From an article on Slate by Daniel Drezner, "Bush the Bumbler: The real trouble with the president's foreign policy":
There are three ways to criticize the Bush administration's approach to foreign policy. The first way is both simple and simple-minded: Bush is the evil creature of corporate interests, pursuing militarized disputes merely to reward his cronies. Adherents to this line suspect there may be something to the conspiracy theory that Bush knew something about the Sept. 11 attacks before they took place. Most serious people—with the possible exception of Howard Dean—reject this line of argumentation out of hand.The second kind of criticism is more substantive. It holds that the costs of Bush's pre-emption doctrine—weakened international legitimacy, fraying alliances, increased global public hostility to the United States—are greater than the benefits. Click on any Democratic candidate's Web site (including Dean’s) and you'll find a version of this criticism. It will be with us at least until November 2004.
A third criticism has slowly emerged over the past six months. It agrees with the logic of Bush's grand strategy, but questions whether the policy implementation has been up to snuff. This line of argumentation has less to do with substance and more to do with process. To sum it up, Bush's management of foreign policy has been too detached for his own good. The president would proudly admit that he's not a detail guy, preferring to enunciate firm principles and let his subordinates hash out the specifics. However, this disengagement has encouraged bureaucratic rivalries to fester, diverting the attention of officials from the actual substance of foreign policy.
[. . .]
Process criticisms have begun to appear more frequently in the mainstream media. What's interesting about these critiques is that they come primarily from Bush sympathizers. Prominent Republicans like Newt Gingrich and Charles Grassley have voiced concerns about the proper management of key foreign policy priorities. Writing about the contract screw-up, William Kristol and Robert Kagan were blunt: "[I]nstead of being smart, clever, or magnanimous, the Bush Administration has done a dumb thing." George Will described the decision as "a tantrum tarted up as foreign policy." In his Sunday column, Tom Friedman lamented: "I fear we have a president who is setting the broad guidelines, above a squabbling bureaucracy and a divided alliance—and no one is cracking heads."
George 'Bushwacker' W. Bush shouldn't even be in the Oval Office as President of the United States, but with the help of his 'super-rich' cronies and his father, he managed to STEAL the last election away from Al Gore.
Ever hear of the term 'VoteScam'? Did you know that the companies that produce the 'software' for the machines that 'count' the votes, all have economic ties to the Bushes?!!!! Companies like ES&s, Diebold and Sequoia, they will decide who becomes our next President and NOT the American people!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't be surprised if the race for the White House is a very close one again, or even a 'landslide' for Bushwacker George! Votescam: The Stealing of America is an interesting book, with loads of well documented facts about how criminal, crook politicians have been STEALING polic offices for over 25 years!!!!!
I mean does this man have to grow horns and a tail before the American people wake up and smell the skunk cabbage? God help us!!!!!!!!!
get him out of here
Posted by: john burns on August 2, 2004 11:40 AM










