Explosions and Implosions

There’s an inverse relationship between the two.

Especially when it comes to the current administration’s policies in Iraq. The relationship is quite simple: the more explosions in the form of car-bombs, homemade mines and other forms of ordinance that take place there , the less public is willing to support the president’s foreign policy. Especially when it involves US casualties. Especially when it involves a conflict that doesn’t appear to have any end. No light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.

Speaking of explosive/implosive events. This last week saw two of them. Both involved precursor rumblings; minor tremors of a kind and a sudden mild event. Which left a lot of people wondering if a bigger event might occur in the near future. One was geological; the other rhetorical.

After rumbling on for sometime now, Mt. St. Helens blew its stack. Not as bad as it did in 1980, but with enough force to make people living in the area , apprehensive that more bad news was on the way. Mr Bush engaged in a debate of sorts with Sen. John Kerry. This was his first time. And he imploded. Badly.

Just what the right feared. Lately they’ve no doubt felt some rumblings of fear about Mr Bush’s abilities at the podium. They knew that the president has never done all that well in unscripted public appearances.

Sure enough, Mr Bush’s stumbled. He out-Gored VP Gore with his annoying facial tics. He didn’t defend his position on the Iraq war didn’t go over too well. Just kept repeating what a hard job it is. The result of this fiasco wasn’t all that surprising: the president’s five point lead in the polls imploded down to a dead heat. The magma field of public dissatisfaction with the war is a danger for Mr Bush. .

Right now the two candidates are neck-and-neck. Sen. Kerry up, President Bush down.

The way things are going now in Iraq, with supposedly “safe” areas in Baghdad getting hit, there’s now every reason to think that Mr Bush’s poll ratings will decline still further.

Unless he can somehow rehabilitate his poll numbers by doing very well in the next two deabates. Which will be something if he can pull it off. Foreign policy was supposed to be Mr Bush’s strong suit. Which means that Sen. Kerry, whose strong suit is domestic policy, will have a clear advantage.

Meantime watch Mt. St. Helens and watch the debates.

And keep a safe distance from Mt. St. Helens.

Punditwalla--