As the Justice Department tries to sell us the late Bruce Ivins as the sole perpetrator of the Anthrax scare that rocked the Nation immediately following 9-11, another, more clearly evident conspiracy theory looms on the horizon: is George Walker Bush going to leave The Oval Office on January 19, 2009?
Of course he will, you answer.
Really?
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver was convicted by military tribunal yesterday of - enjoy the irony here - being Osama bin Laden's driver. He was sentenced to five and a half years and is expected to be released no later than January with time served.
Not so, says Bush II: we can hold him as an enemy combatant as long as this "war on terror" lags on. And since defeating terrorism is an impossibility, that could be a heckuva lot longer than Hamdan has left before dying of natural causes in Gitmo. What's so disturbing about this declaration by the Bush Administration, is that for all of their bluster, even they know that they have no authority to hold Mr. Hamdan beyond January 19, 2008. So why bother making such an immensely stupid statement?
It could be that Bush really is that dumb - at least, that is what we hope. Or perhaps he knows something that the rest of us do not. Will the despot who turned the 21st Century United States into a horrifying police regime that would make Machiavelli wince, actually try to stay in office? Or has he concocted yet another means of rigging the elections to make sure that John McCain picks up where he left off?
Add your comments.
Of course he will, you answer.
Really?
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver was convicted by military tribunal yesterday of - enjoy the irony here - being Osama bin Laden's driver. He was sentenced to five and a half years and is expected to be released no later than January with time served.
Not so, says Bush II: we can hold him as an enemy combatant as long as this "war on terror" lags on. And since defeating terrorism is an impossibility, that could be a heckuva lot longer than Hamdan has left before dying of natural causes in Gitmo. What's so disturbing about this declaration by the Bush Administration, is that for all of their bluster, even they know that they have no authority to hold Mr. Hamdan beyond January 19, 2008. So why bother making such an immensely stupid statement?
It could be that Bush really is that dumb - at least, that is what we hope. Or perhaps he knows something that the rest of us do not. Will the despot who turned the 21st Century United States into a horrifying police regime that would make Machiavelli wince, actually try to stay in office? Or has he concocted yet another means of rigging the elections to make sure that John McCain picks up where he left off?
Add your comments.
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6 comments:
If there's anything I despise, it's a conspiracy theorist. They believe these things not because of any evidence, but because they WANT to believe them. The conspiracy fits in nicely with their worldview and even if it isn't true, they think it SHOULD be true.
Thus the nonsense about Bush not leaving office in 2009. Fits right in with the loonies' opinion that Fascism is here. Right now! Today!
Well, most conspiracy theories just linger on like a bad odor. The up-side of the "Bush as dictator" theory is that it will be conclusively disproven in January. Of course, there will be those that will claim that Bush is still pulling the strings behind the scene and that the Pres (Obama or McCain) is just his puppet.
And if there's anything MORE that I despise, its a right wing, fox-bush news spewer of HATE that BELIEVES the bullshit being fed them by the Nazi regime' that currently resides in the white house.
You sir, should pick up a weapon and go KILL for the dictator of which you worship.. KILL for Exxon, KILL for isreal, KILL for the saudis...
Sure, its islamo-fascism thats ruining the World, isnt that what bush-fox news told you?
Run along now, you have Millions of more innocents to rape, rob, pillage and murder...
Nice blog, keep spreading the word!
@ Jabe,
Please refrain from personal attacks. I will leave this comment posted, but with the proviso that you play nice from now on. Welcome to the site.
John,
As the election progresses, I'm inclined to agree with you: Bush will leave office. However, I will continue to define George W. Bush as a despot, long after he's out of the White House, and I will continue to define those who would seek to undermine the Bill of Rights to extend their own powers through fear and prejudice as fascists.
I assure you, 9-11 was the result of a terrorist attack by muslim extremists, not a government conspiracy. But President Bush used 9-11 as a cynical excuse for a power grab. All conspiracy theories aside, there are some questions that linger. I happen to know something about commercial satellite imaging; submeter resolution is available on the open market, and decimeter capacity has been around for at least four years. The question is, John, if the two wars we are now fighting were about terrorism, why, with the incredible capacity of satellite imaging (which we've used to track Iraqi troop movements), is bin Laden still at large? It's the sort of question that Bush has yet to answer, and no one else can answer it without speculating.
Please keep posting, John. Your views are appreciated and welcome.
Several points in re to "jabe" and "anarcyjack":
1. Getting pretty tired of people using the term "nazi" and "fascist" as generic pejoratives. At this point the words have lost their power (like the boy who cried wolf) and mean nothing more than "jerk" or "meanie".
2. I agree Bush used post-911 fear to push a particular agenda. The question is whether the agenda was a reasonable effort to fight GWOT or calculated attempt to grab power. IMO Bush did overreach but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt re his intentions. And his actions have apparantly worked; no terrorist attacks here since 911.
3. And re Bin Laden? Very hard to find a single man hiding in some of the most difficult terrain in the world. And if Bush could get him, why wouldn't he? Think of the PR boost he would get! Hopefully we're not proposing Obama's solution which is to send US troops into NW Pakistan w/o govt approval! This would constitute an invasion of a nation with a democratically elected govt; one that has nuclear weapons.
John,
bin Laden is more powerful at large than in prison. He is a symbol of American powerlessness at the hands of terrorists. The Bush Administration has run a permanent campaign. We know that political parties have non-issue issues, such as Roe v. Wade, since in the 6 years of Republican executive and legislative control at the turn of the millenium, the subject never came up. Ever notice how it only ever comes up (for either party) around election time? As far as catching bin Laden making Bush a hero, I don't think so. His father George H. W. Bush did what he promised: he invaded Iraq, kicked the Iraqis out of Kuwait, and then left. It was the sort of decisive victory that put MacArthur in the history books, but quick, easy victories do little for politicians. In 1984, the inner party kept them in a state of permanent war, on the edge of poverty, and constantly pushed extreme nationalism. What Jabe said about the Nazis, while an unfair comparison to you personally, is a cautionary tale that we should take seriously. A people that will not learn from its history is doomed to repeat it.
For my money, I'd rather be overly cautious in guarding against despotism than being naive enough to think it can't happen.
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