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OLD DOGS AND DIRTY
TRICKS
guest commentary by Socrates
Washington is abuzz with the winds of change, or so we
might wish to believe. Change comes hard for any one, but it is especially
hard in the political arena. Particularly if you are the President of the
Dis-United States. At what has become perhaps the most perilous moment in
our national history, we are at a crossroads where only genuine
statesmanship can guide us through to safety and put us back on course as
the democratic model for the world to follow - - by choice, not by
imposition. Unfortunately, we have been led by the
narrow minded, the egocentric, the greedy, and the incompetent: A pack of
old dogs unable to learn new tricks, resurrections from older
administrations intended to make a young dog owner look more mature and
wiser than his years. Finally, the masker has been unmasked, and America is
beginning to awaken from that stuporous slumber into which it has allowed
itself to be lulled.
Opportunity has never knocked more loudly, if America will only rouse
itself to open the door. What is needed is a meticulous examination of where
we have been, how did we get here, and where are we going? As the late Molly
Ivins so astutely counseled of the Bush years in Texas: “Look at the record,
look at the record.” The same applies to the Bush administration years. Look
at the record! Look at the record!
A Republican dominated Congress under the rule of a Republican Presidency
that rode roughshod over the middle class foundation of our economy and the
opposition party. Rode so roughly, that the middle class is now a candidate
for the Endangered Species Act. Rode so roughly that even now, though the
opposition party has a majority in both houses of Congress, they still cower
and shuffle nervously like colts sensing the presence of a wolf when a
Neo-Conservative says, “Boo!”
The same group that bestowed the biggest tax refund in our history to the
people who needed it least. The same money that could have been used to
underwrite Medicare, education, and the poor of our nation. How many of
these super rich returned their bonus to the nation to underwrite its
critical needs and demonstrate their patriotism to a nation in crisis?
The “leadership” that plunged us into a war with a culture of whom
they had no knowledge or understanding; a culture that now seems to despise
and confound us, just as we were dismissive and deaf to them. Pre-emptive
strike was meant to avert a war, not suck us into one with no exit “with
honor.” Yet we are saddled with a leadership that seems to be driven by a
Vice President who continues to babble that we must support the troops, even
though it equates with killing them without opposition from rational
Americans. Need it be mentioned the meticulous care afforded our Iraqi War
veterans, slighted by the very administration that was formed to serve them
for their sacrifice in the service of the nation, had been whisked under the
carpet until a free press exposed it, as intended by our Constitution? If we
can not practice our rights, what are we protecting?
A Secretary of Defense whose war plan showed that neither he nor his cohorts
had any clear idea of where we were headed or the consequences; an invasion
that failed to secure the stockpiles of weapons that are now turned against
us; a war plan that had no exit strategy because Christian leadership was
assured God would provide. Now we have at last a replacement Secretary of
Defense who sounds competent, but seems to extend the numbers of foot
soldiers required and the months they will have to serve as a “surge,” as
the weeks pass, suggesting no real change has taken place, only the face.
An administration that allowed Katrina to wreak its havoc because it failed
to anticipate its consequences or communicate with the appropriate sources.
And if the “State of the Nation” address was any indication, Katrina is
forgotten. How many homes could have been built for what it cost to finance
the frequent presidential photo-ops designed more to save face than save
humanity?
An administration that undermined the very democratic values
enshrined in our Constitution in the name of domestic security. We need to
remind ourselves that the very foundation of democracy IS insecurity. Trust
the people, not the leaders. The latest violations by the FBI of the
Congressional mandate for Homeland Security; the probable illegal coercion
of a state prosecutor to violate ‘juris prudence’ by those elected under
oath to preserve and protect the Constitution, clearly show this government
is not one of the law, but outside the law. “Violate” is no where to be
found in the oath of office.
A President who calls for leaders to speak up if they have a better plan
than his current “surge,” when he was presented with just such a plan by the
Iraq Study Group, which he decided to ignore, apparently at its moment of
presentation. The American Enterprise Institute apparently had his ear long
before. For the Constitution and American citizenry, there was no such ear.
An administration that turned its back on science to court the religious
extremists (yes, we have our own and the presidential aspirants continue to
pander to them) and condemned the world to the prospect of unrestrained,
perhaps even irreversible, global warming. If the disappearance of the ice
sheets does not cause a cringing of the heart, then perhaps we have been
fairly judged and found as wanting as Belshazzar.
The list could go on and on, but those Americans affected by the
blundering of this inept administration can fill in the blanks.
Unfortunately, more than 3,000 of them are dead in the vain pursuit of an
adolescent’s ambition in the name of patriotism. Our President is fond of
photo-ops, such as at the site of 9/11, or on board the carrier with the
banner “Mission Accomplished” prominently displayed. Has it occurred to him
that he needs to also be available for a photo-op with 3,000 flag draped
coffins behind him?
The truth of Abraham Lincoln’s observation that “you can’t fool all the
people all of the time” has come round. Now, it is a matter of how long can
you fool all the people, or how frequently can you fool all the people. In
the political stirrings in the nation, we are faced with a plethora of
candidates for the Presidency who have absolutely no reason to even think
they are qualified for the position. Well, I suppose they figure, if America
elected an incompetent twice, they certainly can elect another: A few
memorable phrases, video chats, appeals to the fundamentalists, rehashing
the clichés of the past, preying on fears of endless variety, and the
candidate can fleece the flock as well as any television evangelist. And
sadly, they are probably right. What America needs is a man or woman who
will speak plainly and fearlessly, without equivocation, and address the
issues that are of consequence, not side issues that have no place in the
national political arena; a candidate who understands what America was meant
to be; a candidate who will restore the vanishing middle class that will
serve to check the excesses of the elite and to extend a helping hand to the
needy. But especially, a candidate who would revere and protect the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It would be a boon if he or she was
also a true statesman, but, America has been in short supply lately.
Awakening from slumber is one thing, America; staying awake is
another. Not only must we beware of old dogs that can’t learn new tricks, so
must we beware of new dogs that know only old tricks. If the new Secretary
of Defense Gates sounds horrifyingly reminiscent of the old strategies, it
should not come as a surprise; any more than Lt. Gen. David Petraeus being
placed in charge of our forces in Iraq. Look at the record! Look at the men.
Look at those behind them. Look at those that seek to replace them. The
siren call of the pillow is great, but the slumber from which none awake is
greater still.
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