Bush goes on TV and promises to investigate the charges of energy company gouging. What a joke. Most of us, most of the US, most of the world will view this as the Fox offering to investigate deaths in the henhouse. It's good enough for his "base" though.
It's becoming clearer that Bush is not going to get back any of his lost poll percentage points by doing business as usual and he's unable to do anything not usual. He continues his history of never firing anyone. He waits for resignations, probably lubricating them with juicy deals. Look at what happened with Michael Brown, the closest he's come to a firing. The guy bit back. I imagine there are dozens of Bush appointed incompetents who could, if they were fired, do massive further damage to Bush, just telling the truth about Bush's incompetence and probably his lies. No Bush can't fire people and that makes things tough for him to make any real changes.
When it comes to Rumsfeld, it's not just a matter of getting rid of Rumsfeld. It's about Bush facing the fact that his s vision of a democratic Iraq, which he's had Rumsfeld orchestrate, is a disastrous joke. He can't, by his thinking, fire Rumsfeld without admitting defeat. So he'll keep supporting Rumsfeld, keep mouthing the same tired, mindless mantra about staying the course.
Bush WILL get some help from Big Oil. They can see they've gone too far, that Bush may not be able to provide the shielding and protection they thought they could trust him to provide. They'll back off the high prices in hopes of cooling the fires under congress to investigate and tax them. The damage is already done though. We shouldn't stop going after them just because gasoline drops a few dimes in price.
Bush is under siege partly because of his own doing. He's been incompetent, deceitful, and has been selling out US resources to corporate friends. But his "besiegement" is also due to the beginning of a process of abandonment by the Republican party. He has become a pariah. Not all the Republicans know it yet, but they are gradually awakening to this reality. Being associated with Bush, this November, will like being an unwashed visitor to a leper colony, my apology to lepers. As the Republicans disown Bush, he will be left with his "base"-- some corporations that use him, and still feel they can get some use out of him, religious extremists who still buy him being a good Christian and those who are still drinking the koolaid, and people with money, who think they are better taken care of by Bush. Then there are the little-dick boys, who use Bush's bluster and bravado to vicariously feel more manly. These are the same ones who would take away all of women's rights.
Most of Americans who aren't in those hopelessly right wing categories have abandoned Bush. The problem is, that makes him more dangerous than ever. He has no reason to try to appear moderate, to compromise. He will do more than ever to pander to his ever more extreme "base."
Now that Bush has become besieged, desperate and unaccountable to moderate forces, it is essential that we the people let our legislators, including the Republicans, know that they must de-claw Bush-- take away his right to wage any further war, take away his excuse for doing anything he wants, which includes illegal acts that his puppet-in-crime, attorney general Gonzalez, will authorize as permitted.
A desperate, cornered animal is a dangerous thing. Expect the worst from Bush. But at the same time, we must continue to tighten the noose, push harder for impeachment. The impeachment efforts that seemed impossible and mere fantasies at first are looking more solid, more ominous. They may still be impossible, but now that they've been picked up by the mainstream media, now that the potential results of a Democratic sweep of the congress, come November, is being discussed, with a LOT of politicians being investigated, I think it will move even more voters away from the Republican side of the aisle. The Republicans may even conclude that the only way to rescue their jobs is to face the hard truth about Bush-- that he must be impeached. Now we're talking about taking the besieging of George Bush to a whole 'nother level. It all starts with a vision, no matter how remotely possible.
