March 06, 2006

The Neocon Temptation

I'm certainly no fan of Patrick Buchanan, but his comments in the paper this weekend struck me as scarily prescient:

"Were this a financial investment, Iraq would have been written off and our losses cut a long time ago. But for Bush to write it off is to write himself off as a failed president who committed the greatest strategic blunder in U.S. history.

And so the president is now being offered a way out by his neocon counselors: escalate. Take the war to the enemy, as we should have from the beginning. Use U.S. air power to wipe Iran's nuclear facilities off the map. Go all-out for victory. Emulate Lincoln, Churchill, FDR, Truman.

With his poll ratings in the pits, and his party facing almost certain and heavy losses in the fall, Bush may yet yield to the neocon temptation. For unlike LBJ in 1968, he does not seem reconciled to going back to his ranch as a failed president."

Let us pray otherwise...

Posted by Michael at 03:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 15, 2005

Another Bush Moment

I was watching the news the other day, and thought I needed a Q-Tip to clean out my ears. No sooner had W. said emphatically "We do not torture" then we were informed that the administration is seeking an exemption for the CIA.

This bothers me on a couple of levels:

  1. Aren't we supposed to be the beacon for freedom, human rights, etc.?

  2. What will this mean for captured U.S. prisoners? Not hard to guess.

Upon reflection, I did find a silver lining: at least I live in a country where they have to ask if they can torture prisoners (and will probably be turned down.)

As an aside, how come Bush always seems so irritated whenever he's asked a question by the media? Did that part of the job catch him off guard?

Here's an oldie, but still my favorite W. joke:

How many Bush administration officials does it take to change a light bulb?

None. There’s nothing wrong with that light bulb. There is no need to change anything. We made the right decision and nothing has happened to change our minds. People who criticize this light bulb now, just because it doesn’t work anymore, supported us when we first screwed it in, and when these flip-floppers insist on saying that it is burned out, they are merely giving aid and encouragement to the Forces of Darkness.

Posted by Michael at 12:12 AM