There have been a number of diaries here saying that this Katrina fiasco is the final straw, the death knell for the Bush administration, and a number more disagreeing. Saying that they will survive this crisis just as they have all the others.
I believe that BushCo is through.
Below...how it will happen.
And why.
Here is the single worst piece of news for the Bush administration stemming from their criminally negligent mishandling of the Katrina disaster.
They have lost the support of much of the media.
This means that they have lost the support of most of the corporate power that backed them. The same corporate power that owns and directs the media.
They are toast.
Whether impeached or couped.
There is more than ONE way to skin a cat OR coup an état. We have had 3...perhaps 4..."coups" in the last 40+ years alone. JFK, Nixon, and Clinton. And maybe Carter as well if you want to stretch a point.
The word "coup" in French simply means "strike". "Coup d'état "? To strike a mortal blow to the state. To replace its leadership with other leadership by means other than those that have been provided by law.
The media-manufactured outrage over Clinton's little consensual blow job was not mentioned in the Constitution. Neither was the Watergate put-up job. ("Deep Throat" indeed! TWICE!!!) Nor was JFK's bullet to the head, of course.
Fail or effectively oppose the Permanent Government here and you will go down.
The BushCo/Neo-con/religious right nexus has failed. They promise to fail some more. Further failure on this level could quite likely result in civil insurrection in the cities and/or total economic collapse. This is what we laughingly refer to as " bad for business" here in the U.S. Always remember...the business of America is business. You want to know what is going to happen? Follow the money.
The worm has now turned.
The MONEY has turned.
This situation will in one manner or another result in a "Bada-BING!!! Nuthin' personal. Just business. YOU understand." moment. Probably media and electoral-driven rather than one involving gunpowder.
He who lives by the spin dies by the spin. Plus, it's SO much...neater.
The people who Swift Boated kerry and "ARRRRGH-ed" Dean are NOT simply Karl Rove and his henchmen. They are covert (as in "covered", no matter WHO their employers of record may be) 20 and 30 and 40 year operatives who are embedded in the system like ticks on a deer, and their marching orders are now clear.
"Deliver".
Watch. The apparent Midas touch, the Teflon Don success of the whole Ratpub, BushCo operation will miraculously reverse itself as we head towards the 2006 elections. These interests will run NEW flags up the ol' flagpole and see who salutes, headed for 2008. Centrist flags, mind you. None 'a that RADICAL stuff, 'cuz THAT'S bad for business, too. McCain. Clark. Men with impeccable military credentials. Men who have proven that they can take orders. Men who will not rock this swiftest of boats.
MY bet...McCain. Clark may be too much of a loose cannon for them. If not Clark, Hillary Clinton on the Dem side. But I think that they do not trust her. I wouldn't if I were in their shoes. Too many old axes to grind. Too smart, too subtle.
They will place non-business threatening Dems in Congress. As many as they can. Again...people who will not rock the boat. They will force resignations in the administration and essentially hamstring the neo-cons so that they can do no more damage. (Fitzgerald will be allowed to go only so far and no further. Rove, Libby. Maybe Bolton. NOT Cheney or Bush. That would REALLY be bad for business.) If all else fails, some people will "get sick". It's easily done...look at what happened to Viktor Yushchenko in the Ukraine. And you KNOW that we are way ahead of them in that department. (By the way...where is Cheney, again...??? If I were Dicky boy about now, I would be pulling a Howard Hughes somewhere in a hermetically sealed room. With LOTS of trusted non-military bodyguards. And no visits from my relatives, either. Or my doctors.)
Watch.
The detaIls of just how they go about this will not be clear for some time, but here are some hints. Watch for them. Some are already coming to pass.
People on Fox News and CNN strongly and openly criticizing BushCo.
Murdoch newspapers ditto.
The rest of the media piling on.
Unflattering portraits of Bush, members of his administration and family beginning to surface in the MSM. Whispering campaigns about Bush's mental and emotional state will grow. The twins particularly will be demonized. Betcha. In words AND in images. Plus flattering images of their opponents. See the NY Times for more on this. The past masters of image manipulation and visual character assassination.
For example...from today's Times:
Bush
and Nagin.
You be the judge.
Who's the minor hero again?
And the major villain? (Size DOES matter...in these matters.)
And so it will go.
Media manipulation.
By the REAL manipulators.
(Click for a larger version.)
James Jesus Angleton and his dear departed intel cohorts look on from the hereafter with delight.
They knew how to play ALL the angles.
So do their inheritors.
Watch. And understand.
This is how it REALLY works.
Watch.
Charles