More on Con Artists

Bad Attitudes links to two stories over at 201k. The first post is a friendly reminder of how Team Bush, uh, enhances it's message with disengenuous imagery--in this case, slapping tape over labels that said "Made in China" on boxes and stenciling in "Made in USA." Just a little white lie, right? Except that it's a prime indicator of how Bush deals with the economy--a combination of ignore and ignorance, coupled with a Potemkin Village attempt to insist all is well. The other article (scroll down to "Junior Varsity") nicely sums up the REAL issue with Dubya's military record. Check it out. Summary: playing for the JV doesn't make you a three year letterman.

As I noted earlier, the issue isn't just whether he bailed on the military equivalent of a phantom job. It's the fact that he continues to lie about it. In my own post (sorry, I'm feeling too lazy to look it up in the archives) I noted that Bush himself made an issue of it by eliding his way through his military record in his Karen Hughes ghost-written "autobiography." He's falsely claimed to have "been to war," when the only battle he seems to have fought is one with a case of beer and a chandelier. The "Mission Accomplished" stunt, complete with flight-suit, lifelike hair, and lifelike grip, is not only embarrassing, but a clear indication of a man unfit to lead--the mission had barely begun, and yet the Commander in Chief thought it was over. Christ, could you imagine him in World War II? He'd have declared the war over the day of the D-Day landings...or in the midst of the Battle of Midway.

Actually, there's a problem with the WW II analogy: THAT was a conventional conflict, with armies, fronts, etc. Iraq is now a guerrilla war, with parallels to Algieria in the early 1960's. The "war" on terror is NOT a war by ANY standard definition. These times call for exceptional leadership, yet the present Administration hasn't even managed to take the training wheels off. They've screwed up badly, and hope only that the public is tuned out to the point that we are unable to distinguish between a genuine leader and a guy who doesn't know how to release the straps on his g-suit. Hell, they show an indignation bordering on disdain if someone even asks a serious question...

Maybe con artist isn't quite the metaphor for Team Bush--at times, it's more like shakedown artist.