Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Bush's Favorite Speech, Richard Perle Triumphalism, and Seventeen Year Locusts
I think it will be interesting to see if this iteration of Bush's typical stay-the-course speech ends up hurting him in the polls in today's political climate. Dana Milbank observes that judging from his body language Bush himself has little interest in the charade:
The guy has lost many of his prominent supporters -- even Richard Perle is admitting mistakes for godsake...
Speaking of Perle ... I used to say that the only good thing about the war in Iraq was the extent to which it distracted the Bush administration while countries throughout Central and South America took timid (and in some cases not so timid) steps towards throwing off the shackles of neoliberal economic policies, but I now think it may prove to have another positive consequence -- a positive consequence similar to the hysterical bit of Richard Perle triumphalism in which Perle asserted that a positive outcome of the neoconservatives' big adventure was that it would "take the United Nations down with [Saddam Hussein]" Perle got it partially right. I think Bush's war might end up taking the neoconservative ideology down with Saddam Hussein.
The trouble is they don't call Richard Perle "The Prince of Darkness" for nothing -- you need a wooden stake to kill Dracula. Billmon probably had it right a couple of years ago when he compared neoconservatives to seventeen year locusts:
Hopefully, Bush's foreign policy will not survive the Bush administration.
Bush seemed not entirely comfortable, referring frequently to his text, battling feedback on the sound system and reading quickly through applause lines. He stumbled over the word "detonated," while "perpetrators" became "perpetuators" and "gathered" became "garnered."
The guy has lost many of his prominent supporters -- even Richard Perle is admitting mistakes for godsake...
Speaking of Perle ... I used to say that the only good thing about the war in Iraq was the extent to which it distracted the Bush administration while countries throughout Central and South America took timid (and in some cases not so timid) steps towards throwing off the shackles of neoliberal economic policies, but I now think it may prove to have another positive consequence -- a positive consequence similar to the hysterical bit of Richard Perle triumphalism in which Perle asserted that a positive outcome of the neoconservatives' big adventure was that it would "take the United Nations down with [Saddam Hussein]" Perle got it partially right. I think Bush's war might end up taking the neoconservative ideology down with Saddam Hussein.
The trouble is they don't call Richard Perle "The Prince of Darkness" for nothing -- you need a wooden stake to kill Dracula. Billmon probably had it right a couple of years ago when he compared neoconservatives to seventeen year locusts:
The neocons, it would appear, have moved from their twilight into their götterdammerung. Although this could also be seen as simply another phase in their natural political life cycle.
Like the the 17-year locusts - who this summer will return to annoy the northeast United States for the first time since 1987 - the neocons seem to emerge periodically to infest the government and wreck havoc on American foreign policy, then return to their underground hiding places to await the next turn of the cycle. During their off years, I'm told, the 17-year locusts survive by patiently sucking sap from the roots of trees. The neocons, of course, extract a similar form of sustainance from the bank accounts of conservative think tanks and their donors. We can only hope that the damage done this time around can be repaired before the critters next reemerge into the sunlight.
Hopefully, Bush's foreign policy will not survive the Bush administration.
