Bush and Rice murder American credibility

Capo and trigger-woman

Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor originally made famous by convicting Charles Manson and others in the Tate-LaBianca murders, and the author of three New York Times bestsellers, has a new book out: The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (available at any number of outlets, including Barnes & Noble). It's on my list of books to read.

But, while Mr. Bugliosi's case is legal and real, I'd like to focus on another of Junior's murder victims. This one is metaphorical, but it is undoubtedly dead... Junior gave the order, and silken-voiced Condi Rice pulled the trigger. I'm talking about the murder of American credibility.

Just take a look at each of these foreign policy disasters, pumped like hollow-point slugs into the head of the United States' international reputation:

• Serbia: As a result of Junior's ill-advised recognition of Kosovo as an autonomous state, Serbian "protesters" attacked and burned down the United States embassy in Belgrade. Normally, this would be considered an act of war. But, with American credibility destroyed, and our military over-stretched, the most Condi could manage was a feeble "We don't expect that to happen again."
  
• Saudi Arabia: Unlike candidate for president George W. Bush who assured Americans in 2000 that he would bring down gas prices by "work[ing] with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply," Junior Bush went to the Saudis hat in hand back in May of this year to beg for more oil. They turned him down flat.
  
• Iran: Junior and his gang have shrieked incessantly about Iran's nuclear ambitions, despite having no evidence of a nuclear weapons program. Unfortunately, legitmate concerns about Iran's intentions are undermined by Bush dishonesty in the past. Remember the lack of WMD in Saddam's Iraq? Who could blame the international community for doubting anything Bush or Condi have to say about Iran's WMD now? In an attempt to save his own ass, Bush blamed the Iraq failure on the American intelligence community (even though he and Big Dick deliberately distorted its findings to promote the administration's case for war). Well, now those chickens have come home to roost. Citing intelligence reports just doesn't work like it used to, does it Junior?
  
• Pakistan: Junior's favorite military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, is stepping down as "president" of Pakistan. It's too early to speculate about the real consequences of this development, but for Junior, who has staked so much on Musharraf keeping his thumb on Islamic "radicals," this cannot be good news. The level of resentment toward the United States for its support of Musharraf undoubtedly runs high. Musharraf was on the verge of being impeached (and you know that has got to make Junior a little nervous). To the extent that Pakistanis hold the US responsible for their current political mess, American goals will suffer.
  
• Georgia/Russia: Perhaps the coup d'grace, the fiasco in Georgia reveals US impotency as an American-backed government is crushed under the dominant Russian military. Despite all Condi's whining and empty vows to make Russia "pay a price," there is nothing that the United States can do. Militarily, of course, there are no options. And any diplomatic efforts to isolate Russia are not very likely to be effective without European participation, and you'll notice that the Europeans aren't saying a whole lot. For one thing, one must imagine that they're laughing up their sleeves at Junior's humiliation. But more importantly, they rely on Russia for their natural gas and heating oil. The last thing they want is trouble with the Russians.

All of this, of course, stems from Junior's mad determination to invade Iraq. Undoubtedly egged on by vile and insane Big Dick, and seduced by Condi's sycophantic mewling, he burned everything to get his war.

American credibility is dead. Ruined. Gone. Burned. Congratulations, Junior.

"Isn't life grand, darling?"