Diary: The Decision-Maker

Things just get curiouser and curiouser.
I was scanning my emails and RSS feeds this morning, looking for something snappy to write about, when I came across a couple of stories that, together, make my face hurt.
Exhibit One. MSNBC sent me a breaking-news email claiming that George W. Bush told those who oppose his "surge" that "I am the decision-maker." Initially, I dismissed such a claim because: a) I've heard similar rubbish in the past, and b) he's dead wrong. The people elect a Congress that holds the purse strings. That Congress, via the purse strings, tells the Executive Branch what it can and can't do.
If you don't believe the one who holds the purse strings is the real decision-maker, try taking your wife to a boat show.
Exhibit Two. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the White House has authorized U.S. troops to kill or capture Iranians in Iraq, after U.S. troops raided the Iranian embassy in northern Iraq.
Did you pay attention to the previous paragraph? You might want to go back and read it again.
We have no business crossing onto and raiding foreign soil (embassies are still considered the sovereign territory of the nation the embassy represents), just because it feels good. And, we have no business killing or capturing 3rd party foreign nationals, just because they happen to be in a country that we're occupying against the will of the people.
And, then, in case your face isn't cramping up on you, there's Exhibit Three. Dubya is trying to create his own jobs program, sorta. According to the International Herald Tribune, Bush wants to drop a little old provision from a bill. The House of Representatives, wanting to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, has passed a bill that essentially says if Pakistan wants to keep getting money from us, it has to show that it's doing its best to fight al-Qaeda and terrorism.
That doesn't seem like too much to ask for.
But, the Decider wants the provision dropped.
He wants us to give money to a country that may very easily be backstabbing us.
Let's see. We're now invading the soil of a country we're not at war with. We're giving ourselves permission to kill folks at random. And, we're paying folks to fight us.
Yeah, that's some decision-making.
TWH