I'll begin with Propagandist tactics, and one simple example. After the October 4th disaster in Somalia, Americans have been quite put off by knowledge that their troops might happen to be suffering. This lead, as you know, to US ignorance to the Rwandan genocide. It also sets the stage for a quite unbalanced tactic in US coverage of Gulf II. While even other coalition nations are displaying POWs on their news programs, the US 24-hour coverage fails to do so. The idea, apparently, is that if we don't see it, it's not there.

Before this started, Bush had a chance to bolster his case. He was asked a question about why he was continuing on despite the massive protest efforts. Here was George's chance to get some true support, and not just dispense some kool-aid for the followers to drink. What does he say? "Sometimes a leader has to think of the best interests of his people, whether they agree with him or not." I don't know about you, but I'd think that any proof he had that would justify his case should be shared, to get the American people fully behind you.

Last but not least, let's not forget the FINE work of the Dept. of Homeland Security during all of this. If you work in the duct tape business, you should send Tom Ridge a Christmas card.

I've gotten the feeling that through this administration, Bush has suffered through needing fear in American eyes in order to stay afloat. The legitimacy of his presidency was debated up until the attacks on New York and Washington. Since then, through the DHS and other organizations, he's been trying to instill xenophobia in the American people, in order to justify his foreign policy actions. Meanwhile, he ignores the unemployment rate at home, carrying out Reaganomics in hope that if people are too worried about their next meal, they won't think twice about their leaders. It's been a sad 3 years to me, and this is the pinnacle.