thanksgiving visit, matthew good style

[I AM ME]

November 28, 2003

Publicity. These days it’s stronger than policy. Take President Bush’s recent surprise visit to Iraq, for example. Darkly ironic that it should occur on an American holiday that began during the US Civil War, that last Thursday set aside by President Lincoln as a national day of thanksgiving. Little to do with the pilgrims and even reviled in antiquity in states such as Texas, ironically, where once Governor Oran Milo Roberts referred to it as a “damned Yankee institution”.

Yet with a single surprise visit to a sliver of the total troops in Iraq, many have praised the President for simply getting on a plane, going to sleep, getting up, making a pre-prepared speech, serving a few plates of turkey, and then leaving three+ hours later. Of course his people weren’t so stupid as to forget to bring along select members of the press corps (some of whom traveled with the President having been sworn to secrecy). There was no way that the event would not be broadcast to the nation, a nation that now believes the war in Iraq to be a pointless endeavor based on false evidence and promises. So you have to wonder how gullible the US public actually is. If the President can show up in Iraq for a quick photo op and warm the cockles of the national heart will the American public yet again blind themselves to the truth of the matter because of a well designed and executed PR stunt? If only the Defense Department planned their activities with such precision.

Mr. Bush should have done it without the cameras. Then perhaps it might have been blatantly sincere instead of riddled with opportunism going into an election year.

During his brief speech the President used phrases such as "We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins”. Given the fact that the President skipped out on his National Guard duties and cut healthcare benefits for war vets, perhaps the word “we” should not have been used.

Mr. Bush also went on to say that the US would not be intimidated and would stay in Iraq until the job was done. Either that statement marks a new shift in Iraqi policy or the speechwriter on Air Force 1 was a little too liberal with the White Russians.

Perhaps he went to check up on the no bid contracts that have been lining the pockets of Halliburton. The Vice President couldn’t do it, as it might look suspicious. It’s comforting to know that taxpayer money is being given to a corporation for the purposes of exploiting Iraqi oil, isn’t it? Especially considering that the Vice President is in up to his eyeballs with that very same corporation.

PR is a wonderful thing indeed, especially when it involves a President that has the highest corporate campaign contribution total in world history. Now that they’ve found a way to buy the right sort of face time, what new and daring scheme will they come up with next? Perhaps the President will help lay some wire along the new Israeli security fence or perhaps take a lighter to Roe v Wade at a girl guide slumber-jamboree.

Who can say?