Buck up, Bush

Entry by Cardozo
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(Note: Today marks the first day, Bush, of an entry in The Bush Diaires by someone other than yours truly, PeterAtLarge. "Cardozo" describes himself (below) as "the junior diarist" and that description fits well with my intention in inviting him to join me in these pages; I trust that you'll enjoy hearing from a different-and considerably younger--voice for a change. If all goes well, you can expect to hear more from him in the future. Have a good weekend, Bush. We'll be talking again on Monday. PaL)

I know, Bush. It feels like the dam is about to burst. You’ve got all of your fingers and toes engaged in plugging up the cracks, while the pressure of bad news and bad polling numbers builds daily. And for the first time, that trademark optimism of yours seems to be cracking as well. And its funny. I thought it would be a good day for us all when you finally realized that this job was beyond you.

But in actuality the effect is a little bit unsettling.

Comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam are everywhere, and yesterday you did an awful job of squelching them. In an interview with George Stephanopolous, you even acknowledged the similarities yourself (I guess the question caught you unawares, without a sound byte at your disposal, so that a bit of your often-ignored common sense slipped out). Meanwhile, the U.S. Army acknowledged that the plan to secure Baghdad has gone down in flames. McCain wants you to send in more troops, while Rummy is clamoring for Iraqis to take over more security in short order. Our intelligence community believes that the Iraq war has been detrimental to the war on terror, and your GOP brethren in Congress are of no help at the moment, embroiled in finger-pointing over the Foley scandal.

So I’m not entirely surprised if, as it is beginning to seem, your heart isn’t in the job anymore. After leading the country into a bottomless war under shady pretenses, one can see why you’d want to mentally “check out” for a while. Everyone needs a vacation, even from their own incompetence.

Unfortunately, Bush, you don’t have that luxury. Presidents don’t get vacations. So muster up your courage and put your lame ducks back in a line, because if there’s anything more frightening than an evangelical, war-profiteering President, it’s an evangelical, war-profiteering President who has lost his will to govern.

P.S. This is my first post as a member of the BD team, Bush. (You can think of me as the junior diarist.) Offline, you can find me in Los Angeles working on sweatshop issues in the progressive Jewish community. I'm really looking forward to engaging in a mutually-constructive dialogue for the next two years (or until they Henry Hyde your hide out of office.)