There has been some controversy over whether $40M or more should have been spent on the president’s inauguration what with the tsunami disaster and the war in Iraq going on. Laura Bush defended the lavish celebration as part of our nation’s history and besides, she reminded us, it’s good for the economy.
It is important to note that when a Bush talks about helping the economy, they are usually leaving out 99 percent of us.
Let’s be fair to the president and Mrs. Bush. Much of the cost of the celebration came not from taxpayers but from corporate donors. People in political power know that there is always some corporation ready and willing to foot the bill for one of their pet projects. In Pennsylvania, this is known as the Vince Fumo Principle.
And so it is that the major corporations of America, freed from having to contribute to both political candidates now that the election is over, can concentrate on just pleasing the winner. Some cynics claim this is nothing short of a political bribe. Latin scholars might call it a "quid pro quo."
Actually, in this case, the "quid" is out in the open but the "pro quo" is likely to occur in the natural course of conducting the nation’s business — so there is nothing illegal about it, just the American way of conducting the nation’s business no matter which party is in power.
There is a minor detail about paying for the massive security that an inauguration in the midst of a war against terrorism entails. For some not immediately recognizable reason, corporate America did not foot the bill for protecting Mr. Bush and the rest of our nation’s leaders against a suicide bomber in search of 72 virgins. Bush wanted that little bit of a burden to come out of the funds for homeland security allotted for the District of Columbia.
The mayor of D.C. is chagrined. After all, he has had enough problems explaining to his voters why it was necessary to use largely taxpayer funds to entice the Montreal Expos to become part of the pathetic baseball tradition in D.C. Then he had to turn back the money he got from the feds to protect the Washington Monument and the rest of the capital’s tourist attractions in order to protect the weenies who run the country.
Traditionally there was a separate pot of money that the feds doled out for inauguration security, but the Bushies are tax-cut addicts looking for quick fixes, and the temptation to raid D.C. is too tempting to pass up. During the Clinton years, a D.C. mayor had to hide his good-looking daughters; during the Bush years, that mayor has to put his hand on his wallet.
Inauguration speeches are usually more interesting than the Inauguration Ball, except when Lyndon Johnson was president. (It was LBJ who considered himself quite the ladies’ man, kind of a Clinton with large ears). This second inaugural speech was quite a challenge to the Bush speechwriters, and truth is likely to be the first casualty. We’re not likely to hear George W. Bush make the JFK appeal for us to sacrifice as Americans for the common good.
Consider that we are supposed to be in the midst of a war against terrorism while our gas-guzzling habits continue to feed the terrorists. Yet if there is any symbol of the Bush era, it is the Hummer. (Columnist’s note: Some would say the hummer was also a symbol of the Clinton era, but that is another story not for a family newspaper.)
The president has sold us on the notion that our American birthright is cheap gas and tax cuts. The notion of "sacrifice" is considered subversive for Bush Republicans, kind of like environmentalism, folk songs and Volvos.
This is not to say that there aren’t Americans out there who have been asked to sacrifice in the cause of freedom. It’s just that they are not a big percentage of the population.
These unlucky Americans are called reservists and National Guard. Yes, these are the very same Americans who have served a couple of tours of duty and put their lives at risk and on hold so that the politicians can avoid the nastiness of instituting a draft. By the end of this year, their tours of duty will be up. And that is rather inconvenient for President Bush, for we are still in the midst of trying to secure the road from Baghdad to the airport after two years.
So, unfortunately for these same reservists and Guard, the president is likely to ask Congress to extend their tours of duty at year’s end in the cause of freedom and political necessity.
Just sit back and enjoy the dancing and the celebrating in Washington tonight, when seldom will be heard a discouraging word — especially a word like "sacrifice."
That is, unless you’re a man or woman in uniform.
