Aren't "Surges" Something to Avoid?

There's a reason we use "surge protectors" in electronics. Surges are dangerous--they are unpredictable with usually disastrous results.

Odd that President Bush can't see that.

A few days ago, just after Dubya's speech about the "surge", my wife--well aware of my politics--asked me who would be in a lower circle of Hell, Nixon or Bush II? I had to think about it for a while, and I think I've come to a reluctant conclusion--the Shrub is definitely destined to a lower level, IMO.

Why? Well, for all his faults, I never doubted that Nixon--even in the depths of Watergate--thought he was acting in the best interests of the nation. He was wrong--tragically so--but his intentions were never entirely selfish. And he certainly never had the hubris to suggest that he and his actions were, in some way, ordained by the Almighty.

Not so with Bush. I am quite convinced now that the only thing GWB is concerned with is his own image and legacy--nothing is more important to him than to not have a "failure" of the magnitude of Iraq occur on his watch. And so his tactic is "delay, delay, delay"...find any way to prop up his program for another two years, so that when the US withdrawal eventually comes, he can say, "That wasn't me, that was the next guy."

That overwhelming concern with self, combined with his belief--both stated and tacit--that his electoral victories (such as they were) were signs that he was divinely chosen to lead America at this time, and combined with his utter disregard for the clear meaning of the Constitution's words regarding the powers of the executive and legislative branches (never mind the Bill of Rights), make him a far more dangerous, and--yes--villainous individual than Nixon ever was.

In Shakespearean terms, Nixon was our MacBeth--a man who could have been a great leader destroyed by personal demons. George W. Bush, on the other hand, is our Richard III--a conniving schemer who thinks the success of his schemes is the hand of God at work...and their lack of success merely the work of those who will not recognize his divine inspiration.