The problem for leaders who get away with lying and oversimplifying is that they think they will be able to always get away with it. Thus, when finally caught or caught-on-to, their first response is to escalate the behavior that no longer works.
Witness Junior Bush’s defense of Rumsfeld: “I’m the decider, so I do the deciding.” Who is he trying to convince — U.S. public opinion or himself? Why not “I’m the failure because I do the failing” or “I’m the corrupter because I do the corrupting”?
He has frequently been of the “declaring it so makes it so” school of governance. Because he got away with it on selling the Iraq war, at least for the first few months, he thinks he can keep getting away with it. Because he so successfully used the “I’m the president who fights terrorism” argument for way too long, he thinks all he has to do is repeat this mantra, like when the scandal of illegal domestic wiretapping was exposed.
His problem is, that no longer works. Far too many people have seen through his lies, and he no longer gets the benefit of the doubt except from Fox “news” commentators.
A related problem for Bush is that he never meant most of what he said — it was all geared to selling his immoral and amoral policies, at providing a veneer of “common sense” over policies that people wouldn’t support on their own merits. So when people now no longer buy the veneer, there’s no substance to fall back on.
Except of course for Bush’s “base.” The millionaires and billionaires, the corporations and CEOs never needed any justification beyond how much money they were going to make off Bush’s policies. Tax cuts for the rich, boondoggles for big businesses, anti-people, anti-union, anti-women, and anti-poor-people policies were and are the reasons for making big contributions to the Republicans, especially Bush. Those contributions were an investment in a political figure who was somewhat successful at selling people on pro-big-business policies. They have undoubtedly started looking around for some other figurehead.
Bush’s policies on their own have never been as popular as Bush himself, with his straight-talking, plain-speaking image. It was always an illusion, but for several years enough people bought it that he could get away with cramming his program through. Now that millions more understand the illusion, cranking up the old advertising campaigns just makes things worse for him.
The reason to switch control of the House and Senate to the Democrats is because Bush is the decider and his decisions have been wrong, and his minions have been wrong too. The reason to impeach is because Bush is the decider and has decided on illegal and unconstitutional programs. The reason to get rid of the whole ultra-right establishment is because Bush’s “ideas” and policies are bankrupt and against the interests of the vast majority of the people.
Bush can chase his own tail in an orgy of circular reasoning, but that is no reason to let him do so on our time. We, the people, are the ultimate deciders. That’s what is required for our democracy: for we, the people, to take the power that belongs to us into our own hands and use that power to throw the bums out, starting with Bum #1, Baby Boy Bush. He is only the decider as long as we let him get away with it. Of course, he only plays the decider on television, we need to get rid of the powers behind his throne. We can, should and must put a period to his policies.
Marc Brodine (marcbrodine@inlandnet.com) is chair of the Washington State Communist Party.
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