Beware of Little Men Mouthing Big Ideas...

We seem to spend more time examining the cold cuts we buy than we do examining the qualifications of the man who is going to run for the top job in the land.

Because if it were otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this mess with a government that doesn’t work and policies that fail us.

But we shouldn’t be surprised.

There is nothing remarkably changed or out of character about our leaders.

They continue to take short cuts, flaunt the law, operate out of self interest and ignore the needs of the people and get all huffed up if someone calls them on their failings. . What becomes stunningly apparent is that this is not about us, it’s about them. They are self-serving, smug, conceited, ego-centric and totally dedicated to themselves and what they want. And if we go along with their hard-ball approach the shame on us….


This is not Just look closely astrology or palm reading, it’s just going over their track records which says more about a person than the hype they feed us during election debates. Surprising as this might seem, these two, the Tony Soprano and his consigliere of the Beltway Sopranos, have always demonstrated a free-wheeling life-style that allows them to do as they like whether its legal or not.

With Bush, it has always been the short cut that allows him to escape the heavy lifting; this attitude is ingrained and has been with him since a student. Let the others assume the burden. That’s not his style. Sadly, because we didn’t pay attention, we are paying a price for that now….witness 9/11 Katrina and Iraq.

But along with their unmitigated gall and contempt for the way the rest of do our job, there is a belief that they can reinvent the world in their own image. If they don’t like a possible outcome, they simply change it. For men enamored of their own power, it must seem easy. All you do is reconfigure the facts. . When push comes to shove, the smart guy figures out where he wants to be at the end and manipulates everything in the way of achieving that end. Forget about hypotheses and proof and inquiry. They are unnecessary to the desired end.

As a consequence, we find ourselves playing poker with somebody who invents the rules as he goes along, a player who doesn’t like to keep the score or shuffle the cards but is obsessed with winning.

Of course, men with such a need for feeding their ego and amoral when it comes to invoking their own needs, cannot be served by honest men who take pride in their integrity; no, they must replace those with toadies regardless oftheir competence.l

Against this background, we have the case of Mr. Bolton who is a presumed loyalist predicated on his actions on behalf of the government at the UN and elsewhere. He can be expected to serve as a “stalking horse” for new programs to be pushed through Congress with the support of the Conservative base.

Three things have characterized the Bush presidency, a disregard for the constitution and the rule of law, a predilection for serving the interests of the far right and ignoring the rest of the population’s interests and a style of forcing through legislation by any means.

Mostly, such a style would have produced strong resistance, nevertheless, the War climate after 9/11 eased the path to unilateralist decision making. It has also allowed Bush to promulgate his preferred “ballsy” style of government without governance.. It has by the same token, alienated most of those in government and others with diplomatic credentials.

Mostly, it has allowed Bush to get away from governance which he does not like freeing him to sideline troubling issues and policies.

Moreover, after 9/11, Bush was seen as a hero and a patriot allowing him do what he likes to do and that’s mostly pushing through legislation created by the lobbyists who fill his coffers.

Therefore, there is an immense benefit in maintaining the canard of the abstract enemy who is readying himself and his forces to deal you a death blow. We must remain vigilant against such forces on our homeland. Correspondingly, it seems that it is important to ‘fight them over there before they come over here.’

Interesting to note that while we are strong over there, it is quite simple really easy to walk across our borders if you are a terrorist.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to keep the public distracted, disoriented and worried—and the enemy in your face—if you intend to rule without the law or oversight. And one way to do that is to never allow the public to forget that the enemy is there in front of its face.

Therefore, to rule arbitrarily without intervention in a way likened to totalitarianism, you need to have the public facing a clash of good vs. evil.

This is why the words of Bolton, a mediocrity who couldn’t get a job parking a car were he not loyal, spews words that we may too easily dismiss.

But that would be a mistake.

If he says Iraq poses a threat and needs to be attacked, be assured it is uppermost in Bush&Company’s plans. And it would be rubber stamped and justified by Cheney, the hit man of the group.

Hitting Iran would accomplish a number of other things: It would give worldwide control of all the major sources of oil—except Russia—to the US; it would position republicans as heroes once more (We seem to have short memories); it would encourage the right wing military establishment to exhaust inventories and start new programs; it would cause the west to forget the real problems that threaten to destroy our society; and it would contribute to a very strong case for another republican win; never mind that our military is exhausted and our budget busted.

This view also seems consistent with the New World Order ideas of a few people in power controlling the wealth and assets of the rest of the world.

Disturbing at the very least and a very probable development given the consistency and operative patterns of this cabal that rewards loyalty and pounces on everyone else as would-be traitors.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon