Question d’jour

Truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.
- Flannery O'Connor, writer (1925-1964)

Which brings us, in a round about way, to the fundamental question that has plagued American society since January 2001:

Is President B*sh stupid, evil, or so stupid his actions merely make him look evil?

There's a lot of theories out there: Dick Cheney's puppet. Karl Rove's puppet. Trying to show up daddy. The worst dry drunk in recorded history. Related to the last is my favorite theory, in my more charitable moods: the man is emotionally stunted. The latest proof, to my mind, came on Thursday, Sept. 1, when he did his fly-over of the affected region, and he was unable to express his feelings. He hemmed and hawed and kept saying "devastation". He might have felt devastated, and I would have given him credit if he had said so. But nobody feels "devastation".

Now, anyone who has read my entries over the past two years knows by now that I have a blind spot when it comes to our fearless leader. The mere sound of his voice raises my blood pressure. It's as hard for me to be reasonable about El Presidente as it is for Andrew Donaldson to be reasonable about Lance Armstrong or anonymous sources.

Things like the inept response to Katrina fill me with rage. Sure, state officials made their share of mistakes. More mistakes were made on the federal side. Whether Georgie himself personally made the decisions to dither about exact protocol (even after he had been asked to declare Louisiana a disaster area) or not is immaterial. He hired the twits who dithered.

To paraphrase Harry Truman, the buck stops at the president's desk. You hired your friends and cronies, your campaign flunkies, the loyalists you believed you could trust - so long as they never disagreed with you - you have the ultimate responsibility.

In the spirit of Flannery O'Connor, let's face some truth:

Just because you think tax cuts for the wealthiest top 10% will benefit the entire country doesn't make it so. It didn't work in the Reagan era, and it's not working now.

Just because you think invading Iraq will magically create democracy, or whatever reason you're pedalling this week, doesn't make it so. Oh yeah, I forgot: we're sending more people to die to honor the people who have already died. A high school student could discern the logical falacy in that statement.

Unlike Mr. B*sh, I can express my feelings:

I'm filled with rage because we're stuck with this guy for another three years. I'm angry because the Republican Congress has gone along with 90% of what he has requested. I feel powerless because that same Congress, and Republican state legislatures, have effectively gerrymandered key states like Texas in a way to insure Republicans will stay in power for years to come. I feel powerless because the Democrats seem, with a few notable exceptions, to be toothless yappy little dogs more interested in casting blame than producing effective alternatives.

Is there any hope?

The President's polling numbers remain low. Last I noticed, around 38%. Many people agree the federal government botched the response to the Katrina disaster, and most appropriately place the blame on the president. "Brownie" has resigned, and one can only hope that Chertoff and Rumsfeld will be the next to fall on their swords.

I suspect, however, we're stuck with both El Presidente and Rummy for the duration. One can only hope that the public will have such a sour taste in its mouth two years from now that they will vote for the other party.

One can only hope and pray that the entire nation has not become a wholly owned subsidiary of Halliburton, or its affiliates, by then. If that happens, Dick Cheney will be named CEO of the United States, Inc, and God have mercy on us all.