Clarence Page
Bush's promises? Oh, never mind
The president turned his cowboy swagger, his exaggeration of Iraq's threat and demonization of gay marriage into winning campaign assets
Published January 2005
WASHINGTON -- If Washington gave out honors in the way that Hollywood gives out Oscars, President Bush would deserve an Emily Litella Award for political U-turns.If you don't recall why Ms. Litella's name rings a bell, she was the grumpy old editorial-reply lady played by the late Gilda Radner in the early days of "Saturday Night Live."Ms. Litella would weekly launch into a tirade over some outrage that she inevitably had not heard quite right--like "canker research," "violins on television," "presidential erections," saving "Soviet jewelry," saving "endangered feces," "ending the deaf penalty," "busting schoolchildren," passing the "eagles rights amendment," and granting "steak-hood for Puerto Rico."Then, once her error was revealed to her, she would calm down, say "Oh-h-h, that's very different" and announce to the camera with a big smile, "Never mind."In a flurry of sit-down pre-inaugural interviews, the president essentially gave his own version of "never mind" to several hanging issues:He admitted to a group of newspaper reporters that his taunting "bring it on" and cowboy-style "dead or alive" call for Osama bin Laden's capture after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were gaffes and he promised to choose his words more carefully in the future. And all that cowboy bravado during the presidential campaign? Never mind.He acknowledged in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters that his administration quietly, yet officially abandoned its search for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction late last year, as reported in the Jan. 12 Washington Post. No weapons of mass destruction? Oh, that's different. Never mind.Instead, even without evidence that Saddam Hussein has had the weapons or the capabilities to make them since the 1991 war, Bush clung to his notion that the war "absolutely" was worth the cost in lives, dollars and America's international image. "Saddam was dangerous, and the world is safer without him in power," Bush said.But at what cost? Can you hate Hussein and still wonder what urgency compelled the United States to interrupt the international inspectors and rush to war against the tyrant? Is there any evidence that Hussein had anything to do with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks? Oh, never mind that too.But the president's most hazardous "never mind" may be the one that he sent out to the social conservatives who voted for him with the idea in their heads that he was going to keep them "safe" from people who want the right to marry people of the same sex.In an interview aboard Air Force One, Bush told Washington Post reporters that he would not lobby the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, even though it is a top-priority issue for social conservatives and organized evangelical Christians.The president said there was no reason to press for the amendment as long as so many senators are convinced that the existing Defense of Marriage Act, which relieves states from recognizing same-sex unions that take place outside their borders, is sufficient, unless it is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate leaders say the amendment cannot win the 67 votes needed for passage as long as the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional. "Until that changes," Bush said, "nothing will happen in the Senate."Yes, whether you favor the right to same-sex marriage or not, the Defense of Marriage Act, which President Clinton signed in 1996, renders a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages quite redundant and an unnecessary intrusion on state's rights. That's precisely what the amendment's opponents have been arguing all along.President Bush held a similar position, until the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld gay marriages in that state. Under pressure from organized religious conservatives, Bush couldn't resist riding the backlash and turning the proposed constitutional amendment into a major campaign promise, whether it was necessary or not. Now? He's won. That's different. Never mind!Democrats grind their teeth in frustration at how smoothly Bush turned his cowboy swagger, his exaggeration of Hussein's threat and his demonization of gay marriage into winning campaign assets. They marvel at how casually he tosses assets overboard like worn-out socks when they become liabilities.Hey, he warned you in 2000, "Don't misunderestimate me."Emily Litella couldn't have said it more clearly.----------E-mail: cptime@aol.com

posted by Joshua P. Angell  @ 20.1.05

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