Not so Lame Duck

A recent conversation with my grandfather (who is the MAN and is another topic for a different blog post) prompted me to think more deeply about what an Obama presidency would bring, especially with regard to the executive department's relationship with the intelligence and defense community. Apparently, the Kennedys were set up to fail by the exiting Eisenhower administration- the Bay of Pigs had been in the works for months prior to January 1961 and the outgoing administration (and it's defense/intelligence community) had a very different idea of how that would unfold. Essentially, they wanted Cuba to be our bitch and the Kennedys were not ready to take on the global communist powers. The result, as history noted, was scary and tenuous; we came very close to ruining the progress made since the end of WWII.

I couldn't help but recall this conversation as I was watching Hardball last night. Estranged Congressman Tom Delay was a guest on the occasionally enlightening, often obnoxious daily political forum. I approach Mr. Delay with a bit of reproach: he is clearly crazy and bitter. He seems, however, to leap completely over the self-reflection component of his congressional demise and fully believe that the democrats are to blame for his fraudulent behavior and excessive hubris. Yet, he has his finger firmly on the pulse of the NeoCon community so I grit my teeth and hope to gain insight into the collective mind of Those That I Do Not Understand. It should be noted that Delay rated President Bush (43) as a 6 of 7 out of ten, an 8 if this Iraq "situation" pans out the way that he thinks it will.

Apparently, other situations are on the mind of the administration. Such alluded to by Delay before he realized he was speaking off-talking points. Tommy started to wax poetic about our ability to handle the mounting Israel "situation" and preemptively impose tougher regulations and threats to show who's boss in the Iran "situation". Matthews, in classic form- sensing an opportunity to become the headline, interrupted Delay and gave him enough time to realize that Matthews encapsulation of the GOP-master mind's spiel was both accurate and politically inopportune. Essentially, as was to be inferred by Matthews' oversimplification and Delay's quick retreat: the Bush administration may have to take action on 'situations' that they don't think will be addressed in kind by incumbent administrations. In other words, we do what we want.

GAGH!

It is entirely possible that November and December of this year could bring more global unrest than we can imagine. The administration and its NeoCon cheerleaders have not absorbed the reality that nothing in the middle east (or anywhere else where people, not simply t-charts, are involved) is simple and easy. Greater interference within nation states- or, even scarier, non-sovereign entities, will significantly disadvantage the incumbent president- placing him in a bad, Bad, BAD! position for both immediate and long-term relations with the unstable region. And just as the Bay of Pigs could have resulted in the demise of the Kennedy presidency and, well, democracy, the Bay of Bush could seriously hinder any desperately needed measure to repair global relations. Or maybe that is what they want; if we can't get to level 8, then the next guy shouldn't either. After all, we do what we want.