A Quasi-Solicited Rant for Moustachioed Hostelkeeper on Leap Day

Background Summary: Not only did the mainstream media ignore President Bush's recent trip to Africa, they seemingly went out of their way to avoid explaining why exactly our President is so beloved on the continent.

I think if you polled centrists such as myself - guys who are unfairly painted as "Hardcore Republicans" because they don't take juvenile cracks at the President every chance they get - you would realize pretty quickly that our perceived adoration for George W. Bush has nothing to do with an ignorant, blanket acceptance of all of his policies and politics and everything to do with the fact we don't think he's been given a fair shake outside of a few exceptional weeks in September 2001.

The fact that early on, even major news networks did things not unlike Letterman's Great Moments in Presidential Speeches wasn't a huge deal until it began to overshadow things like the Administration's superb handling of the Hainan Island Incident and an intelligent debate on NCLB.

But it really went to hell after the Taliban and a certain terror organization they were harboring were systematically removed from Afghanistan and scattered to the far corners of Waziristan, Iraq, and North Africa. Most rational people can't truly find fault in Bush's quasi-decision to spend a few extra minutes at that Florida elementary school on the morning of 9/11 in order to deliver a quick statement to the American people as the scope of the attack was revealed. But I'm often incredulous when I hear otherwise intelligent political junkies label Bush as 'asleep at the wheel' in August 2001. Any political romantic will always want the Commander in Chief to channel Harry Truman and his famous wooden sign, but in modern politics, to blame a President for the mistakes and oversights of countless field agents in countless organizations, both federal and civilian, reeks of partisanship. And just as ludicrous 9/11 conspiracy theories have to come to embody the collective inquest of confused, scared individuals attempting to explain the unexplainable, I feel the media's concerted, yet half-hearted attempt to turn an unremarkable memorandum that spoke of nothing more than Al-Qaeda's perpetual desire to inflict harm upon Americans into something much more significant than it actually was, at its core, speaks to that same haunting question - Why?

(Sidebar: I've always found it deliciously hypocritical that the same people who cite the infamous memo as an unforgivable failure of the Bush Administration are usually the same people who relentlessly mock the color-coded threat level system devised by the Department of Homeland Security. While even proponents of the system question its usefulness when an increased alert translates into increased resources and preventive measures being devoted not only to New York and Washington, but Boise and Billings; it's undoubtedly a case of erring on the side of caution when there's increased terrorist chatter and legitimate intelligence).

Eventually, the memo controversy gave way to another pseudo-story that hinged upon what where rumored to be intercepted radio communications between desperate/confused Al-Qaeda grunts and what sounded like the voice of Osama Bin Laden at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001 What most people seem to forget (including myself), is that this whole 'Tora Bora as infallible ammunition against what had only months earlier been the Administration's strong-suit' thing was borne and propagated out of the mouths of Gary Bernsten and Al Gore - One trying to sell a book, the other... Well, who the hell knows exactly what Al Gore's life was all about after he lost the White House and before he put together that infamous PowerPoint presentation?

After that story died down, the media was presented with an Afghanistan that was no longer ruled by the Taliban, where Al-Qaeda was relegated to the border region and a handful of 'death rattle' attacks after the thaw, and where for the first time in ages, the country is part of a global, democratic community. Instead of even categorizing Afghanistan as even a minor success, we only hear about the country when there's bad news, when a self-important Wolf Blitzer puts a smirk on and 'presses' GOP candidates on the whereabouts of a man who is logistically irrelevant (or dead), or when extreme left-wingers label it as nothing more than one of 'Bush's Wars,' whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. We all know Afghanistan is not an unbridled success – Again, violence increases every spring, even in Kabul, and although I’m not really sure coalition forces should be acting as DEA officers, the country's poppy production is increasing exponentially. But to outright ignore the positives here is unforgivable and indicative of a larger problem.

It's a similar story in Iraq. Everyone knows our plan of attack didn't account for the insurgency that would follow the initial military victory and toppling of the Hussein regime. These holes have been exploited relentlessly over the past few years with tragic results for Iraqis and American soldiers alike. But what was once an unmitigated disaster has recently turned into something much more optimistic. And this change can be measured in much more than the number of purple fingers journalists are getting - Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers, even if you are hesitant to say the surge has been successful, say violence is significantly down. But instead of zeroing in on this sea change; exploring the how and the why and what it all means to our future there, the media would rather ignore the story altogether.

To that end, I’ve listened to countless journalists tell me over the past few weeks of this Presidential election that healthcare is the most important issue facing voters this November. Healthcare. Just as it would have been unfathomable in September 2007 to say the Eli Manning would lead a Super Bowl-winning, 75 yard drive against Bill Belichick’s 18-0 New England Patriots, can you imagine what your reaction would have been in September 2001 if somebody told you healthcare would be the country’s biggest concern in 2008? Obviously, you would have assumed the US and her allies had fared well in quelling the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism.

It just strikes me as odd that a national media which was so "responsible" in demanding the firing of Donald Rumsfeld, the capture of Uday And Qusay Hussein, free democratic elections, the capture of their father, the death of al-Zarqawi, the elimination of Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s free-reign and resources in the countryside, and finally a desire for General Petraeus and the Pentagon to formulate some sort of organized battle plan to tackle the insurgency head-on, is conspicuously silent now that of the benchmarks they took the liberty of creating for the Bush Administration have been met.

But the whole body is flawed, and every day provides a shining new example - Just look at their treatment of Fidel Castro's resignation. This is an event that we've been waiting 9 Presidents and half a century for and less than 24 hours after the fact CNN has deemed stories ranging from a lunar eclipse to Hello Kitty backpacks to Clinton snubbing Obama on a congratulatory call as more news-worthy. They know absolutely no shame.

Listen Mustachioed Hostelkeeper, we lived through the Lewinsky scandal, the "great shark attack outbreak of 2004," and countless other media circuses, so I know there's a lot wrong with the American media in its current form just as I know I'm naive to think that every man who seeks the Presidency is a decent man who genuinely has our country's best interests in mind. But when the media makes a concerted effort to ignore an Administration's successes (be it a result of their own individual politics or an ugly desire to boost ratings), it has a direct impact on how its consumers perceive the Presidency. Consequently, it has a direct impact on the future of this nation.

So nevermind the inroads we've made in Africa. Nevermind the aforementioned successes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nevermind the fact that Al-Qaeda, however splintered it may be, has been denied the leadership, resources, and safe-havens that would be necessary to concoct an attack that could even come close to 9/11. Hell, let's even gloss over the fact there hasn't been any kind of domestic follow-up attack in 7 years with a laughably transparent "Well, terror attacks take a long time to plan" line. Nope, let's just pit everyone against each other so we can produce fluff pieces on how 'divisive' American politics has become, focus exclusively the negatives in Bush policy, and hold our breath until the general election (While doing everything in our power to make sure anyone who doesn't vote for our guy is embarrassed to even suggest they'd vote for Clinton, McCain, or Nader).

At the end of the day, this attitude is so much more than counterproductive, its ingenuous and dangerous. But maybe more than anything else, it's irresponsible. And isn't universal accountability that what the media is supposed to be about in the first place?

Good afternoon and good luck.

The Watergate

Its name is synonymous with the kind of slow-burning, excruciatingly public decay only a vintage Beltway political scandal can deliver. Of course, it was here where our disenchantment with the Presidency began in earnest; where the events that would eventually unravel both the political career and sanity of Richard M. Nixon were set in motion. 25 years later, a young White House intern at the heart of another major scandal that rocked the foundations of American politics would spend months in veritable hiding at her parents’ posh suite in the upper reaches of the South building.

Before the Watergate became infamous, it was famous. Its stark modernity and sophistication, which pervaded everything from its aesthetics to residents to clientele, garnered the Luigi Moretti creation international praise. Today, this sleekness has given way to an unshakable sense of irrelevancy - The architecture and décor is drab and dated, silver-haired residents toting toy poodles routinely go weeks at a time without leaving the grounds, the once luxurious hotel is indefinitely shuttered, and only a handful of stores remain in what was once an exclusive enclave of street-level boutiques. The sheer number of politicians, lobbyists, and social elite that called the Watergate home once lent it the nickname ‘White House West.’ Today, Cheney’s motorcade screams down Virginia Avenue in a daily blur while an endless stream of cabs carries well-heeled tourists to something newer, trendier, and generally more pertinent just around the bend in Georgetown. Even the incessant air traffic to and from Reagan National, just downriver, lends an unshakable feeling that time has passed this place by.

The splotchy grey concrete mirrors the inherent dreariness and melancholy of overcast days. And after the sun dips down over what has become a crowded Rosslyn skyline just across the Potomac, this feeling becomes palpable. It seems like every tenant turns in by 9pm; on this evening in particular, the flickering blue light of a television left on in some penthouse is about the only reminder that the building even exists. This certainly provides a contrast to the arresting luminosity of the adjacent George Washington University graduate dorm. Perpetually adorned with Christmas lights and homemade political signs, the building exudes youthful optimism (and, judging from the steady take-out delivery traffic, bad eating habits).

This contrast has not gone unnoticed by long-time Watergate residents, and on long lines at the Complex’s basement Safeway, they can barely contain their contempt for the encroaching youth. As annoying as the 'GW World' card and the havoc it wreaks on the store’s ancient cash registers can be, it is no reason to mutter curses under your breath; treat the cashiers in a sub-human matter. What is most striking about these daily passive aggressive battles is the fact Watergate residents are not ignorant to the all-inclusive deterioration, just indifferent. In a vestige of what once was, a sense of entitlement mixes with the quiet desperation of old age and we get a somber yet familiar view of what both the Watergate and the people who inhabit it have become – D.C. veterans unraveling before our very eyes.