I speak of then Governor GW Bush's belief that a president MUST have a war, preferrably a BIG war, in order to push thru his agenda. That, and other positively creepy things, is what he told his ghost writer, Mickey Herskowitz, when he was lining up to be prez in 1999. Coincidentally, the war he appeared to be dreamin' was Iraq. Read it
HERE
"He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," said author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz. "It was on his mind. He said to me: 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He said, 'If I have a chance to invade·.if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency."
I thought I was long past shock and awe re the barbarity of this administration. I was aware of their dirty, bogus build up to war. I protested and tried to prevent it, and afterward I still was active and observant, and still protested. I was shocked anew at how, once they got what they wanted -- a war and occupation -- they could fuck it up so badly, treat the land, resources, treasures, and, worst of all, the Iraqi people so recklessly. I was aware of PNAC, the Time magazine statement ("Fuck Saddam, We're taking him out!" -- March 2002) and lots of other windows onto Bush and Co. I had my fill and then some of discovering what they were all about --
But this one showed me that BushCo still has the ability to make my blood run cold. (Which is a relief, really, because it is easy to become deadened under the constant reminders of their callousness.)
I suppose this has been posted here, but I havent seen it, and, as I said, I found it to be the perfect sauce to the DSM, which, of course, is the main dish, the thing to use to hang BushCo, if that is at all possible. Although not as useful, practically speaking, this revelation by Herskowitz is much more chilling.
What is revealed in this piece is so fucking firsthand stinky and revolting, because it comes in quotes from Bush's lips to the writer's ears, and from observations. It shows the callous, sociopathic quality of men like Bush, Cheney, et al. It underscores how this administration is clearly a sociopaths' magnet.
Read the whole thing if you havent already. It isnt long, but it is chilling -- there are parts about how the Bush cabal thrilled to Thatcher's Falkland War due to the political capital it gave her. It speaks of how Bush said the biggest mistake a president can make is to admit making a mistake. There is also a bit about a reporter in Texas saying he just cant go public about what he heard from Herskowitz (footsteps in a dark alley). And Bush tells Herskowitz he didnt do NO duty in Alabama when in the National Guard.
Incidentally, Herskowitz was fired by Bush's cabal because he quoted Bush being honest (He wasnt prez yet, remember!) about being a business failure. Not "positive" enough for the handlers. But the guy has a pretty long resume as a writer of biographies, and, oddly, was hired after that by Bush's father to write about GrandPappy. He is considered a "friend" of the family.