Billmon (Whiskey Bar): The Potemkin President (must read)

[Dudley_DUright]

That Bush's trip to the hurricane zone would turn into a portable soundstage, complete with props and carefully screened human extras, shouldn't surprise anyone. It's just the way the modern imperial presidency operates in the television age.

Nevertheless, the phrase "Potemkin Village" inevitably does comes to mind -- and not just as a metaphor for this particular tour. Even for a modern imperial president, the bubble that Bush now lives in is impressively impermeable to reality. A portable bunker, in other words.

But thinking about the political impact on Hurricane Katrina, it occurred to me that the real Potemkin Village here is Bush himself -- or rather, the mythic image of Bush that was created in the wake of 9/11. New Orleans may, at great cost, be resurrected from the waters. Bush's presidential image, on the other hand, is probably gone for good. For him, at least, this really is the "anti-9/11."

<snip>

Which means that -- barring some dramatic new development, like a major terrorist attack -- the end result of Bush's collapse is likely to be a huge political vacuum, one that grows even stronger as the popular mood continues to sour. And it almost certainly will continue to sour, if the GOP policy machine keeps cranking out conservative "solutions" that have little or no bearing on the problems the public wants solved. But the machine doesn't know how to do anything else.

more...

http://billmon.org/archives/002126.html

[PSPS]

1. "barring some dramatic new development, like a major terrorist attack"

That's it in a nutshell, I'm afraid. They'll do anything to stay in power and avoid the hangman's noose.

[newscott]

2. We should call him president black cat or president 13

He's either dumber than anyone imagined or the unluckiest rich man on the planet.

[whalerider55]

3. dud...

i'm not as sanguine as billmon about this, for the simple reason that this has very little to do with bush. sure, he's astonishngly incompetent, profoundly indecisive, a petulent, prissy, self-inflated dry drunk who is white knucklng through life with free-pass and an open line to all of daddy's friends. that's as given.

but bush is charlie mccarthy. he's the ventriliquits dummy, telling dirty jokes and rolling his eyes to keep your eyes off of the ventriliquist.

and the ventriliquist? the combined corporate government that is calling the shots.

just curious. how many major corporations have headquarters or major elements of their operations headquartered in the region most affected by Katrina? If they did, do you think the response would have been so non-responsive.

this was a human tragedy. and most of these humans were really too poor to be major consumers. Broussard said it most powerfully today on Meet the Press; when walmart responds more quickly and effectively than the federal government, something is very wrong.

walmart.

i've never been more ashamed of my nation than i am today.

lor' helps us, and make this the turning point. because it could just as easily be a signpost on the road to hell.

whalerider

[Dudley_DUright]

8. There is a huge amount of goods shipped through

the port of New Orleans. Companies like Archer Daniels Midland will not be happy that they can't get there grain to market this year, not to mention all the oil and natural gas production, refining and distribution. It will take awhile, but this failure with have ever widening impact on corporate america (of course I realize that they will pass most of the pain onto the consumers).

[bullimiami]

4. it was amazing the failure of 9/11 was turned to political gold.

it was an utter failure of everything they espose.

i am still amazed that so many people bought it and that the media sold it.

[Cha]

5. I love this guy billmon!

Potemkin Village.."Something that appears elaborate and impressive but in actual fact lacks substance."

I had to look it up.."Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin who had elaborate fake villages constructed for Catherine the Great's tours of the Ukraine and the Crimea."
:)

That's got bushwa down to a tee and I learned a new way to describe them.

[ElectroPrincess]

6. It's been said before but I'll say it again =

Bush really does have the REVERSE-Midas touch. :nuke:

His entire life he's had to be rescued from failed business ventures. But now, all of Daddy's assets and all of daddy's yes-men, can NOT bring respect for junior back again. :P

[bemildred]

7. Not bad. Mr. Billmon scores. nt