Looking Forward in the New Year

When you meet the president, you ask yourself, "How did it ever occur to anyone that he should be governor, much less president?"
Henry Kissinger (1923 - ), German-born U.S. politician and diplomat, referring to Ronald Reagan.

The Misanthrope is wondering how George Bush’s second term can be much worse than the first term. We suppose if he turns his attention toward domestic issues such as Social Security, than we are in trouble. We suspect he’ll be too busy untangling his foreign policy debacles to really pay much attention domestically.

As reported in the Washington Post’s article “Bush Is Urged to Quickly Outline Foreign Policy Goals,” here is what the Bush administration and the country can look forward to as the year progresses:

• Bush has less global flexibility post-Iraq
• Broad resistance to U.S. leadership initiatives
• Diminished U.S. influence in Europe, Asia and the Middle East
• Demonstrable limits on assembling 'coalitions of the willing
• Stretched U.S. forces and skepticism about America's veracity and competence

In Iraq, the process that begins with elections could vindicate or undermine the Bush doctrine, analysts say. "We could be on the cusp of an historic moment in the Middle East where you really do have a breaking of the cycle of dictatorship, radicalism and terrorism and the beginning of a move toward sustainable, reasonable regimes in the region," said William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard.

"If things go badly, it's a whole different story and then we'll need to rethink military strategy and troop levels and do whatever it takes. But then we end up being preoccupied for the next year with Iraq -- and it gets harder to make progress on other fronts."

Is this anyway to run a country? Let’s hope the president uses his political capital wisely.