October 10, 2005

It's becoming apparent to even the most avid Bush loyalist, that the current charlatan-in-chief has been the greatest catastrophe in the nation's 200 year history. Regrettably, there are strong indications that the Crawford albatross is planning to pull us further downward towards the ocean floor.

At present, the republic is buckling beneath the weight of deception, violence and incompetence. In Iraq, the plan to chop up the country into three smaller parts is moving ahead despite the intensity of the resistance or the objections of the Sunni minority. Bush has assumed the mantle of an Iraqi Jefferson Davis championing the merits of reformation and regional autonomy. The new constitution provides only the thinnest cover for a neocon master-plan that destroys what little is left of Iraqi society while legitimizing a permanent American occupation. Al Jaafari, Talibani, Chalabi and the long list of rogues and collaborators have made their Faustian bargain with their US overlords and put their country on a course that will result in decades of hardship and slaughter; all for what?

A mottled earthen hut in the world's most perilous gated community; the green zone?

At home the effects of Bush's rule have been equally harsh. The anarchic Bush has rummaged through the Bill of Rights like a draught-horse in a steeple-case. No statute, law or amendment has escaped his withering attention. One by one, he's savaged the constitutional protections that once shielded the citizen from the long-arm of the state. He's cut through 800 years of English and American jurisprudence like the Grim Reaper on saint's day; leaving nothing behind but the gulags that house his victims.

In the next six months the country will face its greatest challenge since the Civil War. The confluence of potential threats is unprecedented. Experts are predicting that oil supplies will not meet demand in the first quarter of 2006. This is bound to cause skyrocketing prices, long lines at gas stations, a downward-trend in the economy, and a declining dollar. The American economic landscape, already full of potholes, is heading for an even bumpier road ahead. The soaring deficits, the jobless recovery, the humongous housing bubble, and a personal savings rate lower than any time since the Great Depression; all foreshadow an end to the giddy Clinton-era prosperity. Meanwhile, the Bush troupe is on a spending-bacchanal that's put the country on the fast-track to ruin. Bush is like the girl who couldn't say no; shoveling out the bucket-loads of cash to every mega-corporation that lines up at the White House lawn with a begging bowl in hand.

A quick review of Iraq, (where the $18 billion in reconstruction money vanished into the flannel pockets of Bush constituents) or New Orleans (the next destination for the ravenous corporate parasites) shows that the well-oiled system of cronyism is in full meltdown mode. There's simply not enough payola to fill the coffers of every crook in the Bush phone directory.

The market is getting increasingly anxious with the drunken spending-frenzy and needs only the slightest shove to put it into a nosedive. As Allan Greenspan admitted, the spending is "out of control," and yet, the stealing continues unabated. No Fed-chieftain or money-managing magician is strong enough to rescue the drowning economy from its doldrums. The rock-hard foundation of fiscal solvency has been utterly abandoned.

America's energy future is looking even more tenuous than the economy. Oil supplies are stretched to the limit and available resources are reaching the point of diminishing returns. The double-whammy of Katrina and Rita has put the entire Gulf region on life-support making our dependence on foreign oil greater than ever.

Its no wonder the Bush administration chose Iraq as the second domino in its global crusade. The oil business is built on projections and we can be reasonably certain that they saw that the wiggle-room was disappearing from the market. The collection of corporate kingpins in the administration is not persuaded by sentimentality; they don't trudge off to war for freedom or democracy, but cold-hard cash. The chance to control the last of the world's oil proved irresistibly seductive; especially since it was the only way to perpetuate the caste-system that has dominated the planet since the eighteenth century. It's impossible to imagine that Bush or his fellows would abdicate what they believe is their birthright; the continuation of elite-white-male rule into perpetuity.

But now, of course, they've hit a glitch. Iraq has changed from cakewalk to quagmire in a matter of months and the entire project is going sideways. The combination of poor planning, insufficient numbers of troops and the most inept civilian leadership in Pentagon history has torpedoed the Bush strategy to extend the realm and secure vital oil supplies. In other words, we're up the creek.

Bad luck follows Bush like a shadow. Another 3 years and the frogs and locusts will be collecting at the borders ready to pick the last flaccid strands of flesh off the American dream. Even barring another onslaught of biblical-type hurricanes; the steady militarization, the flat-lining economy, and the bird flu will certainly finish us off. The first major wrinkles in the oil supply are expected sometime in January. We can assume the credit-weary, over-extended American public will be gasping for air shortly thereafter.

It was a great run while it lasted. We reached Olympus long enough to unfurl the banner before tumbling back down to terra firma. What more can we expect? Maybe we should just quietly take our seats on the USS Hindenburg and let our madcap captain point us towards the blackest thundercloud on the horizon.

We're doomed anyway.

Courtesy & Copyright © Mike Whitney