The Optimistic Lame Duck
It will be left to history to judge George W. Bush’s recent trip to the mideast as either a rousing success, or just another pathetic foot race by a lame duck limping to the end of his term. On the other hand, why wait for history? We can do an armchair analysis right now.
The President may have had good intentions for his tour. There was a definite schedule to keep, such as Israel’s 60th anniversary of its founding, and an economic summit of mideast countries. Unfortunately, given everything he has done for the mideast, I mean to the mideast, we can’t consider his trip a good will tour.
In a speech to the Knesset, he envisioned that Israel would celebrate its 120th anniversary side-by-side in peace with a Palestinian state. Mind you, this is from the guy who also saw democracy blossoming in Iraq as a slam-dunk. Bush probably thought he was being optimistic; we consider it another case of rose-tinted-glass-itis. (Republican Presidential candidate John McCain also showed symptoms of this malady when he proposed that most of our troops would return from Iraq by 2013!) No problem, guys, we understand...we’ll just make a note to the doctors to adjust your medication and you’ll be feeling all better!
Bush then asked the leaders of Saudi Arabia to increase their oil production so that it might give the American consumers a break at the gas pumps. The Saudis refused, saying that they would only increase production if their customers asked for a supply increase. By customers the Saudis meant, their preferred customers: China and India. For some reason, the United States has fallen from grace in the eyes of the Arab world.
Gee, this wouldn’t have anything to do with that little war we started and threw the entire region into political chaos, would it? We thought the Bush clan was tight with the Saudi ruling family, or so Michael Moore had us believing in Fahrenheit 911. Wow, could this information have been wrong too? Gosh darn, if you can’t trust a left-wing documentary filmmaker, then whom can you trust?
Apparently, there was more to the Saudis refusal than customer favoritism. There were some reports that the Saudi rulers acted according to the wishes of the Saudi people who, for some odd reason, hate President Bush. This is blowing our minds that a leader of a country follows their citizens’ wishes. This is something Americans have not seen in, oh I’d say, at least eight years. Usually, we Americans will tell our legislators and our President what we want them to do. They consider our request with all due courtesy and gravity. Then they do as they damn well please anyway!
With his tour over, our little lame duck flew home to Washington. Here he did all he could do to ease our pain at the pump. Bush signed legislation to stop oil shipments to America’s reserve supply until the price drops back to $75 a barrel. Oh dear, another case of rose-tinted-glass-itis! Doctor, please come quick...the patient has had a relapse!
The President may have had good intentions for his tour. There was a definite schedule to keep, such as Israel’s 60th anniversary of its founding, and an economic summit of mideast countries. Unfortunately, given everything he has done for the mideast, I mean to the mideast, we can’t consider his trip a good will tour.
In a speech to the Knesset, he envisioned that Israel would celebrate its 120th anniversary side-by-side in peace with a Palestinian state. Mind you, this is from the guy who also saw democracy blossoming in Iraq as a slam-dunk. Bush probably thought he was being optimistic; we consider it another case of rose-tinted-glass-itis. (Republican Presidential candidate John McCain also showed symptoms of this malady when he proposed that most of our troops would return from Iraq by 2013!) No problem, guys, we understand...we’ll just make a note to the doctors to adjust your medication and you’ll be feeling all better!
Bush then asked the leaders of Saudi Arabia to increase their oil production so that it might give the American consumers a break at the gas pumps. The Saudis refused, saying that they would only increase production if their customers asked for a supply increase. By customers the Saudis meant, their preferred customers: China and India. For some reason, the United States has fallen from grace in the eyes of the Arab world.
Gee, this wouldn’t have anything to do with that little war we started and threw the entire region into political chaos, would it? We thought the Bush clan was tight with the Saudi ruling family, or so Michael Moore had us believing in Fahrenheit 911. Wow, could this information have been wrong too? Gosh darn, if you can’t trust a left-wing documentary filmmaker, then whom can you trust?
Apparently, there was more to the Saudis refusal than customer favoritism. There were some reports that the Saudi rulers acted according to the wishes of the Saudi people who, for some odd reason, hate President Bush. This is blowing our minds that a leader of a country follows their citizens’ wishes. This is something Americans have not seen in, oh I’d say, at least eight years. Usually, we Americans will tell our legislators and our President what we want them to do. They consider our request with all due courtesy and gravity. Then they do as they damn well please anyway!
With his tour over, our little lame duck flew home to Washington. Here he did all he could do to ease our pain at the pump. Bush signed legislation to stop oil shipments to America’s reserve supply until the price drops back to $75 a barrel. Oh dear, another case of rose-tinted-glass-itis! Doctor, please come quick...the patient has had a relapse!
posted by todd gunther | 6:50 PM
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