Dear Condi,
How have you been? We haven't heard that much from you lately. Perchance you've been doing double duty as Secretary of State and contributing to the spin cycle that is the Smirkturd Legacy? I have got to hand it to you, you're one hell of a multitasker, holding down two full-time jobs at once. I saw the comments you made, and I have to agree with you 100%. I, for one, WILL be thanking George Bush for all he's done.
Now before you get happy about that, let me tell you why. I prefer to be topical, so let's address a few of the things you said are the reasons why we should all be genuflecting before the boy king.
"So we can sit here and talk about the long record, but what I would say to you is that this president has faced tougher circumstances than perhaps at any time since the end of World War II, and he has delivered policies that are going to stand the test of time," Rice said in an interview that aired on CBS' "Sunday Morning."
Well, Condi, I have to tell you, while it may be true that he has faced "tougher circumstances" (we'll leave out Vietnam, Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Cold War in general because that's not the main contention here), the President's actions and policies are what you have to look at to determine whether the rubber met the road on his watch. Well, they didn't. Some were shortsighted, some were cruel, and some were meant to start a war by hoodwinking an ignorant populace. These policies, I'm sorry to say, will NOT stand the test of time. The policies, if I may be so bold as to suggest, are the reason why Republicans are now the minority party in Washington.
The secretary of state brushed off reports that suggest the United States' image is suffering abroad. She praised the administration's ability to change the conversation in the Middle East.
"This isn't a popularity contest. I'm sorry, it isn't. What the administration is responsible to do is to make good choices about Americans' interests and values in the long run -- not for today's headlines, but for history's judgment," she said.
Ms. Rice. You're not a very good liar. You are the Secretary of State... the head of our foreign policy making... if anyone knows about our image abroad it is you. I know about our image abroad, too, and while I'm not the expert, your characterization is embarrassingly off, well outside any reasonable margin of error. It's really nice to know that travelers from the U.S. can count on harassment in one form or another abroad because we don't work and play well with others. It may not be a popularity contest, but courting friends in other countries is part of the point of foreign relations and diplomacy. I mean seriously, Condi, isn't it a sight easier to get people to help you out when you're their friends? Would you ask your greatest rivals to help you move? Would you attend the birthday party of a person who is antagonistic to you? Of course not, so why do you think it is any different simply because the actions are writ large? History will judge, and in the minds of our allies and enemies overseas alike, history will come down hard on a man who wasted eight years of his country's time picking fights with the rest of the world.
"And I am quite certain that when the final chapters are written and it's clear that Saddam Hussein's Iraq is gone in favor of an Iraq that is favorable to the future of the Middle East; when the history is written of a U.S.-China relationship that is better than it's ever been; an India relationship that is deeper and better than it's ever been; a relationship with Brazil and other countries of the left of Latin America, better than it's ever been ...
"When one looks at what we've been able to do in terms of changing the conversation in the Middle East about democracy and values, this administration will be judged well, and I'll wait for history's judgment and not today's headlines."
Iraq? Favorable to the future of the Middle East? So you see a clearly marked increase in good joss when despotism is replaced by internecine tribal conflict along religious lines? India and Pakistan once again coming to blows, and because of our "deeper" relationship for one of the combatants, this somehow transmutes into good? China pumping the world full of cheap, tainted goods, sickening our people and killing our pets, but our relationship with them is better because we don't adequately enforce import controls? Democracy and values? Putting aside your beloved Bush's complete lack of appreciation for either when his OWN country is concerned, I feel that this talk of democracy and values is just another bit of code for unrestricted free enterprise and profit seeking.
Asked by CBS' Rita Braver why some former diplomats say Americans are disliked around the world, Rice said that's "just not true."
"I know what U.S. policy has achieved. And so I don't know what diplomats you're talking to, but look at the record," she said.
As do I, Condi. As do I. Despite the media's conspicuous lack of coverage of issues which may cast shadow on the administration, I do know what U.S. policy has achieved. I AM looking at the record. Failure after failure punctuated with the occasional "no decision".
Asked about historians who say Bush is one of the worst presidents, Rice said those "aren't very good historians."
Really, Condi? Whom would you nominate? Nixon? At least he had the temerity to resign. Who would you cast as the worst President ever? The truth is that historians are historians, you are a Secretary of State who hitched her conscience to the Bush wagon, and are now associated ignominiously with it. One has to wonder whether you are speaking for Bush's legacy here or your own. No serious historian can look at the debacle of the last eight years, the endless multicar pileup of divisive policy, political hatchetry, and just plain old stupidity, without Bush being considered at least one of the worst Presidents if not the worst. The cavalier nature of the man while executing his charge, the complete lack of respect that Bush has shown for the Constitution, our foreign allies, and just about every other thing that you could name that fell into his purview, is an insult to the oath he took. No other President of any recollection has more betrayed the American people than this failed executive-by-birthright.
But I came here to tell you why I will be thanking your boss.
I thank George W. Bush for exposing a very important truth that many in this society had forgotten in our self-involved consumerist ignorant-by-choice society. It is unfortunate that such a complete incompetent had to show up for the memory of that truth to be sparked into our consciousness. That truth is that we, the people, are responsible for the quality of the government, and it is our duty to hold ourselves responsible for any mistakes that happen along the way. No longer will people be content to simply let the executive go about his job without scrutiny, as has been the case for the past 30 years. It took SCRAPING THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL to find out just what kind of sludge was capable of making it into the highest office in the land. I thank him for being the example of what NOT to look for in a President. I thank him for being the same clueless fuck up he's been his entire useless life to show us just how important it is to have competency in government regardless of your particular political alignment. People forgot that government at its best does some good, and government at its worst destroys the nation it governs from within.
So thank George for me. Maybe once history has had its final judgment about his legacy, I will join him for a beer. I figure, he'll need a few beers to cry into.
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