Presidential Posturing

It was a week of firsts for President Bush. Despite signing a non-stop flood of pork-filled spending bills and laws that he may or may not choose to follow, Bush issued the first veto of his Presidency, knocking down legislation aiming to use discarded embryos from fertility clinics to harvest additional stem cell lines for federally funded research.

According to Dubya, he will not endorse “murder.” Of course, he didn’t explain how his veto squared with the fact that the embryos will be destroyed anyway, and that we might as well get some benefit from them.

But logic, common sense and reason have never held sway over the religious superstitions of Bush and his radical right backers, or the need to posture and motivate the base in an election year.

Also, President Bush finally addressed the NAACP for the first time as President. It only took him five years.

Looking red-faced and embarrassed, Bush shouted his speech to the crowd as if his passion (anger) might overshadow the torrent of spin coming from his mouth.

He expressed sadness that “many African Americans distrust my political party.” But he didn’t mention all the good reasons for that distrust.

Instead, he extolled the virtues of his effort to increase home-ownership. Too bad those gains have been more-than-offset by stagnant wages, skyrocketing energy costs and ever-increasing property taxes.

He also touted his No Child Left Behind legislation as a gift to African Americans. He forgot to mention that he failed to fund it properly, and that educators across the nation consider it a disaster.

But Bush outdid himself by conjuring the ghost of fellow Republican Abraham Lincoln, as if the liberal Lincoln had anything in common with today’s Republican party or Bush's elitist policies. It’s a well known, if seldom mentioned, reality that the Republican Party is currently the party-of-choice for racists, rednecks, Klansmen and white supremacists in America, but I’m sure that little fact is not lost on the African American community.

The Bush visit was motivated not by an earnest desire to connect with people he wants to help, but rather to bolster his sagging poll numbers and help his crippled party in the November elections.

African Americans, like most other Americans, have been left behind by the Bush economy, which has created historic income disparities between the wealthy and the rest of us. And his “darn-it, why don’t you like me?” speech is unlikely to change his standing within that community.

People are sick of hearing Bush talk. They only care about what he does or, more commonly, fails to do.