman besides his First Lady even linked to his campaign--except Vicki Iseman, who was a very-well doused scandal and doesn't count. And his ex-wife, who supports him even still. Since he adopted her sons and got them jobs and stuff. And his mum, who might've sued his ex-wife, not that she recalls it.

What I'm getting at is this--if we ever thought Bush was bad, McCain promises to be worse. His cabinet will be like-minded folks, and I get a crazy feeling that if he couldn't put Lieberman in for VP--he's got a plan for him somewhere in his cabinet. He will have a lot of positive reinforcement. They'll applaud his little things--a lot.

They'll ignore his gaffes, and ignore his decline. Power-tripping Palin will get people who are incovenient fired, and the media won't touch it--she's a girl after all. He'll pull out of pulling out of Iraq, and try another surge, showing Maliki he won't be pursuaded by any so-called sovereign gov't. He'll continue to growl over the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and "the other one" and maintain a correspondence with Saakashvili--even IM'ing him, once Cindy sets him up an account. And one day--he'll bomb Iran. Or North Korea. Or somebody like that--they were asking for it.

And American soldiers stationed nearby are attacked. Because he decided that's what they were for.

W. and his rubber Thangsgiving-in-Iraq-turkey know better than that. McCain was never told. I'm sure Poppy at least once put the fear of failure in W. But old Admiral McCain is a ghost, forever saying "Bomb Cambodia a little more, and even Hanoi--so what if my son is there...."

And McCain sacrifices a piece of his soul, thinking it's his duty to. And ignores why it's wrong. Reliving the past that W avoided.

McCain isn't even Bush. Pass that along.

Bush faces his issues whenever he checks in on his old man. McCain sees his ghost whenever he faces the issues--

Maybe there's a way Bush is judged an okay fellow by history yet!