Sidney Blumenthal: Bush European Trip a "Pageant of Disdain, Delusion & Provocation"

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/06/14/bush_foreign_policy/ (Site Pass)

Bush's European disaster
The president's trip was a pageant of disdain, delusion and provocation masquerading as a respite from his troubles at home.

By Sidney Blumenthal

June 14, 2007 |

- snip -

High officials of European governments describe U.S. influence as squandered and swiftly eroding (one minister went down a list of Bush administration officials, rating them according to their stupidity), the country's moral authority nil. Lethal power vacuums are emerging from Lebanon to Pakistan, and Europeans are incapable on their own of quelling the fires that burn far closer to them than to the United States through their growing Muslim populations and proximity to the Middle East. They have no illusions that they will be treated seriously as real allies or that there will be a sudden about-face by the Bush administration. Their faint hope -- and it is only a hope -- is that they have already seen the worst and that it is not yet to come. Even worse than Bush, from their perspective, would be another Republican president who continued Bush policies and also appointed neoconservatives. That would toll, if not the end of days, then the decline and fall of the Western alliance except in name only, and an even more rapid acceleration of chaos in the world order.

Bush's procession through Europe was a pageant of contempt, disdain, delusion, provocation and vanity masquerading as a welcome respite from his troubles at home. In Albania he landed at last in a place where he was hailed as a conquering hero. His demolition derby of U.S. influence was presented as a series of bold moves, but it confirmed the fears of the other world leaders at the G8 summit (and elsewhere) that the rest of Bush's presidency will be an erratic series of crashes. His performance ranged from King Nod, issuing proclamations oblivious to and even proud of their negative effect, to King Zog (the last king of Albania). No president has had a more disastrous European trip since President Reagan placed a wreath on the graves of SS soldiers in the Bitburg cemetery. Yet Reagan's mistake was unintentional and symbolic, a temporary and superficial setback, doing no real damage to U.S. foreign relations, while Bush's blunders not only reinforced counterproductive policies but also created a new one with Russia that has the potential of profoundly undermining U.S. national security interests for years to come.

Bush's foreign policy has descended into a fugue state. Dissociated and unaware, the president and his administration are still capable of expressing themselves as if it all makes complete sense, only contributing to their bewilderment. A fugue state should not be confused with cognitive dissonance, the tension produced when irreconcilable ideas are held at the same time and their incompatibility is overcome by denial. In a fugue state, a trauma creates a kind of amnesia in which the sufferer is incapable of connecting to his past. The impairment of judgment comes in great part from a denial of distress. Bush's fugue state involves the reiteration of a failed formula as though nothing has happened. So he proudly reasserts the essence of his Bush doctrine: Our acts are independent of other countries' interests. And he adds new corollaries: Other nations must forgive our unacknowledged mistakes even if we threaten their national security. To this, Bush overlays cognitive dissonance: Our policy is working; it just needs more time. Thus the incoherent becomes coherent.

Bush's amusing gaffes should not divert attention from the gravity of his underlying decline. Though his verbal hilariousness has been present since the beginning, his miscues, misstatements and mistakes now highlight a foreign policy in utter disarray.

MORE

secure in the knowledge that he won't be held accountable and that he won't be touched by the damage he has caused.


He is A-OK with people blaming him long after he's out of office. He doesn't care.


He doesn't care what anyone thinks of his actions.

In fact, I'll wager he gets a good laugh at the impotent rage of Americans.

Bush entered office thinking Americans were beneath him and that "the people" were a bothersome part of HIS country (and his cronies' country)...and he proceeded to prove he felt that way each and every day since...with every word, gesture, and action, Bush has plainly stated that we don't matter and that he doesn't care....and he never will.

Bush is not a bad President - he is a criminal President - and there IS a difference...a thug....who uses the office to impose his delusional will on the people. Who opened up the power of the office to his cronies for their own agendas.


Bush never intended to govern...he intended to rule

America needs to stop viewing Bush and his cronies as anything other than what they are...

and really need something to help ya :puke:

a stylish writer and he has access. Great article. The conclusion is chilling.

"Only Dick Cheney remains consistent. The new mission statement is the old mission statement. The new scenarios are the old delusions."

and gets away scot-free.

At least that's the way it looks like it will play out.

If you're gonna steal, STEAL BIG.

they are most likely to be believed. You can see the fugue state demonstrated by Gonzo's hearing and his reliance on the 5th amendment. I've never seen anyone so apparently disengaged from reality.

Not that it was ever far from it.

SB's descriptive language would be rippingly funny if what it were describing weren't so scary. Bu**sh** is asleep at the wheel, but he's having a multimedia daydream about being Mr. Big Shot, Mr. Leader of the Free World, The Commander Guy™.

He just needs to be reaffirmed of his power--in either direction. I agree with the first reply, I think he enjoys seeing everyone's impotent rage. It defines him, and it defines his lot in life--heir to the world.

Another part of me thinks that the last 7 years has been Bush's revenge on a world that he has always been miserable in. I think he views each death he's responsible for as a notch on his belt.

Another paragraph:

In Rome, on June 9, a reporter asked Bush about setting a deadline for Kosovo independence. "What? Say that again?" "Deadline for the Kosovo independence?" "A decline?" "Deadline, deadline." "Deadline. Beg your pardon. My English isn't very good." Bush then declared, "In terms of the deadline, there needs to be one. This needs to come -- this needs to happen." The next day, asked when he would set a deadline, he replied, "I don't think I called for a deadline." Reminded of his previous statement, Bush said: "I did? What exactly did I say? I said, 'Deadline'? OK, yes, then I meant what I said."

Sometime it is hard to find words....:hurts: