And now there is only one. … … left, that is. Blair is gone. Now Howard’s
loss leaves Bush by himself.
Oh, and Barack Obama gets the last laugh. The day after Obama announced he was running for president, John Howard
said Al Qaeda should mark the day, chiding the Democratic candidate for wanting to get us out of Iraq. Instead, today will mark an
historic day for Australia’s Howard, but not in the way he’d hoped. It does signal a positive shift, a wake up call that people want their leaders to focus beyond the Iraq centric nature of the Bush-Blair-Howard era. In the post 9/11 world, we must get back to the dangers spiraling out of control that have been ignored in Bush’s myopic inability to see a whole world unraveling.
Another message is that when you’re in the middle of a bloody war that is not your own to fight it
doesn’t matter how hard you push the economy.
After four terms in office, he will be replaced by Kevin Rudd, a Labor Party
leader and former diplomat. Mr. Rudd, 50, campaigned on a platform of new
leadership looking for new answers for new challenges. He has said his first
acts as prime minister will include pushing for the ratification of the Kyoto
climate agreement and to negotiate the withdrawal of Australian combat troops
from Iraq.
John Howard is the first prime minister of Australia to not only lose his office,
but also his seat in the parliament where he’s been for 33 years.
Americans, take note of Bill Richardson’s rise in New Hampshire. I don’t agree
with him on his Iraq strategy, but it doesn’t mean the people don’t want to hear
what he’s talking about. John Edwards should have never let go of Iraq.
Michelle
Malkin is particularly unhinged about it all, with her post coming complete
with a Mao- Rudd YouTube,
as well as the ear
wax eating incident that was an instant YouTube senstion. Get those negatives
out there, right?
The message is clear. People are sick of the Iraq war and want to move on, because we’ve more than done our job.
But that doesn’t mean we will adopt some wingnut sky is falling claim of refusal to see the dangers before us, though that is clearly the propaganda we’ll hear from all the president’s people.
It’s long past time to concentrate on dangers that should be front and
center instead of languishing because of all the energy being expended on Iraq.
We’ve done all that can be done there, meanwhile Afghanistan is once again headed
towards Taliban rule, with Pakistan tettering dangerously. A quick fix peace conference in Annapolis next week is a reminder of the long agony Bush’s Middle East policy has been and the disrespect he and his administration have paid to what could make an important difference. The Israel-Palestinia inequity has been left to last ditch efforts of insulting proportions.
Bush is all alone now. Republicans need to get it. Democrats need to push it.
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