Lot of leftists waste breath, time, energy, ink, paper, bandwidth, and hard drive space calling Georgie Bush a fascist and comparing him to Hitler.
Obviously he's not either. For one thing he doesn't have the drive, brains, or attention span to be a Hitler. Not to mention the military judgment. Georgie's already invaded his Poland and lost.
What he is is a little banana republic-style dictator without a banana republic to dictate too.
Who said, "Give him time"?
Seriously, look at him. The short fuse, the obsession with power and strength, his need to be surrounded at all times by sycophants, yes men, and yes Condis, his complete inability to handle criticism or even tough questions, the temper tantrums, the vainglory, and, most damning of all, his unseemly affection for fancy uniforms.
Aren't there any conservatives who are bothered by these costumes? Nevermind that they are unpresidential in that it's Constitutionally decreed that our military answers to a civilian commander in chief. It's unpresidential in the sense that no other President has ever yielded to the urge to play dress up like this. George Washington made a point of never appearing in a uniform, and if anybody was entitled to wear one, it was him. None of our recent war hero Presidents, Ike, JFK, Georgie's dad, ever donned anything more military than an embroidered bomber jacket or a baseball cap.
Georgie parades around looking like GI Joe whenever the mood strikes him apparently.
White House flacks claim that Georgie just puts these costumes on because the troops give them to him and he doesn't want to hurt their feelings. He has no real say in the matter.
Digby took care of that one.
But the real way he is a little tinpot dictator is in his needing to be shielded from all evidence that he's not universally popular.
"My people," he minces happily, "They love me."
"Yes, sire, you are adored by one and all," replies Cardinal Dick Richelieu.
He has to appear before handpicked audiences of loyal admirers, always, everywhere. No hecklers. No dissent. No protesters at all. You can picture the Secret Service agents going through the crowds handing out dollar bills and little flags to the peons and ordering them to cheer and wave.
Of course they have to be worried about terrorists down in DC today. Imagine how many houris you'd get in heaven for taking out George Bush. But clearly the White House is just as worried, if not more worried, about protesters. They don't want any signs, literal or figurative, proclaiming that El Presidente is not universally beloved, even though the media would not cover any demonstrations, just as they ignored the thousands who lined Pennsylvania Avenue last time, turning their backs on his Excellency's motorcade, and forcing him, by their mere presence, to skip the traditional walk up to the White House.
But in clearing the streets of potential terrorists and probable protesters, they've also managed to clear them of tourists, that is, of citizens.
Washington, as columnist Joe Dowd wrote in our local paper today, is closed.
What message is Washington giving world?
Washington – I took my kids to the nation's capital last weekend.Unfortunately, it was closed.
I planned to offer a nighttime tour of the monuments to my two girls, a civics and history lesson about their country and the republic by which we are governed.
What they came away with instead was that Washington is an armed camp, crawling with cops, accessible to those with special clearances and insider tickets. Ordinary citizens like Katie, 11, and Emily, 8, need not apply.
All over town, you could smell the fear.
I was a graduate student 25 years ago when a friend took me on my first tour of the Federal Triangle. We drove to the Capitol and parked on the East Front, walked right up the grand steps and into the rotunda. The Senate was in session that night, and we sat in the gallery and watched democracy in action. We walked right in and sat down, because this was our government. Our government back then was open to all.
Then, back in the car and up Pennsylvania Avenue to Jimmy Carter's White House. We parked beside Lafayette Park and stared at the home of the presidents from across the street. The Secret Service didn't seem to mind.
On to the Jefferson, and finally, the Lincoln memorials, both illuminated in a soft golden light, their walls adorned with words of freedom that still resonate to the world. That memorable evening, I felt proud to be an American. I wanted to recreate that tour, and that feeling, for my kids.
So at dusk last Sunday, we took Independence Avenue toward the Capitol. As we approached, the West Front was fenced in by large wooden panels and concrete barriers. Police were everywhere, stopping most everything that moved. Flashing blue emergency lights cut the night.
We circled Capitol Hill, in front of the Supreme Court, and there was nowhere to get out and get a close-up view of the house of the people.
So we tried the White House. The 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue was closed off, an obstacle course of stone barricades and pillars. We tried to catch a glimpse of it through Lafayette Park, but it seemed small in the distance.
I had just told the girls a story about Abraham Lincoln, how he insisted that work continue on the Capitol's new dome despite the Civil War raging on the other side of the Potomac. Lincoln was sending a message that the bitterly divided nation would endure.
Surely, I told them, the Lincoln Memorial wouldn't be closed.
It wasn't; it was merely blocked off, under construction, with no signs directing visitors to nearby parking. We got lost twice trying to find a way in, and each time found ourselves in Arlington Cemetery across the Potomac.
The civics lesson was over. Emily had fallen asleep in the back seat. Katie, who loves history, had grown bored with the capital city she couldn't really see.
How naive of me to think that my government might still be open to all, including my kids. After all, it was inauguration week, the first since 9/11.
It's not 1979 anymore.
This government says it must be strong and take unprecedented precautions to prevent another terrorist attack. It will deploy 6,000 cops and 7,000 armed troops today in D.C. They need jet fighters above and missile batteries on the ground. That's what they say.
But what we saw, and what the world will witness today, isn't strength.
It is fear. And fear is winning.
Joe Dowd is the regional editor for the Times Herald-Record's Orange North bureau.
Hey, let's omit the references to banana republics in this context, OK? To do otherwise is to libel fruit-based oligarchies everywhere.
Posted by: Lex | Thursday, January 20, 2005 at 10:13 PM
you're right about one thing -- bush isn't hitler; he's more like our version of kaiser bill -- an aristocratic fool who likes to dress up in military uniforms.
i dread the day that america goes truly fascist and we get our version of hitler -- as evil at the folks at little green footballs or stormfront, and as charasmatic/popular as jfk, reagan,clinton, mick jagger, john wayne, michael jordan and others combined.
but that will come after an economic collapse and being on a losing side of a war.
or maybe not. some historians say things in france weren't at revolutionary boil when the french revolution happened -- as opposed to russia in 1917 and the russian revolution
Posted by: harry near indy | Friday, January 21, 2005 at 06:57 AM
holy crap! the soldier dress-up... the selected crowds of followers... militaristic lock-downs... legacy official... shutting out dissent... he's not doing anything drastic about North Korea because W IS TURNING INTO KIM JONG IL...
Posted by: d | Friday, January 21, 2005 at 03:11 PM
One minor quibble: George Washington did wear a uniform while he was president. Once. When he personally led the troops that put down the Whiskey Rebellion. But in that case, he was, in fact, the military commander. Unlike Dubya, who wants all the trappings of being a military commander with none of the responsibilities.
Otherwise, excellent post!
Posted by: ploeg | Friday, January 21, 2005 at 05:20 PM
Darn. I forgot about the Whiskey Rebellion. Thanks for reminding me, pleog. And if W. wants to jump into a Humvee with hillbilly armor, and join the troops fighting it out in Iraq, he can dress up like Douglas MacArthur, if we wants, or George Washington, and I'll cheer him on.
Posted by: Lance | Friday, January 21, 2005 at 05:51 PM
How 'bouts he dresses up like Alfred E. Newman -- What? Me worry?
Posted by: mac macgillicuddy | Friday, January 21, 2005 at 09:02 PM
Let Joe know he's right on point about Dubya.
Posted by: Bob Brandon | Sunday, January 23, 2005 at 07:59 PM
Dear "Lance"
Thanks for the plug and the kind words. Love the sight. Don't hesitate to foward all the comments, good and bad. I've got big shoulders.
and again, appreciate the plug.
jd. m'town bureau chief.
Posted by: Joe Dowd | Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at 03:41 PM
also, Hitler was elected
Posted by: Scott | Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 02:39 AM