Things are not going well for Mr. Bush.

03/22/2007

Paul Munnis


Consider the following:

Dick Chaney is in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg. Members of Congress are calling for Chaney’s resignation.

A Cabinet Officer who heads up the Justice Department, Alberto Gonzales, has the U.S. Congress howling for his resignation. He is dragging other members of the White House staff into the fight and is threatening a Constitutional confrontation. To save him Bush is spending political capital that he does not have.

Congress is getting ready to pass a Bill calling for a date certain to remove U.S. troops from Iraq and to remove funding for the Iraq War.

Mr. Bush cannot find enough troops to support his Iraq surge and in Afghanistan there is a call for even more troops. Gen. Petreus wants more troops for Iraq raising the number from 21,500 to 30,000. To solve the problem Bush is shortening the military training cycle and lowering the standards for service in the U.S. military. This is not setting well with people -- especially the family of these troops.

North Korea has walked out of nuclear disarmament talks

Iran is a beehive of trouble for Mr. Bush. Iraqi insurgents are crossing into Iran for training by the Iranian Army and they number about 3,000. The president of Iran is headed to the UN to object to sanctions being imposed over nuclear weapons development. Congress advises Mr. Bush that they will not be in support of unilateral action against Iran.

Pakistan, is involved in a great deal of violence right now creating a diversion for them from dealing with the Taliban.

The Taliban is massing for an attack and growing stronger each day.

The Iraqi government is making little progress at a diplomatic level.

The Iraqi Army is slow to come online.

The Iraqi police force is infiltrated by insurgents up to a level of 30% or higher.

Insurgents have increased the level of violence and are now blowing up children.

The al-Sadr forces are on holiday thus the surge into Sadr City has been nothing special.

Millions of Iraqis have fled and the intelligentsia has left Iraq. Those left behind are living in filth and squalor.

The FBI has given over to an excess of using wire tapping authority against citizens and so Congressional oversight is in progress creating more problems for the FBI and for Mr. Gonzales.

An audit of VA hospitals is proving highly embarrassing for the Administration.

The weather is improving and anti-war demonstrations are starting to erupt with the threat of more to come.

The U.S. economy is dicey especially in the home mortgage and home construction area.

The stock market crashed over news of sub-prime mortgage failure.

Aides and staff are quitting the White House to work elsewhere. Replacements are hard to find.

And this is just the list of problems for the last ten days. There are more problems coming as an Audit of Iraq spending and contracting is compiled for Congress.

Every reader knows that when things are in balanced harmony then events move along smoothly. When they are out of harmony then this is the sort of results that one gets. Mr. Bush is out of harmony with just about everyone and everything. The bad news will keep coming until he straightens himself and his Administration out.

When things are bad like this it is bad for America and it is painful to see our nation being led through a wilderness of bad managmenet and bad policy. We sincerely do hope that Mr. Bush straightens himself and his Administration out and gets back into harmony with the rest of the world. We also hope that Mr. Chaney has a safe recovery for we do not wish ill on him - just on his politics - and those are going so badly that we do not have to wish for anthing more in that department.

Mr. Bush has benefitted from geting rid of Rumsfeld and once he did that he was well on his way to regaining harmony. Retiring Alberto Gonzales is another step that would be in the right direction. Mr. Chaney should give serious thought to resigning. His health is bad and there are terrific thunder clouds building over his office. A big improvement in foreign policy is possible if Mr. Bush would put in a senior staesman like James Baker to replace Condoleeza Rice.

The fixes are obvious and humble pie goes with the repair, yet salvage could be had for this Administratin since there is still time to set a straight sailing course in harmony with the wind surrounding our Ship of State.