Wednesday, September 21, 2005
The Lame Duck-Billed Platytudepus
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September 21, 2005
Breakfast with Bwana
The Lame-Duck-Billed Platytudepus:
“Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style.” – President Bush, November 4, 2004.
I know that President Bush does not believe in the morning-after pill, but when he uttered those words on the morning after the election, I couldn’t help but think it was one of the more stupid statements I had ever heard. A bitter morning-after pill whose taste he wishes he never had experienced. Coming from this candidate for the top prize in most stupid statements out of one mouth in the shortest span of time, that statement may not rank, at first blush, at the top of the heap. But think about it for a moment and you’ll get the picture.
Here we are, eight months post the inauguration for the second term. Mr. Bush just received a letter from the Bank of Political Capital. In pertinent part, it states: “Dear Mr. President: Your political capital has been exhausted and your account overdrawn. We can no longer honor checks without balances.”
Maureen Dowd, columnist for The New York Times seems to have achieved an orgiastic state in her Bush bashing. Tom Friedman too proves that Bush bashing is as fun as it seems popular.
What is lost, however, is the truth that this is probably the worst President in the history of the United States. Now, I know there are other candidates, but most of them have been ineffective, not desperately wrong. It seems that on virtually every issue of our time, this man makes a statement that defines a laudable goal: curb terrorism, cut taxes, fix social security, improve the education system – you name it – and then, on every issue, he stakes out the wrong position. No, not just the wrong position, but the WRONG position.
Now, in the wake of the devastation of our policy in Iraq, we hear platitudes about the “war on terror.” Iraq has become, in the President’s lame justifications, what it never was to begin with – a central part of the war on terror.
And talking about lame justifications, we have a lame duck President spewing platitudes on the Gulf Coast, in Mississippi, in New Orleans, wherever there is a chance that someone might want to know that this President doesn’t have a clue on how to fix anything. So, what does he say? He says to the people of Mississippi and Louisiana that they must tell the federal government what they want to do because the federal government won’t tell them. Of course, the federal government wouldn’t know what to say if asked. But, despite that, he says that he wants Congress to appropriate $60+ billion for the effort. Congress has already appropriated $73+ billion including supplemental bills. What’s another $10-15 billion when you have responsible contractors like Halliburton and Bechtel getting no-bid contracts?
The lame duck says that we will build a Mississippi and New Orleans better than ever. Really? At $200 billion, I sure hope it’s better than the $87 billion job we got in Iraq. Platitudes, platitudes, platitudes.
And he tells the American people and Congress that he will not raise taxes to pay for all this. So, what is Congress to do? Simple, says Mr. Platitude, you figure it out. Go cut something else.
What we got here folks, is a lame-duck-billed-platytudepus!
Three years and four months left. I hope nothing happens to this lame duck-billed mammal, or we could get Dick CHestpaiNEY instead. Why would a grown man call himself “Dick” anyway?
Cheerz….Bwana
P.S. For your souvenir collection, here’s a picture of the Commander-in-Chief at his November 4, 2004 press conference. Below is a more recent picture of him wallowing in the Gulf Coast shallows.
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September 21, 2005
Breakfast with Bwana
The Lame-Duck-Billed Platytudepus:
“Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style.” – President Bush, November 4, 2004.
I know that President Bush does not believe in the morning-after pill, but when he uttered those words on the morning after the election, I couldn’t help but think it was one of the more stupid statements I had ever heard. A bitter morning-after pill whose taste he wishes he never had experienced. Coming from this candidate for the top prize in most stupid statements out of one mouth in the shortest span of time, that statement may not rank, at first blush, at the top of the heap. But think about it for a moment and you’ll get the picture.
Here we are, eight months post the inauguration for the second term. Mr. Bush just received a letter from the Bank of Political Capital. In pertinent part, it states: “Dear Mr. President: Your political capital has been exhausted and your account overdrawn. We can no longer honor checks without balances.”
Maureen Dowd, columnist for The New York Times seems to have achieved an orgiastic state in her Bush bashing. Tom Friedman too proves that Bush bashing is as fun as it seems popular.
What is lost, however, is the truth that this is probably the worst President in the history of the United States. Now, I know there are other candidates, but most of them have been ineffective, not desperately wrong. It seems that on virtually every issue of our time, this man makes a statement that defines a laudable goal: curb terrorism, cut taxes, fix social security, improve the education system – you name it – and then, on every issue, he stakes out the wrong position. No, not just the wrong position, but the WRONG position.
Now, in the wake of the devastation of our policy in Iraq, we hear platitudes about the “war on terror.” Iraq has become, in the President’s lame justifications, what it never was to begin with – a central part of the war on terror.
And talking about lame justifications, we have a lame duck President spewing platitudes on the Gulf Coast, in Mississippi, in New Orleans, wherever there is a chance that someone might want to know that this President doesn’t have a clue on how to fix anything. So, what does he say? He says to the people of Mississippi and Louisiana that they must tell the federal government what they want to do because the federal government won’t tell them. Of course, the federal government wouldn’t know what to say if asked. But, despite that, he says that he wants Congress to appropriate $60+ billion for the effort. Congress has already appropriated $73+ billion including supplemental bills. What’s another $10-15 billion when you have responsible contractors like Halliburton and Bechtel getting no-bid contracts?
The lame duck says that we will build a Mississippi and New Orleans better than ever. Really? At $200 billion, I sure hope it’s better than the $87 billion job we got in Iraq. Platitudes, platitudes, platitudes.
And he tells the American people and Congress that he will not raise taxes to pay for all this. So, what is Congress to do? Simple, says Mr. Platitude, you figure it out. Go cut something else.
What we got here folks, is a lame-duck-billed-platytudepus!
Three years and four months left. I hope nothing happens to this lame duck-billed mammal, or we could get Dick CHestpaiNEY instead. Why would a grown man call himself “Dick” anyway?
Cheerz….Bwana
P.S. For your souvenir collection, here’s a picture of the Commander-in-Chief at his November 4, 2004 press conference. Below is a more recent picture of him wallowing in the Gulf Coast shallows.
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Wednesday, September 07, 2005
IT’S NOT SCHADENFREUDE WHEN THE MISFORTUNE IS OUR OWN
IT’S NOT SCHADENFREUDE WHEN THE MISFORTUNE IS OUR OWN:
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
Pleasure or satisfaction derived from the misfortunes of others.
One definition suggest that it is a “malicious” satisfaction obtained from the mistfortunes of others.
_________________________________________________________
Schadenfreude comes from the German, from Schaden, "damage" +
Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.
_____________________________
I begin with the confession that in 2000 I voted for George W. Bush. Not that my vote made any difference since it was cast in Massachusetts, but I couldn’t stand Al Gore. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Gore? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
In 2004, enlightened by evidence that the Republicans showed no signs of being venial, I voted for John Kerry. Not that my vote made any difference, since it was cast in Massachusetts. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Kerry? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
Ever since 9-11, there have been occasional displays of Schadenfreude from people I know outside the US, suggesting that the attacks of September 11, while reprehensible, were almost understandable given US policy in the Middle East. Perhaps Schadenfreude is not an appropriate word to apply to mostly well-meaning people who thought their insight might help nudge this juggernaut of a country into a change of course. But there are enough people around the world who think that we have made our own misfortune.
With the President almost wetting his pants in his zeal to send the bombers over and the cruise missiles into Iraq, it was inevitable that the cup of Schadenfreude would spill over its brim as the signs of quagmire anticipated developed into quagmire accomplished.
For us at home, there could be no satisfaction in the stumble by Dubya. When our fellow citizens are being killed daily and when the number of young lost runs into the hundreds and the wounded number in the thousands, the fact that the President’s bravado is shown to be foolish, is not cause for joy. It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have highlighted the consequences of the Bush Administration’s policies and lack of policy vision. If anyone had suggested that an American city would be destroyed in its entirety, surely New Orleans would have been on the short list of cities that we all wanted never to be changed.
If two disgruntled Americans (remember the Oklahama City bombing?) or a few foreign terrorists had taken a boat or barge loaded with explosives and blown up the levees holding Lake Ponchatrain, would the President have hesitated in sending in the Army? Oh, I forgot, the troops were busy bringing democracy to the Iraqis. But think about that for a moment. Our systems are so ill-prepared and the country so vulnerable that the Department of Homeland Security might just as well not exist.
That a hurricane caused the rupture of the levees may lead foreigners to exult at the display of the Administration’s incompetence. That this President cut funding for strengthening and shoring up the levees surrounding Lake Ponchatrain was a death sentence for many. For us, it’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The problem is not just this Bush. If we look back at the Presidency and the Congress since Lyndon Johnson, something frightening emerges. I go back to Lyndon Johnson because despite Vietnam, he had a vision for this country in terms of getting a Civil Rights agenda through Congress. That is an accomplishment for which he should be honored as much as Vietnam was his undoing.
Since then, we have had successively useless Presidents – Nixon, Ford, Carter – a Reagan interlude (see below) – Bush the elder, Clinton, and Dubya. Ronald Reagan, whatever his shortcomings, lifted a country out of its deep malaise and undid the Soviet Union. Other than that, none of the others has had any vision for the country or any sense of purpose to improve the lot of Americans as a nation.
The Congress is equally to blame. Senator George Mitchell as Majority Leader in the Senate and Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House, worked to polarize the nation and the parties. Since then, Trent Lott, Tom Daschle, and Bill Frist, have all viewed their job as one for settling scores and championing or opposing any Administration policy, no matter how meritorious or absurd.
The outpouring of special interest money makes one think that this group of leaders is a venal group. There is nothing venial about their conduct.
As we look forward, the Republican hopefuls – McCain, Gingrich, Frist – and the Democratic hopefuls – Hillary Clinton, Corzine, Edwards, Kerry, Bayh – promise more of the same, an empty leadership without vision or purpose.
We have lost a great city and many thousands of Americans. We would have been better off losing the entirety of our so-called leadership. Would things have been any better? Certainly, they would not have been worse.
It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
Cheerz….Bwana
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
Pleasure or satisfaction derived from the misfortunes of others.
One definition suggest that it is a “malicious” satisfaction obtained from the mistfortunes of others.
_________________________________________________________
Schadenfreude comes from the German, from Schaden, "damage" +
Freude, "joy." It is often capitalized, as it is in German.
_____________________________
I begin with the confession that in 2000 I voted for George W. Bush. Not that my vote made any difference since it was cast in Massachusetts, but I couldn’t stand Al Gore. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Gore? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
In 2004, enlightened by evidence that the Republicans showed no signs of being venial, I voted for John Kerry. Not that my vote made any difference, since it was cast in Massachusetts. Who knows if things would have been as bad under Kerry? Certainly, they could not have been any worse.
Ever since 9-11, there have been occasional displays of Schadenfreude from people I know outside the US, suggesting that the attacks of September 11, while reprehensible, were almost understandable given US policy in the Middle East. Perhaps Schadenfreude is not an appropriate word to apply to mostly well-meaning people who thought their insight might help nudge this juggernaut of a country into a change of course. But there are enough people around the world who think that we have made our own misfortune.
With the President almost wetting his pants in his zeal to send the bombers over and the cruise missiles into Iraq, it was inevitable that the cup of Schadenfreude would spill over its brim as the signs of quagmire anticipated developed into quagmire accomplished.
For us at home, there could be no satisfaction in the stumble by Dubya. When our fellow citizens are being killed daily and when the number of young lost runs into the hundreds and the wounded number in the thousands, the fact that the President’s bravado is shown to be foolish, is not cause for joy. It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have highlighted the consequences of the Bush Administration’s policies and lack of policy vision. If anyone had suggested that an American city would be destroyed in its entirety, surely New Orleans would have been on the short list of cities that we all wanted never to be changed.
If two disgruntled Americans (remember the Oklahama City bombing?) or a few foreign terrorists had taken a boat or barge loaded with explosives and blown up the levees holding Lake Ponchatrain, would the President have hesitated in sending in the Army? Oh, I forgot, the troops were busy bringing democracy to the Iraqis. But think about that for a moment. Our systems are so ill-prepared and the country so vulnerable that the Department of Homeland Security might just as well not exist.
That a hurricane caused the rupture of the levees may lead foreigners to exult at the display of the Administration’s incompetence. That this President cut funding for strengthening and shoring up the levees surrounding Lake Ponchatrain was a death sentence for many. For us, it’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
The problem is not just this Bush. If we look back at the Presidency and the Congress since Lyndon Johnson, something frightening emerges. I go back to Lyndon Johnson because despite Vietnam, he had a vision for this country in terms of getting a Civil Rights agenda through Congress. That is an accomplishment for which he should be honored as much as Vietnam was his undoing.
Since then, we have had successively useless Presidents – Nixon, Ford, Carter – a Reagan interlude (see below) – Bush the elder, Clinton, and Dubya. Ronald Reagan, whatever his shortcomings, lifted a country out of its deep malaise and undid the Soviet Union. Other than that, none of the others has had any vision for the country or any sense of purpose to improve the lot of Americans as a nation.
The Congress is equally to blame. Senator George Mitchell as Majority Leader in the Senate and Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House, worked to polarize the nation and the parties. Since then, Trent Lott, Tom Daschle, and Bill Frist, have all viewed their job as one for settling scores and championing or opposing any Administration policy, no matter how meritorious or absurd.
The outpouring of special interest money makes one think that this group of leaders is a venal group. There is nothing venial about their conduct.
As we look forward, the Republican hopefuls – McCain, Gingrich, Frist – and the Democratic hopefuls – Hillary Clinton, Corzine, Edwards, Kerry, Bayh – promise more of the same, an empty leadership without vision or purpose.
We have lost a great city and many thousands of Americans. We would have been better off losing the entirety of our so-called leadership. Would things have been any better? Certainly, they would not have been worse.
It’s not Schadenfreude when the misfortune is our own.
Cheerz….Bwana
