James Baker, the globally accomplished diplomat and former GOP Secretary of State totally flummoxed the cartoonish GOP bagman, Sean Hannity.

Point blank, Baker said that given the choice between waging a war or a foreign policy solely restricted to establishing a new democracy in the Mid-east or alternatively pursuing policies of stabilizing the region, policies of stabilization were preferable.

Hannity tried to parry this heretical bashing of Bush’s core foreign policy talking point with the usual GOP gobbledygook propaganda such as “this is “World War III” and “this is a fight against Islamo Fascists.” Baker seemed uninterested in Sean’s offer of GOP red meat talking points and he continued.

Paraphrased as best I can, Baker said, “Given the choice between engaging America’s forces based on a principle (i.e. ‘democracy’) or based on establishing stability, stability is, all things considered, the superior objective.

Not yet finished shredding the inept Bush, Rice, Cheney foreign policy, Baker continued by basically saying that engaging in talks with America’s enemies is not appeasement and not engaging in talks is sophomoric (my words). He recounted that he personally visited Syria fifteen times and on his next visit Syria abandoned their twenty-year-old policy towards Israel and agreed to sit with Israel in negotiations, de facto recognizing their existence.

This was political theater of the highest order which everyone should have the opportunity to see and hear. Not only was Hannity beautifully sandbagged, in my opinion, but Bush 41′ had to know that his son was going to get this political ass whumping.

This is an important message. It is the old guard of Bush 41′ and Reagan trashing 43’s leadership and foreign policy. Hopefully this clear message will help America return to some semblance of values, competence, professionalism and honesty in its foreign policy.

I had a feeling that things would get so bad that they’d finally have to let Uncle Jim come in to offer some assistance. But, I guarantee you that there’s no way they’ll let him look under the hood. As a ‘matter of national security’, they’re not going to let him know any of their secrets, either. He’ll give his recommendations. Bush’ll say “Great. Fine. Nice havin’ ya over. Bye.” and shove him out the door.

Snowjob: “The former Secretary of State had a lot of interesting recommendations that he passed on to the president and I assure you that the president and his staff will be looking them over carefully over the coming weeks.”

End of story. I’ve heard this one too many times before.

Those who can afford to play the stock market or who have a lot invested in 401Ks are doing fine. You probably weren’t aware that there are others out there who can’t even afford health insurance premiums, let alone retirement plans or investments. You’ve probably seen them, though. They’re the ones who got laid off from an engineering job when the company they used to work for decided to outsource offshore and score some big tax breaks. They’re now waiting on you when you shop at your favorite corporate welfare queen, WalMart. They don’t show up as unemployed anymore, because, technically, they are employed. At any rate, it’s hard for them to see the economy improving. Fromt their vantage point, it’s not. Don’t worry, though. They won’t be voting for Democrats next month. They can’t afford to take the time off to go stand in line for 10 hours on election day (if they’ve got a Republican secretary of state). They need every last cent to cover their rent. And if they get sick, they’re screwed.

The Dow may be doing nicely for the well-to-do (the Bush crowd of the “haves and the have mores”) while the rest of America is watching the parade to the bank by the rich guys. The working class of the country have no savings, little or no health care, no job security, and a bleak future for their children.

Junior won’t take it like a man because he is a cruel little momma’s boy. Trust me, this punk will pointedly reject the commissions recommendations. Just look at his extreme intransigence over dumping Rumsfeld.

It should probably go like this: Baker announces that the Iraq war is a complete and utter botch job from beginning to end, and that drastic measures are required if we’re to have any hope of salvaging the Middle East, if not the entire world. Then Snowjob is asked about it at a press briefing and he finds bold new ways to mutilate the English language so he can point out that Baker said that they’re doing everything right and have been all along, no changes necessary. The next day, after Baker attends a meeting in the White House, he publicly retracts everything he said, claiming he was quoted out of context. Apparently, Rove, Cheney, and Gonzales are instrumental in helping Baker reword his assessment of Bush’s conduct of the war. Draw your own conclusions about the form of leverage they might apply.

What the hell? Is everybody asleep?