(Vanity) President Charlie Brown, or The Sins of the Fathers

grey_whiskers ^ | 1-4-2007 | grey_whiskers

[grey_whiskers]

In the aftermath of the anti-Republican bloodletting in the recent elections (in case you were busy with Britney Spears scandals, the Republican Party lost effective control of both the House and the Senate), there have been a lot of changes. Donald Rumsfeld has resigned; the Iraq working group has produced their working surrender documents; and a host of Democrats, instead of fleeing the sinking ship of Democratic Party National Prospects, have begun clambering on board the hulk and declared their Presidential aspirations for 2008.

There have been changes on the Republican side as well. The Republican Party at some points seems close to splitting into factions; but unlike the Democrats, these factions are not cooperating, but are at each other’s throats. The neocons and the Religious Right; the Reagan bloc and the Rockefeller Republicans; the open borders crowd and the seal the borders club—all one big unhappy family.

And in the midst of it all, we find President Bush. A man who claims to be “a uniter, not a divider.” Gee, I’m glad he told us that—I just wish that I’d read the fine print that he was going to unite the Democrats and divide the Republicans. He’s too faith-centered for the Rockefeller RINOs, too cozy with Ted Kennedy for the Reaganites, too soft-spoken on judges to change the 5-4 liberal bloc on the Supreme Court. And self-proclaimed “compassionate conservative.” I thought that that was a sappy piece of election rhetoric, until he starting getting cozy with Vincente Fox and speaking of Gold Cards for Mexican immigrants. But then I reconsidered—the apple never falls too far from the tree. Who is George W. Bush’s father? George H. W. Bush. Bush 41. Can we see any similarities?

Recall how the First President Bush entered the Oval Office? He was following in the footsteps of Renaldus Magnus—the greatest President of our times. (I still say there should be a fifth face on Mt. Rushmore, and that it should be Reagan, not Gorbachev!) Many had hopes that, like Reagan, Bush would finally kill off the great liberal beast in Washington DC and vanquish liberalism—if not completely, well then, at least for a good, long time.

But the problem was that he did not have a Congress of the same party. I still remember hearing a radio news report in which the Speaker of the House said of a proposed Bush 41 budget, “This budget is dead on arrival.” And in an attempt (I suppose) to soothe ruffled feathers, he began ‘reaching out’ to Democrats. Do you remember the defining moment of the Bush Presidency? It was this one sentence: “Read my lips. No new taxes.”

It was at this point I knew he was going to flub it, much as one counts on the Cubs or the Red Sox shooting themselves in the foot. Acting on the advice of the Democrats, “We…we only want to help the President,” a major tax increase was passed. This paved the way for Bubba and his co-President.

So what has happened with this President? Not a tax increase (yet), thank God. But all kinds of similar follies. We will pass over these except as a footnote(*). What is likely to be the one defining moment of the Bush 43 second term? Those pesky Democrats again, “helping” the President to become more compassionately conservative. Something they’ve wanted for a long time. Just as the US economy is beginning to recover from the Dot-Bomb bubble, the last recession, 9-11, the Iraq War, and outsourcing—on the power of the Bush tax cuts, undoing the damage Bill Clinton had done. What is it? The minimum wage hike. Outside of a tax increase, one of the most damaging things the government can do by fiat. And what will be the effect? A clamp on growth, a recession, a resurgent union movement—and all in time for the 2008 elections, with a cadre of Mexican workers ready to vote.

And of all people running, another Clinton aiming for the White House.

I hope it isn’t true, but sometimes I think of Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, saying, “I am a Jedi, like my father before me.” Just before he gets zotted by the Emperor. And then I realize—Luke Skywalker won. President Bush is more like Charlie Brown running up to kick the football, after Lucy promises him that this time, she’ll really hold it for him. AAAAAGGGGH!

Mr. President, you’re no Luke Skywalker. Good Grief.

(*)The Education Bill (co-authored by Ted Kennedy, recently revealed to have been in contact with the KGB over US missiles in Europe during the cold war). The drastic increase in entitlement funding. The anti-citizen borders (US citizens will soon need a biometric passport to re-enter the country, but Mexican illegals are welcomed). And McCain-Feingold Political Censorship Law. Has someone forgotten to exorcise the ghost of Jimmy Carter from the White House or something?

[grey_whiskers]

Cheers!