Reality Gulf

The Republican Reality Gap is becoming a Reality Gulf. When it comes to the Bush Administration, it is becoming hard to imagine any decision bad enough, any crony incompetent enough, any ethical violation egregious enough for Republican politicians or pundits to place the responsibility where it belongs, on President Bush. If the President were caught on live television putting his foot out and tripping a little old lady, his supporters seem likely to characterize the footage in familiar terms: it was a politically motivated fabrication, it was taken out of context, we can’t comment because it was part of an ongoing investigation, he was trying to keep her from going the wrong way, she was an Al Qaeda operative, Bill Clinton tripped old ladies all the time, and so on.

It’s becoming beyond comical watching them try to justify the slow-motion train-wreck of the Katrina response, which will doubtless continue to generate stories like “KBR contract rigged” or “FEMA red tape nightmare” or “Rove questions ethics of first responders.” The hurricane has changed nothing about how this Administration does business, but it has altered our awareness of how this Administration does business. And the indictment of Tom DeLay, coinciding with that awareness, is yet another nail in the political coffin of President Bush.

DeLay seems to embody exactly what Americans are coming to dislike about our so-called leaders. He is beholden to big business, he has a callous demeanor and a reputation for bullying, and he will do anything to get his way, including things that may or may not square with the letter of the law.

Bush now has a DeLay problem, a Frist problem, a potential Rove problem, a bin Laden problem, a massive deficit problem, a cronyism problem, an Iraq problem, an oil problem, a consumer confidence problem and a leadership problem. These are not coincidences, but flow from his genuine ineptitude. I’m sure he’s a great guy to golf with, and can probably tell a lot of filthy jokes. But he has always been out of his depth as president. His writers have written great things for him to say, but, as an individual, he has no credible vision, no awareness of the world around him and seems incapable of putting together a cabinet skilled at anything more than getting him elected by writing great things for him to say. Jetting around and shaking hands with Katrina victims won't undo the damage. His words and actions simply don’t match, and with so many pillars of his Administration crumbling around his ankles, many now see clearly that the emperor has no clothes.

Yet his supporters insist that his clothes are magnificent. The gap between their increasingly histrionic support and the reality exposed by Katrina, Delay and other disasters is becoming as wide as the Gulf of Mexico.