Rose Tint My World

As the cities and towns of Iraq erupt into new violence and rockets rain down on the green zone, the Commander-in-Chief sees real progress and return to normalcy. The chasm between these two views leaves me breathless with incredulity. It reminds me of the Rocky Horror Picture Show song, “Rose Tint My World”:

I'm a wild and an untamed thing I'm a bee with a deadly sting you got a hit and your mind goes ping your heart'll thump and your blood will sing so let the party and the sounds rock on I’m gonna shake it 'til the life has gone rose tint my world, keep me safe from the trouble and pain

This would appear to be the mantra of George W. Bush. As long as he believes that things are going swimmingly then his world requires no further action on his part. If he says it long enough and forcefully enough then people will come around to his way of thinking, despite all evidence to the contrary.

The situation in Iraq is not much improved. General Petraeus will almost certainly state in his upcoming testimony that as many troops as possible must remain if the military can find some way to keep the entire troop situation from imploding from endless tours of duty, shortened leave time and suspended stop-loss. The economy is crumbling at all the corners with major banks sinking, the Federal Government frantically trying to shore up the infrastructure while juggling the books to keep 12 billion dollars a month flowing to an oil-rich non-occupied war zone where have no business being in the first place.

Whenever I ponder what 12 billion dollars a month could do for the people of this country (assuming that there was really 12 billion dollars laying around in the coffers to be distributed) in terms of domestic security, education, poverty, hunger, health and retirement, I grind another layer of enamel off my teeth.

I think when Gary Trudeau returns from his vacation and restarts Doonesbury, he needs to add a nice pair of Elton John rose-colored sunglasses to the battered centurion helmet that symbolizes the Great Decider. That would more accurately reflect our own modern day Nero who fiddles while everything around him burns.

Ready on Day 7

If Senator Obama wins the presidency, it appears that we're in for a rough first week. Bill Clinton said in 1992 that the most important criteria for the vice presidency was "someone who would be a good president if, God forbid, something happened to me a week after I took office."

Hillary has spent the last month wallowing in the mud and painting Obama as unprepared on Day 1 for the highest office in the land. This week the Clinton campaign began floating the idea of a Clinton/Obama ticket. I'm confused.

We know from Hillary that Obama will not be ready on Day 1. Hillary now thinks that Obama will make a fine VP (despite the fact that she is behind in the delegate count) and Bill has defined the VP as being ready to go within 7 days.

So let's prepare for a rough ride from January 20th thru January 27th if Obama occupies the Oval Office. We'll be OK if it's Hillary because she's ready on Day 1.

Bush has had over 7 years to figure out the job and he's still floundering so I guess I should take some comfort in the fact that the Democrats will be firing on all cylinders within 7 days if they take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That will certainly be an improvement over the current situation.