Newspaper columnist Cal Thomas, who has carried enough water for the Bush administration to fill Lake Superior, is fretting about the President's apparent case of political laryngitis.
"Where are the convictions of conscience, the soaring rhetoric, the broad vision and the dire warnings of failure," he lamented in his most recent column. Since the Republicans lost the majority in the legislative branch Thomas said that Bush has been "pleading, not leading." This is indeed a sad development for a President who pledged to be a "uniter, not a divider."
On the war, he should constantly quote what al-Qaida and other extremist organizations state is their objective for us. He should ask war opponents, "Do you think they are lying?" The president should invite Iraqis to America to thank us for our investment - of blood and capital - in their freedom. The president should ask war opponents, "Would you prefer they were still under Saddam Hussein's murderous regime? Senators Obama, Schumer, Durbin, Reid and Speaker Pelosi, tell them that to their faces."
Then the president should ask war opponents, "If we were to pull out before we are certain that the elected Iraqi government can stand on its own, what will happen next? Iraq would surely be overrun by al-Qaida fanatics who would then establish a radical Islamic state like they did in Afghanistan, using that state as a terror base to eliminate Israel and come after Europe and the United States with renewed vigor. When that happens, will you take responsibility for it? I doubt it." – Cal Thomas' March 22, 2007 Column.
In other words, Thomas is calling for an album of Bush's Greatest Hits.
In the music industry greatest hits compilations are generally put out as a band reaches the end of a contract, looses members for one reason or another, or fades into irrelevance. On these counts, the Bush administration is three-for-three, making this the perfect time for a retrospective:
Remember when you first heard the phrase "The Axis of Evil?" Maybe you danced to "We've got to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." Maybe you and that special someone fell in love while hearing that deathless phrase, "Mission Accomplished."
The comparison to a band reaching the end of a contract with one label shouldn't require much explanation. Right now Team Bush has less than two years remaining in office, with no clear ideological successor in sight.
And Bush's band of mayhem artist is beginning to break up as well. Just take a look at Michael "Heck-of-a-Job Browny" Brown, the former head of FEMA; Don Rumsfeld, whose plan for a lean military response force has proven so inadequate in Iraq; and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who apparently fell on his sword to protect Vice President Dick Cheney. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may be next.
Lastly, the polls are showing that this administration is fading into irrelevance. Polls consistently place the President's popularity somewhere in the 30-to-40 percent range.
Music critics tend to knock greatest hits compilations because they remove a song from its original album context. Still, there are those people who will purchase such albums because all they want to hear is what they have heard before.
So if you are a conservative with a hankering to hear those great old chestnuts one more time, contact your Senators and Representatives before midnight tonight. Republican operatives are standing by.