Texas Takeover Ending

The plummeting Bush approval ratings were to be expected as soon as he assumed the Presidency; the only surprise is that it took longer for the plummet to start. The attacks of 9/11 gave political legs to the most incompetent Administration since the 1920s. But with the military occupation of Iraq having turned into the shambles the Administration said would never happen, and with Bush seeming more interested in protecting the economic gains of the United Arab Emirates than in listening to the American people’s fears that he fanned, the legs seem to be coming out from under Bush.

Bush was handpicked by a Republican power elite to be their puppet President. The fact that he was obviously unprepared and incompetent made him that much more controllable by the puppeteers. Recall again the 2000 election and remember that not only did Al Gore get more votes than Bush, but Bush got the fewest votes for President of any Republican since Barry Goldwater was trounced by LBJ in 1964. To the advantage of Bush, Ralph Nader siphoned off Gore votes, the electoral college unfairly over-represents rural States, systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters in Florida was engineered by Bush’s brother and the Conservatives on the US Supreme Court by 5-4 interfered to stop the vote counting process in Florida and award the Presidency to Bush.

Bush assuming a cowboy image is as mythological as much else about Texas. We’ve never seen him on a horse and we know he never did an honest days work in his life. Most people outside of Texas probably assume the Crawford Ranch is in the same part of the State where Bush grew up. It is not. He grew up in the oil pumping community of West Texas, but Crawford is in East Texas, in the most conservative and reactionary part of the State, where George feels more at home. It is part of the Old South.

As Michael Lind points out in his excellent book, “Made in Texas”, the prevailing political mentality in Texas is rooted in the slaveholders who flocked to Texas after it became independent from Mexico. Independence had been won by a coalition of Southerners, Tejanos and liberal European immigrants. But the influx of more slaveholders from the South resulted in their expropriating the lands of the Tejanos, deporting the Indians, crushing the liberal European immigrants and exploiting the blacks. Texas always had a third world economy, based on exporting commodities. Roosevelt with the New Deal and World War II buildup gave Texas a more diverse economic base, and gave rise to liberal Texas Democrats such as LBJ. But as Republicans used civil rights legislation as a wedge issue, Texas went back to its political roots and Old South slaveholding and commodity exporting mentality.

Militarism has always been a big part of Southern mentality. Until the 1970s, the birthday of Robert E. Lee was a State holiday in Texas. Exploitation of persons of color has been another hallmark of Southern mentality. After the civil rights laws began to improve conditions for black workers in the 1960s, the Texas ruling oligarchy opened up Texas to the import of cheap labor from South of the border, legal or not.

The incompetent Southern militarism of the Bush Administration, with Texan General Tommy Franks leading the charge, has resulted in a totally botched occupation of Iraq, and to a lesser extent of Afghanistan. Osama is still “Osama been Forgotten”. Huge tax cuts for the rich have created the largest debt in history. America is on its way to becoming primarily a commodity exporter, like a third world economy, piling up huge trade deficits to Asian countries. Immigration from Mexico is being sought to keep wages depressed and to expand profits of the oligarchy. Ironically, racial prejudice of the Republican base is contributing to the Bush decline, with many of them opposed to America having more Mexican workers and a US ports operator from Arabia.

As Republicans running for re-election distance themselves from the failed Bush policies, one might wonder if they will revert back after the election. I have my doubts, since people seem definitely ready for a change from the Bush approach. Tom DeLay got a 62% vote in his primary, but that was 62% of the Republican voters, by far the lowest support he has ever received, with 38% of the Republicans saying they would rather not have him represent them in Congress any longer. But look how many of the Republican Presidential hopefuls come from the same Old South mentality that spawned Bush. It will be interesting to see if the Republicans nominate another Southerner in 2008, or go with someone different like Governor Romney of Massachusetts.

The Democrats probably will not take over control of either house of Congress as a result of the November elections, but Republicans in Congress will probably continue to move away from Bush after the elections. John McCain will never be a viable candidate in my opinion; his stunt in the recent Republican straw poll in Tennessee, asking his supporters to vote for Bush, was an embarrassment. The Democrats have a better shot at the Presidency in 2008 than they did in 2000, particularly if they have a center left candidate. Potential third party voters may have learned their lesson from 8 years of Bush, so especially if the Republicans do put up another Southerner, all progressive votes should go to the Democrat.