Posted on 12/06/2006 2:06:31 PM PST by Sabramerican
JOHN Bolton's resignation as the American ambassador to the United Nations makes it official: The Bush administration is now drifting idly toward a mixture of centrism and impotence.
In less than a month, two of President Bush's stronger and more independent aides - Donald Rumsfeld and Bolton - have been dispatched. Rumsfeld's designated successor, former CIA head Robert Gates, is a leading member of the Beltway's permanent bureaucracy.
The administration seems to be waiting for the Baker-Hamilton commission of old Washington hands to dictate U.S. policy on Iraq. Leaks from the commission suggest it will recommend a gradual U.S. withdrawal camouflaged by negotiations with Iran and Syria over a new Mideast grand bargain.
All of this feeds an exaggerated defeatism in the United States over Iraq.
.....
Rumsfeld's abrupt firing was an act of flagrant disloyalty to a loyal subordinate. The defense secretary had made his share of mistakes - notably, his failure to crush looting immediately after the fall of Baghdad - but he had followed the president's policy faithfully.
.......
We don't know for certain the reasons for Bolton's departure: Either the White House wasn't prepared to fight for him, or he was no longer prepared to lend his voice to the diplomatic charade over Iran and North Korea. Either way, his departure demonstrates timidity on the administration's part. The net result will be that Bush has one less loyal subordinate in the shrinking ranks of his own administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Just because he has been around for four years doesn't mean he can't be zotted.
Now, off to cook dinner.
You wish, oldfriend. You wish.
Pere Bush's tears the other day were not about Jeb's stiff upper lip after an electoral defeat, as he claimed. Those gushing tears and that heartwrenching anguish, a public breakdown certainly unprecedented in American history for a former president, were for Dubya, with Jeb the convenient cover.
The Bush family went after Saddam out of personal animus. They were tired of explaining why Poppa didn't carry on to Baghdad after the Gulf War, and they all hated Saddam intensely for the assassination attempt on 41. If any other individual except George W. Bush has been in the Oval Office in 2003, the unnecessary and ill-advised invasion of Iraq never -- EVER -- would have taken place. All that we see happening now was easily predictable back then. Indeed, I predicted it, as did Dick Cheney* in 1991.
We don't need to be in Iraq to enhance the security of the American people. It was a disastrous decision to invade, made by an inarticulate, ill-read man who knows nothing of the lessons of history.
All of this is now evident to the family, hence Poppa's public tears.
*Once you get to Baghdad, it’s not clear what you do with it. It’s not clear what kind of government you put in place of the one that’s currently there now. Is it going to be a Shia regime, a Sunni regime, a Kurdish regime? Or one that tilts toward the Baathists, or one that tilts toward Islamic fundamentalists? How much credibility is that going to have if it’s set up by the American military there? How long does the United States military have to stay there to protect the people that sign on for that government, and what happens once we leave?
Election 2008 be damned. I think Bush should begin a bombing campaign of Iran in mid summer 2008. If he can topple that monkey, I may be able to live with a Democrat president for the next 4 years. After all, the candidates we have are not that different.
bumpup
Sorry to say, the MSM is not dying. The have 50% of the people believing them. And for my reasoning the 2004 and later crowd of newbies are trolls, well, just look a the the facts, they can't site anything factual, they are knee jerk and they don't back anything up with facts. They just try to be 'cute' with their replies. And that is the way it is. Us oldtimers expect facts, but all we get a cute response to some sexual reference.
You didn't have to respond to me. Guess I pushed one of your buttons.
I have to agree. I know lots of people who just don't vote...for any number of reasons and for none at all!
If Hitlery ran they would definitely pull that lever or press that button and vote --- for ANYONE running against her.
Whatever that means. You've been drinking the MSM koodaid. Rumsfeld was not "let go" or "fired" or any of those other words the MSM is feeding you with. He was proected from endless committee investigations which would have interfered with his effectiveness at overseeing defense and would have been an constant affront to his dignity.
He and his wife have given years for public service. They certainly did not deserve a crucifixion at the end and Pres. Bush blocked it. It was the right decision from the President.
FR is read by far more people(including non members)than the relatively small number who actively participiate. I think of late, even going back several years, we have been infiltrated by trolls/phonies who try to appear conservative but are here to show the outside world that there is growing dissent among conservatives.
Your reading comprehension skills, as evidenced by your finding of "bragging" in Bush's remarks, are exactly what I expect from a bitter little mouse. Bush earned political "capital" and said what he was going to spend it on. Big deal.... That's "bragging"? I don't think so. The fact that a cowardly and incompetent Congress (peppered with just enough scumbag "Main Street moderates") offered no help wasn't Bush's fault.
Keep digging.
Thanks go also to Dewine, Hagel, Graham, Chafee for grandstanding and playing to Democrat claims, which always were phony. The vote in November was a vote of disgust with this type of leadership from Republicans. Not everyone could hold their nose tight enough to vote GOP this time.
Hear, hear!
Thanks.
Yes, I've gathered that (I need some coffee!) and I won't be responding to her further.
Regards,
LH
Yes, and these are the short-sighted folks who made it impossible for Bolton to be confirmed as UN amb.
And will be responsible for lots of other stuff that will never pass a Dem congress.
If I read your date correctly, you only go back to 2005. How does that make you better than me, which if I read your post right it appears you are trying to infer.
Hogwash
Despite a Republican Congress we got only a half-hearted, lame attempt to do something about socialist security and the income tax, both of which should have been dismantled by now. W's judicial appointments are conservative in the sense that they will conserve the previous lefty rulings by other socialist judges, whereas what we need are radical judges who will rightly use those previous opinions as toilet paper (like Roe v. Wade).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.