Happy Easter. In a second I'm going to head to church to hang with Jesus for a little while. I'll be like "Sup J-dogg," and he'll be like "Take thee this message unto thine roomate Sketch Ben and telleth he that his ripped green shorts should be thrown to the fires of Gehenna, for they are displeasing in the sight of the Lord. Oh, and a Pascal 'sup to you too T."
That's usually how our conversations begin. Before I go though, thought I'd post an op-ed that should run in this Tuesday's paper here at school. It was originally going to be entirely about Syria but then....well, it's hard to get in everything in 750 words. I know some people aren't going to get the end paragraph, or if they do, they'll just think it's dumb, but I had to throw it in somewhere.
I'll tell Jesus you say 'sup.
Fear-Mongering and The Road to Damascus
Well, it only took a little more than three years, but I finally think that George W. Bush and I have found some common ground. Both of us think that this recent war went just a little too well for the United States and both of us are wondering what comes next.
What am I talking about?
The summer of 2001 now seems like a distant memory to many, but that season was an important test period for George W. Bush. Only six months into his term, Bush was supposed to be following a pattern that all newly elected presidents in the twentieth century have enjoyed. The benefits of this pattern include: a relatively docile political opposition, the chance to advance your most important policy initiatives, and a robust standing in the popularity polls.
With the Democratic Party crippled after the 2000 elections and the passage of a mammoth tax-cut, George got two out of these three benefits. The problem then, was the poll numbers. In August 2001, the nation’s leading political pollsters had Bush’s job approval rating hovering somewhere between 51 and 55 percent. These numbers represented a steep decline from only three months earlier, and were then threatening to dip even further.
So what? If more than half of poll respondents approve of your job performance, isn’t that a good thing? Well, yes and no. For a president closing in on a November election, numbers like these might be fine. But when Bush’s August 2001 approval ratings are measured against the approval ratings of other twentieth-century presidents with six months job experience, the numbers do not compare favorably for George. In fact, Bush’s rating during this span ranks almost dead last when compared to those of other twentieth century presidents.
To be fair, Bush arrived in office under unusual, though perhaps extralegal, circumstances that may partially account for some of the discrepancy. Furthermore, an approval rating above 50 percent is far from disastrous for any politician. Still, you can bet that Karl Rove was starting to sweat that August, and not just because of the hot Washington summer.
We all know what happened after August. In the aftermath of the tragedies, Bush grabbed a bullhorn in front of some firefighters, gave some tough sounding speeches about catching evildoers “dead or alive,” and saw his approval ratings shoot towards 90 percent. After September 11, “everything changed,” we were told. George W. Bush happened to be in the right place at the right time.
I’ve never believed that “everything changed,” and have generally dismissed the words as cheap political sloganeering. What did change for George Bush and his coterie of advisors, however, was their political strategy. After September 2001, Bush stopped trying to fashion himself as “The Education President,” or the “Tax Relief President.” Instead, Bush’s advisors capitalized on the political climate to transform their subject into “The Wartime President.” Because Bush knows so little of world affairs, he instead relies on a team of professional warmongers who are now enacting their plans to forcefully re-shape the Middle East. These plans, only one of which was an invasion of Iraq, had been drawn up years before Bush’s fortuitous rise to power. September 11 merely supplied the smokescreen behind which this cabal could operate.
I can’t explain all of the possibilities that conspired to generate this last war, but here are my own thoughts: Without an enemy to fight and a domestic population to perpetually frighten, George W. Bush has no political platform. Take away the image of “The Wartime President,” and suddenly Bush becomes a very weak politician.
So now that Iraq is done, what’s next? It came and went so quickly that I fear another target is already lined up. Meanwhile, George is worried about selecting that target, just to keep his citizens shocked and awed. Syria seems to be a likely candidate, now that Donald Rumsfeld is offering statements such as, “We certainly are hopeful Syria will not become a haven for war criminals or terrorists.” This has always been the hawks’ intent; conquer Baghdad, saber-rattle at Damascus, put some pressure on Tehran, and keep a good eye on our “friends,” the Saudis, because hey, even they may soon need a little regime change.
I vaguely remember a story about some other guy who was going to Damascus. I think his name was Paul, but it could have been Ringo. Anyway, this guy was also heading to Damascus to change the place, forcefully if necessary. As the story goes, somebody stopped him along the way and changed his mind. Let’s hope something similar happens to the United States before it gets to Damascus or anywhere else.