My theory on Bush's "apology" and Thursday

[The_Mule]

Bush's approval ratings are in the crapper. The PNAC plans to continue to invade mid-east countries has been stalled by Bush's bungling. The country is too fixed on the bad economy, high gas prices, and Iraq war for any of the Bush administration's plans (social security privatization, more tax cuts, etc) to get much traction. The neo-conservative agenda could be delivered more efficiently with Bush out of the way.

Well, along comes Katrina. It's just the opportunity to float up a neo-con trial balloon. My theory is that the real powers-that-be have developed a two-step plan after Katrina. Step one is to put out a Bush failure and apology to see how the public reacts. Step two depends on how they view the reaction. If the public buys into the catapult of the propaganda (we used to call that flinging the bullshit) and seem to forgive Bush, then step two is to let Bush enjoy the higher poll numbers and to move on business-as-usual. If, however, the public responds with torches and pitchforks, then I think that step two is to cut Bush loose for the public to feed upon as a distraction and appetizer to prepare for acceptance of the bad taste of a President Cheney.

I really believe that was the plan all along, from 1999 when Bush was recruited for the figurehead role. I couldn't believe it when Bush announced he was running for president. I thought the GOP had lost their collective minds. The man had no experience and was obviously a complete fuck-up. However, the neo-cons knew that Bush would be elected, even if just on the "novelty vote" (not to mention the dirty tricks before, during, and after the election). And, of course, the old GOP guard went along with the neo-cons because they wanted to be on the winning side to further their own agenda. I knew that was the case when I saw the destruction of McCain during the primaries. The old GOP guard went along with the ruthless politics just to keep their own feeble grasp on power. I think the neo-cons and old GOP alike had in mind that dumb old Bush would be a convenient scapegoat if they needed one. They could remove the idiot and install ultra-serious Cheney. They know Cheney is not palatable as a candidate, but could be made so playing the "adults are now in charge" routine. They haven't yet had to resort to removing the idiot, but I think they are testing the waters now.

Please post your thoughts on this.

On edit: added quotation marks around apology so that we can focus on discussing the neo-cons' plans, and not whether Bush made a "real" apology, which he did not.

[Child_Of_Isis]

1. I don't think he will

"accept responsibility" again. It will be terra terra and let's move on, and a whole lot of "work". Boo-koo bunches of "freedom" also. And all is well in neocon land. Lull the sheeple back to sleep kind of thing.

[The_Mule]

5. I agree with you...

That will be the point of the speech tomorrow. He's already done the "accept responsibility" thing.

My theory is that the neo-cons are using the speech tomorrow *and* Bush's accept responsibility statement to probe public sentiment. I think they will let Bush dangle if he no longer serves his purpose.

[damntexdem]

2. And still Dubya made his 'apology' a contingent statement:

'To the degree that' they screwed up qualified it. The man cannot state flat out that he made a mistake.

Remove Dubya? I don't know about that. They have a long list of scapegoats should they need them: Michael Brown was just the first, and so very deserving. Before tossing Rummy (re Iraq), they can skewer a few generals if need be. And the thing is, once they toss someone overboard, they buy his/her silence with a Medal of Freedom.

[The_Mule]

7. Well, they do have some other scapegoats

But I think that Rummy is too central to PNAC for them to go after him. There's not many Americans that are willing to do the dirty work like Rummy has. Even Colin "My Lai" Powell had to get away from it. Also, I think they are on shaky ground if they start messing with some of the generals. But, perhaps *they* don't know that.

[Halliburton]

3. his poll numbers are in the gutter

and they'll stay in the gutter. I just hope Fitzgerald can deliver the death blow soon.

[okieinpain]

4. nope they are going to take any increase in poll numbers as a good sign

then it will be business as usual. repugs no that there is no way that cheney could sell anything to the american people, if bush resigns so would cheney, and there is no way in hell on earth that bush is going to resign.

[The_Mule]

6. Cheney can't sell anything to the American people...

I think you have a point there. I believe that the neo-cons think that if Bush went down hard enough then they could sell Cheney as the adult in charge of cleaning up. However, there's no way that *anyone* believes that President Cheney could work long-term. I think the neo-cons have someone else in mind for the figurehead role, but I'm not yet ready to make a guess on who that would be.

[BurtWorm]

8. Please don't call it an apology.

That is not what it was.

[The_Mule]

9. Well, you and I know that

but I don't think the PNACers have the heart and soul to realize that most Americans don't think that Bush was really apologizing. I think they floated it out there as an apology to see if anyone was buying.

[BurtWorm]

10. As someone else said in this forum, it's a framing issue.

If we call it an apology, it becomes an apology. Better to call it a pseudo-apology, so that its phoniness stays up front and center, where it should be.

[The_Mule]

11. I understand the framing, but..

surely nearly everyone here at DU thinks that it was not a real apology.

[BurtWorm]

13. So please don't call it an apology.

I don't want to be an enforcer, and it's not personal against you or anyone else. But words do matter.

[The_Mule]

16. I'm sorry if I offended you.

The content of my post was not meant to focus on whether or not Bush made a real apology. I assumed that everyone here reading at DU would agree that he did not.

I wanted (and still want) to discuss the powers-that-be next move so that we can put the pressure in the most effective places. I believe that they may have made some crucial mistakes, and that they may not even realize it yet. I think they are vulnerable now, hopefully fatally so (disclaimer: not in a physical sense of actual people dying).

If I were to try to publish this in a LTTE or op-ed piece, I would be careful about using terms like apology.

On edit: I added some quotation marks around apology to try to make it clear where I stand if someone was just reading the subject line.

[BurtWorm]

17. It's not a matter of offense.

It's a matter of accuracy.

[The_Mule]

18. Read the whole post for accuracy about what I want to discuss

BurtWorm, I'm serious, I applaud your passion that Bush did not apologize.

[BurtWorm]

21. Thank you for changing the subject line.

:toast:

As for the rest of your post, I tend to think reality is too big for a puny clique of PNACers to control. I don't think they're pulling all the Bushist strings, but they're certainly pulling a lot of them.

I think someone--probably Rove--made Bush say "I take responsibility" because it was obvious that something had to be done to stop the disaster Katrina unleashed on the Bush adminsitration and the Republican Party. The purpose was to make Bush look like he was in charge, not to admit to failure. It was a make-believe "the buck stops here" utterance. The notion that he *apologized*, or that we were supposed to think he apologized seems to me off the mark.

[Disturbed]

14. Not an apology. Nope.

He said "to the extent that the Fed etc. blah blah. This was foisted upon him to stem the downward spiral. It may slow the demise but it is too late for a recovery. The RW agenda will be exposed now by some of the Corp. Media because they now smell the stink of it.

[The_Mule]

15. Agree that it was not a real apology

and I applaud your optimism that the corporate media will expose the RW agenda. I'm not yet convinced they will push hard enough to truly expose it, but I have seen *some* encouraging signs of life in the media lately. Here's hoping that they continue to wake up - there's a lot of work to do.

[rateyes]

12. I think the speech will center on the old--

"I want to be a uniter, not a divider, thing---There are too many serious issues in the new world created by 9-11 to allow an act of nature to divide this country, blah, blah, blah, we all just need to get along, etc. etc.---puke"

[The_Mule]

20. If he does try to connect 9/11 and Katrina response on Thursday..

then they (PNAC, neo-cons, Bush advisors) are completely out of touch with public sentiment, which I believe they are. They have been somewhat successful in their shameless attempt to use 9/11 to prop up their figurehead, but they cannot hide their failure in responding to Katrina. To try to connect the two makes no sense in any logical reality. It will accentuate the incompetence fresh in the minds of Americans, and it will invite comparisons to the two events. I wouldn't think they would want more light to shine on the questions about 9/11. It will be interesting to see if they go down that road.

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. I'm betting the only thing Bush will do

and it will be with great fanfare is to announce that he is going to investigate himself and name some asshole Disaster Czar.

[The_Mule]

22. Shameless self-kick for the late night crowd.

Any opinions on this out there?

[Cleita]

23. I can't imagine why they'd think Cheney is palatable.

Of course if he is installed as President, maybe his health will keep him from doing too much damage. Charlie Rangal has said that he believes Rumsfeld is the guy, who is actually running things, so maybe Cheney will fill in as another sock puppet. But none of them ever say the right thing. I can't see how they are going to pull it off for long. Maybe they will be like dominoes falling.

[LuCifer]

24. 38% is...uh...good!!!!!!

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Listen, the writting is on the wall. We on the left HAVE GOT to stop being hankey-stompers and BUTCH UP and pick up a BOOM STICK and learn to fight back! Now, before you anti-gun folks go off the deep freakin end, know this: IT IS NOT A TOY! DUH! WE KNOW THAT! No shit, sherlock!

It is TIME to start organing and fighting back!!!!!!!!!!

Lu