W.’s Double Binds

[budanski]

W.’s Double Binds
He can’t win — even if he does!

National Review (http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/lowry/lowry200407200900.asp)

Sometimes a political figure becomes so hated that he can't do anything right in the eyes of his enemies. President Bush has achieved this rare and exalted status. His critics are so blinded by animus that the internal consistency of their attacks on him no longer matters. For them, Bush is the double-bind president.

If he stumbles over his words, he is an embarrassing idiot. If he manages to cut taxes or wage a war against Saddam Hussein with bipartisan support, he is a manipulative genius.

If he hasn't been able to capture Osama bin Laden, he is endangering U.S. security. If he catches bin Laden, it is only a ploy to influence the elections.

If he ignores U.N. resolutions, he is a dangerous unilateralist. If he takes U.N. resolutions on Iraq seriously, he is a dangerous unilateralist. If he doesn't get France to agree to his Iraq policy, he is ignoring important international actors. If he supports multiparty talks on North Korea, he is not doing enough to ignore important international actors.

If he bombed Iraq, he should have bombed Saudi Arabia instead, and if he had bombed Saudi Arabia, he should have bombed Iran, and if he had bombed all three, he shouldn't have bombed anyone at all. If he imposes a U.S. occupation on Iraq, he is fomenting Iraqi resistance by making the United States seem an imperial power. If he ends the U.S. occupation, he is cutting and running.

If he warns of a terror attack, he is playing alarmist politics. If he doesn't warn of a terror attack, he is dangerously asleep at the switch. If he says we're safer, he's lying, and if he doesn't say we're safer, he's implicitly admitting that he has failed in his core duty as commander in chief.

If he adopts a doctrine of preemption, he is unacceptably remaking American national-security policy. If the United States suffers a terror attack on his watch, he should have preempted it. If he signs a far-reaching antiterror law, he is abridging civil liberties. If the United States suffers another terror attack on his watch, he should have had a more vigorous anti-terror law.

Bush's economy hasn't created new jobs. If it has created new jobs, they aren't well-paying jobs. If they are well-paying jobs, there is still income inequality in America.

If Bush opposes a prescription-drug benefit for the elderly, he's miserly. If he supports a prescription-drug benefit for the elderly, he's lining the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies. If he restrains government spending, he's heartless. If he supports government spending, he's bankrupting the nation and robbing from future generations.

If he opposes campaign-finance reform, he's a tool of corporate interests. If he signs campaign-finance reform, he's abridging the First Amendment rights of Michael Moore (whose ads for Fahrenheit 9/11 might run afoul of the law).

If he accuses John Kerry of flip-flopping, he is merely highlighting one of the Massachusetts senator's strengths — his nuance and thoughtfulness. If he flip-flops on nation-building or testifying before the 9/11 commission, he proves his own ill-intentions, cluelessness, or both.

If he doesn't admit a mistake, he is bullheaded and detached from reality. If he admits a mistake, he is damning his own governance in shocking fashion.

If he sticks with **** Cheney, he is saddling himself with an unpopular vice president, giving Democrats who can't wait to run against Cheney a political advantage. If he drops Cheney, he is admitting that the Democratic attacks against his vice president have hit home, thus giving Democrats who have made those charges a political advantage.

If he loses in November, the voice of the American people has spoken a devastating verdict on his presidency. If he wins, he stole the election.
That about sums it up.

[cut]

You guys should stop whinging it's the same for every democratic head of government/state in the world.

[Durandal]

That about sums it up.

Yep.

[Durandal]

You guys should stop whinging...

Huh?

[Seoulstriker]

Thanks, Budanski. :)

[Kdeuce]

So true, although the others are correct that it is typical for this to happen to any head of state, I believe this time the public has gone too far, especially the media like CNN (Clinton News Network) and those talking head celebrities who support a candidate who is honored in the Communist Museum in Vietnam.

-deuce

[OB Kenobi]

I wish the Republicans would stop whining so much. :P

[Midtown]

I wish you would stop posting so much.

[Fox2]

Seems the leftists here can't really rebutt this article with any substance. :P p-)

Good post, Budanski.

[SpazzMunky]

In all fairness, the same article could be applied to Clinton....
p-)

[obd]

hehehehe, well Bush has managed to achieve something rare in the world: People around the world compare him to Hitler and Stalin and all the other most terrible leaders........now thats an accomplishment althought I must say, I never thought my great country would produce such an astoundingly incompetant leader........One can only hope he is again not elected but this time the election isnt stolen........

I fear that if Bush gets another 4 years, his idiocy will make America the next enemy of the world........Most of the people on this earth, and 49% (plus or minus 2%) of polled Americans, hate Bush.....its high time the man went the way of the nuclear powered schoolbus..........into the toilet bowl of history.......

His policies are quite literally endangering not only the very foundations of American security abroad, they are also endangering the very foundations of what makes America strong at home: freedom of speech, freedom of religious choice, individual rights, the Constitution, seperation of chruch and state etc etc etc etc.........

Bush is a disaster for the economy even if it is showing signs of improving one cant forget that we are improving from yet another Republican caused record debt.....its kind of like falling down a well after somebody pushed you in and then having him shout down to you "well, you can stand up without drowning, thats an improvement in things isnt it".........

Bush is also a disaster for our foreign policy, having taken worldwide feelings of love and compassion and support after 9/11 and in a few short years turning virtually the entire world against us.....even the majority of the British (our best ally) polled hate Bush and his policies........that should be an important indicator to you.......especially if Tony Blair loses power.......

Bush is a disaster at home too, laucnhing an unprecedented level of attacks on the sanctitiy of the Consitution with more attempts to amend it than any other president since WW2........

Bush is a disaster for the american environment as well, even the laws that he has not destroyed he simply doesnt enforce so they are meaningless.....Because of Bush, Americans breath more polluted air, drink more polluted water, and have more pollutants in our food and this will show up in our children..........

Bush is a DISASTER to the world.....He is a WAR PRESIDENT....its the only way he can keep his support...His wars have killed tens of thousands of innocent people........and yet he does it all under the banner of Jesus.......interesting.....I always thought Jesus was a man of peace and acceptance.....not war and ingorance......oh well.......

[Beowulf]

hmmm you finally learned to use paragraphs...congratulations.

[ArmedPacifist]

this is true for all hated politicans and is definitely not a rare moment.

[martinexsquaddie]

it amazes americans elect people who can't seem to cut it on the world stage :(
calling pakistanis "pakis" is just mind numbing stupid :roll:

[Flagg]

So obd.....let me get this straight......you just wrote this:


hehehehe, well Bush has managed to achieve something rare in the world: People around the world compare him to Hitler and Stalin and all the other most terrible leaders........now thats an accomplishment althought I must say, I never thought my great country would produce such an astoundingly incompetant leader........One can only hope he is again not elected but this time the election isnt stolen........

I fear that if Bush gets another 4 years, his idiocy will make America the next enemy of the world........Most of the people on this earth, and 49% (plus or minus 2%) of polled Americans, hate Bush.....its high time the man went the way of the nuclear powered schoolbus..........into the toilet bowl of history.......

His policies are quite literally endangering not only the very foundations of American security abroad, they are also endangering the very foundations of what makes America strong at home: freedom of speech, freedom of religious choice, individual rights, the Constitution, seperation of chruch and state etc etc etc etc.........

Bush is a disaster for the economy even if it is showing signs of improving one cant forget that we are improving from yet another Republican caused record debt.....its kind of like falling down a well after somebody pushed you in and then having him shout down to you "well, you can stand up without drowning, thats an improvement in things isnt it".........

Bush is also a disaster for our foreign policy, having taken worldwide feelings of love and compassion and support after 9/11 and in a few short years turning virtually the entire world against us.....even the majority of the British (our best ally) polled hate Bush and his policies........that should be an important indicator to you.......especially if Tony Blair loses power.......

Bush is a disaster at home too, laucnhing an unprecedented level of attacks on the sanctitiy of the Consitution with more attempts to amend it than any other president since WW2........

Bush is a disaster for the american environment as well, even the laws that he has not destroyed he simply doesnt enforce so they are meaningless.....Because of Bush, Americans breath more polluted air, drink more polluted water, and have more pollutants in our food and this will show up in our children..........

Bush is a DISASTER to the world.....He is a WAR PRESIDENT....its the only way he can keep his support...His wars have killed tens of thousands of innocent people........and yet he does it all under the banner of Jesus.......interesting.....I always thought Jesus was a man of peace and acceptance.....not war and ingorance......oh well.......

But 9 months ago you wrote this(October 10th to be exact):


And anyone who thinks the damn Arabs will be happy and stop fighting without anything less than the total destruction of the Jews in Israel is an idiot. I have a much simpler solution:Eliinate nuclear weapons from the hands of Muslums such as in Pakistan and Iran and other raghead countries trying to get them and give Israel alot more. That way, they all know if they even try to commit genocide agaisnt the Jews again, their holly war is gonna last all of 20 minutes and they are gonna all meet Allah and his slave girl virgins real real fast.

link:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4308&highlight=

And again on the 17th of October:


If anything the civilized world should unite agaisnt the Muslim radical problem and acheive a final solution to thier bullsh*t by wiping them out and/or reducing them to a bunch of cave dwelling and penniless camel jockeys.....which they would be right now if they didnt get lucky and strike oil.

link:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4498&highlight=

Break out the shovel.....cause you're going to need it to find your credibility ;)

[wiggle]

So obd.....let me get this straight......you just wrote this:


hehehehe, well Bush has managed to achieve something rare in the world: People around the world compare him to Hitler and Stalin and all the other most terrible leaders........now thats an accomplishment althought I must say, I never thought my great country would produce such an astoundingly incompetant leader........One can only hope he is again not elected but this time the election isnt stolen........

I fear that if Bush gets another 4 years, his idiocy will make America the next enemy of the world........Most of the people on this earth, and 49% (plus or minus 2%) of polled Americans, hate Bush.....its high time the man went the way of the nuclear powered schoolbus..........into the toilet bowl of history.......

His policies are quite literally endangering not only the very foundations of American security abroad, they are also endangering the very foundations of what makes America strong at home: freedom of speech, freedom of religious choice, individual rights, the Constitution, seperation of chruch and state etc etc etc etc.........

Bush is a disaster for the economy even if it is showing signs of improving one cant forget that we are improving from yet another Republican caused record debt.....its kind of like falling down a well after somebody pushed you in and then having him shout down to you "well, you can stand up without drowning, thats an improvement in things isnt it".........

Bush is also a disaster for our foreign policy, having taken worldwide feelings of love and compassion and support after 9/11 and in a few short years turning virtually the entire world against us.....even the majority of the British (our best ally) polled hate Bush and his policies........that should be an important indicator to you.......especially if Tony Blair loses power.......

Bush is a disaster at home too, laucnhing an unprecedented level of attacks on the sanctitiy of the Consitution with more attempts to amend it than any other president since WW2........

Bush is a disaster for the american environment as well, even the laws that he has not destroyed he simply doesnt enforce so they are meaningless.....Because of Bush, Americans breath more polluted air, drink more polluted water, and have more pollutants in our food and this will show up in our children..........

Bush is a DISASTER to the world.....He is a WAR PRESIDENT....its the only way he can keep his support...His wars have killed tens of thousands of innocent people........and yet he does it all under the banner of Jesus.......interesting.....I always thought Jesus was a man of peace and acceptance.....not war and ingorance......oh well.......

But 9 months ago you wrote this(October 10th to be exact):


And anyone who thinks the damn Arabs will be happy and stop fighting without anything less than the total destruction of the Jews in Israel is an idiot. I have a much simpler solution:Eliinate nuclear weapons from the hands of Muslums such as in Pakistan and Iran and other raghead countries trying to get them and give Israel alot more. That way, they all know if they even try to commit genocide agaisnt the Jews again, their holly war is gonna last all of 20 minutes and they are gonna all meet Allah and his slave girl virgins real real fast.

link:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4308&highlight=

And again on the 17th of October:


If anything the civilized world should unite agaisnt the Muslim radical problem and acheive a final solution to thier bullsh*t by wiping them out and/or reducing them to a bunch of cave dwelling and penniless camel jockeys.....which they would be right now if they didnt get lucky and strike oil.

link:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4498&highlight=

Break out the shovel.....cause you're going to need it to find your credibility ;)

He prolly enrolled in college and has been smoking a lot of reefer.

[obd]

I still stand by what I said Flagg......I still believe that the Muslum radicals are a huge threat...I still believe the world must unite against them in a comprehensive way.....I dont see where what I said about Bush contradicts what I said about facing the radical Muslum problem Falgg???? As I said earlier, a large part of my hatred of Bush comes not from his foreign policy but from his domestic policy....that is those policy decisions which directly impact my life......as in his constant attacks on the sanctitiy of the Constitution.......etc etc etc

I believe, as do several senior CIA analysts interviewed, that the war in Iraq has only strengthened radical Muslums like Osama Bin Laden and unless we use a comprehensive and worldwide strategy to defeat them (not necesarrily a military option) they will always find new recruits.....If we use only the military than all we will manage to do is rack up body count of terrorists without ever actually acieving anything as they will probably only end up in a stronger position than before......

We must adress those issues in the Muslum world which draw most criticism and which are allowing AQ so much support in the Muslum world, we must try to strengthen the moderates in the Middle Easy, we must stop supporting dictatorships for oil (like the Saudi's), etc etc etc.......And we must militarily crush those radical Muslums who remain with AQ even as we seek to adress some of thier greivances which make sense to us.........

I firmly believe that many terrorists have political motivations....only the most extreme religious fanatics cannot be reasoned with.....only the worst of AQ...the most hard core.....but we can address those Muslums which arnt members of AQ but which tacitly support them for thier own reasons such as for example : US support of terrible dicatorships, lack of freedom in the middle east (a huge factor in terrorism), US control of Middle east oil, poverty, lack of social mobility, huge disparity between rish and poor, oppression, repression, lack of education of people (education can work wonders in defeating terrorism), etc etc etc.....All of these things can help AQ find recruits easily among youth.....yet if we address them it can help to dry up thier recruit base even as we militarily crush their already hard core fanatic base.....

Osama Bin Laden had an unexpected windfall of support when Bush decided to invade Iraq........According to CIA reports, Bush's war in Iraq has infinately increased popualr support in the Muslum world for Al Queada, it has more than double its money, etc etc etc........that is a huge security threat to America....Bush's war only made things worse.....not better

Also, our uneven support for Israel is hurting us too......not that I dont support Israel, I just think we need to understand how Muslums feel about the issue and address things with that mindset.........Israel has a right to exist, but so does a Palestinian state......thats all Im saying.....Israel also has a right ot build its wall.......I support that too....but please dont flame me as some kind of anti-semite because that is exactly what I am not........

[obd]

And yeah Flagg, I was a little emotional when I wrote that about Israel and Arabs as I had just seen Jewish kids killed by the Palestinians and Arabs cheering in the streets about it and it put me in a "kill them all" kind of mood.....

Oh, and I still believe in taking nuclear warheads out of the hands of the Pakistani's as that nation is way too unstable to have that kind of power.....not to mention CIA reports that at the highest level, Pakistan was selling nuclear secrets to our enemy: the Iranain government.......

Oh, and I still believe that it is important for Arabs to know that should they launch a nuclear strike on Israel they willin turn be annihilated.....Its a poven policy of the cold war known as MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction....also known as "balance of power"..........so I stand by that too.........

My comments about calling Arabs "ragheads" and such were pretty irresponsible......As I said, I was in an angry mood over the news footage and lashed out.......I regret that on my part........