Monday, August 30, 2004

Bush: "Catastrophic Success"

It was late last night, and I was reading some news online. My wife Sam was in the next room, when she heard me make a weird noise, like I was choking on a hairball or having a fit of apoplexy or something. “Are you OK? Are you getting sick?” she asked.

Almost.

What I was doing at that moment was trying to wrap my brain around Bush’s latest comment on his Iraq policy, in which he termed it a “catastrophic success.” WTF?!! Is this more incoherent idiocy or just another in the long line of malapropisms widely known as “Bushisms?”

Then it all kind of made sense, in a totally sick, “big-picture” sort of way.

For once, Bush wasn’t lying or dissembling, but telling us the pure, naked, unvarnished truth. You just have to view it in the terms that VP candidate John Edwards put forward several months ago - the “Two Americas”, of Us and Them.

In fact this can be used to explain the results of virtually every policy of the Bush administration, and even to sum up his entire presidency - as a “catastrophic success.”

For the tens of thousands of Iraqi dead and the America that has sacrificed nearly 1000 of their sons and daughters, it has been an utter catastrophe. For the America of Halliburton and myriad defense contractors, a lucrative success.

For the Americans dependent on Medicaid to find that their new drug benefits come with a provision that they can’t buy from Canada and the government is prohibited from negotiating for the best price - a catastrophe. For the America of Big Pharma and associated industries, a wild success, worth tens of billions.

For the America that pays the lion’s share of taxes - the middle class (and their children and grandchildren), a catastrophe - trillions in deficits in place of surpluses. For the America of country clubs and boardrooms, yet more success - trillions in tax cuts.

For the America of “Clear Skys” and “Healthy Forests” - an unmitigated catastrophe, as they are being destroyed by administration initiatives bearing the same names, just like the common practice of naming a new housing development for what they destroyed to build it. For the America of polluters and natural resource extractive industries - a windfall success.

For the America of small business and their employees - a catastrophe as the economy tanked and barely recovered. For the America of the Fortune 500 and multinationals - a roaring success as they outsourced and were deregulated.

For the America of minorities and for Democrats - a catastrophe of disenfranchisement and voting machine fraud, leading to the Republicans holding all branches of government, turning their backs on the poor and needy. For the well-heeled campaign contributors to Bush - a successful return on investment.

For the America of Constitutional rights and a free press that that would uncover misdeeds in high places - a catastrophic failure of Congress and regulatory agencies. For the America of the corporate press - a blind eye and the success of an ever-tightening grip on your right to know.

You see, whether it’s a catastrophe or a success depends on which America you live in.

- Bob Woods