Four (or Two) more years

Now a few days shy of the inauguration of the president let us look into the crystal ball and see what the next four years (if Bush is not impeached in two years) has to offer.

War: There is some talk of what the next battle will be. The Bush administration has taken the election results as a sign that the American public agree with their actions in Iraq. Of course 48-49% of Americans voted against them, but I suppose that means nothing to them.

There is a reason why the founders of the nation tried to build in protections for minorities (the tyranny of the majority the old Republican types used to call it, but now that they have power, so I guess it is now “who cares about that”).

I am not sure about what you remember from the election but I do not recall that the president ran on the platform of the Iraq War being a good idea. If Bush had said, a vote for me is a vote for the Iraq War then maybe, just maybe he could say that there is some support… Yadda yadda yadda, we know that reality has no bearing on what they do. Just claim what you want, you have the media on your side.

But the Haliburton Administration has its eyes set for the next war. Even before finishing this one. The next war is likely with Iran. I am not sure how they will be able to get it started. Maybe we could come up with a little contest; how will the Iran War start? My guess is attacks by Iranian Army regulars on U.S. service men (years later it will be shown that the U.S. service men were sent into Iranian territory where they were attacked) or maybe it will be Iranian agents found in Iraq ready to blow something up? Who knows but take your best guess now and in a year or two be the winner of the Prophesy Award!

Domestically there will remain an effort to reverse the gains of the last 70 years made by everyday people (social security, a flatter tax rate (we basically have one now) etc) under the guise of shrinking government. You might recall that Republicans have been shrinking government since the days or Reagan, that is 24 years, and it has done nothing but grow. And it was not Clinton who grew it either. Bush has been responsible for the largest growth of government in the period of time. We can go into the benefits or the problems of the growth under Bush but it sure seems to me that Bush see government as a solution to some problem.

It sure will be interesting to see how all this will add up. One has to admit that Bush is quite bold in his actions. I cannot tell whether he really understands what he is doing though. I know he is a smart man but his arrogance and power lust are likely fooling him and his inability to brook any disagreement from staff pushes him further from reality. Are there no checks left in the system? Is there no one of power who is willing to take the risk of coming out against this despotic rule? Now is the time for true leaders. Where are they?