The International Writers Magazine: Reality Check

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MR. MOJO SINKING • James Campion "Thus, we will begin the coronation on what has in recent years proven to be, if nothing else, an entertaining embarrassment: The Second Term. Seeing how second terms have not been kind to any president in my lifetime, to say I have every confidence it will end in disaster is to barely scratch the surface of the girlish excitement that rattles my bones.

Andy Card resigns

And those who didn't live through Watergate, Iran-Contra, or may have forgotten the beauty of 15 months of Monica Lewinsky and Kenneth Starr, could not fully understand the opportunity it provides cynical old political junkies like myself."

Andy Card is small potatoes. As Chief of Staff, he was impotent in this whole mess, and his sacking (resignation/firing/retirement) will be of small significance to any proposed "shake-up" the frightened Republicans on the Hill have been calling for. Seven months remain for the GOP to defend its power in Congress, seven months for this president to rise from the ashes as another second-term causality, and seven months for things to appear radically different before the hammer comes down and the wheels spin in the other direction.

History tells us it's sooner than later, but I maintain, with redistricting and retirements and other unforeseen mishaps this summer, it will be nearly impossible for the Democrats to take back the legislative branch of this government and put the Bush Cabal up on trial, as fun and apt as all of that might seem. But it doesn't mean the dents have not become irrevocably deep or there isn't this one-way-street type of speed-addled careening out-of-control vibe that has taken hold in the Beltway now. Reversals are out in '06. It's time to stand in the fire and take it like champs.

So this Reaganian dumping of the main staffer, Card, for damaged goods, budget director, Josh Bolten, doesn't have the same resonance it once did. Donald Regan had the old man's back, making calls, smoothing over the curious. He had to go. Iran-Contra was patently criminal.

Wrong, for sure, but with a gargantuan heaping of corporate arrogance that ended up ceremoniously defecated on the Constitution. It was not lying about war, or reactionary John Wayne tactics, or the badly formulated war-hawk nonsense we have here. This is fucked, yeah. The sheen is off the apple, jack, but it ain't enough bloodletting for yours truly.

A lot more people are going to have to go to jail for that to happen, and that is not going to happen. Not on this planet, smoky. Down here we lobby with gusto, provide the lip service, and then throw the mild mannered to the wolves. Good advice if you're taking on water, can't get the vehicle up to speed. Survival guide tactics; throw off the useless weight, and then, according to our boy president, the new baggage will be in charge of cleaning some more house. According to former adviser to both Bushes, Mary Matlin, "The president's given (Bolten) full license to remove or to recalibrate for the purposes of re-energizing and getting our mojo back." Matlin went on to tell CBS News there would be more changes, but what that would do in regards to "changing any mojo", she was not entirely certain.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the Washington Post, Bolten "rides motorcycles" or some other insignificant claptrap, and that's good enough for me. I'm used to it. It tickles me in the private places I enjoy. But where is the mojo, son? Gone hiking with the credibility sherpa and a parade of hungry huskies trying to get the hell out of here before the final shovel-full of dirt comes down?

Holy shit, that was way too many conflicting metaphors, even for this space. Ignore it. They're only words, like mojo, or budget director or recalibrate. None of them have anything to do with the fallout that is The Second Term. They're merely symptoms, like the media.

Ahhh, the ugliness has now hit home. It ain't the media after all. We came late to the dance. We gave this gaggle of hubris-mongers a free pass, and now lookie here, it's a goddamn gaffe and the approval ratings are Nixonian and Carteresque, and soon when the history comes due on this rampant disjoint generations will wonder who the hell was minding the store. Look, Card had nothing to do with the run-up on Iraq or the fallout of Katrina or the Dubai extravaganza or the Medicare Bill that will soon reap the whirlwind of bankruptcy. He did not have his fingerprints on anything to do with sailing past the law of the land on wire-tapping the citizenry, which is likely to end in impeachment proceedings unless the Democrats are left out of the barn. And this country is not ready for any kind of reprimand or even censure of the commander in chief. People still basically like Bush, they just think he is a lousy president, like everyone around here loving former NY Jets coach, Herm Edwards. He was a funny guy, likable, the kind of chap you want over for a beer. He just couldn't coach a football team worth a damn.

And speaking of sports farces, this whole cleaning house/infusing new blood stuff on Pennsylvania Avenue is as flaccid as Major League Baseball's "investigation" into steroid use. What a joke this is. What are they investigating, something we already know? Too late, bub. Genie has left the bottle never to return. I have a good idea, let's take away home run records and pennants and MVP awards, and let's get all the owners to give back all the money these chemical spills brought in, then let's run the commissioner out of town on a rail.
You know what this all is, you fans of politics and baseball?
White noise. Muzak to relax yo mind and float downstream.
Tap your foot and get in step.

© James Campion April 3rd 2006
realitycheck@jamescampion.com
www.jamescampion.com
James Campion the author of "Deep Tank Jersey", "Fear No Art" and "Trailing Jesus"
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