OPINION:

Bush Tells Americans To Take A Flying Leap

The use of the term ‘troop surge’ ranks right up there with other all-time favorite misleading phrases like, ‘Shock and Awe,’ ‘fog of war,’ ‘battlefield combatants,’ and ‘collateral damage.’ And we must remember that every one of that 20,000 ‘troop surge’ is the child or parent of a household somewhere in America. Not very long ago Bush was fond of whipping to death the phrase ‘stay the course.’ It has since dropped out of fashion because it was totally ridiculous to continue using it in the face of the depressing disaster and train wreck that is Iraq. Now even though the phrase has gone, Bush wants to continue and expand the mission by sending more troops. We set a course that led us to war in Iraq. We have held the course by staying there despite huge setbacks and descent into chaos. Now we are adding more troops to the effort. Is this not a continuation of ‘stay the course?’ You see what I mean when I say the interview revealed the same old tired Bush.

A part of the "60 Minutes" interview involved George Bush going to a closed-door interview with families whose children and parents have fallen in this war. When Bush came out of that encounter his demeanor showed some remarkable things. The cadence of his voice seemed strained and distressed. He seemed flustered and totally out of sorts. Honestly, I have to say that Bush appeared to have been moved by the encounter with the families. But not moved in the way one would imagine a Commander -In-Chief to be by such an event. One would expect possibly a display of compassion, of soberness, or possibly resoluteness and determination on hearing what the families had to say. If those in America advocating against this war can be likened to chickenhawks, as they usually are, then Bush came away from the families looking like Chicken Little. Befuddled, in over his head, and wondering what to do. The man looked genuine at this point. But that is where it ended. Because following this, Bush turned back to his advisers and managers. And this is where we see a different Bush, as revealed by the ongoing questioning by Scott Pelley.

Pelley, in a different setting in the interview, asks Bush about his decision to send more troops to Iraq, explaining how Americans are opposed to him and his decision, and wants to know what Bush thinks of this. Bush responds that it does not bother him that Americans dislike his decision and actions in the undertaking. This is not the same Bush who emerged from a meeting all by his lonesome with families of fallen soldiers. There he displayed what seemed to be, ‘What'll I do? What'll I do?’

Bush has had time to sit down with his advisers and managers. And despite the Iraqi Commission report calling for withdrawal from Iraq, despite the recent elections where Americans have clearly said ‘we want out of Iraq,’ and despite growing opposition to this Iraqi misadventure by military types, Bush's response is very different. Gone is the Chicken Little who becomes flustered, out of sorts, and even a wee bit human when he comes face-to-face, on his own, with those families. The essence of America. Here we see a propped-up, assertive Bush operating comfortably from a distance. From here, he couldn't care less what America thinks or wants. From here he has four words for us. In this case it appears to be, ‘Take a flying leap.’

And keep in mind that this is not the first time that George Bush has, in essence, told us to take a flying leap. Leading up to war in Iraq, or shortly after, he was interviewed by Bob Woodward. One question dealt with his refusal to hand over documents to the General Accounting Office to shed light on his Administration’s Department of Energy dealings with Enron. Bush insisted that he was not giving over the documents and added, "I’m the President of the United States. No one tells me what to do." In other words, ‘Take a flying leap, America.’

At the outset of hostilities in Iraq, Bush and Rumsfeld were warned by the world, and America, to be mindful of the Geneva Convention in dealing with prisoners of war. They both scoffed at such oversight, and basically told us all to 'take a flying leap' because America was now in charge. The result was Abu Ghraib, the worst stain on American credibility in ages. It is clear that whenever we let Bush have his way and tell us to 'take a flying leap,' this country suffers almost irreparable damage.