Stupid Like A Fox
<p>For the kind of articulate extrovert who tends to go into politics or the<br />
media, it can be very difficult to believe that a stumble-tongued,<br />
inarticulate man can be other than an idiot.  As an articulate extrovert<br />
myself, I&#8217;ve had to struggle with this.  Like most of our media and<br />
chattering classes, my instinct too was to write George W. Bush as an<br />
idiot who had stumbled into the Presidency through no merit of his own.</p>
<p>Events have forced me to nearly the opposite conclusion.  George W. Bush<br />
is no idiot.  In fact, he now appears to me to be an extremely cunning man<br />
who makes repeated and effective use of his opponents&#8217; inability to take<br />
him seriously.</p>
<p>Over and over again we&#8217;ve seen the pattern.  Bush says he&#8217;s gaing<br />
to do something.  Opponents rant and rave and scream about what an<br />
idiot he is.  Amidst all the name-calling, an effective opposition<br />
fails to materialize.  When the smoke clears, events unfold pretty<br />
much according to the Bush script.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s pretty much been that way on every issue bigger than judicial<br />
nominations.  Now, mind you, in this essay I&#8217;m not going to express<br />
or even imply a judgment about whether or <em>should</em> be that way.<br />
What I&#8217;m trying to point out is that even the U.N. has pretty much<br />
ended up dancing Bush&#8217;s tune.  All of the Franco/German/Russian talk<br />
of thwarting that mad cowboy has come to this in the end: U.S, troops<br />
in control of Iraq, Saddam gone, and the U.N. formally committed by<br />
resolution to support the U.S. reconstruction without either a timeline<br />
or any U.N. authority over Iraq.</p>
<p>Once or twice could be luck.  But Bush <em>keeps doing this</em>.<br />
He is such an effective political operator that his opponents find<br />
that their ability to block him has quietly vanished while they<br />
weren&#8217;t looking.  The pathological rage now endemic in Democratic<br />
circles is fueled by impotence.  They know they were suckered,<br />
swindled, <em>had</em> somehow, but they can&#8217;t pin down why or how the<br />
majority voters stopped listening.  Bad enough to have Reagan pound<br />
the crap out of them &mdash; they thought he was an idiot too, but at<br />
least they could console themselves that he was a <em>glib</em> idiot.<br />
Being shellacked by a Republican who sounds like a moron behind a<br />
microphone is more than their blood pressure can take.</p>
<p>Well, Democrats, I&#8217;ve got news for you.  Bush is using your rage to<br />
make <em>you</em> into idiots.  I think, early in his political<br />
career, he somehow learned how to push this button reliably, and has<br />
been sucker-punching his opponents ever since.  Clever of him &mdash;<br />
but then, as I belatedly realized when I was thinking this through. he<br />
<em>has</em> to be brighter than he looks.  The dude flew fighter<br />
planes!  Simpletons can&#8217;t do that; the Air Force screens pilots for<br />
intelligence because it <em>has</em> to.</p>
<p>Want to stop Bush?  Then, Mr. J. Random Democrat, call Dubya evil if<br />
you want &mdash; but accept that, on his record, he is pretty damn<br />
bright.  Stop screaming, take his brains seriously, and outsmart him.<br />
That is, if you can.</p>
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