Ah, George W. Bush. In 2000, I was worried about this failure as a person, not realizing just how disastrous things would get. We were told in the big ol' propaganda machine how George would be the CEO President (oh, great, he never ran a company that he didn't bankrupt after he cashed out, why should that scare me?). We were told he'd "restore" honor and dignity to the White house, and we all know how that's turned out. As terrible as things have become, I'm optimistic that some recovery is possible...but America will never recover from some of this. Ever.
We've managed to go from a Rhodes Scholar to an intellectually inept president in no time. Sure, Joe America would rather have a beer with George, probably because Joe America would revel in watching him get trashed, throw some money around and make Joe look good for the honeys on their way back to the pad for some lines and, hopefully, a blow job. An interesting problem with the "Who would you rather have a beer with?" question is that in the Muslim world, the answer would be "We don't drink alcohol, it is against our religion."
Not only is George intellectually incurious, he's uncultured. When he was visiting the Hermitage Museum, he was disinterested. The price of this lack of curiosity is that people will treat you the way they perceive you, and if this is the best political face Bush can put forward, we're all in for some really bad news. That museum visit told me everything I needed to know about Bush. I imagined the disgust of the other people there at this behavior, but that wasn't as scary to me as how the politicians of the world must be licking their chops at this buffoon in the White House.
On the one hand, the US must be respected for its military power. On the other, this "Leader" is so utterly boorish that the legitimate intellectuals and statespersons of the world are able to take advantage of his ineptitude. I think Russia is primed to push us out of the oil arena, and this moron's policies in the Middle East could spell disaster for us altogether. Imagine Russia teaming up with Iran, Iraq and the 'Stans to control energy resources. All this time, Bush has been thumping his chest, and you'd better believe that deals have been made behind his back. He's got our military bogged down in Iraq, our economy indebted to China and a divided American populace. His entire Administration is under threat of subpoena, for too many reasons to count, and now his friends are speaking out against his policies. Did the Saudi King just say our occupation of Iraq is illegal? Wow. Wait a minute...what's this talk of Russia again? Hmmm...
The problem with installing an idiot to run your country isn't just that he'll fuck things up at home. Because of Bush's lack of culture, political savvy and overall lifelong bubble-residence, we are in real danger of losing the game. And it may only take eight years. I am glad that we're starting so soon on 2008, and pray that our Democratic leaders will get it together before we lose it all. If the Saudis are jumping ship, it is because they're playing more than a 4 years-at-a-time government...their history goes well beyond the short few hundred years of the New World - and our elected representatives should respect that.