Monday, January 22, 2007
A Poem that the Warrior President will not Understand
THE END OF THE WAR
He came at midnight, both legs lopped off,
though his old wounds had long since healed.
He came through the third-story window--
I was struck with wonder at how he got in.
We'd lived though an age of calamity;
many had lost their closest kin.
In streets sown with shredded papers
the orphan survivors were skipping about.
I was frozen as crystal when he came.
He thawed me like pliant wax,
altered me even as the pall of night
turns into the feather of dawn.
His bold spirit translucent as mist
that streams from the morning clouds.
---Dahlia Ravikovitch
(Translated, from the Hebrew, by Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld)
©The New Yorker Dec.25,2006 & JAN 1,2007
President Bush will read a speech tomorrow evening. In the past his State of the Union addresses were received with almost manic enthusiasm by Republicans in Congress. They basked in the pomp and circumstances. Props were used by the White House. Ahmed Chalabi, who had played an important role in creating the myth about Saddam Hussein's WMD, was among the honored guests after the invasion began. Then Chalabi fell from grace. Props there will be but things have changed. The president's policy about Iraq no longer enjoys credibility. Worse, by a wide margin Americans consider him as being unable to steer the country in the right direction.
Death toll for soldiers is now at 3055, including 54 in this month. Visit Glenn Kutler's audio commenary (including photo gallery) in Newsweek.
Confidence in Bush Leadership at All-Time Low, Poll Finds Washington Post President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday at the weakest point of his presidency, facing deep public dissatisfaction over his Iraq war policies and eroding confidence in his leadership, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. With a major confrontation between Congress and the president brewing over Iraq, Americans overwhelmingly oppose Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to the conflict. By wide margins they prefer that congressional Democrats, who now hold majorities in both chambers, rather than the president, take the lead in setting the direction for the country. Iraq dominates the national agenda, with 48 percent of Americans calling the war the single most important issue they want Bush and the Congress to deal with this year. No other issue rises out of single digits. The poll also finds that the public trusts congressional Democrats over Bush to deal with the conflict by a margin of 60 percent to 33 percent. |
