Democratic complaints make Bush look even better. (Commentary).SOMETIMES the best political strategy is simply to stand still and allow yourself to be attacked by the wrong guy. We are witness to such a phenomenon as George Bush -- cheered, regaled and not-bad in his Top Gun duds -- finds his form-fitting aviator pants leg in the clenched clench tr.v. clenched, clench·ing, clench·es 1. To close tightly: clench one's teeth; clenched my fists in anger. 2. teeth of Rep. Henry Waxman Henry Arnold Waxman (born September 12, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is an American politician. He has represented California's At-large congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1975. , D-Calif., playing the Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., is a Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain based in Irvine, California, United States. The restaurant has locations primarily in the United States and Canada, but also operates outlets in several other markets. Chihuahua to Bush's Rin Tin Tin
Tin Tin was a pop/rock band formed in the UK in 1966 by expatriate Australian musicians. . In a curt letter to the U.S. comptroller general Noun 1. Comptroller General - a United States federal official who supervises expenditures and settles claims against the government functionary, official - a worker who holds or is invested with an office , Waxman asked that the Government Accounting Office "provide a full accounting of the costs associated with the president's trip," referring to Bush's carrier landing to greet returning troops on the USS Abraham Lincoln Various ships have borne the name Abraham Lincoln, in honor of the 16th President of the United States. In the U.S. Navy
Waxman daringly noted that the dramatic arrival "had clear political overtones," whereupon an entire nation gasped in shock and awe Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming decisive force, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of power to paralyze an adversary's perception of the battlefield and . How dare the president engage in political overtones. What next? Posing for pictures with soldiers and sailors? Nah, this is too easy, too good to be true for the Bush administration, too perfect a set-up. Republicans hoping to exploit the mother of all photo ops -- a vindicated leader in celebratory hoist -- could do no better than Waxman as Bush's critic. But then, it does get better. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va, also swooped in to suggest that Bush's carrier landing was used as "an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan." As one-two punches go, the Byrd-Waxman sally was a bad day for nerds everywhere. Performing a whiney duet of the desperate, they managed to evoke images of skinny boys studying the quarterback's swagger for clues on cool. It's almost as painful to watch them contort con·tort v. con·tort·ed, con·tort·ing, con·torts v.tr. To twist, wrench, or bend severely out of shape: pain that contorted their faces. v.intr. in envy as it must have been for them to watch Bush, a stud muffin no matter what his other flaws, arriving on a testosterone bullet to the cheers of 5,000 sailors. Not to mention the living room applause of an appreciative nation not nearly as perplexed as pleased by the pageantry clearly intended. Who cares if it was a photo op? It's our photo op, which the other envy-boys around the world also got to see. But, but, Bush's jet taxi cost $100,000 in hard-earned taxpayer money, says Waxman. Yes, it's true. The president could have arrived by helicopter, as Waxman and even the White House noted. But Bush didn't want to. A trained jet pilot, he wanted to come by jet, to seize the moment for spectacular and memorable effect. Which is of course precisely why Waxman and Byrd hated it. It was spectacular and memorable. Even some who don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. for Bush or his policies confessed to finding the carrier landing riveting and satisfying. We like pageantry and ritual in this country. We like big pictures and special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. . Waxman had to work hard to find something politically sinister in Bush's landing. He cited conflicting accounts of why the president needed to arrive by jet, noting that when the carrier was anchored closer to shore than originally anticipated, Bush could have arrived "less theatrically:' And then Byrd characterized Bush's speech as "an affront to the Americans killed or injured in Iraq." He said our military forces "deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and not used as stage props to embellish a presidential speech." That loud "kerplush" you heard was the sound of Byrd's hollow words dropping into the deep well of ignored harrumphs. The bitter truth that has sourpusses frozen in an uncharming pucker puck·er v. puck·ered, puck·er·ing, puck·ers v.tr. To gather into small wrinkles or folds: puckered my lips; puckered the curtains. v.intr. is simply this: The military loves Bush, loved his arrival on the Abraham Lincoln, loved the flight suit, the jet, the noise, the drama, the speech and the quintessentially all-American moment. By attacking the right guy at the wrong time, Byrd and Waxman not only have harmed their cause, but aided the Bush ascendancy. For now the president is not only a daring jet rider, he's a victim of empty criticism. Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. |
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