George W. Déjà Vu

I have to confess, watching President Bush's speeches defending the US War in Iraq is starting to give me flashbacks to my youth. Many have made the comparison of Bush with the last not-a-Bush President the US had from Texas, Lyndon Johnson. And it is true, if you close your eyes during one of Bush Iraq speeches you can almost hear LBJ talking about "the light at the end of the tunnel" in Vietnam. It took another twenty five thousand dead US soldiers (and many, many more Vietnamese) before the US formally stopped pretending that whopper was true.

But I am having a flashback to a different President – the one who nudged me into politics as a boy, Richard M. Nixon. I grew up in Nixon's hometown – Whittier, California – when he was President. I spent a good part of my sophomore year in high school walking door to door to try to get him out of office (we lost by the way, well the election at least).

During Watergate the man we loved to call "Tricky Dick" had a steady formula.

1. Revelations would come out about the depth of corruption in his administration.

2. Nixon would take a nosedive in the polls.

3. Nixon would go on TV from the Oval Office (looking increasingly out of touch each time) with another batch of lies.

4. Nixon would gain a little bump in the polls.

5. Return to #1 above.

This downward spiral went on for almost a year and a half – treating us to such delights as the revelation of a secret White House taping system; the 18 and half minute gap; the leader of the free world declaring "I am not a crook," (my favorite); and that great lame wave as he left on his farewell helicopter ride.

George W. Bush and Iraq. The current occupant of the Oval Office has a steady beat of his own.

1. The news from Iraq shows a war (of US choice) that is increasingly sending a country into a state of violence and chaos that looks worse by the day.

2. George W. Bush's poll ratings take a nosedive (currently in Nixon territory at 37% public support). More people than that think that professional wrestling is real.

3. George W. Bush goes on TV, usually before a military audience, and tells the nation how well things are going in his war in Iraq (and looking a little more out of touch with reality each time): "We have a comprehensive strategy for victory in Iraq." "Iraqi security forces turned in a strong performance." "This is real progress." "The terrorists are losing on the field of battle."

4. In some circles public confidence and in some cases Bush's poll numbers register a small boost.

5. Return to #1 above.

LBJ in 1967. Nixon in 1974. Bush in 2006.

All this reminds me as well of the escapades of Don Novelo, the US humorist who, under the pen name Lazlo Toth, used to write letters to the mighty and powerful to ask them odd questions. One was sent to MacDonalds:

"I see where you're up to 10 Billion hamburgers sold. How many more do you have to go?"

I wish just one reporter would ask George Bush something similar:

"Sir, I see that we are up to 2,300 US soldiers dead in Iraq now and some 35,000 Iraqis. How many more until you're done?"

Until someone asks President Bush that question and until he is forced to answer it, you can bet the numbers of heartbroken families, of many nationalities, is just going to grow and grow and grow. How many more until we hear the echoes of LBJ and Nixon in this President's cheery declarations? How many more until the US finds its conscience and sanity and brings this war to an end?