What the heck is going on in the Bush administration lately?  Despite President Bush's assertions that he and his administration, "don't pay attention to public opinion polls," clearly they are paying attention to the eroding support of the Iraq War by the American people.  The Democrusader can use all the good ole boy, down home euphemisms he can remember to deny it, like "dogs chasing their tails," but something is going on in North Crawford, D.C.  Otherwise, why would Bush be getting TV time this Tuesday to remake his Iraq case using bleacherfuls of soldiers at Ft. Bragg as his backdrop?

I'm wondering how many times in Dubya's upcoming speech, he will have to invoke 9/11.  A little foreshadowing to this theme was given by Karl 'Herman Goring' Rove last week in a speech to conservatives in New York.  In his speech, Rove proclaimed, "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.  Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."

"Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country"

-- Hermann Goring, founder of the Nazi Gestapo

Perhaps the President's upcoming speech will speak to the detainee issues at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo.  I seriously doubt it, though.  Unlike the enlisted personnel swept up into the Abu Ghraib abuse slidehow of shame who are being prosecuted, the general officer in charge of Abu Ghraib at the time of the abuse is actually being promoted.

As far as Gitmo is concerned, we need only to listen to Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remarks.  He declared, "They’re living in the tropics. They’re well fed. They’ve got everything they could possibly want."  And old Porkchop Butt should know, too.  His buddies at the Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, were just recently awarded a contract to build more facilities in Guantanamo Bay worth $30 million.

And nearly everyone has heard Cheney's recent assertions that the Iraq insurgency is in its "last throes."  However, last week, in congressional testimony, General John Abizaid, the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, told members of the committee that he believed "more foreign fighters (are) coming into Iraq than there were six months ago."

Here's my idea: Maybe George Bush should stop holding hands with the Saudi royal family on his Crawford ranch and instead insist their government start arresting some of the hundreds of suicide bombers streaming into Iraq before these terrorists even leave the kingdom?  That might be helpful.  What do you think, good plan, or no?

While I personally think both Bush and Cheney are actually in the last throes of their credibility, I can't wait to hear what comes out of the Democrusader's mouth on Tuesday.  It should be entertaining, in some sort of surreal way.


[Headphones] :: Democrusader - JfZ