Crazy Like FOX

I’m about to take you down a very dark road, so strap in... Okay, time for a little logic here. It’s often assumed that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rove, Rice, Gonzales, Bremer, et. al., are stupid. Liberals and a growing preponderance of Moderates point to the many terrible mistakes of this administration - the series of missteps in Iraq that made the country completely ungovernable, failure to respond to the human tragedy of Katrina, letting North Korea get the bomb, beating the war drums against Iran while we’re still embroiled in Iraq, pulling out of the Kyoto treaty when global climate change is so clear a threat, under-funding local police forces which leaves us wide open for another terrorist attack ... This has to be the most incompetent administration in American history - right?

But something doesn’t make sense here. Look at the players. Dr. Rice is probably one of the most intelligent people in the administration. Cheny, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz have been chasing each other around the halls of power for a half-century. Many of these people did not start out anywhere near as rich as they have become. And they are firmly in power. These are not the attributes of stupid people. So let’s assume, for the moment, that they aren’t...

Who could profit from letting New Orleans twist after the wind? The culture of this deeply Democratic, predominantly African American city is - with its population - scattered to the four winds. Whatever emerges from Lake Charles, it will not be the cultural powerhouse that New Orleans was - at least not any time soon.

Who could profit from pulling the USA out of Kyoto? Only the oil companies. The former CEO’s of some are now in the administration. And why make it impossible for the U.S. to pull out of Iraq by dismantling the Iraqi Army and purging the Baath Party? Unless, perhaps, there was no exit strategy because there was never meant to be an exit. As I write, the USA is building at least fourteen permanent American military bases in Iraq. An Iraq meant to be a puppet state in perpetuity, always under the American boot?

Certainly North Korea is more of a threat now, benefitting no one except the purveyors of the embarrassing failure of Star Wars. What about those war drums with Iran while the US armed forces are bogged down in Iraq? Well, we’re just going to have to hire more mercenaries who can more easily operate outside international law and standards.

Finally, what about leaving the USA open for another terrorist attack? Perhaps driven by some relatively low power nuclear weapons from North Korea? Or all that nuclear material we somehow failed to purchase from the former Soviet Union? Can you imagine how quickly Americans would accept draconian measures - even martial law - even an emergency dictatorship if someone blew up Los Angeles harbor with a small nuke?

So, are they stupid? Or are they crazy like FOX?

I think I’m going to go look for a nice big patch of sand to hide my head in.

rbs