Bush Doctrine

When will the idiocy stop?

With cross-border incursions into Syria and Pakistan, the Bush Doctrine of preemptive military action is leading us into ever-more dangerous actions.

I think of the Roman Empire fighting endlessly on its borders ... until men and money were utterly depleted and the Empire could stand no longer.

All of this takes on a new sense of urgency after seeing "W" yesterday - a good film portraying "W" as a simple man seeking to escape his father's shadow, a man utterly befuddled by the office, unable to catch the fly ball at the end because he's lost sight of it. The most chilling parts of the film are the portrayals of Rove, Cheney and Rumsfeld - ruthless and power-hungry; Colin Powell comes off well: the lone-voice of sanity in the Bush Asylum ... and C. Rice, a total sycophant, a complete suck-up.

It will take decades for historians and economists to uncover just how flawed everything Reagan/Bush has been.

From ripping off the White House solar panels installed by Jimmy Carter to busting the air controllers' union, Reagan set into motion an ideology (a bunch of lies) that have dismantled the middle class and sent this nation down the road of ruin.

Bush the elder had reservations about it all, but not the courage to resist it. Getting elected by Rove and Atwater was all the finally counted. If ever there has been a cancer in the political system, it's Lee Atwater (who repented on his death bed) and Karl Rove - monsters inside the Beltway.

Hats off to Alan Greenspan for admitting the flaws of ideology, but I wonder if we'll ever hear it from "W" and Gang? Will Rumsfeld follow in the footsteps of Robert McNamara who finally admitted the error of thought that led to the Vietnam debacle?

During Oliver Stone's film, I felt a clear sorrow for W - a man way out of his league (pun intended), a man of simple principles unable to think critically, convinced of his own god-purpose, and it just made me sick to see how Christianity has been prostituted by evangelical/fundamentalist christians (small "s" intended) who sold their souls to the likes of James Dobson and Jerry Falwell, men utterly out of touch Jesus, victims of their own dogma, trying so hard to believe in their own rightness, drawing firm lines of inclusion/exclusion, shouting all the louder, proving everyone else wrong in order to be right.

Biblically speaking, these are the false prophets who bedeviled Israel's kings, telling them they could do no wrong, assuring them that every military adventure undertaken has god's blessing and will be met with success. Jeremiah and Isaiah have strong words for the likes of these throne-kissing prophets who were feathering their own beds as well.

From my perspective (that and $5 gets me a latte at Starbucks), a McPalin victory would only hasten the decline of our nation by further injections of Moose-Hunting, Wolf-Shooting wing-nut poison. McCain is increasingly helpless, if not senile. Palin is utterly dangerous. Much like Bush, no critical senses, only a grasping, unmitigated lust for power.