The Politics of Speechifying

The thing that continues to aggravate me most about President Bush’s renewed enthusiasm for taking-on his critics of the war is the Orwellian feel to it all.

Tonight was the President’s fourth or fifth recent speech directed straight at the American people. Most of Bush’s public comments in 2005 have been intended for the consumption of the international community; from the BBC to Al Jazerra. No wonder that roughly 7 in 10 Americans are hacked-off at the guy. We, we, want to know what the hell is going on.

I clicked over to ESPN’s game before the Democrats offered their rebuttal, so I have no idea what that clumsy bunch of angry flag-burners saw in Bush’s TV appearance.

For me, Ambassador Joe Wilson and NSC analyst Richard Clarke finished closer to vindication tonight. Remember, the White House stated the numero uno reason for invading Iraq was Saddam’s Weapons of Mass Destruction. Both Wilson and Clarke said repeatedly, at the outset, that Iraq did not possess WMDs.

And, they were right.

Had Bush 43 simply stated, 3-some years ago, that Saddam must be removed because he tried to assassinate his father, Bush 41 -- hey, good enough for me. Turner Classic reruns of The Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Sopranos broadcast on global Sky TV should have taught the world – you hurt one of ours, we kill one of yours. Mess with the famiglio – the family of Americans – and the U.S. Marines will find you – even if you are cowering in a spider-hole in a desert.

President Bush called me an honest critic tonight. I am not one of those who see nothing going right. I supported the war for the reasons the President gave us. Yet, how do I reconcile that support with the bad intelligence that we were force fed?

And that is the Orwell-nature of this mess; tonight, President Bush repackaged the war debate between victory and defeat – an either/or equation.

But what if victory has already been achieved, and everything that follows is defeat?

15 years ago, it took all of 100 hours to liberate Kuwait from Saddam. We have accomplished regime change in Afghanistan. We accomplished regime change in Iraq. Our ability to sweep in and accomplish the same again if needed is without question.

The President is claiming his plan is victory and everyone else’s is defeat. Unless, like those WMDs, it is not.