According to Reuters, President Bush said this morning he had no regrets about the unpopular war in Iraq despite the “high cost in lives and treasure” and declared that the United States was on track for a major victory there.
Back in the land of reality, where thousands of young Americans are dead and many times that number permanently wounded and scared, and more than 100,000 Iraqis are still dead, the financial markets are voting with their boots on how smart this war’s been. They look at the map and see Afghanistan in shambles, with the Taliban and Al Qaeda making their way back to power not only in their own country but threatening Pakistan as well. Right, Pakistan, the country with a few dozen nuclear bombs.
Ben Bernanke and his pals at the Treasury may be doing their best to bail out Wall St. but after a brief run up the market figured out that maybe that $1 trillion-plus Bush has spent on the war might possibly have been better spent on real issues instead of a vain attempt to avenge his daddy’s honor. Some estimates–rigiorously done, by real accountants and economists–put the cost of the war at over $25,000 per American home. Of course the Administration wasn’t willing to raise taxes and pay for this trainwreck honestly, no, they borrowed the money so your kids and theirs can be paying for this when the get old.
But look out Ben, there’s a liquidity trap lurking around the corner and it wants to mug you like a meth addict jonesing for a score. You can try jumping in with both feet to bail out the hustlers on Wall Street, even get help from the guys down the block at Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae, but my Magic 8 Ball says “Too little too late.”
The Democrats, despite all their talk, are little better than belligerent co-conspirators; they’re politicians so why should we expect anything else? Nancy Pelosi and her pals have been in charge of both houses of Congress for more than 12 months now and what exactly have they achieved?
I don’t care if Bush vetoes every bill they send him. Where are those congressional committee investigations the pundits were predicting when the Dems won the House? The ones that would bring to light all the lies and frauds perpretrated by the Bush Administration. Instead they went straight for the standard diversions, like the recent televised hearings on steroids in baseball. Because Roger Clemons, he’s the guy responsible for all the ills in America.
No, my friends, we’re five years down the road and no safer. Heck, we’re mostly lucky the terrorists aren’t smarter and more ambitious than they’ve shown. Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are still large and in charge, Hamas and Hezbollah are still attacking Israel, China’s thumb is still pressed on Tibet’s neck, the banks are melting down, Elliot Spitzer fell over his own hypocrisy, lines at airport security checkpoints still add at least 30 minutes to air travel and George Bush still thinks he’s winning the war on terror.
BillSaysThis 