Corruption or Coincidence?

Any discussion of President Bush or his administration is sure to become a heated debate among conservatives and liberals. It is difficult to have an apolitical position, but when faced with the turmoil of the last 7-8 years I am reminded of a quote from The Godfather.

Don Corleone:

I never wanted this for you. I worked my whole life, I don’t apologize, to take care of my family. And I refused to be a fool dancing on the string held by all those big shots. I don’t apologize, that’s my life.

If you look at the main players and countries involved in the events of the last 8 years or so a distinct pattern emerges.

Principal players:
George H.W. Bush-Former oilman and Former President.
George W. Bush-Former oilman and Former President.
Dick Cheney-Former Haliburton CEO and Current vice president.
House of Saud-Control largest oil reserves in the world.
Osama Bin Laden-Saudi expatriate, leader of Al Qaeda, 9/11.
Bin Laden Family-wealthy Saudi family with business ties the the Bush family.

Principal Countries:
U.S. -formerly number one consumer of petroleum.
Saudi Arabia-Largest oil reserves in the world, 18 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis.
Iran-2nd largest oil reserves in the world.
Iraq-3rd largest oil reserves in the world, U.S. led regime change removed Saddam Hussein from power.

Miscellaneous-Oil prices at all-time high, war with Iraq continues, murmurs of war with Iran

I don't necessarily think there is a nefarious conspiracy being perpetrated. When you look at just the details it becomes difficult for those who lean towards the liberal perspective to not say "wait a minute here." Its not that it doesn't add up, its that it all does seem to add up to something. The question is whether this is corruption or coincidence. Is our collective milkshake being drank?

Bushwhacked Again!

Let me apologize in advance for the ensuing attack on lame duck President Bush. As an American I am outraged that the president had the gall to make the comments he made about so-called "appeasers" in front of the Israeli parliament. Let me qualify my position by stating that my anger at W's actions goes well beyond partisanship. I feel bad for heaping even more criticism at the beleaguered commander-in-chief, but for the love of god he just keeps asking for it, and especially this time I must oblige him.

Whether or not the president was calling out Obama or other democrats, or even Ron Paul, he should not have made such politicized remarks in front of the governing body of another nation even though Israel is our staunch ally. It would be cowardly enough to make the same old tired Rovesque stateside, but when the president of the United States of America goes overseas and makes a fool of himself and the country by attacking American people(Obama according to msm) while standing in foreign soil I find myself struggling to grapple with the psychology of such a man.

How can a man whose own foreign policy blunders are the stuff of legend find himself in the position to make such an attack from half-way around the globe? Answer: the same man who decided to invade Iraq pre-emptively while we were already at war in Afghanistan; this is the same man who is brazen enough to label others as being on equal terms with Nazi "appeasers." I find this deeply offensive and am saddened that we have drifted so far from the American way.