Saturday, April 14, 2007

They have been waiting for this money long enough


Bush’s radio address today again hectors Congress for failing “to meet their responsibilities and provide our troops with the funding they need.” Several times, he falsely implied that the money had already run out and, perhaps, that the troops weren’t even getting their paychecks, but were begging for small change and scraps of old bread on Baghdad street corners: “the House is still on its Easter recess. Meanwhile, our troops are waiting for the funds. ... They have been waiting for this money long enough.”

Again, he interpreted the meaning of the 2006 elections for us: “When Americans went to the polls last November, they did not vote for politicians to substitute their judgment for the judgment of our commanders on the ground. ... The American people voted for change in Iraq, and that is exactly what our new commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is working to achieve.” So they voted all those Democrats into office but didn’t actually want them to do anything in office (except, of course, support our troops). Hell, they didn’t even really want Democrats, they wanted David Petraeus. Indeed, in this scenario, no voters actually wanted to end the war.

Actually, this accords perfectly with Bush’s idea of the constitution: since he sees Congress as functionless and vestigial, like an appendix, or nipples on men, votes cast for members of that body are purely symbolic, sending a message to the only branch of government that actually matters, the decidertive branch.

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