Blown Gaskets and “Tola Tari Tal Tarians”

By W. David Jenkins III

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Jan. 1933

“It’s a dangerous world…Time is running out….The enemy wants to attack us again.” – George W. Bush 9/15/06

“This war will be difficult, this war will be long, and this war will end in the defeat of the terrorists and the tola tari tari to tal tarians –( totalitarians), and a victory for the cause of freedom and liberty.”– Bush in Salt Lake City 8/31/06

I think Bush is scared out of what’s left of his mind. I hear the pundits going on about how assertive and forceful the President is in this last push to make his case to the American people regarding the Geneva Convention, but all I see is a law breaker who is desperate to change the laws that he broke. Time is running out all right, but the ticking clock is more of a threat to Bush and his minions. They have become so disassociated from reality that they are incapable of recognizing how irrational they come across to others.

This country and the rest of the world are witnessing a President and a Vice President lobbying Congress to legalize torture – plain and simple and despicable. Their actions are not based on any altruistic goal to protect the people of this country from terrorists, but represent an attempt to legalize what has been illegal for almost sixty years. They broke international laws and they know it and now they need to have those laws “amended” – retroactively mind you – or they could face big trouble.

One of the obvious ways in which Bush goes about this is by transferring his own fears onto the public in the form of a “renewed interest” in the dangers of terrorism. For the past three to four years, this Administration has given little more than lip service to the likes of bin Laden and his followers. In late 2002, a little over a year after 9/11, Bush remarked that he “really didn’t think about him [bin Laden] that much.”

Now, with a midterm election drawing near and the distinct possibility that Republicans could lose at least one of the two legislative branches in Congress, Bush and his cabinet members are having psychological breakdowns in front of the TV cameras. Bush has become a cross between Chicken Little and that guy on the street corner who wears one of those “The End is Near” signs. His speech pattern has become more disconnected (see above) and his obvious irritability when he is confronted is quite clear – as we all saw that Friday (9/15/06) in the Rose Garden.

Bush continues to rattle on about the CIA and the military needing “clarity” when it comes to Article 3 of the Geneva Convention in order to pursue what he calls “the program,” which is his code word for torture. Well sorry, George, but that’s a crock. CIA and military personnel are well aware of the meaning of Article 3. They have been for decades and don’t require any “clarity.” You on the other hand……….

This is just more of the same crap Bush pulls when he gets backed into a corner. In a pathetic attempt to protect himself and his reprehensible actions, Bush surrounds himself with people who are not culpable. For instance, let’s go back to September 15 in the Rose Garden.

Q: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, former Secretary of State Colin Powell says the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. If a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State feels this way, don’t you think that Americans and the rest of the world are beginning to wonder whether you’re following a flawed strategy?

BUSH: If there’s any comparison between the compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists, it’s flawed logic. I simply can’t accept that. It’s unacceptable to think that there’s any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective.

This is classic Bush. The reporter asks Bush if he thinks he is following a flawed strategy in light of the fact that his former Secretary of State questions his policies of torture. Bush, in turn, surrounds himself with “the American people” in his response, chastising anyone who would compare the “compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists.” Somebody needs to tell George that the American people have nothing to do with his flawed strategy of torture. Bush is the one debasing America’s reputation and moral standing, not the American people.

The same goes for his “reasoning” for wanting to “clarify” Article 3 in order to protect those on the front line in the war on terror. He is not out to protect the CIA or military personnel, he is trying to protect himself and his circle of bumblers for allowing and encouraging torture and acts of degradation against terrorist suspects – some who were later found to be innocent of any offense. The fact remains that Bush is scared to death that for the first time in his pathetic life, he might have to assume responsibility for his actions. And even worse, his party faithful are screwing things up badly enough that all the Diebold voting machines in America may not work for him this time.

Senate incumbents George Allen and Rick Santorum are behaving like complete fools on the campaign trail while McCain, Graham and Warner are taking the heat off Democrats in the fight to preserve what’s left of America’s reputation. Republican Bob Ney is off to jail for his transgressions in the Abramhoff fiasco– and we can only hope Lady Justice will see fit to allow Tom DeLay to be his bunk buddy. Meanwhile, “Sure Shot” Cheney is out raising campaign funds for a fellow shotgun fan, Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-NY) – of course Kuhl had confused his ex-wife with a pheasant back in 1994 (Yup, he pulled a gun on her – twice). Most Democrats in heated races are ahead of the Republicans, who are trying to find a way to distance themselves from the losers in the White House while not contributing to Bush Co.’s obvious rage at the real “awakening” that’s taking place across the country. Things are simply not looking good for our petulant child who calls himself the President.

When America faced an actual World War, Roosevelt told this country that we had nothing to fear except our own apprehension. Now we are faced with a fraudulent war on an ideology– a war designed to stuff the pockets of the likes of KBR, The Carlyle Group, Blackstone, Halliburton and a host of others. We are involved in a botched and bloody invasion of another nation– an invasion that is based upon nothing but lies. Sadly, it is likely that none of this would have happened without the horrific attack on our own soil. Sadder still is the fact that all warnings of a pending 9/11 were ignored and then subsequently hidden away from any investigation.

And, while Bush was stoking our fears and lying to our faces, he was also scooping up people, some guilty and some innocent, and torturing them in our name. He may not have known it was wrong then, but he knows now. And he knows time is running out. And he’s scared out of his mind that he will be another “tola tari tari to tal tarian” who won’t get away with his crimes.

We can only hope.