Gość: NYT
IP: *.dip.t-dialin.net
15.09.03, 18:23
Exploiting the Atrocity
(...)
Yet it's almost certainly wrong to think that the political
exploitation of 9/11 and, more broadly, the administration's
campaign to label critics as unpatriotic are past their peak. It
may be harder for the administration to wrap itself in the flag,
but it has more incentive to do so now than ever before. Where
once the administration was motivated by greed, now it's driven
by fear.
(...)
Mr. Bush's advisers were greedy; they saw 9/11 as an opportunity
to get everything they wanted, from another round of tax cuts, to
a major weakening of the Clean Air Act, to an invasion of Iraq.
And so they wrapped as much as they could in the flag.
Now it has all gone wrong. The deficit is about to go above half
a trillion dollars, the economy is still losing jobs, the triumph
in Iraq has turned to dust and ashes, and Mr. Bush's poll numbers
are at or below their pre-9/11 levels.
Nor can the members of this administration simply lose like
gentlemen.(..)
The result, clearly, will be an ugly, bitter campaign - probably
the nastiest of modern American history. (...)This political
ugliness will take its toll on policy, too. The administration's
infallibility complex - its inability to admit ever making a
mistake - will get even worse. (...)
In other words, if you thought the last two years were bad, just
wait: it's about to get worse. A lot worse.
