Thank God for George W. Bush
As the Bush presidency implodes, let us thank a wise and merciful God for the wonderful job W is doing to discredit the whole hateful conservative agenda
 

May 19 2006
Counterbias.com
STEVE HOROWITZ
 

Sept. 11, 2001, was doubly tragic for our nation. For Osama bin Laden may have been even more diabolical than we think. Not only did his hijackers succeed in killing nearly 3,000 Americans; that was damaging enough. But he made sure that a laughing stock of a president would finally seem presidential. And might be able to ride a wave of national anguish and fear into an eight-year orgy of subverting long-cherished American ideals. (Instead of what otherwise would certainly have been the quickly forgotten four-year watch of a quickly forgotten man.) 

Bin Laden knew that no foreigner could destroy what America stands for; only an American could do that. And, indeed, Karl Rove ably exploited the 9/11 tragedy for years, keeping the American people reliably distracted from the harm Bush was doing. For that America will be paying the consequences for generations -- and may indeed never recover. Which is, I believe, the true genius of bin Laden's plan.

But now, nearly five years later, George Bush's incompetence is once again shining brightly for all to see. No one can avoid it -- not even the willfully blind know-nothings referred to as his "base." And as his approval ratings take on Nixonian dimensions, we should at least say thanks. Because he's doing what we, his passionately patriotic opponents, never could: making it undeniably clear that the worst president in American history will have served in our lifetimes. And that every view he has espoused, every plan he's proposed, is a bad idea, since no one as malicious and ignorant as he is could have a good idea.

It should have been clear to all when he made his less-than-Solomonic decision on stem cell research, in the halcyon days before 9/11. Remember how hard he thought; how many important people he consulted! His little brain nearly burst a capillary, so strenuously was it exercised. And then ... and THEN ... he announced it. A decision based on inaccurate information and false assumptions, and immediately deemed inadequate by informed citizens on both sides of the issue.

Such would have been the legacy of the Bush presidency when it ended, with no one regretting it, in January 2005.

The 9/11 attacks saved him from that ignominious fate. But only temporarily, as we are seeing now.

Social Security. Warrantless domestic eavesdropping. The Medicare prescription scam. Katrina. The video showing Bush being warned about Katrina's potential for unprecedented damage and suffering, after he denied being warned. 

Tom DeLay. Duke Cunningham. Jack Abramoff. The Dubai ports deal. The continuing Iraq disaster. The continuing stream of information proving he lied to get us into that disaster, after claiming that the many mistakes he made in the run-up to war were honest and unintentional.

The reckless fiscal policy. The feckless foreign policy. The CIA leak case. The incapacitating plunge in morale at the CIA, leading to the resignation of his handpicked choice for director -- all this time after 9/11, while he claimed he was making us safer.

His failures and deceptions are breathtaking in scope, almost inconceivable in harm. But at least even people who voted for him twice can see them now. Because everything Bush has said and done reveals him to be an idiot, a liar, a criminal, or all three.

Bush's credibility is now such that he could propose a tree-planting initiative, and people would conclude that trees must be harmful to the environment. He could suggest sending blankets and canned goods to Darfur, and we'd remember that suffering builds character.

He could go on television with a solution to illegal immigration, and we'd decide that all borders, visas and passports should be abolished.

So thanks, George. The things you supposedly stand for -- smaller government, fiscal responsibility, "traditional values," the "right to life," -- are now exposed as empty slogans and cynical campaign ploys. You've shown -- much better than I ever could -- that the true agenda of Republicans is to acquire and retain power by the most ruthless and undemocratic methods; to expand the ever-growing gap between the rich and the rest of us; and to make intolerance once again as American as apple pie.

Finally, George Bush has succeeded at something.

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