[promoted by BooMan]
A little later than this time tomorrow evening, George W. Bush – or, as I used to call him before I reacquired my childhood manners, Dubyanocchio – will have 1000 days left to botch, bash and butcher whatever he didn’t get his hands on in the first 1920 days of his term as President. One thousand days to redistribute to his pals what they haven’t already snatched. Keith Olbermann can begin a real countdown.
1000 days.
Cripes. I could, if I wished, begin collecting retirement benefits from Social Security before Mister Bush’s scheduled departure. The very system he tried to shove down the slippery slope to destruction as his first domestic priority in 2002. Before he’s out of the Oval Office, I’ll also be eligible to get into a movie for a 25% discount, which is a good thing because who knows what the Decider’s decisions may do to my family’s income or the economy in general over the next 1000 days.
1000 days. Twenty-four thousand hours. One million, four hundred-forty million minutes. Eight-six million, four hundred-thousand seconds. Tick. Tick. Tick. Sigh.
Those who know me ask, what’s the problem? You lived through Lyndon Johnson’s 1865 days. Richard Nixon’s 2026 days. Ronald Reagan’s 2922 days.
It’s true. I did. And some of those days seemed mighty long. I know it’s hard for many denizens of left wwwLand to believe, but a few of us previously thought we were living in the time of the Worst. President. Ever.
However, despite his murderously inexcusable escalation of a war he and his own advisors didn’t believe could be won. LBJ did some good things. Despite his even worse war policy, the “Southern Strategy,” the assault on the Constitution, Nixon did some good things. Despite his condoning and funding of slaughter in Central America, his duplicitous dealings with Iran, his tax policies, his phony Strategic Defense Initiative and his single-mindedly destroying an energy policy that, if continued, might have meant we wouldn’t be having the urgent discussions – or wars – we are today, yes, despite all this, Reagan did some good things.
So one is driven to ask the obvious question, is Mister Bush saving the good things in his Administration for the next 1000 days? Perhaps.
Maybe tomorrow, although I don’t have his schedule in hand, he will stand up a week before the third anniversary of “Mission Accomplished,” have an epiphany right in front of us and announce that he’s going to do better from now on. No more lying. No more looting. No more pretending. Henceforth, the interests of Americans, first and foremost. Whether it’s better body armor, better levees or the right not to be spied on without due process, he’ll proclaim 1000 days of righteous government by and for the people, with a promise to move toward of the people as well. Perhaps he’ll declare that he’s no longer going to chest-thump in the direction of Iran and initiate face-to-face negotiations instead. Perhaps he’ll tell us how since, Saturday’s commemoration of Earth Day, he’s had a change of heart about global climate change. Perhaps he’ll announce he’s fired Karl Rove.
Uh-huh.
So much for that hallucination.
Mister Bush is wounded now. When his team had total control of the message, all the damage being done, the outlawry, the secrecy, the unconstitutionality, the shamelessness didn’t matter because it was so easily concealed, glossed over, or excused with some tidbit or full-blown campaign of eagerly swallowed disinformation. Now, with the polls punching a hole in what was thought to be the absolute floor of his approval ratings, Mister Bush is a growing liability to his fellow Republicans, as the ever louder muttering is beginning to indicate.
When you have to be extra careful which ex-general you invite to stand next to you, it’s more than just a spot of trouble that will blow over. When the media sycophants, operatives and yellowbellies you once could count on always to tell the story the way you wanted it told are trumped by a handful of real investigators, you’ve got a problem. Faced with new and nasty revelations every other day, you might be tempted to do something dramatic to gain back some ground.
1000 days. Since you’ve started reading this, a few dozen seconds have ticked away. We’re closer to the end now. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Is there any chance of reprieve? My blogmate Kagro X has helped make impeach a household word with his razor-witted campaign. Some pressure is building at local and even state government levels. But, realistically now, am I out of my mind to truly expect that, after a majority-changing November election, we’ll have comprehensive public hearings about the doings of the past six years? That Americans will, upon hearing the evidence, pressure their Representatives to send Mister Bush and some of his colleagues-in-crime up to the Senate for trial? And that, after due consideration of the evidence, enough Senators from both sides of the aisle will send these officials packing? I’m hopeful. But I’m doubtful.
So tell me there’s a chance, please, that there really is a chance that a few hundred thousand minutes can be shaved off Mister Bush’s (and Dick Cheney’s) malignant reign. Tell me that I don’t really have ahead of me another 1000 days of horror, rage and despair, hearing that voice, seeing that face, listening to those lies, wondering whence cometh the next war. Tell me I’m not stuck from now until January 20, 2009, waiting with my fingers crossed, counting tick, tick, tick.
Take the poll. Remember, it’s what you think will happen, not what you want to happen.