FOR MCCAIN TO WIN, BUSH MUST DISAPPEAR

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FOR MCCAIN TO WIN, BUSH MUST DISAPPEAR
By Bill Gallagher

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking,
Everybody knows the captain lied,
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died.
-- From singer-poet Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows"




DETROIT -- The wealthy, older crowd at the Republican
Convention just seemed more flat than the younger,
enthusiastic delegates at the Democratic Convention.

The Republican stage was flat, nearly even with the
crowd. The crowd response was flat. Their expressions
were flat. The beer was flat. The music and dancing
and image themes were stale and flat.

Everybody knows Captain Bush lied and took the
Republican ship of permanent majority and perpetual
power into treacherous waters. Best thing to do is to
toss him overboard, pretend he didn't exist and sign
on a new crew for the rechristened ship "Reform and
Change." Then bring on an unknown, smiling first mate
who doesn't have a clue where she's heading, and pray
to the god who blesses wars and oil-drilling for a
safe voyage to victory.

The speeches -- except Sen. John McCain's -- were
flat. The mainstream media gushed over Alaska governor
Sarah Palin's acceptance speech as the GOP's vice
presidential candidate. "A star-turning performance, "
cheerleaders from the Associated Press bubbled.

The former small-market TV sports anchor read from a
teleprompter a speech written by Matthew Scully,
former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. But
her understanding of the words she recited was in
question, and her candidacy, wrapped in celebrity,
presents a perilous unknown to Americans.

Why won't McCain's handlers let her undergo real
questioning? When will they let reporters quiz her?
When will she explain how her commitment to reform and
lower taxes will impact Alaska, the state that
receives the highest per capita flow of federal tax
dollars? For decades working people in states like New
York and Michigan have seen their tax dollars pumped
into Alaska to support the federal protectorate.
Anyone from Alaska who complains about federal
spending is an instant inductee into the Hypocrites
Hall of Fame.

The self-proclaimed "hockey mom" skated into the
Republican home arena slashing, hooking, spearing and
cross-checking the truth. She committed major crimes
against reality and history by forgetting she
originally did support the "Bridge to Nowhere" and has
been a staunch supporter of now-under-indictmen t
Alaska senator Ted Stevens, king of Senate earmarks.

Only blind partisans pretend her paper-thin
credentials qualify her to move into the Oval Office,
which the Republicans want occupied by a 72-year-old
man who has battled cancer.

The selection of Palin -- removed from any political
advantage she brings to the ticket -- is a horrible
choice, and McCain will eventually take his lumps for
his desperate Hail Mary pass to Seward's Folly (the
dismissive reference made by critics of the 1867 U.S.
purchase of Alaska from the cash-starved, desperate
Russian czar).

Palin did make a revealing Russian reference in her
speech, crafted for her by McCain's neoconservative
foreign policy advisers.

"With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in
the Caucasus," Palin warned, "and to divide and
intimidate our European allies by using energy as a
weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of
foreign suppliers."

Very interesting. Vice President Dick Cheney's speech
to the convention was scrapped, ostensibly because of
the White House preoccupation with Hurricane Gustav.
But Cheney had other priorities. He flew to Georgia to
promise Russia's neighbor that the United States was
prepared to help rebuild its economy and preserve its
sovereignty and territory.

Cheney pledged to Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili $1 billion to recover from the recent
crushing defeat by Russian forces in the conflict over
disputed breakaway regions and buffer zones between
the nations. Why didn't Palin complain about that
federal spending that adds to our massive tax burden?

Cheney vowed to bring Georgia into the NATO alliance,
a reckless mistake in defiance of Russia and sure to
provoke more hostilities. But just as with Iraq, it's
all about oil and money, topics that warm Cheney's
taxpayer-supported heart.

He represents the Big Oil interests and seeks to
protect their existing investments and future designs
in the region. Using U.S. taxpayers' money to bribe
the Georgians is just part of doing business. And so
what if we threaten to use military power and further
destabilize the world to achieve those vile ends?
That's how Cheney thinks. That's the business culture
he fostered when he ran Halliburton.

Last week, Albert Stanley, the man Cheney appointed as
chief executive of Halliburton' s subsidiary KBR,
pleaded guilty to funneling millions of dollars in
bribes to win lucrative contracts in Nigeria. All this
took place on Cheney's corporate watch.

Also missing from the convention was Bush himself. His
absence surely pleased McCain, whose campaign is
treating the incumbent president like Typhoid Mary.

In a New York Times Magazine piece, Peter Baker
reports that McCain has not called Bush for advice and
that the two have not even spoken since Bush endorsed
him in May. McCain's Web site features "pictures of
him with Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Rudy Giuliani,
Bill O'Reilly, Jon Stewart, Chris Matthews, Regis
Philbin, even the ladies from 'The View' -- in short,
everyone but Bush, and senior Republicans say no joint
appearances are planned this fall," Baker wrote.

Bush's address to the convention from the White House
appeared to have been videotaped earlier (it aired way
past Bush's bedtime) and was hardly the triumphant
swan song departing two-term presidents Ronald Reagan
and Bill Clinton delivered.

Bush praised McCain's unflinching support of the troop
surge in Iraq. He pointed, as every speaker did, to
McCain's suffering as a prisoner of war during the
Vietnam War.

"Fellow citizens, if the Hanoi Hilton could not break
John McCain's resolve to do what is best for his
country, you can bet the angry left never will," Bush
said.

So Bush compares those on the left with merciless
torturers. Ironic, coming from a man who promoted
torture in violation of international agreements and
federal law, which should someday get him, Cheney and
their henchmen charged as the war criminals they are.

McCain did something at the convention that he
belittles and bashes Sen. Barack Obama for doing -- he
gave a good speech. Never mentioning by name the
president he supported 90 percent of the time, McCain
sold the other 10 percent of his record as a solution
for all that ails the nation, vowing to "fight for
justice and opportunity for all."

He called for an end to "the constant partisan rancor
that stops us from solving" the nation's troubles. He
portrayed himself as "a maverick" who "fought
corruption" and will bring change and different
leadership to Washington.

In order to win, McCain will try to disassociate
himself from the disastrous presidency of George W.
Bush. Everybody knows.

Bill Gallagher, a Peabody Award winner, is a former
Niagara Falls city councilman who now covers Detroit
for Fox2 News. His e-mail address is
gallaghernewsman@ aol.com.
Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsrep orter.com