Bush's other big problem, which has quietly tracked him ever since he
declared his candidacy, is that he is a draft-dodger who failed even
to discharge his duties as a national guardsman, while some of his
most prominent political opponents are war heroes and generals.
From The Guardian, 10/14/03:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1062491,00.html
Appeasing the armed forces has become a political necessity for the
American president
George Monbiot
Tuesday October 14, 2003
The Guardian
Every week, the state department makes a list of Mr Bush's most
important speeches and visits, to distribute to US embassies around
the world.
The embassy in London has a public archive dating from June last year.
During this period, Bush has made 41 major speeches to live audiences.
Of these, 14 - just over a third - were delivered to military
personnel or veterans.
Now Bush, of course, is commander-in-chief as well as president, and
he has every right to address the troops.
But this commander-in-chief goes far beyond the patriotic
blandishments of previous leaders.
He sometimes dresses up in the uniform of the troops he is meeting.
He quotes their mottoes and songs, retells their internal jokes,
mimics their slang.
He informs the "dog-faced soldiers" that they are "the rock of Marne",
or asks naval cadets whether they gave "the left-handed salute to
Tecumseh, the God of 2.0".
The television audience is mystified, but the men love him for it.
He is, or so his speeches suggest, one of them.
He starts by leading them in chants of "Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah!", then
plasters them with praise and reminds them that their pay, healthcare
and housing (unlike those of any other workers in America) are being
upgraded.
After this, they will cheer everything he says.
So he uses these occasions to attack his opponents and announce new
and often controversial policies.
The marines were the first to be told about his interstate electricity
grid; he instructed the American Legion about the reform of the
Medicare programme; last week he explained his plans for the taxation
of small businesses to the national guard.
The troops may not have the faintest idea what he's talking about, but
they cheer him to the rafters anyway.
After that, implementing these policies looks like a patriotic duty.
This strikes me as an abuse of his position as commander-in-chief,
rather like the use of Air Force One (the presidential aeroplane) for
political fundraising tours.
The war against terror is a feeble excuse.
Indeed, all this began long before September 2001; between February
and August that year he gave eight major speeches to the military,
some of which were stuffed with policy announcements.
But there is a lot more at stake than merely casting the cloak of
patriotism over his corporate welfare programmes.
Appeasing the armed forces has become, for President Bush, a political
necessity.
He cannot win the next election without them.
Unless he can destroy the resistance in Iraq, the resistance will
destroy his political career.
But crushing it requires the continuous presence of a vast
professional army and tens of thousands of reservists.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the troops do not want to
be there, and that at least some of their generals regard the invasion
as poorly planned.
_____________________________________________________
Ya see, it also started with a socks-in-his-crotch topgun aircraft
carrier photo-op...................................................
Harry
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