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CounterPunch
February
22, 2003
The Bush Style
Going on His
Fabled Gut
By RICH PROCTER
According to the White House, we're not going
to invade Iraq because of the oil. We're not going to invade
because Saddam Hussein has been less than forthcoming about destroying
his weapons. We're not going to invade to save the Middle East
from tyranny. We're going to invade because our President knows
in his infallible "gut" that Saddam has to be taken
out for the safety of the world.
That's the message from 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. Damn our European "allies." Damn the UN. Damn
NATO--trust George Bush's gut.
Damn tens of millions of protestors--trust
George Bush's gut.
Damn US Military Advisers and Republicans
like Brent Scowcroft and Weapons Inspectors like Hans Blix--trust
George Bush's gut.
If we're going to trust his gut, shouldn't
we perform some quick due diligence on just how accurate his
gut has been in the past?
After bumbling through Yale, dodging
service in Vietnam and getting Poppy to deep-six a drunk driving
arrest, Dubya decided to try the oil business--a classic launching
pad for wildcatters to make millions trusting their gut instincts.
Bush trusted his gut at four different
companies--Arbusto, Bush Exploration, Spectrum 7 and Harken.
Guess what? His gut failed him every single time. He failed to
make a dime for his investors, drilled dry hole after dry hole,
bumbled from collapse to catastrophe...and got rich in the process.
How? Bush was always bailed out by his daddy's pals, who obviously
figured that, with his family connections, he might become useful.
As Governor, Bush's gut told him that
rapacious corporations would "self-regulate" themselves
into responsible civic institutions. That's how Houston became
America's smoggiest city in the calamity that became known as
"Smokestack Texas." His gut told him he didn't need
to apply for Federal funds to feed hungry schoolchildren, so
Texas slid from 29th to 48th place in the list of "Best
Places In America To Raise Kids." His gut told him he had
too many living citizens, so George barbecued 131 death row inmates
(publicly chuckling about their deaths), despite documented tales
of underpaid, incompetent defense attorneys sleeping through
trials. His gut told him to cut taxes without cutting spending,
and now Texas is as good as bankrupt.
As President, Bush's fabled gut told
him to ignore the warnings of the outgoing Clinton Administration
to pay attention to this dangerous dude named Osama bin Laden.
Nope, the Golden Gut of G.W. Bush told him that his Administration
would ignore the rest of the world. Blow off the Kyoto Accords?
Why not? They were ginned up by a lot of strange-talkin' furriners.
Let the Middle East Peace Process take care of itself. No foreign
"adventures," no "nation-building," no pokin'
our nose where it doesn't belong.
Then came September 11. Let history record
that George Bush's gut told him he wasn't needed back at the
White House on that day, looking straight into the camera eye,
acting Churchillian, reassuring his terrified countrymen and
telling Osama bin Laden that he couldn't be intimidated. No,
his gut told him to fly all over the country in Air Force One,
and then put out a clumsy, self-serving lie that the presidential
flying fortress had been "targeted by the terrorists."
Bush's gut told him the way to stimulate
the economy was a colossal tax cut/giveaway to our wealthiest
citizens. This threw a prosperous economy into recession, spooked
the financial markets and turned a colossal surplus into a crushing
deficit. What does Bush's now-legendary gut tell him needs to
be done? More tax cuts for his wealthy compatriots, of course,
without any restraints on Republican (and Democratic) pork barrel
spending. Doesn't make any sense, does it? But that's the thing
about ignoring logic and "trusting your gut." Logic
doesn't matter.
Quite a record. As far as I can tell,
George's gut has served him well in one way only--his choice
of cynical advisers (Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, etc.) who always
find a way to divert public attention from his failures by any
means necessary, including blatant lies about Democrats and hysterical
bi-weekly security alerts.
Now we're preparing to invade a country
in the middle of the most volatile "powder-keg" region
on earth. We're going to toss out our history of using military
force only when provoked. We're going to launch a "pre-emptive"
invasion that violates two hundred-plus years of American history
and culture. We're on the verge of becoming a fundamentally different
kind of nation--an aggressive, "go-it-alone" rogue
state--based on Bush's gut.
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
Rich Procter
is a cranky, disaffected Democrat whose work often appears in
CounterPunch and SmirkingChimp.com.
He can be reached at planetniner@yahoo.com
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February 15
/ 16, 2003
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Colin
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Rep. Dennis
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Norman Madarasz
French Kisses from the Citizens of France
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The Revolt in Bolivia
Col. Dan Smith
Irrelevance and Credibility:
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Wayne Madsen
The Lies of Tom Lantos
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The Invisible Modernities of the Islamic World
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Who's Safe Now?
An American in Cairo
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