7thriv

Watched Pres. Bush's Farewell Address to the nation last night. As ususal with Bush 43 speeches, it was much more rewarding to read his speech than to actually watch it. He remains a middling public speaker. Actually, I think his speaking skills have declined, if that seems possible.

The substance was a review of his presidency, but the tone in his voice gave the speech a melancholy air. No, it wasn't "somber." But, it was valedictory, and it was given with a sense of the accumulated weight of the last 8 years. Disaster planners used to say that the three worst things they could imagine happening in the US would be a WMD attack on Manhatten, a hurricane directly hitting New Orleans, or an earthquake wrecking San Francisco. Well, GW Bush saw two of those three happen on his watch. And, while the rest of us could watch on television, or lecture the president from their comfortable sincures on Capitol Hill, he went to the scenes of death and destruction, comforted the survivors, and tried to figure out how to lead the nation in the face of unprecedented perils. This isn't the time or place to debate the federal response to Katrina, but Kathleen Blanco and Ray Nagin each demonstrated what tragically bad leadership looks like. I'll take GW Bush over "competent" Democrats any day of the week.

Much of the speech dealt with 9/11 and its aftermath, as well it should. Those days showed Bush, and America, at their best, and a lot of people are desperate to forget what he did. In an instant, our vacation from history ended, symbols of our power lay in ruins, and thousands of inncents lay dead. No one, no matter how many CIA briefings or "threat memos" or whatever they might have seen, could have been prepared for the moment when Andrew Card whispered in the president's ear, as he faced a room full of children, and told him that our lives had changed forever.

Of course, we knew at the time that "things had changed," but no one knew exactly how until much later. In fact, we still don't know. But for the 18 months after 9/11, right up until we invaded Iraq, he could do no wrong. He could visit rescue workers at Ground Zero and, with one sentence, lift a city and a nation from its shock. He could join with the great Tony Blair and resurect the Anglo-American alliance, and show that it's the quality of your friends, not their multiplicity, that is important. And, he could redirect and redeploy our nation's eyes and ears to meet a shadowy enemy that would never live by the rules that we impose on ourselves. And, he did all this while the openness and freedom that is America's great unique quality was left blissfully unchanged. That was no accident. That was the overriding goal of the president.

There's been a lot of pissing and moaning about the shredding of the Constitution, but very little of it arises from actions he took in the months after 9/11. Even Bush's noisiest critics know, in their hearts, that for a short time GW Bush was man perfectly suited for the times. But, when the times returned to a sort of normalcy, the critics returned with a vengence with one goal in mind; to ruin the man's standing in the eyes of Americans and the world. Sadly, these critics largely succeeded, helped along by a president who would not pay back their opprobrium in kind.

There was one funny moment in Bush's spech when he ducked his head, smiled faintly, and said, "You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made." Instantly, the mind conjures visions of Cindy Sheehan in her ditch, Michael Moore selling treason at Cannes, Dick Durbin calling US troops Nazis, bookstore tables groaning under the weight of that month's latest Bush Bashing tomes, the whole panoply of Bush Derangement. The entire weight of the media, entertainment, and university lead intelligencia came down on GW Bush, and finally it was too much. The American public always tires of their presidents after about 6 years. In this case, we also had to bear the weight of endless attacks on our president and our nation from our supposed intellectual betters until, finally, many of us voted into office a pleasant man who said he would "end the partisanship." That he might do, but he would do it the same way FDR did: by routing the other party from the political scene and then taxing and regulating its constituents until they no longer resembled what they had once been.

Speaking of contituents, Bush may be leaving, but the GOP remains. Over the years, the modern GOP and movement conservatives have found plenty of reasons to criticize, not just GW, but all Bushes . The Bush family is the closest the modern GOP has to Democratic aristocrats like the Bayhs, Clintons, and Kennedies, but while Dems swoon for such people, the GOP is visibly discomfited. And, the Bushes have always come from the moderate wing, which has been much more successful at obtaining office, even as the die-hards castigate them as RINO's and "tax collectors for the welfare state." But, Bush cares just as much about America and the GOP as does Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich or anyone else you might name. And right now, the GOP has an image problem that is beyond anything attributable to GW Bush. The GOP has also become the party of the sour-pussed James Dobson, the corrupt Tom Delay, the incompetent Mike Brown, the baffled Scott McClellan, the fallen Master of the Universe Hank Paulson, the spendthrift House and Senate, &c.

Bush had some invited guests with him last night, some of whom he singled out in his speech. None were who you would call celebtrities. Instead, there was a Iraq War hero, a former gang banger now leading an inner-city ministry, and a father who joined the Navy as a tribute to his Marine son-killed in action in Iraq. All were admirable in their heroism and ordinariness. Like the pilot who, on the same day, landed a jet on the Hudson and then remained on board until the last passenger was safely off, these people should be the GOP's natural constituency. They are not the sort of people who march in protests, or donate money to activist causes, or lobby for special favors. They are ordinary Americans who love their country and just want to know that it is working and that it is safe. No, they don't appear on television like the Cindy Sheehans of the world. But they are out there, and their votes are far better sought out by the modern GOP than the votes of the Dobson crowd. For Bush, these people are the ones he sees in his mind's eye when he asks, "What is an American?" And these people have been drowned out in the noise raised, not just by the Left, but also by the agitated interest groups on the Right as well. I hope the GOP's wise men will take a look at Bush's exemplars because they are the ones to whom they should appeal, not some pollster's creation like "soccer moms" or "security dads."

GW Bush made a short reference to the recent financial crash, simply saying that we have been tested again, and that he had acted decisively to prevent the wreck of our financial system. Mr. Bush, I haven't agreed with a single thing you have done since September. But, if the man who ordered the Surge into being thinks he has done the right thing for the country, I am willing and eager to be proven wrong. Certainly for our nation's sake I hope you, and Mr. Obama, are successful in this endeavor.

Still, the man goes out with his head held high, and secure with the knowledge that - despite everything that was thrown at him - he never lost his dignity. I don't know what he plans to do with his time now, but I will make one daring prediction: he will not be jetting around the world fund raising from dictators and third world corporate oligarchs; nor will he be traveling to woe-begotten tyrranies to declare their latest sham elections to be "basically fair," nor will he grow wealthy traveling the world by private jet giving speeches about the imminent melting of the icecaps.

And, just as liberals look back at their hounding of the progressive Lyndon Johnson with regret, we will regret that we did not recognize that this was a president who was the strongest pro-life voice to occupy the office, the strongest friend of Israel, the finest annointer of judges and justices, a crusader for AIDS relief in Africa, and above all The Decider.

And no matter what, I think we will miss him more than we know.

Obama's Pick to Head SEC Has Record Of Being a Regulator With a Light Touch, which is just what we need in the post-Crash, post-Madoff world. This is beginning to look like a weak pick. Shapiro gives every indication of being a wealthy, middle aged executive who speaks in the droning language of the Planet Corporatica. Her regulatory experience is based on years as a "private" regulator for entities (NASD and then FINRA) set up by the securities indsutry to regulate ... the securities industry! She was paid $3 million per year to do this. In exchange, she tended to come down hard on small fry for technical violations while Madoff (who was specifically referred to FINRA), and other Big Boys got away with murder. Like the liberals who ran Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Shapiro has made a fortune off the liberal ediface built over the last 75 years while simlutaneously destroying it (but they had Good Intentions!). She may turn out to be the George Tenet of the SEC.

Confirmation Hearings for Treasury Secretary-designate Geithner Postponed. If there was ever an example of media double standards that favor Democrats, it's this. Can we imagine the reaction if a Republican nominee for Treasury Secretary had failed to pay his taxes? Yes We Can! Actually, this is a special dispensation that only favors Obama nominees. Bill Clinton's AG nominee Zoe Baird was derailed over a $2,900 fine for unpaid nanny taxes. Subsequent nominee Kimba Wood withdrew from consideration on similar grounds, even though she really didn't have a tax issue. Geithner, on the other hand, failed to pay $34,000 in taxes over a period of several years. That is not an error; that is on purpose.

There is an obvious "too big to fail" joke that can be made here. However, there is something more serious at work. Geithner has not paid his taxes. The IRS, and its demands, are well known. Geithner is going to be heading the IRS, in his capacity as Treasury Secretary, and yet he has been unable to follow its most basic rules. All of this has a "Spitzer prosecuting johns" quality. I think I can safely predict more tax disclosures. It goes without saying that the REAL reason to object to Geithner is his status as "Man on the Scene" at the New York Fed during Wall Street's implosion and subsequent bailout. This will not end well.


Clinton to Engage Iran and Syria Soon . Give me a break. All you "soft" "smart" folks out there: what are you going to do that is substantively different from the Bush era? Is Hillary going to be flying in and out of the Gaza Strip to meet with Hamas and shake hands with their rotating cast of spokesmen who can promise everything and deliver nothing? How will she handle a resurgent Russia? Or a soon-to-be-nuclear Iran that we have been engaging for 30 years while they plot our destruction? And if Bush is so stupid, how did he manage to open relations with India (among other things)?

All of this talk of "soft" and "smart" power is no doubt soothing to their advocates' egos. They will go back to doing things the "right" way. This means lots of flights to the Mideast and lots of time spent (and lost) at innumerable summit meetings. It's good for preserving the illusion that the elites are in charge. Meanwhile, only God will know what is happening in the shadows. And after few years of "smart" power, they will be ready to educate us.


Chu Softens Views on Coal, Nuclear Power . That's right. Just say enough to get through a hearing chaired by your ideological allies. Too many times, the people charged with safeguarding the nations's environment are not asked about the practical effects of the rules they impose uponthe rest of us. Usually, environmental regulations are passed with the promise that they are benign, but such rules are often job killers. If you are in an industry that uses any sort of chemical, or creates any sort of discharge, then you know about the Law of Unintended Consequences follows any law that Chu might be charged with enforcing.

Oh, good grief. Obama has asked for the remaining TARP funds to be disbursed and the President -always classy & helpful - has obliged. I have to ask: what is going to happen between now and next Tuesday that will require the immediate appropriation of $350 BILLION? In my mind, nothing. But, now the Obama presidency will not be tarred with a noisy fight over an immensely unpopular program. The Left has been singularly unhelpful and unkind to President Bush over the last 8 years. I hope Obama, at least, will remember Bush's "helpfulness" next time someone comes at him demanding a Truth & Reconciliation Commission. 

S.F. spy cameras no help in violent crime. Sorry, I know that it's the 21st century, so we are all very sophisticated and high tech; but I'm afraid you need to allow the police to actually get out of their cars and do some policing, rather than rely on some Eye in the Sky.

Cindy Sheehan is on her farewell tour as S.F. protesters urges U.S. to close Guantanamo. I think there was a point to Gitmo, but clearly the drama queens are winning the public relations war. If/when Obama closes Gitmo, we'll see what happens to these people and their array of orange jumpsuits and giant puppets. One hopes they disappear, but it looks like they're having too much fun to do that.

It will also be interesting to see what happens if the Obama administration tries to do what many Gitmo critics have suggested: bring the terrorists to the U.S. and hold them in federal jails or military stockades. Then, Obama may see what happens when real Americans protest (see the Boston busing protests for an example).

On a more serious note, it does appear that Obama does intend to change some things, such as relaxing interrogation and closing Gitmo. No one wants to see another attack, including (I hope) the people who have been calling for such changes since, oh, October 2001. But, the aggressive policies that the Bush administration has pursued has clearly prevented another attack on U.S. soil. If Khalid Sheik Mohammed had to get a little wet to accomplish that, that's fine with me and fine with the vast majority of Americans. If there is another attack in the next 4 years, it will be very easy to link any such atrocity to the relaxed vigilence that Obama apparently intends to implement.