There are two things you need to know about George W. Bush. One is that he has no sense of history. The other is that he has no sense of shame. Once you understand those two things about the 43rd president of the United States, you basically know what to expect from him.
It is because Bush has no sense of history that he was so easily convinced, flattered and goaded by his neoconservative handlers into invading Iraq, and why he still fails to understand the ramifications of that invasion, not only for his presidency, but for the country, the Middle East, and the world. It's because he lacks shame that he is so clearly willing to fight to the last American to see his policy continue for as long as he can get away with it, preferably, until he leaves office, leaving Iraq to complete its collapse on someone else's watch.
Which brings me to the Democrats.
They clearly don't understand who the president is, which is why they're unable to stop him from getting away with the things he does -- domestic spying and other outrages against the Constitution, torture, an unnecessary war in Iraq, a failed war in Afghanistan, and the pillaging of American blood and treasure for the benefit of his corporate friends, most notably Big Oil and the defense industry. The Democrats cannot, or will not, stop George W. Bush, because they constantly underestimate his failure to comprehend history, and his incapacity for shame. They think that if they meet with him, he'll compromise, and if they compromise with him, he'll bend, and if they give him a short term victory or two, he'll reward them by changing course.
They're wrong.
George W. Bush is going to hang on to every single thing he holds dear, from his war to his Karl Rove to his pitiful attorney general, because his only fear is of a small, hardened core of fanatics who are demanding that American blood continue to be spilled until it is possible to call Iraq, the war on terror, and the triumph of Christ over the Infidels, a victory. His only loyalty is the oil and defense giants who have propped him up all his life. His fanatics guard his corporate paymasters, and together, they are his base -- his "Qaeda."
The only way to fight such a person is to bloody his nose over and over and over again until he has no choice but to relent. The Democrats blinked on Iraq funding, and now they will have little if any chance of bringing the war to an end, as 7 in 10 voters want them to do. Meanwhile, the president is rubbing their moist little puppy noses in his utter defeat of them, even as the vast majority of Americans groan.
The Democrats suffer from so many deficiencies and so many fears, it's almost too depressing to begin naming them. They fear Karl Rove and the 30 second ads accusing them of not funding the troops more than they fear their own voters. They fear that somehow, Iraq will turn itself around, blossom into a democracy, and make Bush appear to have been right, leaving them on the wrong side of history. They fear Bush will find a way to rebound in the polls. They fear that he must have some supernatural power to keep them out of the White House. Because they operate based on fear, they lack the ruthlessness it would take to fight a guileless president.
And because of that, the Democrats likely will continue to fail the American people.
Here's a party that thinks the only way to pass a minimum wage bill and childrens' healthcare funding -- which is supported by some 8 in 10 Americans -- is to pull down their pants and succumb to George W. Bush on Iraq.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
