I could not watch the President give his speach. He, once again, looked like a guy who'd just stuffed a Frog down somebody's pants. Somehow I can't "get" this President: His mannerisms, his language, the way he talks, the way he is following in the Footsteps of Ronald Reagan by promising reform while in fact seeking to dismantle people's protections and that very "safety net" that he is claiming to want to protect. -- Woops, the current President didn't promise any such thing!
This man alarms me, and for good reason. He has spent his mischief in Iraq, but now he is trying to spend it at home. What can we do about it? He is popular the way that such people always manage to be popular. I can see the conversation with his dad now right after the election in 1992:
"Hey Dad.
"You really blew it there on the PR. Don't you know that winning a war is not enough, especially if the result is a country that we got to keep bombing every so often or they'll start fighting us again? Nah, who cares if lives are lost or about this line "you break it you fix it." I'll go in and fix Saddam's behind good. Then I'll bomb the smithereens out of anyone who objects and I'll come out looking like roses. Guarantee it. Slam dunk. 'Merican's don't care about all that diplomatic stuff, they'll eat it up when we kick behind!"
"You did okay as a President, but I can do better. I'll give the people what they think they want and do the things you and your fellow Republicans have been trying to do for years. We'll dismantle by first privatizing Social Security and then when it really is bankrupt, we'll make sure that people get paid only what they put into it themselves. We'll do away with frivolous lawsuits, Environmental regulations, all those BS rules and regulations that get in the way of Business, and they'll cheer us on! I'll praise both the Roosevelts and kill them both for good. I'll talk about Kennedy and make sure his ghost never rises again. We'll make sure that nobody can sue each other -- except of course our backers. We'll privatize social security in such a way that it will never go bankrupt -- and we'll get all the profits from investing it. Don't you worry, my PR firms will convince everybody that the world will remain in crises until all our financial backers get their money's worth."
"I'm telling you they'll cheer us for robbing them blind! "
"Don't worry dad I'll get them."
Oh yeah I can imagine that conversation. (This is humor(?)).
Posted by cholte at February 3, 2005 05:56 AM