I'm through with you

I don't listen when George Bush speaks anymore.

First of all, he was never my president because I don't believe he ever was actually elected. Still, I used to watch the SOTU, stop flipping when I came upon the rare press conference, pay attention when he came up on the news. I like staying informed about what's going on, even consider it a matter of duty as a citizen to have some idea what my government is up to. But I came to the conclusion long ago that Bush lies every time he's in front of a microphone.

At first, I still looked in when he was on TV, just for the entertainment value. After all, you're never more than a moment away from a memorable flub in which Bush inadvertently says something unbelievably stupid. But that gets old, while the frustration that accompanies listening to someone you KNOW is lying to you is fresh every time it happens.

So I had to ignore my natural tendencies in order to skip his troop-escalation speech (the fact that we already knew what he was going to say after weeks of reports designed to mute the public reaction made it easier) and his 60 Minutes appearance.

But this just re-affirms my position.

It’s all a game of chicken with Iran, you see, to show the U.S. is not overcommitted, that we’re still the baddest ass superpower on the block. There’s no talk in the story of anything resembling military strategy; it’s the traditional show of force to get the bad guy to back off (with the emphasis on "show") -- and to "soften up" the American public for war with Iran.

Let’s get this straight: President Bush lied just five days ago when he told the American public the troop escalation was devised to help secure a chaotic country and protect its civilians.

Of course, that won't be much consolation when Bush starts the next world war.