The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!

The Bush family may be a political dynasty, but they aren’t a particularly intelligent dynasty - and you can’t chalk all of the dumbness up to Bush the Lesser either.

When Bush the Elder invaded Iraq in the 1990s he left the God-awful place with political currency banked. Unlike his son, he was able to do that for four reasons.

• Although many believed the sole purpose of the 1990 war was simply oil, his invasion did carry the patina of justification in that Iraq had invaded Kuwait, something actually warranting a military response.
• When Daddy threw the Iraqis out of Kuwait - using an honest-to-God coalition rather than a Coalition of the Inept - he knew when to stop. You may not have liked Saddam, but you can say one thing for him, he kept the myriad factions from tearing out one another’s throats.
• Daddy knew the difference between a war and an over the top nation-building project that rewards war profiteers rather than successfully building much.
• Finally, he kept oil prices somewhat in line, or at least handled it better than his ham-fisted son.

A Heap-O-Political Goodness
Daddy B came out of the desert with a clear win and flying high on a heap-o-political goodness. But George the Elder had that congenital Bush defect that makes them unerringly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - and the defeat he snatched was starting the nation on the road to clean energy and less dependence on foreign oil. As he had the nation busy reading his lips, we could have been doing something to keep gasoline less than 4 bucks per gallon today and had cleaner air to boot.

Had we chosen to start a space race-style energy program, hybrids would now be the rule rather than the exception, the Big Three might still be the Big Three, and a much of our energy would come from something other than burning liquefied dinosaur bones.

Just before the implosion of Enron, The Big Dick told then browned-out Californians that you can’t conserve your way out of an oil shortage. True enough, if you don’t even try - and that’s the point. Given a 20-year head start, we’d have found ways to do that by now. Young George wouldn’t have to deny global warming or worry that it would destroy an economy he’s already left in shambles. Kyoto needn’t have been something to fear, but an antiquated benchmark we’d already passed.

Turning the Air Into Primordial Soup
Largely because of George the Elder (and the other limp-wristed administrations since), we have Middle Eastern dictators right where we want them - with their bejeweled curly-shoes firmly atop our necks and our tongues far up their poop chutes. We’re arguing over whether New York will sink in 30 years or 50 years and the rest of the world looks on us disgustedly for our failure to stop turning the air into primordial soup. Oh, and there’s the half-assed war too.

Sure, our current Mr. Potatohead may draw on his vast experience running oil companies into the ground to fashion a back-asswards energy policy, but it was the Popster who squandered our best chance to change the world in a good way instead of a concieted, my hubris uber alles way. Had Dad invested his political capital wisely, instead of squandering it on Halliburton stock, the country would have been much safer from his daft son.

But then, that’s the Bush Way^TM isn’t it?

The Poobah is a featured contributor at Bring It On!

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