Politics as a game

Yes, I know, Bush gave a speech. Ho-hum. The same lies, distortions, meaningless and mindless doggerel that everyone knew it would be. Nothing new. Nothing whatsoever. Of course he wouldn't dare tell the truth. If he did it would go something like this:
Oil is absolutely crucial to the American economy. Without a sufficient supply of oil our country would collapse. We have to have the oil.
But we don't have enough oil to keep our economy going. We have to get it from somewhere else.
We already get it from Saudi Arabia, but not enough, and not dependable enough at the moment. Venezuela is likewise not too dependable at the moment. So what to do?
We will just have to take it from whoever else has it. And who has the most? Why, Iraq, of course. And Iraq is basically a helpless country thanks to our years of sanctions. So let's go there and take control of their oil.
We can install a puppet regime, build some permanents bases, maintain an American presence to make sure it will work, and we'll be able to control not only Iraqi oil but probably all Middle Eastern oil.
Why doesn't Bush just come right out and say this? After all it's true. And it's simple enough for the American people to undertand. Then he wouldn't have to pretend that we are trying to get our troops home. Sure, we might get some of them home but we will never give up our presence completely. As Rumsfeld says, it might take as many as 12 years. Maybe by then the oil fields will be exhausted so we won't need to stay any longer.
If he just told the truth about it he might actually get a majority of Americans to support this totally illegal, immmoral, unconstitutional and otherwise unnecessary "war." After all, it wasn't too long ago that I saw bumper stickers to the effect: "Nuke their ass and steal their gas." And others not quite so basic but also sympathetic to international crime.

Of course he can't tell the truth because it could be the case that a majority of Americans might not join in on this totally criminal enterprise. After all, they don't all own stock in Halliburton, Exxon, GE, and etc. And therefore they might not be too sympathetic to this blatant war profiteering.

So let's just let him go on pretending that we're trying to establish democracy in the Middle East, that when the Iraqis are able to defend themelves we will leave, and all the rest of the utter garbage that comes out of the mouths of Bush/Cheney and the neocons. The Bush speech was pathetic. He is now nothing more than a pathetic person strutting about the stage where he will experience his own overdue demise. He probably will escape impeachment, if only because Cheney would then become president, a fate not to be desired. Furthermore, given the constitution of the House and Senate it probably couldn't happen anyway - there are no honorable Congresspersons or Senators, or virtually none.

This brings me to the issue of politics as a game which, I believe, has developed in the past twenty or more years. Maybe more than just a game, maybe a profession. How else would you explain that James Carvelle can stay married to Mary Matalan? If they each truly believed in what they were doing for their respective parties, if they were genuinely committed to the stated aims and goals of their parties, how could they possibly get along? And how about Bill Clinton now going sailing and otherwise spending time with Bush Sr.? After what the Republicans did to him how could he possibly now be embracing them? He has now even defended Bush Jr. And what about Hillary cozying up to Newt Gingrich? How could this be?

It can be because none of these people have any genuine commitment to the American people. For them politic is merely a game. They all exist in the same surreal atmosphere of big money, corporate influence, and power seeking. They simply try to one-up each other over whether their corporation is going to get more than others. But they are all playing within the same universe. No real genuine change is going to take place. Just my lobbyists are going to get more than yours this year, not that the people are going to get more of anyting. Do you see any of them truly arguing that we should get out of Iraq? Are any of them seriously pushing for medical reform? Are they actively pushing to repeal the obscene tax breaks for the already obscenely wealthy? What are they doing for the environment? Global warming? Energy conservation? Sure, occasionally they mention these things, but what do they actually do? The answer is nothing. They do nothing. They vote themselves raises. They pontificate about this and that. But they do nothing. They all just work to maintain their position in the elite hierarchy that currently runs the country. The people be damned. Why should they all have health insurance? Why should they be entitled to a minimum wage they can actually live on? Why should the environment be protected when it interfers with profit? Why, why, why?

The current situation, and the current administration, is nothing short of disgusting, even worse than that. And when our totally moronic, lying, babbling non-president can make a speech with no merit whatsoever, and have it praised by John McCain and other Republicans, you know we have now hit absolute rock bottom.