Sure, there will be fights with Bush. And yes, Iraq is going to only get worse. And yes, he has committed acts for which he will have to answer, whether it be before an impeachment trial, the Hague, the history books, or the life after this (if one believes in such things).
But, Bush is merely a symptom, a polyp, of a larger disease. That disease is rightwing Republicanism.
Let us be clear. Bush has been utterly discredited. He's as popular as Athlete's Foot. While that's great, here's what we can't do:
Let the Republicans deny that he reflects their values.
Bush is not a bad apple that lost sight of reality when he got into the White House. He was not hijacked by some small cabal of Neocons.
The problem is not Bush--it's the Republican Party.
Bush is the perfect representative of the Republican Party.
The next Republican candidate for President, and the next wave of Republican Congressional candidates will stand for exactly the same failed policies, morally bankrupt philosophies, corruption, exploitation, oppression, militarism, death, destruction, pillage, and torture that we saw arise under Bush.
These things did not happen under Bush because of his peculiarities. They happened because they were the logical extension of the philosophies and policies of today's Republican party.
It's the Republicans, stupid.
The Republicans didn't get us into the Iraq war because of flawed intelligence or bogus WMD issues. That's bullshit. They got us into the Iraq war because war is an essential tool to achieving their agenda.
Torture and violations of basic human rights weren't a matter of this one man and his advisers going bad. It is the full-blown expression of the fundamental hostility that the Republican party feels towards individual rights--whether they be of criminal defendants, women, gays, racial minorities or religious minorities.
Do you think John McCain or Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani would think twice about attacking Iran if they could get away with it?
Of course not. The hardcore base of the Republican party--the people you see posting at Little Green Footballs and the Free Republic--aren't happy unless we're committing wholescale slaughter of non-white, non-English speaking people. They DEMAND that kind of action.
Do you really think that they'd appoint someone to the Supreme Court who believed in the right to privacy?
Of course not. Not because of their personal philosophies--but because the hardcore Republican base would DEMAND that someone hostile towards individual rights be appointed.
The key is simple: Expose the Republican philosophy for what it is--a rancid, hateful set of values that about 20% of the country earnestly buy, 10% buy to the extent it keeps their taxes low and to the extent they can keep themselves in denial, and 20% of the country have been hoodwinked into buying.
The key is simple: Discredit Republicanism.
Make those fuckers on Capitol Hill vote against health insurance for children.
Make them vote against fair elections with a paper trail.
Make them vote against recognizing basic human rights for everyone--such as the right of habeas corpus.
Make them vote against having closer and better relations with the rest of the planet.
Expose them for what they are. Force them to stand by their true values, instead of the values they pretend to have.
And don't you ever, ever, ever let them blame it on Bush.
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