Collapse of the Potemkin Presidency
Over the last 5 years, George W. Bush, with the aid of Karl Rove and other Republican friends, has erected a Potemkin presidency featuring leadership, integrity, unity, moral values and a humble foreign policy that hides gross ineptitude, lying and secrecy, polarization, a culture of corruption and an arrogant and belligerent foreign policy. The country was blinded by the Potemkin haze - until recently, when the public's eyes opened wide to see the true nature of this presidency. The Potemkin presidency has collapsed.
The Russian minister Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin had fake settlements erected to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787. He did this to enhance his standing with the empress. Bush did something similar in order to impress the American public. He didn't build a village, but a huge haze around the presidency.
You see, Bush never would have been elected president - twice - if he had advertised himself as he realy was. He needed to build a Potemkin presidency consisting of the following:
- LEADERSHIP - He is the kind of guy who could get things done. He is a cowboy who believes in action, and not some academic full of theories
- INTEGRITY - He told us he would restore integrity to the White House. He knew the difference between right and wrong, and between evil and good
- UNITY - The country was polarized, he said, but he would unify it. He told us he would be president of all Americans, not just Republicans
- MORAL VALUES - He is a man of faith and therefore of moral values. He would fight to improve the moral fibre of all Americans
- HUMBLE FOREIGN POLICY - He would be careful when interacting with other nations. He did not believe in nation building
Some of us were not blinded by this haze. We knew what Republicans stood for. But the haze became a halo to the majority of Americans. And George W. Bush fooled the people for a very long time: 5 years!
Now, however, the halo has disappeared, the haze has lifted, the Potemkin presidency has vanished to be replaced by the true presidency:
- INCOMPETENCE - What kind of leadership drags an unwilling electorate into a war with Iraq by spouting lies, and after winning in battle, allows Iraqi society to disintegrate into the chaos of ethnic and religious killing? What sort of leader would wait several days before doing something about a cataclysmic hurricane such as Katrina?
- LYING, DECEIT AND SECRECY - Where's the integrity in an administration that works in secrecy and tolerates no dissent? Where's the integrity when those who dissent are called traitors. Where's the integrity when even former members of the adminstration are ferociously attacked?
- POLARIZATION - The country is not unified. It is more polarized than it has ever been. Polarization is the policy of the Republican Party. Tom DeLay has worked hard to keep Democrats away from legislation and to gain approval for Republican bills primarily by Republicans
- CORRUPTION - "Moral values" was the biggest hoax of all. Instead we have a "culture of corruption." Lobbyists at K Street are now part of the Republican Party. Business lobbyists write bills that the Republican leadership break heads to approve
- ARROGANT AND BELLIGERENT FOREIGN POLICY - Humble is the last word to use for Bush's foreign policy. He never asks "permission." He gets rid of treaties. He alienates allies. He mocks the UN. His actions have increased the number of terrorists in the world
What happened that finally collapsed the Potemkin presidency? There are 2 big reasons. The first is the Iraq mess. We were told Hussein had WMD and he did not. We were told we would be accepted as liberators. We were not. We're spending hudreds of billions and our troops are dying and being wounded every single day. And now we have Plamegate, indicating that the White House tried to destroy a diplomat because he wrote that what Bush said in support of the war was a lie. Libby, who worked for Cheney has been indicted. The hell hole of Iraq finally made people open their eyes.
The other big reason is Bush's approach to "saving Social Security." Week after week, from the start of his second term, Bush had these elaborate "conversations." The set-ups were huge platforms to present to TV a great picture. Audiences were comprised of people who agreed with the president. Those who spoke in the "conversation" echoed the points made by the president. He said he wanted to save Social Security by partially substituting private accounts. It very quickly became obvious that private accounts would not have any effect on the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund. The average guy began to realize that Bush is trying to kill Social Security, not save it. This opened the people's eyes wide.
When Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court I knew that the Potemkin presidency is in tatters. He did not have the nerve to nominate someone with a judicial record. He thought he could get away with this nomination. After all, he had gotten his way surreptitiously many times before. Why not now? Now even his friends of the far-Right did not believe him. They wanted proof. They wanted someone they could be sure would interpret the law as the far-Right would. They prevailed upon Bush to withdraw the nomination.
No more Potemkin presidency. Bush nominated Samuel Alito, a man with a far-Right record. No more beating around the Bush. He finally nominated someone with a record that demonstrates that he is a person of the far-Right, ready to overthrow Roe v. Wade. Troy Newman, president of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue, said about Alito:
"We are now on the fast track to derailing Roe v. Wade as the law of the land."
At least now everything is out in the open. Bush and the Republicans want a certified far-Right justice on the Supreme Court. Democrats want anyone but a far-Right justice. Let the battle begin.
The Potemkin presidency has collapsed. The old sleazy tricks of Republicans will not work as well as they did before.
