Activism Works

The Blundering Mindset

I'm amused to hear the Republicans claiming victory in last Friday's debate. I'm amazed to hear some pundits declaring the debate a draw. Kerry won far too easily, and depending on your point of view, Bush either did as bad or worse than in his first performance. You might think that the President had an 'off night' in the first debate; he couldn't really be that incompetent. The 'real' Bush showed up for the second debate. That's the problem! That was the real Bush! That was the Bush who blundered into Iraq! America got a glimpse at how things work in the White House under Bush. 'Furious' George stomping around, huffing and puffing like a raging bull. Whoever bets on the bull in a bullfight? The matador almost always win because bulls are stupid. The bull usually gets killed, but I'd bet if the bull got a second chance, he'd make the same mistake, charging wherever the matador leads with his red cape. I could just hear the nuke-hungry Iranian Mullahs laughing as they watched their 'easy mark' showing his ass to the world. I could also hear them praying to their Muslim God for four more years of easy-pickings in the American Presidency. Four more years of Bush and Iran will be the world's sole superpower.

But it was Bush's claim that the Duelfer Report actually proves Saddam was a threat to the United States that was most revealing, most frightening. Bush, searching desperately and inductively through the Duelfer Report for a shred of evidence to support his preconceived conclusion. And the resolutely demented President did indeed find a needle in the haystack. 'The fact that Saddam was bribing the French, Germans and Russians in the Oil for Foods program proves beyond any doubt that eventually he would have obtained WMDs and given them to Al Queada.' That peppercorn of evidence proves no such thing. Bush's inductions from the Duelfer Report require us to believe that the French, Germans and Russians are a bunch of clueless saps who were being 'played' by the half-mad has-been Saddam Hussein. The reverse is more likely true. If Chirac and Putin were as dumb as Saddam, they'd be the ones hiding in a rat hole masturbating to fantasies of their long gone days of glory.

Nevertheless, Bush games the data and comes to his preposterous conclusion. This is exactly the process by which he justified the catastrophic Iraq invasion in the first place. It was deja vu all over again, except this time America had a front row seat for a 're-enactment' of the decision to invade Iraq.

Kerry should have slammed him on spinning the Duelfer Report. ("There you go again. You're doing it again. You're doing the same thing that got us into this mess. You're spinning the intelligence, you moron." ) But the Senator did appear a little bored of the President's bullshit. And so some people saw the debate as a draw, mainly because of 'Furious' George's energy level. I saw it as a nightmarish win for Kerry, because Friday's Bush was not an anomaly. That really was our President up there.

In the first debate, we saw Bush at his worst (hopefully). In the second, we saw Bush at his mediocre best, and if that's the best the President can do, his performance Friday was a much sadder thing. So sad, in fact, I'd say that last Friday should be named a national day of mourning.

The worst thing about Bush is that he is an inspirational leader. He is inspiring a good portion of this country to follow him straight to Neverland, where Presidential midgets never have to grow up.

posted by 10-K @ 1:58 PM (permalink)