… that when you’re a complete asshole, and you lose an election because of it, no one listens to you anymore:
President George Bush suffered his most visible diplomatic setback since his party’s defeat in mid-term elections yesterday when Asian leaders failed to back Washington’s call for robust action against North Korea.
Mr Bush, in Vietnam on his first foreign trip since the elections, had lobbied strenuously for a unified strategy aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions, meeting the Russian, Chinese, South Korean and Japanese leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
The rebuff – the second for Mr Bush this weekend on North Korea – underlined the president’s diminished powers in the wake of his election defeat. So too did the muted response to Mr Bush’s presence in Hanoi, a shadow of the tumultuous reception for President Clinton, when he visited Vietnam six years ago.
But that is far better than the hostile reception that awaits Mr Bush today when he flies in to Indonesia, where thousands of protesters were on the streets yesterday accusing the US of war crimes. Mr Bush is to spend just six hours in Indonesia after the secret service decided that it would be too dangerous for him to remain in the country overnight. Intelligence officials say there have been warnings of a militant attack during Mr Bush’s visit. […]
On Saturday, Mr Bush had failed to persuade South Korea’s president, Roh Mao-hyum, to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying nuclear material and yesterday summit leaders refused to commit themselves to a written condemnation of North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test last month, deciding to issue an oral statement during a closed-door meeting.
Oh to be a fly on the wall on Air Force One this past week.
No one respects a bully one second after he loses his first fight. That’s what happened to our Dear Leader on November 7th. Before now, international leaders feared him and at least had to pretend to play along with his aggressive posturing and moronic agenda. Now he is the lamest of lame ducks. Indeed, I really think we need a new term for him, don’t you?
I humbly offer the following title for Mr. Bush, one which I submit fits his diminished capacity to a T: Limp Duck in Chief.
Sadly, Bush cannot be the Limp Dick in Chief. That title has long been held by his overlord, Mr. Cheney.
It’s getting harder and harder to find people to do his dirty work.
The last thing we need for His Nibs is another term!!
you could fill the Library of Congress with all the information aides “forgot” to tell Bush.
Watching the Iraq tirade today on the news. It isn’t as if I have an answer either, I would never presume to be God. Cripes though, our military abilities have been drastically abused to the point that our national security is being compromised in my opinion. We don’t have the soldiers needed to go long or go big. They are completely talking out of their asses when they even suggest such a thing, but do you dare allow the whole world to know you have depleted all of your economic, political, and military stores and now you are a total friggin loser?
It’s stickin in this household.
I heard on NPR this morning that not 1, not 2, but 6 of the tires on Air Force One blew at landing.
It’s really sad when the tires literally start coming off of this Administration!
This really goes to show how little the administration knows about Asian diplomacy and the region in general. I spent a year in Korea during the mid eighty’s when the South was still under martial law and have followed their politics over the past 20 or so years as I have friends there. Things have changed drastically over that time, especially the attitude toward the North. Talks need to continue between the North and South. Far too many North Koreans die each year from cold and starvation, the effects of sanctions. There have even been reports of human meat for sale in markets because there isn’t enough to eat. This is well documented, google search “north korea cannibalism”. Cheap nuclear energy is what they are really after. When I hear over and over that they want a bomb, it makes my head hurt. I’m sure they do, it is an incredible bargaining chip. What the administration wants is to keep cheap nuclear energy out of their hands for economic reasons first and foremost. Cheap energy could pull the north closer to the south, manufacturing could begin with cheap labor. Naval blockades are a sure way to throw a monkey wrench into the works. The Koreans are far too smart to fall for that.
I’m not trying to say your diary is wrong, but maybe just over simplifying. I think anyone would have a hard time selling this, but you would be a moron to try in the first place.
It wasn’t that long ago when the MSM would frame Junior’s overseas visits with phraseology such as, “Bush warns…”, “Bush demands…”, “Bush orders…”, “Bush asserts..”, etc., etc. – all strong “action” verbs. Now, we have “Bush seeks to…”, “Bush meets with…”, “Bush in talks with…” – all “weak” intransitives. Whatever media-imposed “leader qualities” this piece a shit once claimed has now been relegated to the dungheap, and Junior cannot any longer be shielded from the near-universal impression of a weakened empty suit just serving out his time. What a bloody shower.
How ’bout:
Canard au Mensonge
Mr Bush is to spend just six hours in Indonesia after the secret service decided that it would be too dangerous for him to remain in the country overnight.
Sweet.