Three years ago Sunday, Colin Powell made his famous appearance before the UN Security Council. Mr. Powell still maintains he did not lie that day, because he did not know that what he was saying was untrue, but it was untrue just the same.
While Mr. Powell was destroying his reputation in New York, the bellicose members of the Bush administration – Cheney and Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and Feith – were strutting in Washington, bragging about how we would bring war to Iraq “at a time of our choosing.” I remember being struck by the arrogance of the phrase. It had a Biblical feel – judgment is coming; only God knows the day and the hour. In this case, the role of God was played by the George W. Bush, who, by his own account, is quite friendly with The Man Himself.
Judgment Day didn’t work as planned. Now Don Rumsfeld argues with his generals through the media about whether the army is or is not broken. Meanwhile, the “time of our choosing” phrase has re-emerged. White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, refusing Osama bin Laden’s offer of a truce a few weeks ago, said, “The terrorists started this war and the president has made it clear that we will end it at a time and place of our choosing.” When, Scott? Where?
One of Condoleezza Rice’s boilerplate lines recently is that the U.S. will bring the case of Iran to the UN Security Council “at a time of our choosing.” You may go to the Security Council when you choose, Ms. Rice, but be careful what you say when you arrive.
It’s likely historians will see all this choosing as the major theme in Mr. Bush’s presidency. When Mr. Bush chooses to do something, he does it, even if the thing he chooses, like the invasion of Iraq, is unnecessary and ill-advised. Some of his other poor choices include running record deficits, slashing taxes for the rich while slashing safety nets for the poor. He’s chosen to ignore any number of international treaties and the Constitution.
Sometimes, Mr. Bush chooses not to do things. He chose to ignore specific warnings that Osama bin Laden was planning to use airplanes to attack buildings in the U.S. He chose to go on vacation instead. Mr. Bush chose – and continues to choose – to ignore incontrovertible evidence of global warming. A major American city was washed away last year and Mr. Bush still chooses to believe what the oil companies choose to tell him. (As with Osama bin Laden, Mr. Bush chose to ignore specific warnings that New Orleans was about to be destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He was, again, on vacation.)
In his State of the Union Address Tuesday, Mr. Bush attracted some praise by admitting America’s addiction to oil and calling for the U.S. to replace 75 percent of our imports of Middle Eastern oil in the next 20 years. While that sounds good, it should be noted that the U.S. currently imports 11.2 percent of its oil from the Persian Gulf. Seventy-five percent of that equals 8.4 percent of total U.S. consumption. In real terms, Mr. Bush is challenging the country to shift less than one-half of one percent of current consumption each year for the next two decades. Doesn’t sound so ambitious now, does it? At the same time, Congress and Mr. Bush gave the oil industry $4 billion in new tax breaks and subsidies. This, in the same week oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reported annual profits of $23.5 billion for 2005, a record for a British or Dutch company and ExxonMobil reported 2005 earnings of $36 billion, more than any company in history.
The state of our union is fragile. Our international reputation is in the dirt and people inclined to attack America are stronger than ever. Nations like North Korea and Iran feel free to ignore us. “Allies” like Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are corrupt, despotic nations. Our armed forces are broken and will probably take a decade to repair. Our economy is a patched-together mess and the super rich have gone from dreaming up ways to avoid taxes to trying to shopping for nations of convenience in which to hide their loot.
In nine months, Americans will have one more chance to do some choosing of our own. If we have any hope of turning our country around, we must choose wisely.
Time of Our Choosing
Three years ago Sunday, Colin Powell made his famous appearance before the UN Security Council. Mr. Powell still maintains he did not lie that day, because he did not know that what he was saying was untrue, but it was untrue just the same.
While Mr. Powell was destroying his reputation in New York, the bellicose members of the Bush administration – Cheney and Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and Feith – were strutting in Washington, bragging about how we would bring war to Iraq “at a time of our choosing.” I remember being struck by the arrogance of the phrase. It had a Biblical feel – judgment is coming; only God knows the day and the hour. In this case, the role of God was played by the George W. Bush, who, by his own account, is quite friendly with The Man Himself.
Judgment Day didn’t work as planned. Now Don Rumsfeld argues with his generals through the media about whether the army is or is not broken. Meanwhile, the “time of our choosing” phrase has re-emerged. White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, refusing Osama bin Laden’s offer of a truce a few weeks ago, said, “The terrorists started this war and the president has made it clear that we will end it at a time and place of our choosing.” When, Scott? Where?
One of Condoleezza Rice’s boilerplate lines recently is that the U.S. will bring the case of Iran to the UN Security Council “at a time of our choosing.” You may go to the Security Council when you choose, Ms. Rice, but be careful what you say when you arrive.
It’s likely historians will see all this choosing as the major theme in Mr. Bush’s presidency. When Mr. Bush chooses to do something, he does it, even if the thing he chooses, like the invasion of Iraq, is unnecessary and ill-advised. Some of his other poor choices include running record deficits, slashing taxes for the rich while slashing safety nets for the poor. He’s chosen to ignore any number of international treaties and the Constitution.
Sometimes, Mr. Bush chooses not to do things. He chose to ignore specific warnings that Osama bin Laden was planning to use airplanes to attack buildings in the U.S. He chose to go on vacation instead. Mr. Bush chose – and continues to choose – to ignore incontrovertible evidence of global warming. A major American city was washed away last year and Mr. Bush still chooses to believe what the oil companies choose to tell him. (As with Osama bin Laden, Mr. Bush chose to ignore specific warnings that New Orleans was about to be destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He was, again, on vacation.)
In his State of the Union Address Tuesday, Mr. Bush attracted some praise by admitting America’s addiction to oil and calling for the U.S. to replace 75 percent of our imports of Middle Eastern oil in the next 20 years. While that sounds good, it should be noted that the U.S. currently imports 11.2 percent of its oil from the Persian Gulf. Seventy-five percent of that equals 8.4 percent of total U.S. consumption. In real terms, Mr. Bush is challenging the country to shift less than one-half of one percent of current consumption each year for the next two decades. Doesn’t sound so ambitious now, does it? At the same time, Congress and Mr. Bush gave the oil industry $4 billion in new tax breaks and subsidies. This, in the same week oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reported annual profits of $23.5 billion for 2005, a record for a British or Dutch company and ExxonMobil reported 2005 earnings of $36 billion, more than any company in history.
The state of our union is fragile. Our international reputation is in the dirt and people inclined to attack America are stronger than ever. Nations like North Korea and Iran feel free to ignore us. “Allies” like Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are corrupt, despotic nations. Our armed forces are broken and will probably take a decade to repair. Our economy is a patched-together mess and the super rich have gone from dreaming up ways to avoid taxes to trying to shopping for nations of convenience in which to hide their loot.
In nine months, Americans will have one more chance to do some choosing of our own. If we have any hope of turning our country around, we must choose wisely.
© Mark Floegel, 2006