It is not difficult to imagine the following events coming to a head in the near future:
Crude at $100 leading to $3.50 gasoline at the pump and an economic contraction.
Failure to achieve Iraqi constitution and the dissolution of the country into civil war by militias.
Continued American combat losses by increasingly proficient insurgent roadside bombers.
Indictments of Rove, Libby, et. al. by Fitzgerald, with potential imputation of fraud by administration on war justification claims.
With Bush at 33% approval, might not some people be entertaining the thought of short-circuiting his presidency via impeachment?
I agree with your perfect storm idea, but aside from public sentiment going against him (and the only way that will impact him is by making it harder for them to find participants in his staged events, because he is the Bubble-boy presidente), I don’t see much happening soon. The Republicans have control of both houses, and they are as corrupt and power-hungry as the rest of the administration.
I think the Repubs have made it clear that they don’t care what the people think (unless they’re right-wingers).
breaks the camel’s back. I am an eternal optimist, and am hopeful of the signs of “a perfect storm”, as you call it. I think that the Rove smears are FINALLY being shown for what they are, and we have Cindy Sheehan to thank for that. Insiders and disgruntled ex-employees (Wilson, Clarke, et al) are one thing — but many can relate to a grieving mom. I believe Rove and Bush miscalculated severely on day one of Camp Casey by not meeting with her for 15 minutes, and that the NARWAM (Noisy, Angry Right-Wing Attack Machine) had the curtain pulled back a ways (wish that damn curtain rod would fall off, but I digress.) We have Rush calling her a forgery (WTF, Oxy dose off that day?) and even Pat Robertson (he of the simply off-the-wall looney comments for years) calling for the assassination of a democratically elected president of a sovereign nation.
We have veterans groups no longer blindly supporting the Administration’s illegal invasion and total mismanaged and seemingly unending war, while the soldiers wait for benefits from an underfunded VA. They know the difference between supporting bad policy and supporting the grunts.
Bush’s bubble where he can count on blind applause for waving a flag and saying “things changed forever on 9/11” is finding few takers geographically and demographically.
So while all is going well on the Republican overplaying their hand front — why am I not yet fully bouncing off the walls with glee and hope for the future of these United States of America? Because the Democratic Party (definitely DLC, but many others too) has STILL not realized they are the minority party and it is time to just shoot straight with the American people and show that we offer real change, real opportunity — Hell, just some TRUTH instead of Corporate/Republican-lite.
Thanks for the diary. I believe Senator Hagel has his own reasons for going on the Sunday talk show and comparing Iraq to Vietnam — more important to me was a Republican Representative signing on to Rep. Barbara Lee’s call for an investigation into the Downing Street Minutes — what did the President know, and when did he know it. Now THAT is a break in the ranks, let’s hope we see more.