Theatre of the Absurd

This is a moment in American history that demands honest, revolutionary thinking. We've all been witnesses to the enormous damage six years of Bush's administration has done to this country. It is certainly not for the faint of heart to try and imagine what another two years is going to bring.

Liz Smith ran a column back in 2000, way before Bush was put into office by our fair minded Supreme Court Justices. In it she reported from an article ran in the Texas Monthly which asked, "Is George W. Smart After All?" and then answered, Yes. And He Can Win! But You'll Be Sorry. The George W. Bush story which noted that Bush was running ahead of Al Gore in the polls rounded up some very timely quotes that still ring true today.

From John Sharp, the former Texas comptroller: "When the economy goes bad, you better not have that kind of a governor - and you better not have that kind of president. You'd better have someone who knows how to pull the levers of government and get the state, or the country, out of trouble."
From Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas: "George W. is a disciplined campaigner. He stays on message...he talks about faith-based this and that...this is a shield for what is actually taking place, and that is a delivery of influence over every aspect of our lives to the Religious Right."
From Garry Mauro, former land commissioner and failed Texas gubernatorial candidate: "I have never met a politician with less passion for the issues...He has no core. He flip-flops 100 percent because he doesn't care...How can you run for president when your state, with a large surplus, won't pay for health insurance for teachers?"
From Jim Hightower, former agricultural commissioner: "First, the smirk. His is not a facial tick. This is from within. It reflects a spoiled brat's sense of entitlement and a mean streak we've seen flair up. Two-down deep, this guy is shallow...Three, he is ...a loyal performer for fat cats...a hired hand for corporate interests. That's not what the general public wants its president to be."
From Ben Barnes, former lieutenant governor: "He can't distinguish between no new taxes on the one hand and surpluses on the other.
From Paul Begala, political consultant: "He's lighter'n than my grandma's biscuits. He has the weakest, thinnest, briefest record in public life of any major party nominee in American history...He was a businessman!? I love that...with only his family's fortune and a trust fund, he started an oil company and ran it into the ground...bailed out by his father's wealthy friends."

This thin, weak facade of a nominee, who has by some utter Karl Rove miracle, won not one, but two presidential races, still casts a dark, ominous shadow in print each time the press exposes just how smart Bush really is. I say smart because how hard would it have been for any sub list political consultant of Kerry's to check out the following facts so that it could have been included in every single campaign speech. Forget about a good horse. How about my kingdom for a good fact checker.

First, six dates: February 1962; March 20, 1963; July 23, 1963; October 14, 1964; November 1, 1965, and January 19, 1966. The first of those dates is when Richard Cheney, then 21 and a student about to leave Yale because of poor grades received his 1-A classification; the next five are the dates of application for continuing deferment. Yet, it was John Ashcroft who was the king of all deferments, topping out at seven.

Second, when Bush's first chief of the postwar operation, the retired general Jay Garner, was replaced by Paul Bremer and recalled from Iraq in May 2003, he was taken by Rumsfield to the White House for a farewell meeting with Bush. Garner held a forty-five conversation with Bush with Cheney and Rice sitting in for second half, yet the president never asked Garner any pointed questions about what it was really like in Iraq or what problems lay ahead. Juxtapose that to 1991, when Garner, returning from northern Iraq, was made to answer questions for almost five days about the efforts he led to save Kurdish refugees after the Gulf War. I guess that shows that sometimes the apple can fall very, very far away from its tree.