If You Think Bush is Calling The Shots, I've Got Some Swamp Land in Florida to Sell You

By: Michael Gabriel

If you listen closely to Bush Administration officials as they solemnly step up to media microphones to update Americans on the progress off the war against terrorism, it's amusing to notice how they go out of their way to stress that President Geprge W. Bush is making decisions, taking action, directing operations. If you think George W. Bush is calling any shots at all in this critical operation to save civilization from terror, I've got some swamp land in Florida to sell you - and it's in a district with antiquated punch-card voting machines.

George W. Bush is no more calling the shots than Bugs Bunny is. Bush's team of advisors is trying to make it appear that their man has gravitas and stature. But the fact is, George W. Bush is nothing more than a fradulently elected spokesman for the federal government. Why do we need the humorless Air E. Fly-Sure to brief the media anyway? George W. Bush fills the same role.

First and foremost, the U.S. Government's military and intelligence efforts are being thought out, directed and commanded by Vice President Dick Cheney.

He is the brains behind the operation. Why do you think the former Secretary of Defense hasn't been seen? It's because he's actually working on behalf of the nation. it's a hard job that requires nose to the grindstone. It's a job that can't be accomplished if you have to do trite things like stand around the Rose Garden and make serious-faced statements to the media. But George can pull that off without a hitch, even if he does look like Alfred E. Newman, the later years.

Also hard at work is Donald Rumsfeld. The Secretary of Defense is from the old school and knows the intricacies of how a defense operation works. He is being assisted closely by Secretary of State Colin Powell, architect of the strategy that won the Gulf War. He has extensive military experience and sound judgement, and George W. Bush has neither. Also playing prominent roles are Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser; George Tenet, Director of the CIA; Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and former Gen. Wayne Downing, Director of the Office for Combating Terrorism.

When these people make decisions, George W. Bush is 1) instructed to sign off on them and 2) told to march up to the podium and communicate the bare minimum about them - and sound presidential, dammit, even if you don't look it. The good news is that this war is in good hands, even if those hands, given the chance to influence social policy in this country, would be unacceptably draconian. The sad news is that the Supreme Court appointed a president that is woefully unprepared for a crisis of this magnitude, and looks like a fish out of water as he tries to navigate the waves.

I don't want to know what is going on behind the scenes, and I don't care how they go about making this nation safe and secure again. Just get it done. And Please don't try to convince me that George W. Bush is the Commander-in-Chief of anything. You don't send a boy to do a man's work.