The Heroism of George W. Bush

Smudge's Spot
As a registered democrat, I felt it was my duty to "know my enemy." So yesterday I watched 3 hours of Republican Convention coverage on the only network to carry it on day 1 - PBS (because, you know, government-funded TV is what the GOP loves...)

I was moved by the speeches of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. (And I'm not ashamed to admit that, when I was perched just yards away from his podium in Times Square for New Years Eve 1995, I chanted "Ru-deeeee" with the best of 'em. Then again, I was pretty tanked).

Mostly, I was suddenly aware after the speeches that Bush has saved the Nation from falling victim to the greatest evil we have ever known. It was evident in the subtext of McCain's delivery. George W. Bush is all that stands between our country and....

President Dick Cheney.

Did anyone else hear the sound of McCain's teeth gnashing when he praised Cheney (note - I have HDTV)? Did anyone else notice that Cheney was completely lacking in grace in the face of the forced compliment?

The bigger problem, however, is clearly that McCain has been pressed into service for Bush. Kerry is his friend. Bush destroyed McCain in 2000 with the same tactics he is using against Senator John Kerry, and the so-called champion of campaign reform stands beside Bush? Does whatever blackmail material Bush-Cheney has on McCain rank worse than the torture at the hands of the Vietnamese prison camp guards?

And what's even odder to me is the way the Bush campaign keeps saying "9/11" "Iraq is free" and "vote Bush" as though there is some favorable connection... Nobody in the numerous blurbs and speeches I watched had any reason to offer as to why we were better off having Bush in office post 9/11. They just mentioned the two, and moved on.

Sometimes, the word "leadership" is tossed in to bridge the gap. But nobody says what GWB (finally, a connection to NYC!) did that makes him such a great leader. I have not seen the man lead a thing in his life, and certainly not in the last 4 years. He only chirps what his handlers tell him to do.

Rudy even went so far as to suggest the Bush will "lead" the world while Kerry will ask its permission. Um, Mr. adulterer (er, Mayor), it ain't leadin' if nobody follows.

And finally, I gotta wonder. Everyone (or most everyone) has seen at least one episode of "The West Wing." We all know that it's not "flip flopping" to vote for one bill containing a certain provision and then to vote against another which, among other things (inter alia, as we say in the legal profession), contains a similar position. This is because bills in Congress do not just read "Do you want to send our troops some money, yes or no?" but rather contain numerous riders which are thrown in, things which no self-respecting democrat would vote for, but which are attached to these big-issue bills to make Dems (and yes, it works on both sides of the aisle) look bad for voting "neigh." Also, it wasn't just a price-tag bill: the provisions Kerry voted against came after the truth of the WMDs came out, and involved using the funds in ways that Bush's defense-industry backers would profit more than the troops would be helped.

And as a final note, I want to add how sad it is, that two Republicans I genuinely respected, Giuliani and McCain, got up and posutres so shamelessly. Hey, it wasn't so bad as Speaker Hastert, who seemed to be hissing merrily when he bashed Kerrey in his opening remarks, but it was fully lacking in any semblence of genuine-ness when McCain claimed to back Bush and when Giuliani turned the prime-time slot into a whoop-whoop fest with applause signs, without saying anything about why Bush should be our president. (Mind you, I'm not saying I disagree with the arguments for a Bush presidency, I'm just saying I've yet to hear one that concretely says anything except "he's a leader" and "he doesn't flip-flop.")

So that's that. Long live Bush. At least until Kerrey's inauguration. So that we never bow in supplication to President-and-Emperor Cheney.