President Bush, barricaded in the White House, is threatening dire consequences for innocent bystanders — the troops — if his demands aren’t met.and
He’s just betting that the people outside the barricade care more than he does about the fate of those innocent bystanders.Krugman goes on to compare Bush's consistent refusal to include Iraq spending in the real budget and inevitable subsequent demands for supplemental budgets to an adolescent who keeps on spending his parents money and then running back for more. Some might say that's an accurate depiction of his adventures in the business world, but that's neither here nor there.
Did you ever watch COPS or one of those "best car chase ever" shows where if the person had pulled over immediately and cooperated they would've gotten a comparatively minor sentence to the one they'll receive after wreaking havoc on the highways? That's essentially what Bush is doing right now. He knows he's caught, but he's betting that if he can only make it to the border - or January 2009 as it may be - he can't really be held responsible. So he's running for it. And the other cars on the freeway being run off the road and crashing to avoid him are being driven by our troops. Maybe that metaphor's too ridiculous, but there's no other way to read Bush's absolute refusal to pull over, even though he sees the majority of the country in his rear view mirror with our sirens on and lights flashing, and a strip of Congressional tire spikes up ahead.
