reply to post by DocMoreau
I have never understood the diplomacy position that George W. Bush has taken. I heard somewhere the reason his diplomacy has failed so badly was
because his cabinet was made up of Soviet Historians and the like. That no one knew enough Arabic. I don't know.
Neo Con. New Conservatives. Pure and simple. Their theology is: "America is destined to rule the world. After the collapse of the USSR, the US had
20-30 years to exercise its hegemony and reshape the world in our image, to our design and to meet our needs." Ronald Reagan was the first neo con
president and let's all hope Bush43 is the LAST!
It was ballyhooed in the 2000 GOP primaries that Condolezzee Rice who later served Bush43 as his head of NSC and is now the head of the State
Department, was an “authority” on the USSR. I believe she was recommended to Bush41 by his old NSC head, Brent Scowcroft. B41 in turn passed her
name on to B43. She has proved to be a disappointing amateur in foreign affairs, we have learned the hard way. But she has more Frequent Flyer miles
than any other person in this Administration! BUT Bush43 does not want a strong Secretary of State or NSC person. That's why he dumped Colin Powell.
TOO smart.
Republicans have always had a dilemma getting good blacks to work close to them. Condi was the answer to Bush43's prayer. She was the chancellor
(No. 2) at Stanford U., a prestigious California institution. That gave her an intellectual pedigree sorely lacking in the Bush43 inner circle. VP
Cheney, Herr Oberfuhrer Rumsfeld and Karl Rove along with ‘Scooter’ Libby. Plus her color made her Ms Token in the Oval Office. Perfect to get the
coffee! (Colin Power was Mr Quota).
We have learned that Bush43 does not read anything himself. It is claimed his wife Laura reads to him at night. The last 90 page National Security
Estimate - NSE - included a 5 page summary but Bush43 admitted he had not “read it all” when referring to the summary. If that willful neglect of
duty is not an impeachable offense I do not now one when I see it. Look, religion or not, Bush43 says he talks to GOD and presumably, GOD talks back
to him. We have not seen that over here since Charles 1 lost his head claiming to be Divinely Empowered to Rule England. 1649.
We have never been good at foreign languages. That comes in part because half of Americans are anti-intellectual. The former Scientific Creationists
are now called the Intelligent Designers, they and their fellow travelers are the Republican base. Now of course it is too late to learn the language,
the nuances and the culture of so many very different people across the Middle East and ending in the -stans.
I don't remember a President that has hidden himself away from the media like George W. Bush. I have heard that this goes back to the invention of
Radio .... he is the least interviewed President ever. There is no way to negotiate with your enemies if you don't talk to your enemies. McCain would
be rotting away in a Bamboo Cage if the United States had always maintained this policy of diplomacy.
The man is dumb. He coasted thorugh college because his father was 1) a rich republican; 2) a two term Texas congressman; 3) our ambassador to china;
and 4) short time head of the CIA. With all that big league parental clout Bush43 was "given" all the grades he needed to get through school. Both
Harvard and Yale did this. Our No. 1 and No. 2 schools. All for sale. He parents gave up on him, bought him a baseball team, and thought James Earl
Bush - JEB - would be the one to carry on the Bush family legacy. But Bush43 had not only a mean streak, he had a stubborn steak.
When the 2000 race ended in Florida, JEB was governor, and the Supreme Court showed its true colors when it came pay-back time. The SC stopped the
Florida vote counting when Bush43 was ahead 537 votes with over 10,000 votes not yet counted, and he became America’s FIRST designated president.
And here we are, 4,900 US KIA, 100,000 Iraqi and Afghan KIA and we are $3 t. in debt! Afghan has gone to heroin like our Columbia is gone to cocaine,
and we are about to be "run out of Baghdad town" so we will have noting to show but IOUs for this 8 years of pure personal payback time for Bush43.
[edit on 7/13/2008 by donwhite]