Is This a Failed Presidency Yet? - Stephen Pizzo
the face is unreal
Raconteur at Large
Stephen Pizzo
November 22, 2005
Is This a Failed Presidency Yet?
The first year nine months of the George W. Bush presidency foretold what was to come. If you recall, pre-911 George was the quintessential deer in the headlights. He had landed the biggest job in the world and had no idea what he was supposed to do next.
I was reminded of that look yesterday when I saw the photo of W. trying to escape reporter's questions in China. It was a telling moment. He ended a news conference with a perfunctory, presidential "Thank you." He strode from the podium, employing his most serious presidential stride. So far, so good. Then his act abruptly collapsed. He pulled the door handle, but the door was locked.
And there he was again, for the whole world to see, pre-911 George, lost, adrift and looking for help. Help had always arrived for George before. It arrived and saved him in the nick of time on Sept. 11, 2001. But that kind of help doesn't grow on trees, and now he's on his own again.
September 11 did for George W. Bush what cocaine does for losers; it makes them feel and act like winners. If you've known a cocaine user you know what I mean. They brim with energy and self-confidence. They listen to no one but their inner buzz. They are cocky, smug, obnoxious. Still, if they are able to focus that buzz, they can create an illusion they actually know of which they speak, that they are driven -- even a leader.
As long as the cocaine lasts the illusion can as well. But when it runs out, or stops working, the loser is all that's left. 9/11 has stopped working for George so Bush The Loser, is back.
Not that he was ever gone, which explains why virtually everything he has done since 911 has come to naught, or worse. Had 9/11 never happened W. would be long gone already, a one-term President, like his father before him.
Therefore the media needs to begin a conversation we would have had around the third year of Bush's first term: Is this a failed presidency? And if so, how failed?
[SEE THE REST]
Raconteur at Large
Stephen Pizzo
November 22, 2005
Is This a Failed Presidency Yet?
The first year nine months of the George W. Bush presidency foretold what was to come. If you recall, pre-911 George was the quintessential deer in the headlights. He had landed the biggest job in the world and had no idea what he was supposed to do next.
I was reminded of that look yesterday when I saw the photo of W. trying to escape reporter's questions in China. It was a telling moment. He ended a news conference with a perfunctory, presidential "Thank you." He strode from the podium, employing his most serious presidential stride. So far, so good. Then his act abruptly collapsed. He pulled the door handle, but the door was locked.
And there he was again, for the whole world to see, pre-911 George, lost, adrift and looking for help. Help had always arrived for George before. It arrived and saved him in the nick of time on Sept. 11, 2001. But that kind of help doesn't grow on trees, and now he's on his own again.
September 11 did for George W. Bush what cocaine does for losers; it makes them feel and act like winners. If you've known a cocaine user you know what I mean. They brim with energy and self-confidence. They listen to no one but their inner buzz. They are cocky, smug, obnoxious. Still, if they are able to focus that buzz, they can create an illusion they actually know of which they speak, that they are driven -- even a leader.
As long as the cocaine lasts the illusion can as well. But when it runs out, or stops working, the loser is all that's left. 9/11 has stopped working for George so Bush The Loser, is back.
Not that he was ever gone, which explains why virtually everything he has done since 911 has come to naught, or worse. Had 9/11 never happened W. would be long gone already, a one-term President, like his father before him.
Therefore the media needs to begin a conversation we would have had around the third year of Bush's first term: Is this a failed presidency? And if so, how failed?
[SEE THE REST]
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