Once Again Bush Puts Self Above Country :: Local News and Newspapers

Once Again Bush Puts Self Above Country

October 4, 2008

In typical fashion we find President George W Bush trying to improve his popularity within his own party rather than doing what is right for the country or the world. We were prepared to send in diplomats, something advocated by Barack Obama, but then Bush had to reconsider now that the GOP is down in the polls across the country.

AP Exclusive: US won’t put diplomats in Iran - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran, in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned.

The proposal to send U.S. diplomats to Tehran for the first time in three decades attracted great attention when it was first floated seriously over the summer but has now been placed on indefinite hold as November’s election nears and Iran continues to defy demands to halt suspect nuclear activities, officials told the AP.

In the end this will be remembered as just one more failure of the Bush presidency. When we had the opportunity to directly influence a country through non lethal means something the opposition party has been recommending for a very long time, he turned his back on it in favor of Republican party unity.

In many ways I have to laugh at the Republican strategy when it comes to diplomacy with the likes of Iran, North Korea and Cuba. They are out there dick waving shouting mine is bigger than yours and don’t you dare piss us off. It strikes me as odd for several reasons. First, I know the GOP is mostly made up of good ol’ boys who think peeing for distance should be an Olympic sport, but for the most part they are so homophobic that even metaphorically whipping it out near others poses a challenge. Then shouting mine is bigger than yours, and I am prepared to prove, should never be done by a party so willing to compromise their publicly stated values for their personal gains, these are the type of people who will bet against themselves and then take a dive to win the bet. Nor should the party so willing to lose be shouting mine is bigger than yours considering their opponent. He doesn’t back down when called out or forget how he answered a question the week before because it was convenient.

In the end even a plain simple hockey mom from Alaska ought to be able to understand that our diplomatic strategies for these countries has failed. If she is half the mother she claims to be, which I doubt since all of her kids have been taken care of by nannies from birth, she would tell you that you just can’t ignore bad behavior and hope it goes away. You have to treat your disobedient children (or countries) with a certain amount of respect and work to change the behavior anyway you can. She would also know anytime you think you can treat them like a dog by ignoring them for bad behavior or kick them out of frustration, just like a dog it will come back to bite you in the ass.