By: Mary Lyon

Honest-to-Pete, you’d think he’d have caught on by now.

We’re ONTO you, George. More of us are onto you every day. We’re not impressed by your speeches. They all sound the same, filled with the same phony baloney. Well, there is one slight variation in this last one. As I watched Dubya’s speech before a subdued military audience in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, I was amazed at the brazenness of the wording – the stealth connection repeatedly drawn between Iraq and September 11th. Oh, no. Excuse me. It’s “September THE Eleventh, 2001.” Suddenly we have an extra “the” in there. I suppose that’s Junior’s way of adding a little manufactured gravitas to that infamous date.

It’s a challenge to find the words to describe just how infuriating that is, made even moreso by the fact that there still are people around the country who’ll buy into it. They’re very clever, those White House speechwriters. They’ve left Bush a wide-open back door through which he can slither to safety anytime somebody accuses him of brazenly, and deceitfully, linking the Iraqis to those who actually planned and carried out the attacks on the World Trade Center. He can always hide behind the technical disclaimer – “oh, goodness, no, I NEVER said Saddam was responsible for 9/11. Oh yes, and did I say 9/11? Well, in case I didn’t, then September THE Eleventh.” The problem here comes with his use of such language gymnastics as “the murderers in Iraq have the same ideology as those who attacked us.” The unsuspecting listener will automatically and subconsciously build the bridge between the two unconnected and unrelated entities and come away believing they’re virtually one and the same. Slick, isn’t it? And as usual, he doesn’t break a sweat while others do all the heavy lifting. Pretty nimble antics with semantics, and you hardly even see his lips move.

It’s a pleasant surprise that this is even brought up in the aftermath of Bush’s speech – that it would even be questioned in the next day’s White House press briefing, or that people are openly complaining about it – because they’re seeing through it. That is one of the good things coming out of the evening. Growing numbers of Americans aren’t being fooled anymore. They’ve learned the routine, they’ve heard all the one-liners and buzz phrases and talking points ad nauseam, and seen the tricks played on them often enough that they’ve started to wise up. It’s as though everyone has now graduated to the upper division sparring class because they’re well-trained, by now, to be alert for what kind of punches are coming at them. They know what to watch for. And, increasingly, how to respond.

George evidently has yet to get that. Which is a fortunate thing. I hope he keeps on blathering with his sneaky verbal Twister games. The longer he does, the more the rest of us are seeing through it. For those of us who always knew or suspected that there is no “there” there with him, it’s gratifying to realize that more Americans are joining us. More people every day are waking up to the fact that the emperor has no clothes. There’s no substance of substance to him. He’s not only empty-headed, he’s completely transparent. And that will be his legacy. His lies, deceptions, manipulations, distortions, smoke-and-mirror shows, and various Texas Tall Tales aren’t working for him anymore. He’s a lame duck and then some. George Bush is the See-Through President.

Those of us in the opposition had many things to anticipate with this speech, and we got most of them. Beginning with an hour of foolish fun, for example. Gallows humor after a fashion, I suppose. I know of a number of people who planned various drinking games to chronicle the most frequently used stale, non-reality-based excessively-familiar platitudes. And man, was there ever over-usage. One hapless soul wound up hitting the scotch bottle 42 times – one drink for every time Bush referenced “the terrorists.” Reckless, yes, but somehow appropriate, since Bush’s performance in office so far has been enough to drive almost any citizen of the real world to drink. Others designed bingo cards with various stock Bush-babblings in each square that you could put a marker on for points every time he said one of them. The center square was my favorite: “ANY mispronunciation or fumbled word – except nukuler.” Of course, Dubya didn’t disappoint on that score, either, offering us at least two “nukuler’s” in a row in case you didn’t catch the first one. If it weren’t for my need to take notes, I even considered an exercise program. It might go something like this: a set of push-ups for every mention of the word “tyranny;” a round of leg lunges for each “freedom;” squats for every “democracy;” hip thrusters for any derivative of “it’s hard work;” and eight ab crunches for each “terror” reference. I knew he’d pound that word to death, so my abs would get a nice, long, and continuous workout from the beginning of his remarks to the end. A group of us even had a poll going – with the use of the word “terrorists” getting the most votes – 15, to nine votes for 9/11 references. As expected, the phrase that earned the fewest votes was – “it was all a huge mistake and I humbly beg your forgiveness.” Heck, we all KNEW that one wouldn’t be in the speech. Too bad, too, because that was the most essential, important, and honest statement he could have made.

But aside from all this, and beyond Bush’s refusal to grow up, own up, and ‘fess up to his lies about the war, what’s most galling is that I’d even find myself writing a paragraph like the one just above. When the president speaks to the nation about something as grave as war, it is truly pathetic that such a serious topic has been reduced in people’s minds like this. George has made a total mockery of it. He’s become a joke, and everything he says and does has also become a joke. Even the war. His cheap and sneaky attempts to plant subliminal (or if he were to say it, I guess “subliminable”) links between Saddam, al Qaeda, and 9/11 in America’s collective consciousness, the war he lied to us about, his choice to scare us into supporting the reckless decisions he’d already made but loudly claimed he was trying to avoid, and the fact that the next round number of American casualties (that we even know of) will be TWO THOUSAND, is all just one big, bad joke.

Did we expect any acknowledgment of the truths that finally broke through in the Downing Street Memos? Of course not. And that’s a shame. That’s one of the first topics he should have addressed after an opening mea culpa. Did we hear any apologies for the shredding of America’s integrity all over the world – as other countries’ citizens look at the photos from Abu Ghraib and hear about the outrageous treatment of prisoners in Gitmo, and learn to sneer at our lofty pontifications about freedom and democracy? Did we hear him list the names of his political appointees whose resignations he’s demanded in punishment for their lies, distortions, exaggerations, lousy judgment, poor planning, and questionable ethics? Did we hear him describe the penance those individuals will now have to do, as they are finally held accountable for their crimes? Did we hear him confess to his own lies, failures, and hypocrisy, and how he, too, is ready to be held accountable for all of them? His people have certainly demanded apologies from every political opponent with a hangnail out of line. But it seems apologies are like the rules, common decency, and the respectable canons of international law with this bunch – such things simply don’t apply to them.

One statement in particular struck me like a two-by-four across the face: “if evil is not confronted, it gains in strength and audacity…and can strike again.” As my teenage daughter would say, “no DUH!” Except that I’m sure Bush didn’t realize the bitter irony of that statement. When I heard him utter it, I was immediately confused – was he still talking about all those mean ol’ terr’rists, or was he talking about himself and his fellow republi-CONS, and the reign of domestic terror they’ve inflicted on America since they “took” office in 2001? That statement sounded a lot more relevant to our leadership here than it does to any Islamic fanatic. Well, we’re happy to take a page from your speech, George, because you’re correct at least that far. Evil DOES have to be confronted, or else it decides it has a free ride to run amok.

That’s what you see now in the poll numbers – as more and more Americans wake up from this five-year nightmare and realize what sins have been committed in their name. That’s what you’re going to see as more people complain to the media about how the truth in the Downing Street Memos and so much else has been suppressed because your ruthless pals intimidated our so-called watchdogs and turned them into lapdogs. That’s why all that purported “political capital” you planned to spend after last November’s election has been squandered already, and there are endless bills still to pay. That’s why your ambitious agenda full of scams and snake oil has run aground, with little hope of being salvaged. Gee whiz, George, you’re actually facing not getting your way – a whole lot – maybe for the first time in your entire coddled little life. And you’re on track to get far more besides. That’s also why you’re going to be hearing growing numbers of people daring to invoke the dreaded “I” word: Impeachment. Evil IS finally being confronted.

It’s because your tricks are old, tired, and as phony as that little choking-up routine you threw in at the end of your Fort Bragg speech, George. If you really ached for the troops you sent to die for a lie in Iraq, you’d stop the madness of our involvement over there and bring the rest of them home. You’d allow coverage of the returning body bags and flag-draped coffins to Dover Air Force Base, and maybe you’d even go there to meet them when they arrived. And you’d find a way to carve out a few precious moments from your busy schedule to honor their sacrifice by attending some of their funerals. It’s in the job description of commander-in-chief, after all.

More and more of us are seeing through all that, Georgie dear. We know the truth about you and about what you’ve done. Those of us who warned against your follies from the beginning are the ones now being vindicated by the facts. And our numbers are growing before your very eyes. You’re beyond a lame duck at this early stage of your second term. You’re the See-Through President. The slickest speechwriters in the world can’t disguise or spin that. And they couldn’t possibly come up with a more fitting slogan or buzz phrase for your personal legacy.

Mary Lyon spent the first 25 years of her adult life as a broadcast journalist, at Los Angeles radio stations KRTH-FM, KFWB-AM, KHJ-AM and KLOS-FM, the NBC, ABC, and RKO Radio Networks, plus KTLA-TV. She retired from day-to-day broadcasting in 1996, after covering Hollywood for nine years in radio, TV, and print, for the Associated Press. She wrote and illustrated "The Frazzled Working Woman's Practical Guide to Motherhood," and is presently at work on a new craft book for kids and friends. A lifelong Democrat who began her political involvement in the Student Coalition for Humphrey-Muskie, and Tom Bradley's first L.A. Mayoral campaign, Mary currently is a weekly columnist for www.democrats.us - from the Left.