The title of this post comes from this post at Swampland by Ana Marie Cox. She posits it as a possible description of the current status of the Bush Administration, and it gets my vote. Yesterday was Walter Reed day in the House. Today, as Talking Points Memo has covered thoroughly (and Think Progress.org), it was US Attorney day in both chambers of Congress. Of course, we can't forget the verdict in the Libby trial. Like the Nixon Administration after the firing of Haldeman and Erlichman, and the "Saturday Night Massacre" (brought to us by that icon of the right, Robert Bork) in which two Attorneys General quit rather than fire Archibald Cox, until Brok summoned the cowardice to accede to the President's illegal order, we are watching the slow implosion of the Bush Administration. Like a huge luxury liner, slowly listing to one side (in this case, the right), then rolling, then sinking not-so-gracefully beneath the waves, we can only stand back and watch and hope everyone got out OK, and that no one is too close to be dragged down to the depths with it. In this case, like the entire country.
One of the saddest, most telling events today is discussed here at Think Progress.org. I heard Paul Morin's comments on NPR this morning, in which he laid at the feet of the President (and Congress) the entire Walter Reed/Army hospital travesty. Morin is the national commander of the American Legion, and there are few organizations one wants to annoy less than the Legion, especially if one touts oneself as a "War President". Bush went before the Legion today, and one can only imagine the tension in the air as Bush stood there and lied about how the health care of wounded soldiers is a priority for his administration. I mean, please - he no more cares about the health care of returning Iraqi and Afghan war vets than he cares about tin deposits in Peru. He drags troops out as right-wing poster-children, then throws them to privatized, down-sized, under-funded, under-staffed facilities to sink or swim on their own. One wonders at the utter gumption of Bush standing there saying all this nonsense, when there is enough empirical evidence to prove that the exact opposite is the case. The dissonance from the Administration is really staggering, and I do believe we have passed the tipping point (I think the election proves that) and no one, except a bunch of dead-enders (what else can one call them?), believes anything these people say.
As our government unravels before our eyes, let us be careful. There are fewer things more dangerous than a wounded animal - quite willing to lash out in a desperate attempt to stay alive. These people, whose judgment, competence, and political instincts are nil, also have access to the single most destructive weapons on the face of the earth, and have been quite willing to talk publicly about using nuclear weapons anywhere and everywhere. This is a dangerous time, and for all the fascination of watching this particular bug writhe on the needle placed there by their own actions, this is a bug with some serious venom.
Virtual Tin Cup
