What To Do About Colombia?



(image via nylatinojournal)

Actions have consequences. And the President's thick-headed unilateralism, strong-arming the Democrats over the Iraq War, ignoring the protests of millions the world over, culminated in a humiliating dismissal of the Colombia free trade agreement. Granted, Democratic party campaign politics has something to do with it -- hard-hit industrial states and the working-class union vote -- but mostly Pelosi's refusal to bring the agreement to the floor of the House is a crisp "fuck you" from the Speaker born out of years of getting the cold-shoulder from this Administration.

Bush's adolescent impersonation of Winston Churchill channelled through Reagan, a psychological over-response to his father's humiliation in the '92 election and his subsequent weak standing among conservatives, is precisely the sort of fucking psychodrama that we have already gone through with the Clintons. What is it about the Baby Boomers; Why are members of the Me-Generation such selfish Presidents?

This Reagan-Churchill act is now useless, of course, because Bush the Younger is a lame duck President. If Bush the Younger wants to accomplish anything, and be anything other than irrelevant, he must veer supine to the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. From TheEconomist:

"Colombia provides much of the cocaine snorted up American noses. In Mr Uribe, however, the Americans have an ally who has worked hard, through the American-financed Plan Colombia, to eradicate coca and disrupt the traffickers. More than this, he has made Colombia the odd-man-out in the Andes. Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia are run by anti-American leftists. Mr Uribe believes in free markets and has hitched Colombia's star to the United States. He even backed the war in Iraq.

"Such an ally should be nurtured. Or so says George Bush, who appealed to Congress this week to ratify a long-promised Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia so as not to 'stiff' an ally. Stiffed, however, Colombia will probably be. The Democrats on Capitol Hill refuse to be bounced. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, responded to Mr Bush by accusing him of 'stiffing' the American people via seven years of lousy economic policies.

"Ms Pelosi's view of Mr Bush is no surprise. But what do the Democrats have against Colombia?"

Uribe gives an interview to the Washington Post in which he expresses optimism, inviting Pelosi to come to Columbia.