Bush the Appeaser
With the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court today, Bush’s conservative and anti-abortion fundie supporters are now claiming victory as they hail their president as a strong leader once again.
What they fail to see is how the religious right, acting like a 2 year old having a tantrum and holding its collective breath until its face turned blue so daddy would give in, has once again hijacked the White House agenda. George obviously did not take his parenting lessons from his old buddy James Dobson or he simply would have spanked the kid and told him to obey his father or else.
What Bush chose to do instead, despite the fact that he is at the weakest point in his presidency and is currently embroiled in the culture of corruption scandals from hell, was to grab the kid’s hand and buy them the really big, expensive red firetruck they were whining about just to shut them up. And we all know what happens to a dad’s power when he does that: he becomes weakened.
He’s now called for a huge public brawl over this nomination which will further damage his credibility among mainstream Americans. He’s always said he doesn’t govern according to the polls but when the Miers reaction tanked his numbers, we all know he was damn sure paying attention. If he had the fortitude required to believe in and back up his decisions, he would not have accepted Miers’ resignation and would have pushed ahead. He’s worried and it shows.
Watching Bushistas like Bay Buchanan on Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room practically have an on screen orgasm because she was so happy with Bush’s pick today proves that this nominee must be fought at all costs. Listening to conservative mouthpieces asking Democrats to be “fair” and to look at Alito’s judicial record before they judge him makes one wonder if their memories were all wiped clean by some strange virus this morning.
They seem to have conveniently forgotten that it was their side that pushed so hard against Harriet Miers that she wasn’t even allowed to make it to the confirmation hearings. When you point a finger at someone, you have three pointing right back at you, as they say.
You would have thought that Bush and the Republicans had learned a lesson about pandering to their extreme supporters after the Terry Schiavo fiasco in which an emergency session of congress was called for to deal with the poor woman’s plight – totally embarassing the congress and the administration.
Obviously not.
If I was a garden-variety Republican, I’d certainly be concerned again that Bush has fallen off the rails by throwing out red meat to his fundie vultures. This will only strengthen their power. Ordinary Republicans need to step back and absorb this manipulation before they too join Bay Buchanan in public displays of quasi-masturbatory pleasure.
Update [2005-10-31 21:43:53 by catnip]: Crooks and Liars has the video. Thanks, John!.
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