Bush, the Bumbler (from Slate)

[kentuck]

http://slate.msn.com/id/2092791/

<snip>
There are three ways to criticize the Bush administration's approach to foreign policy. The first way is both simple and simple-minded: Bush is the evil creature of corporate interests, pursuing militarized disputes merely to reward his cronies. Adherents to this line suspect there may be something to the conspiracy theory that Bush knew something about the Sept. 11 attacks before they took place. Most serious people—with the possible exception of Howard Dean—reject this line of argumentation out of hand.

The second kind of criticism is more substantive. It holds that the costs of Bush's pre-emption doctrine—weakened international legitimacy, fraying alliances, increased global public hostility to the United States—are greater than the benefits. Click on any Democratic candidate's Web site (including Dean's) and you'll find a version of this criticism. It will be with us at least until November 2004.

A third criticism has slowly emerged over the past six months. It agrees with the logic of Bush's grand strategy, but questions whether the policy implementation has been up to snuff. This line of argumentation has less to do with substance and more to do with process. To sum it up, Bush's management of foreign policy has been too detached for his own good. The president would proudly admit that he's not a detail guy, preferring to enunciate firm principles and let his subordinates hash out the specifics. However, this disengagement has encouraged bureaucratic rivalries to fester, diverting the attention of officials from the actual substance of foreign policy.

....more

[JailBush]

1. Holy cow, the sh*t's getting deep!

That's propaganda at its most brazen. The idea that Bush is a corporate thug who rewards his cronies is "simple and simple-minded" and is rejected by "most serious people"?

What do you expect from Slate - which was founded by Microshaft, wasn't it?

[littlejoe]

2. It is a combination of all three, but heavily on the

conspiracy side. There are too many facts that get in the way of your theory.

For the author to say that most serious people reject it out of hand is pure naiivete.

[Bandit]

3. War Profiteering is and has been the Bush Family MO forever

:shrug: Everything else is just a bonus for them.