The Laminated President

You may remember former president Ronald Reagan was sometimes referred to as the Teflon President because charges of malfeasance, or whatever, never seemed to stick. Certainly that slimy coating did not serve all his underlings quite as well. Many of them were implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal of the '80s, some were even convicted of such crimes as conspiracy, making false statements to Congress and obstructing congressional inquiries. However, as often happens among the elite of this deeply troubled nation, these bad players received only symbolic punishment, most even had their convictions overturned on technicalities or were pardoned by Bush I.

Their unfortunate return to power, to the White House, the Pentagon and other pissing posts the ruling class frequents in Washington, brings our attention back to their former association with the Teflon President and the man who presently holds his office. Emperior George W. Bush appears to have no such coating, instead it could be said that he is laminated. Charges DO stick to George Bush. He has repeatedly lied to the citizens of these United States and to both houses of congress in full public view. His dodges and inability to take responsibility for the mistakes or the outright horrors of his regime's policies are on display for all the world to see. The problem is that while the charges stck, his handlers cover them over with yet another layer of bullshit.

The guy is like an onion of deceit; the evil onion man. With a new laminate, applied by Karl Rove or Scott McClellan or Condi Rice or whomever, the emperor is remade. U.S. citizens, with their infamous 15-second attention span, are then treated to the next big thing: determined Bush flies back to White House to save Terri Schiavo; Bush boogies in Georgia; tough guy Bush backs the nuclear option; ad nausium. As a result all the sins seem forgotten and the Laminated President doesn't get busted.

Of course, this doesn't speak terribly well for the corporate media which in previous times would have hoisted this guy by his own petard long ago, as they did Nixon, making it near impossible for Mom & Pop America to ignore the obvious. Today, the slavish worship of glitter and dazzle and utter disregard for substance, not to mention the bottomline mentality in the front office, make for a very different mainstream media. The corporate media is for the most part, in fact, just another applicator for the Laminated President.

If there is any hope in this dim and sorry-ass picture perhaps it is this: laminates come undone when exposed to the elements. Keep your eye on the weather.