Islam And The West

A President in his final term in office expects a certain amount of fatigue not only from the general public but even from within his own political party. This is normal and should be taken as indicative of something more sinister. But what is currently happening to George W. Bush is symptomatic of a malaise far deeper and troubling than just political fatigue. Some of George Bush’s circle of advisers are labelling the President with descriptions such as “lame duck” and “Bush is alone”.

Many factors have bought President Bush to this state of affairs from the recent electoral massacre at the hands of the Democrats in Congress to the scandal engulfing the administration and its Attorney General Gonzales to the war in Iraq all have played a part in reducing the once great President to a “lame duck”:

“George W Bush’s presidency is effectively over on the home front two years before he is due to quit the White House, according to former aides and allies.

David Frum, a former White House speech writer, and Jim Nuzzo, a West Wing aide to Mr Bush’s father, have both told The Sunday Telegraph that the president cannot achieve anything more in domestic politics and is now a captive of international events.

Mr Nuzzo branded Mr Bush a “lame duck” who had forfeited the support of senior Republicans.

They spoke out after a week in which a former member of Mr Bush’s inner circle launched a withering description of how the president had “become more secluded and bubbled-in” with a shrinking band of loyalists.

Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist of the 2004 re-election campaign, said that Mr Bush had lost his once fabled “gut-level bond with the American people” and called for him to respond to a growing public desire to pull out of Iraq.

Mr Frum said: “The Bush White House has always been a strong band of brothers. But the same things that bring your triumphs also bring your tragedy. There is little difference of views. If you’re wrong, it’s hard to change direction.”

The root cause of his weakness is the Democrats’ seizure of both the Senate and House of Representatives in November’s mid-term elections. Without sufficient support to push legislation through Congress, the president was finished, said Mr Frum. “There’s no domestic agenda,” he said. “There’s no possibility at all of the president advancing anything that is acceptable to both the Republicans and Democrats.”

Mr Nuzzo, who served as policy director for George Bush, added: “He’s a lame duck. Any affirmative domestic policy is at an end. Republicans have lost patience with the Bush administration. At this point the only parts of the presidential office he can fulfil are those that do not require co-operation with the legislative branch – which means foreign policy.”

What most concerns Mr Bush’s remaining allies is that his focus on Iraq has distracted attention from other international problems, including the increasingly authoritarian nature of Russia and the threat of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Another former White House aide said the administration had “taken its eye off the ball with Russia”. He added: “I don’t want to wake up in 10 years’ time and read that we actually lost the Cold War.”

Another conservative, who met last week with senior officials at the White House and the Pentagon, warned: “George Bush’s presidency will be defined not by Iraq but by whether the Middle East goes nuclear.”

Far from sympathising, senior Republicans blame the president for losing the election. They are furious that he refused to sack his defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, before the mid-terms and then let him go after the defeat.

Mr Nuzzo said: “At that point an awful lot of loyal Republicans said: ‘They’re only in it for themselves.’ Had Rumsfeld retired earlier, I have no doubt the Republican House could have been saved and certainly the Senate.”

The influential Right-wing commentator Robert Novak wrote last week: “Bush is alone. In half a century, I have not seen a president so isolated from his own party in Congress – not even Richard Nixon as he faced impeachment.”

Last week, Mr Bush rejected calls to withdraw from Iraq, saying that to leave “before the job is done” would lead to new terrorist attacks on US soil.” (Sunday Telegraph)

It can be a pretty thankless job when your the only person who is right in the world and I am sure that Mr. Bush would agree with that sentiment.

Technorati Tags: Islam Moslems Muslims America War Terrorism Islamofascism Geroge Bush Nancy Pelosi Republicans Democrats David Frum Iraq

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