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The Incoherent President

Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2006 2:38 AM

As President Bush wraps up his tour of California, let's take a look at the scorecard:

At the core of my decision-making when it comes to protecting America is the lessons learned from September the 11th, 2001.

Obviously, Mr. President, you didn't pay attention in class. Our ports are lacking in security. Our infrastructure as it pertains to disaster response failed. You can't even remember the word hurricane. (And a boot to the head for the print media that edited out his stuttering confusion.)

And tell your speech writer that it's, "... are the lessons," not, "... is the lessons." It's called subject-verb agreement.

Iraq has -- had weapons of mass destruction and has the knowledge as to how to produce weapons of mass destruction.

No substantive stockpiles of WMDs have been found in Iraq. Even Colin Powell has admitted intelligence about Iraq's possession and capability were exaggerated. Iraq was not actively seeking yellowcake uranium from Niger.

And the confluence of a terrorist network with weapons of mass destruction is the biggest threat the United States of America faces.

The problem with superlatives is that everything quickly becomes a disaster of major proportions. Dogs and cats sleeping together, fire and brimstone, that sort of thing.

Iraq was Ground Zero. Then, suddenly, there's a big rush to have them pick a prime minister, because Iran is now the Next Big Thing.

And then people decide you're a hysteric and stop listening to you altogether.

But it's very important for the American people to understand that they're trying to run us out of Iraq for a purpose. And the purpose is to be able to have safe haven from which to launch further attacks.

Right. Terrorist organizations that successfully function in a stateless environment need a safe haven from which to operate. It seems to me they've been pretty damned effective even with our presence in Iraq. And let's not forget that America was the safe haven in which the hijackers took refuge as they prepared for 9/11.

The terrorists are currently using a strategy of engagement. They're not trying to drive us out of Iraq, they'd like nothing more than to keep us mired there. But instead of the simplistic, 'we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here,' it's a good bet the terrorists are using our preoccupation as a means of misdirection.

I based a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty, and secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free. I believe liberty is universal. I believe people want to be free.

I'll be frank. This scares the hell out of me. It removes the burden of personal responsibility and ascribes it to God.

Of course, God is never wrong.

Mr. Bush, do you honestly think God is fooled or impressed when you and members of your administration spin carefully worded literal truths to justify a war plan that was little more than wishful thinking?

As for that universal desire to be free, please note the gross inconsistencies between the sales pitch and the actual product. We have 'free speech zones.' We have warrantless wiretaps that may include domestic communications. We have policies approving torture and secret prisons. We encourage groups like Hamas to participate in the electoral process, but when they win, we denounce them and refuse to play.

We had kind of a round go ourself, if you look back at our history. My Secretary of State's relatives were enslaved in the United States even though we had a Constitution that said all were -- that believed in the dignity, or at least proclaimed to believe in the dignity of all. The Articles of Confederation wasn't exactly a real smooth start for our government to begin.

Yes, our President doesn't know the difference between the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

And to cover up his gaffe, he ends up insulting the beliefs of the Founding Fathers and misrepresenting the Articles of Confederation.

And so what happens between 18-year-old G.H.W. Bush, Navy fighter pilot, signing up to fight the sworn enemy of Japanese, and his son sitting down to talk about the peace? And what happened was Japan adopted a Japanese-style democracy.

What happened is we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Japan remained under Allied occupation until 1952.

Japan adopted a new constitution in 1947, replacing the Meiji constitution from 1889. The new constitution, in short, relegated the Emperor to a ceremonial role; restricted Japan from starting a war or maintaining an army; and divided the government into three branches - Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. And Shinto, the dominant religion, was clearly separated from the state.


Lastly, Mr. President, the Napa Valley is a geographical region, not a city or town.

"... then I went to Napa Valley; then I rode my bicycle on Earth Day in Napa Valley. Then I found out the mountains are a little steep in Napa Valley."


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