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Guess the Christmas spirit has President Bush in mellow mode, eager to retreat to that big gingerbread ranch for the holidays. Twins will be back from Argentina, Poppy`s eyes will be dried and Laura will be serving toddies from an heirloom punch bowl. A perfect Norman Rockwell except for the red glow of flares sent up by the Iraq Study Group. Not to worry. The nation`s leader says he`ll get back to them "in a few weeks." What`s the rush? It`s not like bombs are going off in Crawford.
President Bush doesn`t like being rushed. He wants to be the push-er, not the push-ee, especially during these pre-holiday moments when all is calm and all is bright. If Congress can leave for a few weeks, then The Man At the Top....The Decider....ought to be able to follow suit. After all, Bush lead us through Hurricane Katrina without yielding to all that Hollywood-style crisis chatter, didn`t he? And didn`t he take his sweet time with the 9/11 commission`s recommendations? That`s what leaders do. Prioritize.
The consequences of our invasion of Iraq have sucked the life out of this country. We`ve bobbed up for a last gulp of air, clutching photos of our dead and maimed soldiers, begging an end to this madness....the torture, the blood, the body parts, the shattered dreams, the heartbroken children. We`ve demanded a correction, a turnaround, holiday or no holiday. We sense the urgency, the incomprehensible disaster. We`ve knelt at gravesides and cried until our insides emptied. Enough is enough.
George Bush does not have a "few weeks" to develop new talking points that paint stubbornness to look like principles. He can not whistle through brush cutting chores while more human beings get reduced to roadside rubble. He can not land on another carrier or make a speech from the base of Mount Rushmore, for none of that matters anymore. It`s too late for theatrics and too ruined for backdrop sloganeering. Bush must step to center stage in a matter of days and tell us how he`s going to get us out of this horrific mess. For him to pretend he has the luxury of "a few weeks" is beyond reprehensible.
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