The mind boggles.
In November of 2000, while the outcome of the election was still being litigated, I had a conversation with a Republican friend. He told me how IMPORTANT it was that George Bush be elected. How the good clean Republicans were going to wash away the filth of Saruman.... I mean Clinton. GWB was going to rebuild Reagan's shining city on the hill with tax cuts and deregulation.
Just six and a half years later and my friend denies that converstation ever took place. He now understands that elections have consequences, but not always the ones he expected.
Today, as Iraq degenerates further, our man Maliki is purging Army commanders who have been too successful against insurgents. Condi can't imagine a preemptive strike against al Qaeda in Afghanistan (she couldn't imagine anybody using planes as bombs either.) The FDA is letting our food be poisoned, Wolfowitz is destroying the World Bank, the "abstinance only" anti AIDS czar thinks abstinance is only for others, we find that the White House has been politicizing the hiring of DOCTORS for the CDC, let alone entry-level lawyers at the DOJ....
Then there's Abramoff, no body armor, Delay, Walter Reed, Cunningham, no WMDs, Gonzales, Haliburton, Renzi, Gitmo, Ney, Darth Cheney, Doolittle, Abu Graib, Libby, Feeney, Katrina, Global Warming denial, no Osama bin Laden, more deficits, more dead, more tax cuts for the rich, more corruption, more, more, more!
Republican faithful are bending lower and lower, trying to dance under the bar of corruption that this White House has lowered to the ground. As much as I am a proud Liberal and Democrat, it is sad to watch the remaining good, patriotic Republicans contort themselves, trying to protect the indefensible Bush, while also trying to not to get stained by their association with him.
I weep for the damage Bush and his cronies have done to our once-proud nation. I weep for the blood of the dead and wounded that is on our hands because of Bush's criminal incompetence.
I only hope we Progressives and Liberals can save this country without falling into the hubris trap that is bringing down the Right. Bush is destroying his own party, his own ideology, as surely as the Great Depression sent the Republicans to the wilderness for most of 40 years. We must remain true to our beliefs, as the Republicans have not, as we retake the mandate for the future.