Everyone says it’s the Iraq war that’s pulling Bush’s ratings down. I’m not so sure.
I miss the current affairs coverage one gets in Europe so try and compensate by, amongst other things, watching the talk shows on Sunday. They don’t remotely compensate, because they are geared more towards infotainment than information, but at least they get me up on Sunday mornings. Mind you, why that is a good thing escapes me – but I’ll deal with that issue some other time. However, I think I should warn you that my mother used to breakfast in bed no earlier than 10.00 am – breakfast being brought on a tray by a servant - before bathing, and then descending for a pre-luncheon sherry at midday. I’ve got a different tradition, but you have to admire style.
One of the things I have noticed recently is that all the pundits attribute Bush’s recent lousy ratings solely, or, at least, primarily, to the war in Iraq. “It’s Iraq, stupid,” seems to be the mantra and a very credible mantra it is given the fiasco that is the Iraq war – which also happens to be costing us, according to Pentagon Controller Tina Jonas, $6.8 billion a month.
$6.8 billion a month! Call it $7 billion and that equates to $84 billion a year and that is before you add so many extra military costs to the taxpayer that I’ll only depress you if I mention them. And to make matters worse, we’re borrowing a great deal of this moola from the Chinese and other people who don’t terribly like us. Quite how putting the nation into major hock helps the security of this nation escapes me, but maybe Bush has climbed the Beanstalk and found the goose that lays golden eggs.
Or maybe he just believes: “Let the voter pay – after I’ve gone.”
Back to Bush’s recent lousy ratings.
Nonetheless, I’m not so sure that the Iraq War is the dominant cause of his woes. My private theory is that the Iraq war is more a symptom of a deeper worry and that the real reason why more and more Americans are feeling concerned is that they are slowly wising up to the fact that although the economic figures look great in global terms, they hide the fact that most Americans are seeing their economic positions erode in real terms. Sure they are compensating by borrowing more to keep up the standard of living which they think they are entitled to, but the fact remains that when, at four in the morning, the picture of the underlying reality floats into focus, they wonder and worry.
One of the things I have noticed recently is that all the pundits attribute Bush’s recent lousy ratings solely, or, at least, primarily, to the war in Iraq. “It’s Iraq, stupid,” seems to be the mantra and a very credible mantra it is given the fiasco that is the Iraq war – which also happens to be costing us, according to Pentagon Controller Tina Jonas, $6.8 billion a month.
$6.8 billion a month! Call it $7 billion and that equates to $84 billion a year and that is before you add so many extra military costs to the taxpayer that I’ll only depress you if I mention them. And to make matters worse, we’re borrowing a great deal of this moola from the Chinese and other people who don’t terribly like us. Quite how putting the nation into major hock helps the security of this nation escapes me, but maybe Bush has climbed the Beanstalk and found the goose that lays golden eggs.
Or maybe he just believes: “Let the voter pay – after I’ve gone.”
Back to Bush’s recent lousy ratings.
Nonetheless, I’m not so sure that the Iraq War is the dominant cause of his woes. My private theory is that the Iraq war is more a symptom of a deeper worry and that the real reason why more and more Americans are feeling concerned is that they are slowly wising up to the fact that although the economic figures look great in global terms, they hide the fact that most Americans are seeing their economic positions erode in real terms. Sure they are compensating by borrowing more to keep up the standard of living which they think they are entitled to, but the fact remains that when, at four in the morning, the picture of the underlying reality floats into focus, they wonder and worry.
posted by Victor at
Monday, March 20, 2006
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