Heck of a Job
“Heck of a job, Brownie!” George Bush said
to Michael Brown, who had famously botched
the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina,
in the inglorious summer of 2004.
And George said the same, in effect, later that year,
when he conferred on Paul Bremer III (who had
served for thirteen months as head of state of Iraq)
the coveted Presidential Medal of Freedom,
awarded – mind you – to citizens for “especially
meritorious contributions to the security or
national interests of the United States, to world peace,”
or to cultural or other significant…” And so on.
Thousands had died or were terribly maimed,
and billions had gone missing during Paul’s tenure.
And then, with one executive order, suave Paul,
wearing white shirt, no jacket, and a dark tie,
signed a document that, over night, dismissed
the Iraqi army, leaving thousands of officers and
men jobless, pissed, and restless – had, in effect,
gutted the nation, as if compelling the country
to commit hara kiri. Iraq’s guts are still steaming
in the dry, hot air of a nation whose reconstituted army
tends to run for its life when it faces an enemy,
even though trained at great expense by the U.S. Army.
And George has taken up painting in Texas and holds
exhibitions of his work, and Paul has taken up painting
in Vermont and holds exhibitions of his work, and didn’t
Shakespeare say “All’s well that ends well”? He did.
