|
Edited on Tue Aug-08-06 12:16 PM by leveymg
Last Fall, I wrote a satire about the day that Bush is forced to give up the big airplanes, the armoured limos, and goes back to being a dumb eight-year-old, again. See, "No Spaghetti-Os for Dubya, Mommy" Well, it looks like it's happened, or is just about to happen. A Higher Power
James Baker puts Bush's Iraq policy into rehab. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.dreyfuss.htmlAmid the highly charged political infighting in Washington over what to do in Iraq, you might be excused for not noticing that a bipartisan commission quietly started work last spring with a mandate to help the Bush administration rethink its policy toward the war. Of course, anything labeled "bipartisan commission" seems almost guaranteed to be ignored by a highly partisan White House that is notoriously hostile to outside advice and famously devoted to "staying the course." But what makes this particular commission hard to dismiss is that it is led by perhaps the one man who might be able to break through the tight phalanx of senior officials who advise the president and filter his information. That person is the former secretary of state, Republican insider, and consigliere of the Bush family, James A. Baker III.
Since March, Baker, backed by a team of experienced national-security hands, has been busily at work trying to devise a fresh set of policies to help the president chart a new course in--or, perhaps, to get the hell out of--Iraq. But as with all things involving James Baker, there's a deeper political agenda at work as well. "Baker is primarily motivated by his desire to avoid a war at home--that things will fall apart not on the battlefield but at home. So he wants a ceasefire in American politics," a member of one of the commission's working groups told me. Specifically, he said, if the Democrats win back one or both houses of Congress in November, they would unleash a series of investigative hearings on Iraq, the war on terrorism, and civil liberties that could fatally weaken the administration and remove the last props of political support for the war, setting the stage for a potential Republican electoral disaster in 2008. "I guess there are people in the party, on the Hill and in the White House, who see a political train wreck coming, and they've called in Baker to try to reroute the train."
The fact that Baker is involved has sent the Washington rumor mill buzzing with the theory that the commission is really a Trojan Horse for the views of Baker's friend and former boss, George H.W. Bush. It has been widely speculated that the former president never agreed with his son's decision to invade Iraq, and the son appears to have repaid that perceived dissent by largely refusing to reach out to his father for advice on national security, despite the elder Bush's knowledge and experience. In any case, for reasons that may be Oedipal or that may have to do with neoconservatives' disdain for realists associated with Bush 41, or both, Bush 43 has so far kept the 41 circle at arm's length--including Baker; his confrere Brent Scowcroft; and even, during his ill-fated tenure as secretary of state, Colin Powell. But with the situation in Iraq sliding towards irretrievable chaos, a moment of receptivity may have arrived.***** That raise the question: Have the Adults Taken the Presidency Away from Dubya? Has anyone here heard a peep about the Baker Commission previously? I haven't. Must be the best kept secret in Washington. But, somehow, I'm not surprised. Bush-Cheney isn't only a dead duck, they're merely figureheads until after the next session of Congress begins next January, at which point they'll be free to go back to private life. I believe there is a stack of resignation letters that have already been signed. Everyone at 1600 and at OVP will all be gone by mid-January. Dick will resign for health reasons, McCain will be appointed VP, and Bush will then be declared incapacitated. A bi-partisan committee will take over the real job of governing. - Mark ____________________________________________________________________________ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/9/11356/61794 SILENT COUP: "No Spaghetti-Os for Dubya, Mommy" Believe me, if the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to do such a thing as a coup, it would all be behind closed doors, and none of us would ever know about it.
The ultimatum would be delivered by a very close friend of the family to Bush 41. A delegation of Party luminaries would be dispatched by the family patriarch to tell Cheney.
Later that day, there would be an intervention in the White House residence. Karen and Condi would be seated nearest to W, each holding the President's hand. Pickles locked herself in her suite, pouring herself chilled vodka out of a sterling coffee decanter, chain-smoking Parliaments, which she crushed into an eggshell china saucer that had been given to President Jefferson by the French Ambassador.
After those nearest and dearest delivered the bad news that he would no longer be able to play President, W began to mutter, "It's just so hard. . . it's just so hard." His cheeks and nose broke out into reddish splotches, and he covered his face.
After a few minutes of quiet sobs and muttering, the President looked around the room, a new expression -- half of exhaltation and half of rage -- came across his face. His voice vibrated with a flat West Texas drawl. "I know it's those fucking Democrats and their, uh, commie friends. I want them all, uh, killed - start with that bitch Clinton. Get General Myers and Porter Goss on the phone."
"Mr. President, that is no longer an option."
Bush rose from his overstuffed, leather reclining Barka Lounger chair. "Now! I said, get me the fucking phone!!"
With a nod from Andrew Card, two Secret Service agents grabbed W from behind and with one frightfully swift movement, lifted him from his feet and pressed him firmly flat into the recliner. A Naval Officer, the White House physician, administered a hypodermic needle into Bush's arm -- a double dose of the usual anti-depressant cocktail mixed with a powerful sedative.
President George W. Bush sprawled like a limp puppet back into his Barka Lounger. The TV was still tuned to the Cartoon Channel, as it had been all day. As the last aide exited the room, the President was heard murmering over and over to himself, "I want the Rice-A-Roni tonight mommy, not the Spaghetti-Os. No Spaghetti-Os for W, mommy." by leveymg on Thu Sep 08, 2005 at 03:47:40 PM PDT |
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
