The Political Chase

Bush’s Dismal Press Conference

President Bush held a press conference today, which was more of a free political advertisement and desperation speech than a bonafide press conference. Mr. Bush used his bully pulpit in a risky effort to mitigate the exposure of the increasing failure in Iraq. Tomorrow, the polls will shed light on whether the President’s strategy worked or caused more damage to Republican Congressional candidates. My take is the President, at best, had no effect, and more likely further damaged Congressional candidates by heightening the war in the media and blogosphere. Most Republican candidates want the Iraq-war rhetoric out of the picture as the election nears.

Try as he might, Mr. Bush was unable to accomplish his objective of creating a new spin on Iraq. While the President employed semantics to give the appearance of new directions, understanding, and revised plans, his message was the same as three years ago. Under fire from the press, Bush provided proof that the administration has never had a real plan for Iraq and still does not have a plan. Moreover, the president slyly changed the definition of victory, and included a few falsehoods for the benefit of those less informed.

For example, one of the President’s new buzzwords was benchmarks. Take note of the last sentence in the third paragraph.

[T]here is a significant difference between benchmarks for a government to achieve and a timetable for withdrawal. We’re working with the Iraqi government to have certain benchmarks to meet as a way to determine whether or not they’re making the hard decisions necessary to achieve peace. I believe that’s what you’re referring to. And we’re working with the Iraqi government to come up with benchmarks. Benchmarks will make it more likely we win.

It will be beneficial for the government to say to the Iraqi people, here is what we intend to do and here’s when we intend to do it.It will also be beneficial for the American people to be able to see that this Iraqi government is going to make the difficult decisions necessary to move forward, to achieve the goal. And that’s what we’re talking about when it comes to benchmarks.

I think [David Gregory, NBC News] was referring to the benchmarks that we’re developing that show a way forward to the Iraqi people, and the American people for that matter, about how this unity government is going to solve problems and bring the people together. We’re working closely with the government to be able to say, here’s what’s going to happen then, here’s what we expect to happen now, here’s what should be expected in the future.

The US invaded Iraq in March 2003. After more than three years the President suddenly has this novel idea of establishing benchmarks (i.e. milestones) and plans that define what is to be accomplished and when? Well, maybe not so much when, but at least what. How does someone receive an MBA from Yale, when it takes that individual almost four years and the deaths of tens of thousands of people to recognize a “project” plan might help? The President does not even demonstrate a working knowledge of a university’s 300-level management classes.

Now, consider victory. Initially, victory was eliminating WMD’s, then victory changed to overthrowing Saddam Hussein. A year ago, the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq defined victory as (1) defeating the terrorists in Iraq and neutralizing the insurgents, (2) establishing a stable and secure democracy in Iraq, and (3) an Iraq that would be a partner in the global war on terror. Chuckle, chuckle. Today, the President defined victory as, “[an Iraqi] government that can sustain itself, govern itself, and defend itself, depends upon the Iraqi citizens and the Iraqi government doing the hard work necessary to protect their country.” It doesn’t stop there; it only gets worse.

Take foot and insert into mouth. Bush, for once, told the truth.

If we do not defeat the terrorists or extremists in Iraq, they will gain access to vast oil reserves, and use Iraq as a base to overthrow moderate governments across the broader Middle East.

Wonderful. Now the entire world, especially the Middle East, can clearly claim the primary reason Bush invaded Iraq was for the oil.

While fielding questions, the President was arrogant, condescending, and indignant. With all the “American-people-need-to-understand” remarks, Bush portrayed himself as the teacher and Americans as imbeciles. Reality? The real imbecile was the empty suit fielding the questions.

Finally, Bush weasel-worded a plethora of statements regarding what he and “the generals” will be doing in Iraq. The weasel words did not change anything. He simply avoided “stay the course.”

In my opinion, our fear-inspiring leader standing delivered a Republican Party commercial that was not much better than the sleazy advertisement the RNC has used in Tennessee against Congressman Harold Ford.

Bush’s stay the course flip-flop

I was going to comment on Bush’s retreat and denial of “stay the course,” but this new ad from The Democratic Party says it quite nicely.

All levity aside, I think this is a good ad.

Where Have I Been?

I regret my absence from TPC over the past several months. Furthermore, I apologize for not making some type of announcement. The reasons, simply stated, were available time and conflicting priorities. Initially, I believed with every passing day that “tomorrow” would be different. Each day I planned to post the next day, which obviously did not happen, and then days turned to weeks, etc. At one point, I intended to post an announcement, but could not even bring that to fruition. Yes, the highway to hell is paved with good intentions.

In the first quarter of this year, I added more responsibilities to an already full schedule; some were by choice and others were not. The greatest burden was my decision to return to school. A long absence from an academic environment accompanied with a strong Type A mentality, yielded more work than a full time job. Moreover, my family responsibilities increased at the same time. Overwhelmed is an understatement. Getting more than four hours sleep on any given night has been nothing short of a miracle. Bottom line, if any task was not related to basic necessities, it wasn’t addressed. No email beyond professional, school, or family. No fun and no Saturday nights at the movies.

So, why am I back? What’s changed? Hopefully, better time management techniques and the inability to ignore the passion that started this site. Quite simply, I could no longer tolerate being quiet while Congress and the Bush administration continued to destroy this country at a geometric rate. I had to jump back in the fray.

Again, my apologies for the unexplained absence and not responding to many emails received from loyal readers.

It’s time to get back to business.

Iraq Time Line - Ho Hum

Yesterday, Gen. George Casey predicted Iraqi troops would bear the burden of the war in 12 to 18 months. When I heard this on the news last night, I yawned and thought, more of the same.

Gen. Casey’s pronouncement appears to be a desperate directive from the Commander in Chief, who is scrambling with the mid-term elections only 13 days away. But more importantly, this is obviously a repeat of announced objectives and milestones that are not substantive and amount to mere rhetoric.

For more than three years, the administration has stated numerous similar milestones that come and go, but the milestones are not met. A well known reality - the conditions in Iraq get worse each day, not better. There is no plan. A new policy has not been established and Iraq is frighteningly now a Mad Max reality show.

What is the President’s and Karl Rove’s next strategic move? Send Dick Cheney out to deliver another last throes message? Actually, the President is scheduled to give another “major speech” on Iraq moments from now. His speech should be interesting. He no longer uses “stay the course,” therefore I am interested to hear his replacement for his often stated phrase and strategy.