Bush keeps low profile in days of high anxiety

[babylonsister]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0704120651apr13,1,5704895.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Bush keeps low profile in days of high anxiety

Georgie Anne Geyer, Universal Press Syndicate
Published April 13, 2007

WASHINGTON -- George W. is the man who isn't there this spring in Washington.

Oh, you can easily glimpse him on TV, his increasingly troubled visage close to obsessive as he repeats the same old message that we will win in Iraq and then ... But it is becoming increasingly clear that no one pays attention to the Texan with the destructive ambitions anymore -- and that the nation's view of Iraq has undergone a massive and important transformation.

Anecdotally, I happen to be a member of the journalists club the Gridiron, which puts on a satiric dinner show of American politicos every spring. Because the presence and speeches of American presidents are a staple of the dinner, it is usually a matter of considerable voiced disappointment, and indignation, when one does not attend.

President Bush did not come this year, yet in weeks of rehearsals, I heard not a single word about his decision. It mattered that Vice President Dick Cheney, considered the real power broker, came and spoke -- and he did -- but the president was irrelevant. Even Cheney's brief, but funny, comments at the end of the dinner, while they could be taken several ways, could easily appear to be making fun of W. "The president is really sorry he couldn't be here tonight, but he had another obligation," Cheney said at the formal dinner. "His book club is meeting."

Bush has become more and more isolated, as his original acolytes and flatterers have either fallen into disgrace (Donald Rumsfeld, for instance) or taken a far more moderate stance toward the world (Condoleezza Rice). It seems that almost every few days now, another of the original band of Bush followers gives a distraught interview to The New York Times, as though Judas himself had betrayed them.

Then there are the polls and surveys. A new one, the fourth edition of the Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index taken by Public Agenda and Foreign Affairs magazine, showed a citizenry in a state of high anxiety, believing that the country is approaching a crisis in foreign policy. The "anxiety indicator" today is 137, seven points higher than last September, with the neutral point of the scale being 100. "The public is obviously upset," the surveyors told us.

In addition, 70 percent favor withdrawal from Iraq, 82 percent are afraid that unfriendly nations will become nuclear powers, 65 percent want international cooperation to deal with global warming, 84 percent are deeply worried about the place of America in the world, 82 percent think it is a more dangerous world than it was, 68 percent think the world sees us negatively, and a large majority has negative opinions on military options.

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[Demeter]

1. Far Too Mild and Complimentary

Is she trying to make us feel sorry for poor widdle Dumbya?

[sam sarrha]

2. he is on a Real Short leash.. they're afraid he will implode in public