'I AM NOT A COMMUNICATOR' NO, UM, 'I AM NOT A TRUTH-TELLER' UH, GOSH 'I AM NOT A SENSITIVE HUMAN BEING'

TBTM Commentary By John Buchanan

It was reminiscent of Richard Nixon's meltdown in the spring of 1974, in his infamous 'I am not a crook' response to a scathing query from Dan Rather, at a Watergate press conference staged at a National Association of Broadcasters convention in Houston. As he sweat profusely from his brow, and fumbled for a response, Nixon brought himself down in a fashion worthy of Shakespeare's King Lear.

When asked whether he would apologize to the American people for his administration's failure to protect them on 9/11, George W. Bush evaded the question and failed to give a genuine answer. When asked whether he had made mistakes since 9/11, he evaded the question and failed to give a genuine answer. When pummeled by the final question, from the usually ignored National Public Radio correspondent, he evaded the question and failed to give an honest response.

Instead, what the American people, the world, the Iraqi people, the families of the victims of 9/11 and his ill-advised 'preemptive' invasion saw, in plain view, was arrogance, plain and simple.

But the phony cowboy swagger with which he strode to the podium survived the hour intact - and for it, George W. Bush will lose his job at the polls in November if he is not impeached before that.

Along with the Big 3 questions already referenced, he also refused to admit that he had lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and exaggerated Saddam Hussein's danger to the U.S.

Instead he reverted, in his moment of Nixonian duress, to an old lie. Months after admitting publicly that there was 'no evidence' to link Saddam to Al Qaeda, he resuscitated his old, false claim anew and characterized Hussein as 'a major ally' of Al Qaeda.

After his own CIA had admitted on the record that there was no evidence of any relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda, he invoked the fallen nation as 'the central theater in the war on terror.' He failed to admit that there were no terrorists in Iraq until he invaded the country and ignited a post-9/11 brushfire of new Islamist hatred for America.

With arrogance worthy of Lear, when asked whether he was willing to 'risk his job' for his convictions about continuing his disastrous war in Iraq, he stated, briskly in one of the few moments where he showed any real signs of life, that he would not lose his job, that the American people would 'understand' what he is trying to do and get the message.

A few minutes later, in the wake of repeated questions about his falling poll numbers and declining public support for his Iraqi adventure to profit Halliburton, Dyncorp and the rest of the war profiteer predators that form the basis of his 'neocon' support base, he walked into the left hook of the 'communication' question from NPR.

Somewhere from the bleak cosmological dimension where fallen public officials take silent refuge after death, Richard Nixon must have been smiling, for he, like we the people, had just witnessed one of the most embarrassing, dishonest and self-destructive public performances in history by a sitting President of the United States - referring under stress to Donald Rumsfeld as 'Secretary of State' and fumbling for words while he stared lamely off toward the gilded ceilings of the White House East Room.

One can only wonder what Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice and Andy Card must have thought from their seats, where they huddled alongside one another and watched as their boss finally let us see his true nature.

He clearly has no solution to the Iraqi crisis, he painted himself into a corner by guaranteeing that the June 30 deadline for the handover and power to unnamed members of 'the Iraqi people' would be met at all costs, and, in the end, he tried to make the innate force of the bully pulpit substitute for character or simple honesty.

He rarely looked us in the eye. He knew better.

Finally, he showed what millions of Americans have known since the 2000 election - that he is unfit for office. Now it is time for us to make sure he gets that message.

God willing, Bush will join Nixon among the most infamous and incorrigible liars in the history of the U.S. Presidency, and we the people will be spared from four more years of a war criminal and Constitutional tyrant.

John Buchanan is a journalist and investigative reporter who resides in Miami Beach, Florida. He can be reached by e-mail at jtwg@bellsouth.net.