January 27, 2005.
Cheney, Boxer, and McCarthy
By BILL PRESS
President Cheney's Next War
George Bush’s Inaugural Address was not
only the worst and most poorly-delivered I have ever heard. If he’s serious, it was also the most scary.
He not only said that America’s goal
is to replace tyranny with democracy – which is the new justification for invading Iraq, now that even Bush admits there
were no weapons of mass destruction. He also asserted that our mission is to knock off every tyrannical, autocratic regime
on the face of the planet.
This guy is a megalomaniac. Even conservative
Republican and former presidential speech-writer Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall
Street Journal that Bush had grossly over-reached,
accusing him of “mission inebriation.”
If true, where do we start? Which autocratic
regime is first to go? Saudi Arabia? Kuwait? Jordan? The United Arab Emirates? Or maybe China?
No, we all know what country Bush is thinking
about invading next: Iran. In fact, last week Dick Cheney let the cat out of the bag. Appearing on the Don Imus show on Inauguration
morning, the real-president said Iran was at the top of the list of problem areas for the United States. After all, said Cheney,
Iran was building nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism. Therefore, he implied, we had a right to strike – if Israel
didn’t do it first.
In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it’s
“déjà vu, all over again.”
Hurray for Bardara Boxer!
Ever since November 4, Democrats have been
looking for a new leader. They finally found one: Barbara Boxer!
Boxer, junior Senator from California, has
shown great courage the last couple of weeks. She was the only Senator to dare challenge the official November vote tally
– and therefore force an investigation into the voting irregularities in Ohio. And she was the only member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee who dared confront Condoleeza Rice with the lies she had told the American people about Iraq.
Other Democrats should learn from Boxer. George
Bush may have been re-elected, but the American people still don’t like his policies – on Iraq, Social Security,
health care, or most other issues. They don’t want Democrats in Washington who just roll over and act like Republicans.
They want Democrats who will stand up and fight.
What do Democrats have to do to regain power
in 2006 and 2008? Show some guts. Show some backbone. Show some balls. We need more Democrats like Barbara Boxer.
Hurray for Gene McCarthy!
Once upon a time, there was another Democratic
Senator willing to challenge an incumbent president, a member of his own party, over an unpopular and unwise war.
Senator Eugene McCarthy lives in our memories
as the man who inspired us to believe in politics again. He convinced us that by taking on the establishment we could change
the direction of this country – and we did.
Today, Senator McCarthy is in failing health,
but his spirit and message are still strong – and shine through a just-published collection of his writings. Released
by Fulcrum Publishing of Golden, Colorado, Parting Shots from My Brittle Bow is a great treasure of the best of McCarthy – from his early
essays on democracy to his later, powerful poetry.
You will find, as I did, that McCarthy’s
words of wisdom are just as relevant today as ever before. In excerpts from No
Fault Politics, for example, he notes that Harry
Truman’s policy, “The Buck Stops Here,” is long gone. Today’s presidents, starting with Lyndon Johnson,
laments McCarthy, will never admit making a mistake and will never take anything that goes wrong on their watch. Does that
sound like George W. Bush, or what?
Check out Parting Shots. You’ll become a believer
again.
