IRAN; THE SCAPEGOAT AND THE EXCUSE!

It has become abundantly clear that BushCo intends to force a military confrontation with Iran, whether a pre-emptive air strike or an all-out ground war is simply the question. The Assistant Secretary of State has been making noises about the so-called Iran threat and the proof they have, recent reports concerning the attack on US soldiers in Karbala have been blamed on Iran, though no proof has been presented. And the MSM has quite simply decided to follow along, though at least this time there seems to be some scepticism.

So why now? Admittedly, Bush has called Iran one of the "Axis of Evil" (odd that given that Iran is a working democracy and actually allows women rights which they do not receive from our allies in the region e.g. Saudi Arabia) for awhile now, but the rhetoric has been mostly lip-service. Not that Bush would not have attacked Iran if he thought he could, but he went first to Iraq. So what new reasons are there for this sudden show of bellicosity?

To put it quite simply, Bush and BushCo. have to find a scapegoat and an excuse for their failure, and the easiest way for this to be effective is to sound the alarm about Iran. Iran, Iran, Iran. The Iranians are providing weapons to the Shia Militias! The Iranians are aiding the suicide bombers. The Iranians wish to control Iraq and to punish the US. I doubt very much that Bush actually believes any of these platitudes. But for him, it's a matter of not being held responsible. Bush, as he has said himself, doesn't care about his legacy; he cares only that he is not held ultimately responsible for the catastrophe that is his Iraq policy. He is the petulant two-year-old who when he sees he is about to lose, changes the rules of the game so that the game continues until he wins. Or everyone else simply becomes bored with playing.

Which makes it all the easier for the truly insane who believe that this is the correct policy to pursue these policies. So while it is obvious that Bush cares little about all of this, there is a cadre of policymakers, the so-called serious men, who believe wholly in this policy and will force US to continue to pursue it, come Hell or High Water. They will in the end destroy the US because they care nothing about the US; they care only about their policies and their belief in those policies. Cheney is such a man. McCain is such a man. Most of the contributors to the National Review are such men and women. The War Whore Michael Ledeen is not only such a man, he is also the ultimate hypocrite. He now says that he never advocated for war in Iraq, even though there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.

And so now, unable to admit to the catastrophe that is Iraq, they turn their attention to Iran and blame Iran for all their troubles. Because, as everyone knows, Iran invaded Iraq in March of 2003. And the War Whores that bellowed for War cannot bring themselves to admit that they may have been wrong.

THE DECISION-MAKER vs. THE PUBLIC SERVANT

Lately, all we hear is how George Bush is the Decision-Maker, the Commander In Chief, the High Mucky-Muck, and we should all listen to him and just do what he says. That's an interesting take, because if you read The Constitution, nowhere does it say that the President becomes Commander In Chief of The United States. No, in fact, it says he becomes Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces. I did not join the Armed Forces. George Bush is not my Commander In Chief; he is my servant. He is not the decision-maker; he is the individual who carries out our decisions.

All you have to do is read The Constitution and the documents used to ratify it. The President was to be the public face of the Government as Congress with all its representatives could not be. But the President cannot make Law. He does not legislate; he executes the Law as given to him by the Legislature, in this case Congress. And all of these individuals, Congress and The President are representatives of the People. They are Public Servants. It would be nice if they acted like that.

Instead, we get Dick Cheney calling those of us who are demanding that he do his job, which is to represent the interests of the American people, traitors. Making statements such as "I'm the Vice President, and they're not." Instead we get George Bush telling us that he's the Decider, that he's the Decision-Maker. Which is a bunch of crap. George Bush believes that he is the ultimate arbiter of what it is to be an American. He believes that he can do whatever he wants, and that the law does not apply to him. In fact, the entire Administration believes that they are not Public Servants, that they are Sovereign and we are vassals.

If I remember correctly, there was a small war fought over that very issue.

If you'd like to read people better at explaining this, go to Glenn Greenwald's site. Or Atrios. Both had rather extensive posts on this subject.

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