George W. Bush's Parasitic Existence

George W. Bush has always led a charmed life.

Bush family connections kept him out of the Vietnam war, after exclusive educational experiences – having nothing to do with his own intellectual capabilities -- at Andover Prep, Yale University and Harvard Business School.

His lackluster business ventures were successfully overcome by relationships with wealthy people, all anxious to get one step closer to the Bush dynasty, the Saudi Royal Family and contacts throughout the oil and defense industries.

And he was handed the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 in a preordained piece of theater, interrupted only by John McCain's attempt to go against the grain – for which McCain was soundly trashed by his own party. The icing on the cake for Bush, was having a right-wing faction of the U.S. Supreme Court install him as president with a discredited "equal protection" argument and total disregard for the true will of American voters.

Bush was then handed the phrase he has used ever since: "September 11."

The president's honeymoon with the American people had ended quickly in 2001 and, by late summer, Bush's approval ratings had fallen into the 50 to 52 percent range, with signs that they would go lower. Bush's approval numbers went through the roof after Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda attacked us and the entire White House, cabinet and Republican party have spent the last four years invoking 9/11 at every turn – including raising terror alert levels every time they've wanted to give the president's poll numbers a boost.

And somehow, despite the 9/11 Commission and Senate Intelligence Committee making it clear that there was no link between Saddam Hussein, Iraq and the horrible events of 2001, Team Bush has managed to milk that phantom connection and continue to mislead a large segment of the American public.

Thanks to Cindy Sheehan, the Downing Street Memos, an army of relentless liberal bloggers, revelations that his senior political advisor outed a covert CIA agent and millions of citizens just flat-out tiring of their democracy being hijacked, Bush's blessed existence really has seemed to be running out of steam.

But then the skies and the levees opened down South and Hurricane Katrina dealt a hideous blow to the lives of millions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Americans, being who they are, will embrace our Southern brothers and sisters, donate millions and, for the religious among us, send a ton of prayer in their direction.

And once again, George W. Bush will overcome adversity – except this time, as with September 11, his salvation will come from a national tragedy and from the despair of others. With the mainstream media having turned strangely single-threaded during this administration, they will find little time to report on anything that isn't related to the hurricane or its aftermath for weeks to come.

Karl Rove's criminal acts, the John Roberts' Supreme Court nomination and the continued debacle that is the Iraq war will be also-ran stories until at least mid October or beyond. And the only thing capable of taking today's sorry excuse for journalism out of hurricane coverage will be if Natalee Holloway turns up or if another homecoming queen is reported missing.

The only hope of bringing Bush's failed presidency back into public view in the coming weeks would be if Michael Jackson or Scott Peterson were suddenly implicated in the outing of Valerie Plame.

Until then, Bush will continue to coast along unscathed by the consequences of his actions and content to survive not on his wits or merit, but on the favoritism of a few, the ignorance of some and the suffering and misery of many.