OZblog

If the truth makes you sick, take an anti-nausea medication before you dare read this!

Sunday, June 26

The Floundering Bush Message

We have seen an amazing first 6 months of W's second term. The primary hallmark is W's march from Mandate Man to Lame Duck.

The Guardian Unilimited has a story chronicling the fumbles and missteps that have characterised W's 2d term.

W's 2d term does not resemble the picture he painted in the campaign. Virtually none of the issues that Bush campaigned on have found their way into Bush's 2d term agenda.

The hot-button issue of gay marriage has also fallen off the national radar. In fact Americans are most concerned about rising petrol prices, a possible housing market crash and job creation: issues that Bush rarely touches. 'Bush's second-term agenda has been very strange. He is not talk ing about anything America cares about,' said Zogby. For Bush, who has fought his last campaign, that might not be a problem. But for Republican senators and congressmen, facing a tough re-election fight in 2006, it is a paramount concern. Not only does Bush appear out of touch with voters; he is out of touch with his party's needs.



But social security is just one of several cherished projects that have hit the skids. Plans to reform the tax system have been delayed until the end of September. Bush's energy bill is stalled. He is facing huge criticism on environment and climate change, where concerns span party lines. On issues from global warming to evolution, Bush's hardline denials look increasingly out of touch.

The result is that Bush has alienated virtually everyone. He has managed to energise a battered and defeated democratic party, and somehow also pushed members of his own party into nearly open rebellion. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel accused W of flat-out making things up about Iraq. Once more, this adds to the feeling that the out-of-touch President is living in some fantasy world. General Abizaid testified before Congress last week that the Administration's claims about Iraq were contrary to his observations. He apologised for testifying contrary to the Administration's public claims.

I have said this before, in many different contexts: The fact of the matter is that Bush's agenda is largely unspoken. The problem is that Bush has never communicated what he intended to do, but instead has made claims he had no intention of making. In 2000, his 'no nation building' pledge was the cover for his plan to follow the PNAC's plan to build Iraq in a neo-con artist image. In 2004, the quickly-jettisoned Gay Marriage Amendment was nothing more than a bait & switch designed to appeal to the knuckle-dragging vote.

Bush now appears to be adrift, rather than exerting any form of leadership whatsoever. With the support of his own party dwindling, out of their concern for their own political fortunes, one has to wonder not only if Bush can stay any course at all, but also if he will even tell us what the course actually is.