George is basically a friendly, pleasant, incompetent man who by serendipity attained a position high enough consistent with Peter's principle. He was a congressional aide, well meaning, but with marginal experience in intelligence. He like his predecessor fell into a position by default, was confirmed because of a policy of honor amongst congressional thieves and served as a sycophant. Being out of his depth in matters of intelligence, he could not execute policies, but was willing to sacrifice critical analysis to twist briefings to align with prevailing winds, when it came to Iraq. Interested readers should read Stephen Coll's Ghost Wars and Richard Clarke's book and the 9-11 commission panel's testimony hearings. The coming report is likely to be scathingly critical of the CIA and FBI. The dismal situation in Iraq and the possible involvement of the intelligence community in the Iraq prison tortures needed a scapegoat to deflect criticism and responsibility from his namesake with similar qualities. The question arises whether he fell on his sword out of a sense of honor, guilt or because he reached the end of his tether, or was he pushed to commit hara-kiri to save the higher ups. In either case it is consistent with the pre-emptive doctrine espoused by another George.

Interestingly the very name George means farmer. Clearly there are farmers and there are farmers. We have had farmers like Washington, Adams and Jefferson who were presidents of distinction and served the country exemplarily in its trying times of need. This time by the sheer luck of the draw the old custom has given us a peasant, who belongs back at the border in Texas where he can brandish his ten-gallon hat devoid of content. The parallels between the Georges are striking. The bumbling dyslexic is pleasantly stupid, equally incompetent, and was thrust into a chair far beyond his capability. He appealed to the Christian right to avenge the wrongs done to his competent father by a philandering Clinton in the 1992 election. He failed to cash in on the prevailing goodwill despite spending enormous sums collected by his cronies from vested interests and having a wooden decoy Gore as his opponent. As has been the script of his life, he had to call in his father's buddies (this time James Baker) to rescue him from another of his failures and appeal to a loaded Supreme Court. The Court consistent with prior precedents from Dred Scott, Lochner and a myriad such travesties of justice appointed the anointed to the presidency.

His policy of appointing industry executives and lobbyists to regulatory posts is like having the fox guard the chicken coop. His reneging on the Kyoto, landmine, International Court of Justice, Comprehensive Test Ban and other treaties has alienated our longstanding allies and his Middle East policies have made lifelong enemies of Islamic nations, while promoting the agenda of terrorists. He has single handedly in a short span of time led to the loss of American leadership, credibility and set us on a path of moral and financial bankruptcy. Those of you who read Paul Krugman's and Maureen Dowd's columns in The New York Times are familiar with the litany of his sins. My only hope is that the exodus of one George is the beginning of a trend. He, as Nancy Pelosi and many others have said is in the wrong chair. He sat down when at a convenient time, a gang of five stopped the music (counting). I hope America will pull the right lever to consign him back to his farm in Crawford where he belongs. We are a compassionate people and do not wish to impeach him. He can ride into the sunset, fade into oblivion and allow the nation to heal by expunging the shameful period of his tenure from memory and history and take the first steps to restore the tattered and soiled fabric of the nation's reputation, credibility, strength and finances. His tenets are best flushed down the drain and it is paramount to mete the same treatment to others of his Republican cabal, if there is any hope of saving the country. To paraphrase and modify what Richard Nixon used to say, 'This time vote as if your life and those of your children and grandchildren depends on it'. No DeLay!