Bush Extends Hand With Fingers Crossed

[WilliamPitt]

Bush Extends Hand With Fingers Crossed
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Columnist

Thursday 04 January 2007

George W. Bush has been loath, over these last years, to acknowledge the existence of an opposition party within American government. There has been, until recently, little need for him to do so. His GOP allies have maintained an iron grip on the activities of Congress, save for a small blip of time that began with the party switch of Senator James Jeffords and ended with the 2002 midterm elections.

That little hiccup has become less than a footnote, because the Republican Congressional majority has, almost without fail, given Mr. Bush everything he has asked for. The Democratic minority has suffered along with no voice in government, denied even the ability to hold rump hearings in any room larger than a basement broom closet. When Mr. Bush did deign to acknowledge the existence of Democrats, he did so in the most crudely partisan of fashions. "The Democrat approach comes down to this," said Bush on the eve of the November 2006 midterm elections. "The terrorists win, and America loses."

Those November midterms, however, fundamentally altered a political landscape that was once so comfortable and unobtrusive for Mr. Bush. The American people, by a staggering margin and with astonishing volume, repudiated virtually everything Bush and his Republican Congressional allies have pushed upon the country over the last six years. The invasion and occupation of Iraq, the staggering epidemic of corruption within the ranks of the Congressional GOP, the secretive usurping of basic rights - all this and more combined to strip Mr. Bush of those Unitary Executive powers he and his people have been working so hard to establish.

The opinion page of Wednesday's Wall Street Journal carried an editorial, titled "What the Congress Can Do for America," that was allegedly penned by Mr. Bush. In it, he acknowledged the new realities facing his term and the last years of his administration. "Tomorrow, members of the 110th Congress will take their oaths of office here in Washington," read the editorial. "Together, we have a chance to serve the American people by solving the complex problems that many don't expect us to tackle, let alone solve, in the partisan environment of today's Washington. To do that, however, we can't play politics as usual. Democrats will control the House and Senate, and therefore we share the responsibility for what we achieve."

It is difficult to ignore, despite the pleasant language of bipartisanship proffered by this editorial, the simple fact that Mr. Bush has never been very interested in working with anyone who does not share the ideologically absolutist policy ideas his administration has relentlessly pushed, even in defiance of swaths of undeniable and unavoidable facts. It is hard to believe, therefore, that his my-way-or-the-highway style of leadership has become a thing of the past.

Nowhere in the editorial is this more evident than in the section dedicated to the ongoing fiasco of Iraq. Bush, helpless as ever to avoid conflating Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, once again combines these two unrelated realities as a cover for his misguided and disastrous decisions. "Our priorities begin with defeating the terrorists who killed thousands of innocent Americans on September 11, 2001," read the editorial, "and who are working hard to attack us again. These terrorists are part of a broader extremist movement that is now doing everything it can to defeat us in Iraq."

These lines are rich in denial. Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11, and the invasion of Iraq has obliterated the planetary goodwill enjoyed by America after that wretched day. The foolish decision to occupy that country has left us with an intractable quagmire dominated by a religious and sectarian civil war, inaccurately described here as "a broader extremist movement," whose conclusion is far from certain. As always, we are also given the note of fear - they are "working hard to attack us again" - that Bush still believes is enough to inspire the kind of knee-jerk trust he has relied on for so long.

More: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010407J.shtml

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Thanks for this

I'll be discussing this with my husband when I get off work. He reads everything from Truthout.

[damntexdem]

2. Now how can he have fingers crossed ...

when he's only extending one middle finger to the Dems, to those who oppose him, and to the American people?

[kentuck]

3. Wise Democrats understand this...

He is a snake with a forked tongue. Do not be deceived.

[Hubert Flottz]

4. "Bipartisanship" should mean today, what it's meant every time

the republicans and Bush have said it, in the past six long years! * Nothing.

Let the Great Wailing and Gnashing of Tooth begin!

Nancy's way or the highway Mr. Dictadent!

If they're not with Nancy they are against her.

Are the republicans going to be obstructionists, from day one?

I keep seeing the scene from the movie 'Walking Tall' where the judge ends up with an office in the men's restroom.

[bleever]

5. K&R. If Bush was in over his head with one-party control,

he's hopelessly lost in a world where he needs to care about what other people want.

[bananarepublican]

8. Great point! This "dumb(ya) ass" is headed for the perfect tantrum!

Will Poppy come to the rescue yet again? Perhaps an all expenses paid bus tour through Dealey Plaza for all Democratic Senators and Congressmen/women could be arranged? As a former CIA head, he can no doubt still pull a few strings.

Don't forget, Arlen Spector would still be on hand to polish his "magic bullet theory development" skills after the "lone nut" (Michael Moore anyone?) has been incarcerated!!!

[ozymandius]

6. I call bull on this.

Allegedly penned by Mr. Bush, indeed. Everyone knows Bush is illiterate.

[DemReadingDU]

7. morning kick