loosie: words: Clanton's Rant

Clanton's Rant

With the war in Iraq less popular than herpes, Bush attempts to channel the Rushmore boys.

by Clanton McNeese | 2005.06.30

Hit the mute button, and it would be hard to guess what the dissembler-in-chief is talking about. The involuntary smirk has returned, the furtive flicker of the eyes remains, and the occasion could well be a testimonial dinner for the top Hummer salesman in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Even as he speaks of war and death, solemnity slips away from George Bush as surely as sobriety did before he was reborn, and why would it be otherwise? The president knows it’s just one more campaign stop, delivered before one more carefully selected audience. About Iraq, everyone agrees, there is no news. But while he delivers the familiar mix of misinformation by association, unsupported optimism, and patriotic blather, the president reveals himself: he is a small, shallow man who sees himself as heroic. Walter Mitty has come to Washington.

Listen to Bush: “America has done difficult work before. From our desperate fight for independence to the darkest days of a Civil War, to the hard-fought battles against tyranny in the 20th century, there were many chances to lose our heart, our nerve, or our way. But Americans have always held firm…” This is George Bush on the battlements, bold as Washington and Lincoln, resolute as Wilson and FDR. Such is the imaginary company he keeps. Our poor president could use a shot of historical perspective. Had any of those four dead presidents so cavalierly committed troops to combat, or taken on such an outmanned adversary, or conducted a war so ineptly, their actions would then truly have been matched by the 21st century adventures of George Bush.

It is possible, I suppose, that Abraham Lincoln referred to himself as “a wartime president,” but if he did so, it was surely without the bravado that Bush slathers on the term. For Lincoln, the decision to forcefully oppose Southern secession was made only after seven states had seceded and Fort Sumter was fired upon. For Bush, the decision to invade Iraq was made with the World Trade Center attacks as a pretext. Lincoln foresaw a bloody struggle; Bush and his band predicted a triumphant march through Baghdad, the streets lined with cheering Iraqis.

Mismanagement and egotism aside, Bush is least like his predecessors in his pleas for support. Whereas whole generations of Americans were once called upon to make significant sacrifices for the nation, Bush asks only patience and poll numbers. The cost in blood is being paid by a tiny segment of the population; the cost in dollars will be borne by future taxpayers. There is no draft, there is no rationing. There are tax cuts for the rich. Bush advocates confidence and consumerism. Americans need only stay happy and spend money.

Although Bush’s speeches have varied little since he first began promoting an invasion of Iraq, there is at least one glaring omission. The president spoke for half an hour about our dangerous enemies, but never once did that scary phrase “weapons of mass destruction” escape his lips. A few more months of such abstinence, and White House spokespersons will deny that Bush ever uttered such words. He will have been born again, free from fibs. Our vast “coalition,” however, remains on the tip of the presidential tongue. We pay for the war, and our soldiers die in the war, but we are not alone: we are part of a coalition.

Of course, it is hardly a coalition of equal partners. Only the U.S. gets to decide when the war is won and when everybody goes home. We may pretend that Iraq is a sovereign nation, but we will tell the Iraqis when it’s time for us to leave. No doubt we’ll finally get tired and leave Iraq a mess and forget all that Pottery Barn bullshit. But that’s not the current plan. Right now the president is still fixing to force the insurgents to cut out their stupid games. Those fools just need to recognize they’ve got no chance against George W. Bush, genuine American hero.