by Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian
Oct 29, 2008
We are about to enter the twilight zone, that strange black hole in political time and space that appears no more than once every four years. It is known as the period of transition, and it starts a week from today, the time when the United States has not one president but two. One will be the president-elect, the other George Bush, in power for 12 more weeks in which he can do pretty much whatever he likes. Not only will he never again have to face voters, he won’t even have to worry about damaging the prospects of his own party and its standard bearer (as if he has not damaged those enough already). From November 5 to January 20, he will exercise the freest, most unaccountable form of power the democratic world has to offer.
How Bush might use it is a question that gained new force at the weekend, when US forces crossed the Iraqi border into Syria to kill Abu Ghadiya, a man they said had been funnelling “foreign fighters” allied to al-Qaida into Iraq. That American move has touched off a round of intense head-scratching around the world, as foreign ministers and analysts ask each other the time-honoured diplomatic query: what did they mean by that? To which they add the post-Nov 4 question: and what does it tell us about how Bush plans to use his final days in the White House?
[…]
h/t: CLG
who wrote:
From November 5 to January 20, he will exercise the freest, most unaccountable form of power the democratic world has to offer. [My money is on Bush getting the bird flu pandemic party started (Killer flu recreated in the lab). It will begin in a Blue state with a GOP governor –think California. Bush can then privatize (ration) health care; raid Medicare and Social Security to fund mandatory vaccines (HHS Declares ‘Health Emergencies’ to Limit Legal Liability for Anti-terrorism Vaccines, Drugs); fire up the KBR detention centers (KBR awarded Homeland Security contract worth up to $385M); fund a greatly expanded Blackwater role (Bush wants army to combat bird flu); invoke martial law (DoD to ‘augment civilian law’ during pandemic or bioterror attack); and stay in power because a transition to a new administration would be ‘impossible’ during a national crisis. The PentaPost, New York Times, MSNBC, CNN and not to mention, Faux–will follow like puppies on a leash. –Lori Price]
see
Kucinich Questions the Timing of the Syrian Attack
Dandelion Salad 