Different, yes. But not good.
Mar. 29th, 2003 02:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libertangoFrom an analysis by veteran New York Times writer R.W. Apple:
"Saddam won't win," said Richard C. Holbrooke, the former United States representative at the United Nations. "Unlike L.B.J. in Vietnam, Bush won't quit. He's a different kind of Texan. He'll escalate and keep escalating. In the end his military strategy will probably succeed in destroying Saddam.
"But it may result in a Muslim jihad against us and our friends. Achieving our narrow objective of regime change may take so long and trigger so many consequences that it's no victory at all. Our ultimate goal, which is promoting stability in the Middle East, may well prove elusive."
There's something to this characterization of Bush. After all, the reason he exercises the powers of the Presidency today is because he "wouldn't quit". Sure, his obstinate stubborness probably hurt the Constitution, the country, and his own party in the long run... But he wasn't willing to let his overgrown teenaged enthusiasm be limited by anything as adult as duty, honor, country, that sort of thing.
The problem here is, LBJ didn't just "quit". He cut his losses. He got out before Vietnam became even worse.
I think Holbrooke is absolutely right. Bush doesn't seem able to be rational in that way. He seems to believe that everything will sumbit toHis Iron Will determination.
Which works just fine, as long as everyone is willing to play along to the script. Like, say, Democrats willing to put peace within the nation before personal gain, or better-qualified Republican candidates willing to fold for the sake of peace within the party.
I don't think either the desert or the Iraqi people pay attention to such things, though.
Which means that Bush won't be capable of cutting his losses if things get really bad. He'll keep pressing on, dragging the country along with him.
Which is not good. For anyone.
"Saddam won't win," said Richard C. Holbrooke, the former United States representative at the United Nations. "Unlike L.B.J. in Vietnam, Bush won't quit. He's a different kind of Texan. He'll escalate and keep escalating. In the end his military strategy will probably succeed in destroying Saddam.
"But it may result in a Muslim jihad against us and our friends. Achieving our narrow objective of regime change may take so long and trigger so many consequences that it's no victory at all. Our ultimate goal, which is promoting stability in the Middle East, may well prove elusive."
There's something to this characterization of Bush. After all, the reason he exercises the powers of the Presidency today is because he "wouldn't quit". Sure, his obstinate stubborness probably hurt the Constitution, the country, and his own party in the long run... But he wasn't willing to let his overgrown teenaged enthusiasm be limited by anything as adult as duty, honor, country, that sort of thing.
The problem here is, LBJ didn't just "quit". He cut his losses. He got out before Vietnam became even worse.
I think Holbrooke is absolutely right. Bush doesn't seem able to be rational in that way. He seems to believe that everything will sumbit to
Which works just fine, as long as everyone is willing to play along to the script. Like, say, Democrats willing to put peace within the nation before personal gain, or better-qualified Republican candidates willing to fold for the sake of peace within the party.
I don't think either the desert or the Iraqi people pay attention to such things, though.
Which means that Bush won't be capable of cutting his losses if things get really bad. He'll keep pressing on, dragging the country along with him.
Which is not good. For anyone.
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Overgrown teenaged enthusiasm?
Date: 2003-03-29 02:16 pm (UTC)Re: Overgrown teenaged enthusiasm?
Date: 2003-03-29 02:28 pm (UTC)Still, it's how he acts. All the time. Think here of my "Fuck X" post.
Basically, Bush keeps acting like a teenager who doesn't really believe what the adults tell him. You don't really need to make money to pay the rent, groceries, etc. Adults just make money from the sky. In the same way, diplomacy and logistics and balancing the budget... things like that don't really matter -- Presidents get to blow people up, and wave their magic wand over tax policy, and... Hell, dude, anyone who plays Doom knows that.
In many ways, Bush is the intellectual heir of Harris and Klebold... Destroying the school to prove he exists.
Re: Overgrown teenaged enthusiasm?
Date: 2003-03-29 04:56 pm (UTC)I now have this lovely mental image of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld videotaping themselves brandishing guns in the White House basement...
Re: Overgrown teenaged enthusiasm?
Date: 2003-03-29 05:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-29 09:40 pm (UTC)