The Linear Canvas

After September 11th, it seemed that President Bush could conceivably be president for life. His job approval at that time was around 90 percent. Personally my views of George Bush have never changed. For a time it was impossible to disagree with those that wrapped themselves in the American flag regardless of their contempt for those that expressed viewpoints that were in opposition to those expressed by the president and his followers. The example was of course, the country music singers The Dixie Chicks. One person remarked that what happened to The Dixie Chicks was the price they paid for free speech. Not only was that a ridiculous remark to make about free speech, it is the most un-American remark an American could make. It is only the foolish or uneducated among us that would say such things, and believe them too.

With the election coming up this year, President Bush finds himself in a situation that he could not have predicted even one year ago. His administration?s obvious preference for those that have wealth and influence finally is becoming a factor in how America sees its current administration.

Recent admissions by government officials about the inability to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, have made many former supporters of the administration begin to question whether they have been told the truth by the president and his faux-Republicans that have occupied the White House since the coup of 2000. It is becoming more possible that the intentions of the White House in destroying Iraq were not as honorable as previously thought.

With this turn of events, the situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically. The one thing that Americans do not understand about the Muslim extremists is that their goal is not to overthrow the United States government, but to bring fundamentalist Muslim religion to power in all countries of the Middle East. They believe that involving America in this struggle means to make United States an unwilling partner in the destruction of somewhat friendly regimes that the terrorists would prefer to overthrow so that an Islamic government could be put in place there.

These Islamic extremists are not so much unlike American conservative religious groups that want to bring religion into public schools and government in the United States. In some ways these groups, both Christian and Muslim, have the same goals and could be seen as the same people, only differing in the language that they speak. Both groups have agendas that include violence and the overthrow of secular government.

The question at this point is what exactly Osama Bin Laden and his followers will do to protect George Bush from defeat in 2004? I?d guess that the likelihood of another terrorist attack before the election is very high. The outcome of the attack could be very minor compared to September 11th and still be effective. It would not need to be very deadly, but if a suicide bomber were to strike before the election, it is possible that the president could prevail in November in the same manner that his popularity was raised with the first attack by terrorists.

This strategy could also backfire on the terrorists who depend on American aggression to fuel anger against the United States in their bid to overthrow secular government in the Middle East. Americans could see the attack as evidence that the president was unable or unwilling to make changes to the intelligence gathering services so that an attack would have been detected and prevented. It depends on how the media reports the incident and how close to the election it occurs. There is no doubt that media ownership, especially News Corp and Viacom have much to lose if George Bush loses the election. There are many people, including some inside the administration, who could face jail time if their actions are scrutinized by an unfriendly administration. But if the public opinion is against the president, both companies will have to report the incidents as failures of the administration policy and leadership that they would truly be.

Osama Bin Laden is the best friend George Bush has in the coming election. To capture him before the election could help the president?s campaign, but depending on timing, that might allow American?s to focus on what truly is George Bush?s greatest failure, how he has wrecked our economy and polarized our country.