The
State Of The Union:
A President Who Is No Longer
The Leader Of The Free World
By Brent Budowsky
25 January, 2007
Opednews.com
Had
George Walker Bush begun his speech with "Ladies and Gentleman
I am taking my leave and retiring from the Presidency" there would
have been tidal waves of standing ovations sweeping from the Congress
through the nation to the far corners of the free world.
After a modest courtly bow
to fhe first woman Speaker and the party that triumphed in the last
election, the President continued his contempt for what Jefferson called
the decent opinion of mankind.
Still; he escalates his war,
showing contempt for what the voters demanded in the election.
Still; he escalates his almost
unbridled scorn and contempt for the very idea of diplomacy itself,
refusing to negotiate, knowing only how to escalate.
Still; he shows his contempt
for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the overwhelming majority of our commanders,
ignoring and disrespecting their advice, forcing them to falsely applaud
the words they privately so strongly disagree with.
Still; he shows his contempt
for leaders and peoples throughout the free world who have publicly,
privately, sadly, desperately and angrily pleaded with him to stop this
disastrous policy he so obsessively escalates, again.
Still; he is the first American
President since 1948 who has shown zero leadership and zero commitment
to seeking a broader and truly comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
The President last night, had nothing to say about this.
Still; he falsely claims
the unilateral powers to personally violate the Constitution, the Bill
of Rights, and laws of the land through secret actions and signing statements.
Still; he ridicules and demeans
the Baker Hamilton Group through his actions, orders our troops into
unwise missions that risk their lives on ventures our military leaders
privately oppose.
Still; he stands isolated
and out of touch with reality, virtually alone and disrespectful of
good advice from every other quarter, incapable of any action except
escalating the catastrophic mistakes that have caused catastrophic results.
His answer to 9-11 was to
use 9-11 for partisan politics, to spread fear in the land to promote
his unwise war.
Still; the President addresses
the nation with false and sophmoric claims that lump together his disastrous
war in Iraq with the war against terrorism he has neglected so dangerously,
to pursue this war so disastrously.
Still; in the name of fighting
terrorism, the President creates more terrorists. In the name of democracy,
the President violates principles of democracy. In the name of what
he calls the create ideological battle of our age, he remains the first
American President in our history to justify what everyone throughout
the free world calls torture.
Still, against enemies that
murder children, that kill innocents in houses of worship, he is decimated
the battle of ideas, while the government we support decapitates prisoners
in our custody, while cheering death squad supporters do primitive war
whoops during executions done in the name of justice.
Beneath the bromides of bipartisanship
and the cliches of consulting, the war continues with business as usual,
the carnage and chaos spreads while the Presidents sends more battleships
to the region.
This President demeans consultations
with our allies through contempt for what they advice; demeans the concept
of bipartisanship by deciding he will do what he wants, which is escalating
this war, no matter what Congress may say, no matter what advice its
leaders may offer, no matter what laws they may pass, which he believes
he is not obligated to faithfully execute.
Still; nothing has changed;
it is business as usual for obsessive escalation of war.
Sadly, tragically, outrageously,
the President of the United States is no longer the leader of the free
world.
He is feared as much as our
enemies.
He is hated and despised
among growing numbers America's friends around the world, in ways that
are extraordinary and unprecedented in the history of American Presidents.
He is creating a new generation
of terrorists and performing a service to our enemies that he does not
come close to understanding.
Let me propose one more time,
the one action that our President our take tomorrow, to begin to set
things write. He should name two former Presidents, Bill Clinton and
George Herbert Walker Bush, on an extraordinary mission to seek peace
in the Middle East, and between Iraq and her neighbors.
This President wont do it,
because peace is not his mission, diplomacy is not his mandate, leadership
of the free world is not his concern.
This is why there will be
celebrations and rejoicing from lovers of freedom and democracy everywhere,
when this President takes his leave, and his successor begins the hard
work of undoing the damage he has done to our country and our world.
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