The Politician We'd All Love to Forget

First, thanks so much for the prayers and concern. My brother is back at home and doing reasonably well and I’m sure that prayers had everything to do with it. I’m sorry that I haven’t posted here in months – if indeed anyone is still reading this. I didn’t seem to have the time or energy, and just fell out of the habit. There are things that we do, or don’t do out of habit, even though we would or wouldn’t.

The news over the past few months has been all about the next presidential election and the candidates for that office. So much so that it seems like everyone’s trying to forget who the president really is - and will be for the next year. It’s almost like if we concentrate completely on the next president, the present disaster might go away. But it’s not going away.

The economy’s tanking, the price of oil is thru the roof, the stock market is in the crapper, and the government is still sinking lives and money into an illegal war with no end in sight. No wonder everyone is for change. But we can’t change the present by ignoring what’s really going on.

Bush said last week, "I'm sure people view me as a war monger and I view myself as peacemaker." But why would he would view himself as a peacemaker when he’s started two wars while concluding 0 peace agreements? It’s more evidence of an irrational stubbornness, one completely disconnected from reality. He’s a peacemaker. Why? Because that’s how he chooses to view himself. Though I suppose even a jackass has a right to view themselves as something other than a complete jackass. Though it seems silly, even for a jackass, to put their delusions on the same level as the cold, hard facts. Though it’s something that Bush does all the time.

Again, regarding Iran, he put his (mistaken) opinions about Iran on the same level of credibility as the facts. Concerning the recent National Intelligence Estimate that concluded that Iran had discontinued their nuclear weapons program in 2003. (that means they don’t have one), Bush said:

“I assured him (King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia) that our intelligence services came to an independent judgment (about whether Iran has a nuclear program). I reminded him of what I said at my press conference when we got involved with that story: they were a threat, they are a threat, and they will be a threat… (Why? Because Bush says so)

“I was making it clear it (the NIE report) was an independent judgment, because what they basically came to the conclusion of, is that he's trying -- you know, this is a way to make sure that all options aren't (??) on the table (misquote or Freudian slip?). So I defended our intelligence services (by dismissing their findings and facts as merely opinions), but made it clear that they're an independent agency; that they come to conclusions separate from what I may or may not want. (Presumably, what Bush wants to hear are the only facts he’s interested in.)

What Bush seems to be saying, in his own peculiar and disjointed fashion, is that he needed to “defend” the NIE report to the Saudis, while assuring them that Iran is still very much a threat. He seems to be indicating that – despite all pretenses to the contrary - the Saudi Dictators (as well as the Israeli government) want the US to do something about Iran before Her Fuehrer leaves office. They didn’t like the NIE report because it seemed to throw cold water on the idea. He was n Saudi Arabia to reassure them that, report or no report, he still sees them as a threat and a military confrontation with Iran is coming.

Saudi Arabia is very worried about Iran. They have been obsessed about their nuclear program, as well as their growing influence in Iraq. In 1987, when Saudi security forces suppressed a demonstration by Shiite worshippers in front of Mecca’s Grand Mosque, it led to the slaughter of 400 religious pilgrims, most of them Iranians. This, in turn, led to angry mobs ransacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran, and a complete severing of diplomatic relations that were only normalized when Iran’s mortal enemy – Saddam Hussein – also began to threaten Saudi Arabia. Iran has frequently called on Muslims to overthrow the Saudi ruling family, seize its oil wealth and strip it of its role as guardian of Islamic holy places.

According to one source, “The main reason for Bush's visit to four Gulf states … was to gauge how much diplomatic support and practical help the desert sheikdoms might give if the United States or Israel attacked Iran.” It certainly wasn’t to get them to pump more oil. The skyrocketing price of oil is the best thing that ever happened to Bush and his oil company cronies. The reason Bush removed Saddam Hussein was to stop him from flooding the market with cheap oil. This was a point I made nearly tree years ago in the post entitled “Oil, Iraq and the Antichrist.” You can read it here.

The consensus in Washington and the media is that it’s now politically impossible for Bush to attack Iran. But a year is a very long time, and a lot of things could happen, and it’s difficult to believe that a megalomanic frat boy who never let reality stand in the way of doing whatever he wants, is going to go away quietly and accept the fact that his was a failed presidency. After all the death and destruction that he’s caused over the last seven years, it’s difficult to believe that he’s through with us yet.