The Potemkin Village Presidency

by Dan Jacoby

In 1787, Empress Catherine II ("the Great") visited the recently annexed Crimean territory to see for herself how her former lover, Grigori Aleksandrovitch Potemkin, was building up the area. As the story goes, Potemkin ordered phony villages to be constructed, to fool the Empress into thinking everything was going beautifully. The story is probably greatly exaggerated, but the term "Potemkin Village" has come to mean a façade put up to fool the leader into thinking things are better than they really are.

And that is exactly what George W. Bush's top advisors have been doing. Some examples:

  • Bush was told that our budget surpluses could withstand severe tax cuts for the wealthiest. Instead, those tax cuts have led to some of the worst deficits in American history. (Incidentally, the top financial advisor at the time, Paul O'Neill, tried to tell Bush the truth; he was forced out.)
  • Bush was told that if we invaded Iraq our soldiers would be greeted with flowers strewn in their path. They've been greeted, all right, with IEDs and suicide bombers. Meanwhile, where exactly are those "weapons of mass destruction" that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed he could pinpoint? And what ties did Saddam Hussein have with Al Qaeda?
  • Bush was told that he should destroy the most successful anti-poverty measure in history. Privatizing Social Security would have cost trillions of dollars and destroyed a needed safety net for our elderly. Despite the dismal failure of his initiative last year, he hasn't learned; Social Security privatization is back in this year's budget request.
  • Bush was told that he should go easy on mine operators who violate safety laws. This year alone, over 50 miners have been killed.
  • Bush was told that Katrina was no big deal. Later, he toured only the upper levels of that city, and wasn't shown the lower ninth ward, where the disaster is still fresh six months after the storm.
  • Now, after paying a "surprise" visit to Afghanistan (it was a "surprise" due to security concerns) George W. Bush is in Pakistan, where his plane has to land in the middle of the night, with its running lights off. Then he is whisked away in a caravan, or possibly a helicopter, to meet the "President". Meanwhile, opposition groups massing in both countries are being kept away from Bush by any means necessary.

When Gulliver visited Laputa, he noted that officers could not see, hear, or speak unless a "flapper" works the officers' eyes, ears, or mouth. George W. Bush apparently lacks the ability to see, hear, or say anything unless his flappers, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, allow it. The result is that George W. Bush insists the Potemkin Village he is allowed to see is the real world.

This probably explains George W. Bush's lousy poll numbers. After all, most Americans have to live in the real world.

 

Copyright 2006, Dan Jacoby

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