Ever since his initial effort to plunge right into war with Iraq was thwarted, Bush has reminded me of a dark version of a Buster Keaton character I saw in a silent film last summer. In this film (can't recall the name), Keaton plays a hapless Confederate railroad man trapped behind enemy lines in the civil war who tries to make good his getaway by stealing a train. He is pursued by an enemy engine, which starts to gain on him. To slow the enemy down, Keaton starts shoving barrels, boxes and logs out onto the tracks, forcing the other train to slow down while the soldiers run out and push the roadblocks out of the way.

Bush, on the other hand, has hijacked America and turned it into a runaway train, barreling down a narrow one-way track, rolling over civil rights, the environment, and the economy. But activists around the world have hopped into their own train and are in hot pursuit. To slow them, Bush is throwing his own "boxes and barrels" out onto the track, as presented by a series of stall ploys.

In the past 10 days, Bush and his operatives have tossed several boxes and barrels out: Trent Lott, Henry Kissinger, announcing the go ahead on the ridiculous missile defense network, and rounding up Muslims like Hitler rounding up the first batches of Jews circa 1934. These "crises" are very likely all designed to keep America's attention riveted on one Bush hand while the other picks the world's proverbial pocket unnoticed.

In fact, it wouldn't come as a huge surprise if we learned that Lott's suicidal racist statements were preplanned, not merely exploited after the fact. What better way to divert the Democrats' attention away from stuff like the massing of U.S. troops on Iraq's northern border, leaks of mounting deaths of Americans in Afghanistan, and plans to launch a major subversion/propaganda assault on U.S. allies (that's right — allies)? And, damn, if it isn't working. All Democrat activists seem able to focus on the past few days is LOTT LOTT LOTT LOTT. It's as if war and an impending police state were but mosquito bites now compared to the LOTT issue. I myself made a statement on the issue, but then moved quickly on, careful not be caught in the quicksand trap. Alas, too many people have failed to learn the modus operandi of the corporate regime, which draws on decades of advertising/brainwashing schemes and flimflam techniques.

What makes Kissinger a "barrel?" Bush does NOT want a 9/11 investigation, not a real one anyway. But questions were being asked with greater frequency...the pursuing train of angry 9/11 victim's families was pressing too close. So what does he do? He names Kissinger to head the committee. The original plan, I'm sure, was to cause an impassioned but dragged out debate and hearing process over the appointment that would last for weeks. But even Bush didn't count on how wimpy and compliant the Democrats had become and that the appointment would be approved with hardly a wink. The backlash from the appointment was enormous — but did not achieve the tie up of the investigation Bush no doubt banked on. Kissinger himself, clad in layers upon layers of dirty linen, obviously hadn't counted on being subjected to the kind of scrutiny he was being forced to undergo and opted to quit. Now Bush has to think up another "box or barrel" to throw before the 9/11 investigation "train." But then, Christmas and Congressional recess ought to stall the investigation for another few months — enough time to get a war going and declare all investigations and dissent illegal "due to wartime."

Another "barrel" tossed on the tracks this week was the announcement that the Pentagon (as in Bushfeld) plans to press ahead with the missile defense program. Bush KNOWS that most Americans will be infuriated by this scheme, as they have already made it amply clear they do not want to spend billions on a program that will only work maybe once in a while...and then only if the enemy nation firing a missile at us is kind enough to call ahead of time and give us the time and space coordinates involved. But the outcry and wrangling over this week's announcement re: the hopeless boondoggle will tie up the press, some pesky activists, and lots of Congressfolk for at least a little while. This strategy is what I'd describe as a political "bait and switch": Throw out the bait — an outrageous appointment, legislative proposal, or executive order — let everyone get all worked up, then, before the dust can settle, slip quietly off in another direction or offer up a "compromise" that, after your outrageous "barrel," suddenly seems reasonable by comparison (Ex: threaten to drill in ANWR so you can offer the "compromise" of turning the Gulf of Mexico into a giant oil field).

But the barrels now rolling around on the track have created the diversion Bush needed to keep the truth about his far more conventional ground wars in Afghanistan and, soon, Iraq, away from scrutiny. After all, it must get awfully hard to hide the body count when it has, by many foreign accounts, pushed well past 1,000 in Afghanistan SEE http:// www.jihadunspun.net/ articles/ 08212002-Casualty.Report/ casualty02.html (it was over 900 as of June 2002) and perhaps even harder to hide the fact that you have massed troops (many trained in brutal Israeli urban warfare techniques) SEE http:// www.arabia.com/ news/ article/ english/ 0,11827,38495,00.html on Iraq's northern border, poised to attack, even before the ink has dried on the Iraq weapon's report.

Alas, such is the convoluted scheming of our "leaders." But, what can one expect? It's an administration that has made dishonesty, intrigue, smokescreens and subterfuges (we'll call it DISS) its PRIMARY strategy. I think these folks would try to find a way to spin the weather report — anything but make an honest, guile-free statement. This week, the news broke that the Bush administration is planning to take its show on the road. SEE http:// www.nytimes.com/ 2002/ 12/ 16/ international/ 16MILI.html? pagewanted= 1&ei= 5053&en= 3132531670106b87&ex= 1040706000&partner= NYTHEADLINES_POL The Pentagon now wants to launch a massive campaign of lies and deceptions targeting not just "enemies" but allies as well. One of the schemes is to pay off journalists to plant slanted or bogus stories in media outlets abroad. Another is to open phony Muslim religious schools where Muslim children will be indoctrinated in the "American way. " Combine these facts with the fact that one of Bush's top advisors is Charlotte Beers, a Madison Avenue advertising mogul hired to promote both Bush and his war. Beers wants to launch a high-profile pro-American propaganda campaign similar to those pushed in the Cold War.

The only way Independents, Greens, and Democrats are going to be able to avoid becoming trapped by the Bush strategy of DISS and bait and switch is to keep their attention focused on the REAL issues immediately before them. These are Bush's lack of fitness to govern (which a true 9/11 AND Enron investigation will prove), the WAR, and Cheney's energy list (which helps also prove lack of fitness to govern). Prove Bush's lack of fitness (through criminal activity) to hold office, you get rid of Bush. The rest of America's problems will immediately become solvable.

Meanwhile, as the Bush train continues roaring down the track, keep your eye on those barrels!

Dueling Bush Polls

Here's what I'd call a "barrel poll," released by the mainstream media (this one ABC). http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/ bush021218.html The poll purports to be showing the public's opinion of Bush dropping in some areas — but the areas have been CAREFULLY chosen and are either vague (do you think corporations have too much influence) or on issues that aren't going to be directly decided for some time (tax cuts). Meanwhile, the poll stresses that Bush has a near 70% approval rating (a poll result anyone in their right mind not living in an all-white conservative town in KKK country would seriously question), while nearly 60% say they approve of his handling of Iraq. Funny, that's a wildly different result from the poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times, which is substantially less in the Bush pocket than Network TV. The LA poll found that 72% (including 60% of all Republicans) do not think Bush's war scheme (which, in essence, is how he is "handling" Iraq) is justifiable. http:// www.canada.com/ news/ story.asp?id= {189B7EE3-C859-423C-9FBD-99257A9C79A6}

The ABC poll, like every other barrel described above, is a smokescreen designed to confuse and to draw attention away from the reality of Bush's single-minded agenda: War and a police-state-like control over America. It was conducted by some obscure polling outfit called TNS in Horsham PA (Tom Ridge's stomping grounds).

I thought it was a hoot that right after the LA Times poll came out, CNN rushed right out to post its own countering poll results, showing that "most Americans support Bush." Of course, we all know how "independent" from the Bush regime CNN is (yeah, right, like one's foot is independent from one's big toe!).

Bush Calls His Poodle to Heel and Demands Use of British Airspace for Hated Missile Defense Scheme

"THE United States yesterday requested the use of a British Air Force base as part of its nuclear missile defence scheme, in a move which provoked outrage from peace campaigners, Labour MPs and Church groups," reports the Scotsman. "The request followed an announcement in Washington by the US president, George Bush, ordering the US military to begin deploying a national missile defence system — using ground-based interceptor rockets — by 2004. Washington's decision to accelerate the timetable poses another awkward problem for Tony Blair whose siding with the Republican administration on this and Iraq has angered many backbench Labour MPs." What's next, Tony? Turning over St. James Palace as Bush's "Eastern White House"? Btw — Bush has also appealed to the Danish government — he wants them to "give him" Greenland as a missile base. http:// www.thescotsman.co.uk/ international.cfm? id= 1405912002

Italy May Soon Be Scene of Massive Anti-Bush Protests — or Riots Italy stands ready to offer the US and Britain its air space and military bases said Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino Tuesday. Is he out of his ever lovin' mind? Just a few months back ONE MILLION Italians to the streets to protest the proposed war in Iraq. They were VERY angry people. So, we can just imagine what sort of hell will break loose should an American war-bound force set foot in Italy — the real war zone may then become the Mediterranean! http:// news.xinhuanet.com/ english/ 2002-12/ 18/ content_662519.htm