On Autopilot
In the attempt to correct the grievous situation into which the U.S. was plunged by the tragic elections at the turn of the millennia, it's useful to remind ourselves of how it was that George W. Bush came to be the man chosen by the Republicans to be their candidate for President that year, followed by his actual occupation of that office, and we all know what has so sadly happened since then, no matter how easily the disasters could've been anticipated, if not in their exact details then at least in their tenor.
Bush was handed the candidacy because he had high name recognition stemming from his father and because he was regarded by the Republicans as having just the right stunted frame of mind suitable to serve as a conduit for imposing on the country their regressive, piratical agenda. As long as a candidate can be depended on to push that agenda, these people aren't particular about the quality of the person they back. Unlike Democrats, Republicans have a noticeable shortage of people of good character, high principles, and intellectual capacity. That ties in with one other important factor -- the Republicans knew that Bush's mediocrity would allow him to be seen as less threatening and toxic than all the other scalawags that they could've put forward at that time.
Today, as Bush is slated to be renominated by acclamation, the Republicans are relieved at not having to face that problem for another four years.
Even then the election was such a close-run thing that it became a putsch instead, and it was just the Republicans' good luck and the extremely bad luck of Americans and more particularly of tens of thousands of Afghanis and Iraqis who otherwise would be alive and unharmed today that Bush's brother was the governor of the state that wound up with the decisive, contested votes, and the people that Republicans had already installed on the supposedly impartial Supreme Court were in place and able to tip the balance.
Too many people are comfortable with the possibility of heading into nearly an exact reprise of the events of 2000 and afterward, complete with comparable conflagrations.
Yet, considering what the last three and a half years have revealed, it's hard to see how even Bush's staunchest supporters would accept him as their leader in negotiating the mazes of a Wal-Mart, much less as President of the United States. The leadership that allegedly has been oozing from the White House hasn't been evident, and instead the country has had all the appearance of operating on autopilot, dropping off soldiers here and there by parachute to scour unlucky places -- and not picking them up again but just continuing to lumber along aimlessly through the smoke-filled atmosphere while slowly losing moral altitude.
Bush was handed the candidacy because he had high name recognition stemming from his father and because he was regarded by the Republicans as having just the right stunted frame of mind suitable to serve as a conduit for imposing on the country their regressive, piratical agenda. As long as a candidate can be depended on to push that agenda, these people aren't particular about the quality of the person they back. Unlike Democrats, Republicans have a noticeable shortage of people of good character, high principles, and intellectual capacity. That ties in with one other important factor -- the Republicans knew that Bush's mediocrity would allow him to be seen as less threatening and toxic than all the other scalawags that they could've put forward at that time.
Today, as Bush is slated to be renominated by acclamation, the Republicans are relieved at not having to face that problem for another four years.
Even then the election was such a close-run thing that it became a putsch instead, and it was just the Republicans' good luck and the extremely bad luck of Americans and more particularly of tens of thousands of Afghanis and Iraqis who otherwise would be alive and unharmed today that Bush's brother was the governor of the state that wound up with the decisive, contested votes, and the people that Republicans had already installed on the supposedly impartial Supreme Court were in place and able to tip the balance.
Too many people are comfortable with the possibility of heading into nearly an exact reprise of the events of 2000 and afterward, complete with comparable conflagrations.
Yet, considering what the last three and a half years have revealed, it's hard to see how even Bush's staunchest supporters would accept him as their leader in negotiating the mazes of a Wal-Mart, much less as President of the United States. The leadership that allegedly has been oozing from the White House hasn't been evident, and instead the country has had all the appearance of operating on autopilot, dropping off soldiers here and there by parachute to scour unlucky places -- and not picking them up again but just continuing to lumber along aimlessly through the smoke-filled atmosphere while slowly losing moral altitude.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 6:23 AM
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