Unlike Elvis Costello, Who's Aim is True, George Bush's Aim Is More Like that of a North Korean Missile

This morning, I listened to NPR as I was preparing for work after four (4) blissful days of vacation. I was fascinated by the news from North Korea that they are testing missiles with a range sufficient to hit targets in the U.S.

The tests did not go well, but…they are testing. Seven missiles tested to be exact.

North Korea is testing, in part, as a result of failed U.S. diplomacy.

This is quintessential Bush. Our priorities are a complete mess.

If Bush was a catcher for the Washington Nationals (what other team would he play for?) he’d squat down somewhere in the outfield and cry foul whenever the umpire didn’t catch the ball for him. The team would be 60 games out of first place, and he’d call our attention to the fluke single he hit four games ago (Mission Accomplished!). Whenever the press asked him what he planned to do in order to catch the first-place Mets, he’d talk about how the real enemy is the Kansas City Royals*.

We’re in Iraq (no WMD, no imminent threat, no link to Al Qaeda, on-going insurgency, recent moral failures) while Osama bin Laden enjoys a robust box office from somewhere in Afghanistan.

We do nothing while significant chunks of the earth’s ice melts away, destroying species and threatening cities and (gulp) industries.

Yep, okay, sure…global warming is a liberal hoax.

Millions don’t have healthcare, while the Republican Congress debates immigration – news flash, the undocumented workers have been here for years, and we need them. And of course, the sound and the fury come to signify nothing at all and surprise, surprise, no action is taken by the Republican leadership. But everything’s not lost because the base signed on for more hate – come November lots of Christians will remember how Frist and the boys stood up to oppose another minority group. But this time, it’s not our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, it’s (“dirty”) (the dirty is silent – most of the time) "furrenners."

Science is dead. And not just stem cell research, but computer science and also engineering. Our schools are increasingly outperformed by more rigorous foreign educational systems and our congressional and legislative leadership have stepped aside to allow Bill and Melinda Gates to lead our return to form. Our captains of industry preach immigration reform in order to keep on hand the talent they need to develop the next generation of processors. In all its free time, Congress and legislatures debate (every other year) Constitutional Amendments to protect the flag at the expense of our civil liberties.

The same civil liberties which we claim to value for Iraqis are constantly under attack here – and by the same champions of democracy for everyone else.

Go ahead Uncle Sam, look at my financial records. I bought a CD. I bought a taco. I invested in another social-justice fund. Read all about it. Read my phone bill. Take my picture while I walk down the street. Whatever, just don’t leave the flag unprotected. Gosh I feel so safe.

Yep, I describe the feeling as safe**.

That is, until I think about our tendency to talk about Iran while a madman in North Korea - a madman, who, until…oh…about 2000, had suspended missile testing - thumbs his nose at us.



*For my readers who are not baseball fans, the Kansas City Royals play in another league and (except as of late) pose a threat to no team.
**I'm being sarcastic.