George W. Bush is one of the most unpopular presidents ever. He has record low poll numbers. He is a lame-duck president.
Given his seemingly weak position, how does Bush continue to bully the Democrats? Good question.
The fact is, these days, Bush is actually less compromising than ever. And the wimpy Democrats continue to roll over for Bush.
Take the looming showdown on Capitol Hill over Bush's war funding. As the Associated Press pointed out, Bush has promised to veto any bill that exceeds his pending $108 billion request for war funding.
This is actually a tougher line than Bush took last spring, when he accepted $17 billion in domestic funding as part of a $120 billion war funding measure, AP notes.
The extra spending the Democrats have proposed includes $12.7 billion in funding to extend unemployment benefits. Bush has also signaled he'll oppose increased funding for GI Bill benefits for veterans.
So not only does Bush expect the Democrats to rubberstamp his war funds request, he's not even willing to compromise on the spending bill this time around.
AP notes that the GOP is actually eager to "battle with Democrats over add-ons to the war funding bill." So not only is Bush bullying Democrats, but his fellow Republicans continue to solidly support him as though he were enjoying robust approval ratings.
How can the clout of an unpopular lame duck like Bush actually be rising these days? The only reason I can come up with is that the Democrats have shown themselves to be such pushovers, that Bush knows he can get away with bullying them. If there's anything that emboldens a bully, it is wimpy behavior.
The creator of the progressive site, BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com, Marc McDonald is an award-winning journalist who worked for 15 years for several Texas newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, before he quit his day job and set up shop in cyberspace in 1995. McDonald's articles have appeared in a number of popular progressive Web sites, including OpEdNews.com, BuzzFlash.com, Crooks and Liars, Salon.com, Progressive Daily Beacon, The Neil Rogers Show and The Raw Story. McDonald's Web articles have also been featured and reviewed by various national and international media, including CNN Headline News, the BBC, the Washington Post, USA Today and many more.
This is what I have been wondering for the past year and a half! Public support for ending the war is there - but the Dems just ignore the voters, and continue their "make nice" strategy(?). Of course, one sees no such efforts from the GOPs.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi began the Democratic leadership tenure by announcing that "impeachment is off the table". Why? It would be "too distracting". The GOP since then has continued its steady march toward a corpo-fascist government, shredding civil rights and the constitution with scarcely a word of protest from the Dems; let alone any action to restore constutional rights and procedures. The laws that have been signed into being or altered by Bush, quietly and under the media radar, will guarantee that the next national emergency or "terrorist attack" will result in the unilateral control of all aspects of government by the Busheviks. Including the postponement of the next national election.
We have zero accountability for high crimes and misdemeanors comitted by the administration, because of an enabling, colluding bunch of Democrats that either lack the intelligence, backbone, or political will to attempt any real accounting for crimes that have cost us and future generations more than we can even yet grasp. Meanwhile, the Bush Crime Syndicate continues its march toward another unprovoked invasion, this time in Iran. I doubt if most congressional Democrats will do much to stop it, based on past results.
I recently saw a movie called "Zeitgeist", and I highly recommend it to anyone who realizes that what government has become bears little resemblance to the founders' concept of "by the people, for the people". It offers some cogent, if not startling, explanations for most of what we are seeing now in this country. You can watch it online, or get the DVD here:
