Bush

Remarkable observations on the Bush presidency from Dan Froomkin at the WaPo here:

Froomkin explains what Bush is. The real story, that will become evident after Bush is gone, is how the Neo-con's managed to pull it off. That the president is insulated shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone. How the neo-cons were able to keep the charade up for 8 years is the big story.

They took a guy that was a former alcohol and drug addict, and a complete failure at every single thing he's touched, and turned him into the President of the United States. They didn't get him elected, but they got him close enough to it that they could work the system the rest of the way with his brother in Florida, and a stacked Supreme Court.

"[T]he president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq, and was puzzled as to how a recent anti-American rally in support of Hezbollah in Baghdad could draw such a large crowd. 'I do think he was frustrated about why 10,000 Shiites would go into the streets and demonstrate against the United States,' said [a] person who attended.

It's not just that Bush is a puppet. He's clearly not intellectually capable of leading the nation, and desperately relies on long-time family associates to keep from falling apart. But what we're seeing is this whole cadre of neo-cons that only let Bush see a certain point of view of the world. Bush does not see what we see day in and day out. He has no idea what's going on.

It's obvious Cheney and company are managing Bush and simply using him as their tool to get what they want. They even help Bush think he's in charge, simply by leading him to what he thinks are his own policy decisions, but are nothing more than what those that control his viewpoint wanted in the first place.

I don't think there has ever been a president that has ever been in such a bubble as Froomkin describes, and you have to realize that the media establishment is probably in on it. They know what's going on, and probably know the implications of what it would mean if it revealed as fact.

Heck, there are times when I think Bush knows what's going on and shows signs of crumbling, but for everyone's sake, they need to keep him propped up. There's only a couple more years to go. The key thing is, don't let them make any more decisions about anything until we get a real government in place again.

Joe Scarborough asks the question in this video. Check it out. It's remarkable.

He's over-matched by the English language.

No, he's over-matched by the job.

John Fund asks if anyone can name a Democratic president that was thought of as "dumb". The answer is - no. There's a reason for that, and it sums the entire world of politics quite simply.

** update **

In the Scarborough video, John Fund is the "balance" that defends Bush's intellect. I had to laugh when reading Eschaton and they linked to this Media Matters report that demonstrates what a complete idiot Fund is.

People who have read me for a while know I like to connect-the-dots. This is a great example of what some of you have seen at the Right Wing Guy's blog, and this Lord Brown Mouse person that keeps leaving comments. After all, RWG can't form a coherent sentence himself, so it doesn't occur to him that Bush's inability to communicate is unusual.

The reason they don't understand that Bush is an idiot, is because they are idiots. It's easy to admire Bush when you have a dull/normal intellect yourself. I find it really amusing that Bush's is "defended" by John Fund, who is a demonstrated moron. It makes perfect sense.

There's really two types of people that support Bush. The first is the obvious moron type. They're afraid of "terraists" and they're all up in Jesus ass. The other is the cold and calculating wealthy. These people don't give a shit about Bush's intellect or his foreign policy. They support Bush for purely fiscal reasons. It's all about their money.

At least that part I can understand, even if I think it's pretty slimy. But.. hell.. John and I are going to Hawaii in 2 weeks for an absurdly expensive vacation. The cost of the vacation is more than offset for John by the tax breaks he got as being in Bush's target beneficiary group. I don't think we're going to feel guilty about it.

** updated again **

Morons in action.