Support NeoGAF

[Outlaw Pro Mod]

http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200407200900.asp


W.’s Double Binds
He can’t win — even if he does!

Sometimes a political figure becomes so hated that he can't do anything right in the eyes of his enemies. President Bush has achieved this rare and exalted status. His critics are so blinded by animus that the internal consistency of their attacks on him no longer matters. For them, Bush is the double-bind president.

If he stumbles over his words, he is an embarrassing idiot. If he manages to cut taxes or wage a war against Saddam Hussein with bipartisan support, he is a manipulative genius.

If he hasn't been able to capture Osama bin Laden, he is endangering U.S. security. If he catches bin Laden, it is only a ploy to influence the elections.

If he ignores U.N. resolutions, he is a dangerous unilateralist. If he takes U.N. resolutions on Iraq seriously, he is a dangerous unilateralist. If he doesn't get France to agree to his Iraq policy, he is ignoring important international actors. If he supports multiparty talks on North Korea, he is not doing enough to ignore important international actors.

If he bombed Iraq, he should have bombed Saudi Arabia instead, and if he had bombed Saudi Arabia, he should have bombed Iran, and if he had bombed all three, he shouldn't have bombed anyone at all. If he imposes a U.S. occupation on Iraq, he is fomenting Iraqi resistance by making the United States seem an imperial power. If he ends the U.S. occupation, he is cutting and running.

If he warns of a terror attack, he is playing alarmist politics. If he doesn't warn of a terror attack, he is dangerously asleep at the switch. If he says we're safer, he's lying, and if he doesn't say we're safer, he's implicitly admitting that he has failed in his core duty as commander in chief.

If he adopts a doctrine of preemption, he is unacceptably remaking American national-security policy. If the United States suffers a terror attack on his watch, he should have preempted it. If he signs a far-reaching antiterror law, he is abridging civil liberties. If the United States suffers another terror attack on his watch, he should have had a more vigorous anti-terror law.

Bush's economy hasn't created new jobs. If it has created new jobs, they aren't well-paying jobs. If they are well-paying jobs, there is still income inequality in America.

If Bush opposes a prescription-drug benefit for the elderly, he's miserly. If he supports a prescription-drug benefit for the elderly, he's lining the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies. If he restrains government spending, he's heartless. If he supports government spending, he's bankrupting the nation and robbing from future generations.

If he opposes campaign-finance reform, he's a tool of corporate interests. If he signs campaign-finance reform, he's abridging the First Amendment rights of Michael Moore (whose ads for Fahrenheit 9/11 might run afoul of the law).

If he accuses John Kerry of flip-flopping, he is merely highlighting one of the Massachusetts senator's strengths — his nuance and thoughtfulness. If he flip-flops on nation-building or testifying before the 9/11 commission, he proves his own ill-intentions, cluelessness, or both.

If he doesn't admit a mistake, he is bullheaded and detached from reality. If he admits a mistake, he is damning his own governance in shocking fashion.

If he sticks with Dick Cheney, he is saddling himself with an unpopular vice president, giving Democrats who can't wait to run against Cheney a political advantage. If he drops Cheney, he is admitting that the Democratic attacks against his vice president have hit home, thus giving Democrats who have made those charges a political advantage.

If he loses in November, the voice of the American people has spoken a devastating verdict on his presidency. If he wins, he stole the election.

 

[sprsk]

and then

 

[etiolate]

If he stumbles over his words, he is an embarrassing idiot. If he manages to cut taxes or wage a war against Saddam Hussein with bipartisan support, he is a manipulative genius.

That is the part that gets me. I just see him as dumb. I can't see that and then say he's an evil genius at the same time. He can't be Pinky AND The Brain.

 

[MIMIC]

http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200407200900.asp


W.’s Double Binds
He can’t win — even if he does!

Sometimes a political figure becomes so hated that he can't do anything right in the eyes of his enemies. President Bush has achieved this rare and exalted status. His critics are so blinded by animus that the internal consistency of their attacks on him no longer matters. For them, Bush is the double-bind president.

If he stumbles over his words, he is an embarrassing idiot.

This is true.

If he manages to cut taxes or wage a war against Saddam Hussein with bipartisan support, he is a manipulative genius.

This is also true. The intelligence was dead wrong, even though every liberal on Earth and former U.N. weapons inspectors concluded that the WMD simply were not there.

Were the Republicans left out of the loop?

If he hasn't been able to capture Osama bin Laden, he is endangering U.S. security.

This is true; instead of going after the man who orchestrated the deadliest attack in world history on American soil, he implicates Iraq and instead settles an old score.

If he catches bin Laden, it is only a ploy to influence the elections.

This is true; why would he care NOW? Remember, he said this: I truly am not that concerned about [Osama bin Laden]. - Bush's Press Conference

If he ignores U.N. resolutions, he is a dangerous unilateralist.

This is true; waging a war on a sovereign nation is illegal.

If he takes U.N. resolutions on Iraq seriously, he is a dangerous unilateralist.

This is true; nobody voted on a U.N. Resolution to invade Iraq.


**YAWN**

If he doesn't get France to agree to his Iraq policy, he is ignoring important international actors.

This is true; trying to legally invade a sovereign nation would be a nice gesture.

If he supports multiparty talks on North Korea, he is not doing enough to ignore important international actors.

Uhh...that's just stupid.

If he bombed Iraq, he should have bombed Saudi Arabia instead, and if he had bombed Saudi Arabia, he should have bombed Iran, and if he had bombed all three, he shouldn't have bombed anyone at all.

How 'bout if he concentrated on those who attacked American, hmmm??

If he imposes a U.S. occupation on Iraq, he is fomenting Iraqi resistance by making the United States seem an imperial power.

This is true; hence the term "occupation."

If he ends the U.S. occupation, he is cutting and running.

This is true; I thought we were supposed to "stay the course?"

If he warns of a terror attack, he is playing alarmist politics.

This is true; where is the terrorist attack planned to happen? Who's behind it? Why didn't occur? Who was arrested in the failed plot? Why did the plot fail? How many people were alleged to have been involved? How big of a scale was it planned to be? What was the method of attack?

Nothing?

If he doesn't warn of a terror attack, he is dangerously asleep at the switch.

This is true; being vague and using scare tactics isn't a warning; it's an attempt to play on Americans' fears.

If he says we're safer, he's lying, and if he doesn't say we're safer, he's implicitly admitting that he has failed in his core duty as commander in chief.

This is true; how can we be safer if we're supposedly supposed to be overwhelmed with another terrorists attack that was rumored to hold off the elections and is said to "rival 9/11?"

If he adopts a doctrine of preemption, he is unacceptably remaking American national-security policy.

This is true; with pre-emption, you don't need proof (see Iraq war of 2003).

If the United States suffers a terror attack on his watch, he should have preempted it.

This is true; or at least take a briefing seriously that declared bin Laden's inclinations to attack inside the United States. Proof of this was all over the fucking place.

I got tired of debunking this garbage.

 

[sc0la]

He can't be Pinky AND The Brain.

genius.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Dubya's an idiot figurehead in-charge of an evil regime. Pretty much covers all the bases. I'd be suprised if Dick Cheney wasn't calling all the shots. It's why Dubya couldn't testify to the 9/11 Commission without his puppeteer to tell him what to say. Bush = Teh suck. PEACE.