The situation in Pakistan continues to deteriorate, and there’s not a damned thing Bush can will do about it.
President Bush on Monday urged Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, to hold elections and give up his army post “as soon as possible,†but gave no indication that the general’s imposition of emergency rule would bring about any significant change in American policy.
The comments were the first by Mr. Bush since General Musharraf’s move over the weekend ignited a constitutional crisis. Mr. Bush would not comment about what the United States might do if the Pakistani leader ignored the pleas, saying only, “I hope he takes my advice.â€
Mr. Bush also praised General Musharraf as a “strong fighter against extremists and radicals.â€
There’s a great deal of talk about how bad this is for Bush, blah blah blah. I don’t buy it. Bush does not seem the least bit concerned. IF Bush actually cared about democracy in the Middle East or anywhere else, THEN you might argue that Musharraf’s actions pose a problem. All this talk about democracy means nothing. Bush did not send Americans into Iraq to bring peace to the Middle East. He did not give Musharraf billions of dollars to support democracy in Pakistan.
The events of the past years make much more sense once one disposes of all the useless, misleading cover stories. Acknowledge the true goals: chaos, war and upheaval, and you see that things are moving along quite nicely. Yeees. Lovely work.
Utopian fantasies have long transfixed the human race. Yet today a much rarer fantasy has become popular in the United States. Millions of Americans, the richest people in history, have a death wish. They are the new “Armageddonites,” fundamentalist evangelicals who have moved from forecasting Armageddon to actually trying to bring it about.
[snip]
American fundamentalists strongly supported the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. They consistently support Israel’s hard-line policies. And they are beating the drums for war against Iran. Thanks to these end-timers, American foreign policy has turned much of the world against us, including most Muslims, nearly a quarter of the human race.
Bush meets with these people according to the author, Jon Basil Utley, associate publisher for The American Conservative.
These end-timers have great influence over the U.S. government’s foreign policy. They are thick with the Republican leadership. At a recent conference in Washington, congressional leader Roy Blunt, for example, has said that their work is “part of God’s plan.” At the same meeting, where speakers promoted attacking Iran, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay glorified “end times.” Indeed the Bush administration often consults with them on Mideast policies.
[snip]
The beliefs of the Armageddon Lobby, also known as Dispensationalists, come from the Book of Revelations, which Martin Luther relegated it to an appendix when he translated the Bible because its image of Christ was so contrary to the rest of the Bible. The Armageddonites worship a vengeful, killer-torturer Christ. They also frequently quote a biblical passage that God favors those who favor the Jews. But they only praise Jews who make war, not those who are peacemakers. For example, they vigorously opposed Israel’s murdered premier Yitzhak Rabin, who promoted the Oslo Peace Accords.
Sick, sick, sick people.
The overwhelming power and warmongering of the Armageddonites has inspired some resistance from other fundamentalists, but they are a minority. Theologian Richard Fenn writes, “Silent complicity (by mainline churches) with apocalyptic rhetoric soon becomes collusion with plans for religiously inspired genocide.” Their death-wishing “religion” is actually anti-Christian and should be challenged openly by traditional Christians.
Yes. I am nobody, but I challenge them. They stand Christianity on it’s head. Anti-Christian would be a more appropriate description for them, and I mean that in every sense of the word. You can see that having people like this influence our foreign policy gives lie to the “We heart Democracy” cover story.
Never mind what Bush says, what does he do about Pakistan? Nothing. And he used American taxpayer money to bring this situation about. He gleefully tied his own hands behind his back with billion dollar bows. I’m sure he’s very “sorry”, and this is all so “unfortunate”.
Yeah, sure. Whatever.
#1 by malcontent on November 6, 2007 - 8:27 am
This administration has always had one hand on the wheel of government at best because they are so preoccupied with spinning public relations. What they say versus what they do has always been quite apparently different from the invasion of Iraq to the rescue of New Orleans to today’s defense of waterboarding as a state sanctioned practice despite established legal precedents as recently as 1983 in Texas.
Why did the president go to New Orleans in the wake of Katrina? Photo oportunities and short, oversimplified speeches telling you he cares and he’s the boss. Make your own list…
As time rolls mercilessly along even the “Armageddonites” realize that the lip service rarely matches the actions with this administration. Try as they may to be Good Little Bushies and keep their growing discontent quiet, it is becoming apparent that they, The Base, are merely Dead-Enders with a Messianic Complex or vested cronies with narcissistic tendencies.
The remaining 400 or so days of this administration requires particular scrutiny from the American public to curb their indiscretions. I base this notion solely upon their tacit acknowledgement of chronic extra-legal wrongdoing. They have overplayed their hand in managing public opinion and they sense the end of power looming. This makes them dangerous. Conversely, lowly commoners like me have undervalued the power of perception management that this administration has wrought.
A book I recommend on the power of public relations is Poker Without Cards by Ben Mack. Is it fiction? Yes and No.
It presents an interesting case for constructivist epistemology trumping empiricism.