There are difficulties in living in cities like Los Angeles or New York.
They are big, unwieldy places in the best of times. New York is a city
designed for horse drawn carriages that now must deal with millions of
automobiles. Los Angeles is a city designed for a certain number of cars
which now must deal with millions more cars than the system was designed
for.

Along with these endemic situations, both cities attract the kind of events
and happenings that aren’t found in most other places on a regular basis.
Award shows, constant visits from Heads of State, mega-sports events, etc.,
etc.

Plus we have the United Nations here. It’s particularly difficult those
times when the President of the United States is in town to visit that
institution and is joined by numerous other Heads of State, which is what
happened this week.

Gridlock has been everywhere. We had a variety of foreign Heads of State
[the President of Pakistan roared down Park Avenue in a caravan of black SUV
’s out of which hung New York Police with machine guns drawn] while
everything around the Waldorf-Astoria was cordoned off while the President
was in residence.

It seemed as if everything east of Park Avenue from Gramercy Park to Central
Park was shut down. Cab drivers groaned about the difficulties of getting
around. Subways were more jammed than usual as individuals who wouldn’t be
caught dead in a taxi, abandoned their town cars and limousines and headed
down into the bowels of the city for the efficacy of the subway system.

These are the parts of living in cities like Los Angeles and New York that
are not glamorous unless you are on the other side of the police barricades.

As it was not easy to get around the city, it was also not easy to get
around the growing debate about our involvement in Iraq.

We heard Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush acknowledge there didn’t seem to be a
connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. That has become a water cooler topic
of conversation in New York, if not in other parts of the country. People
are scratching their heads and saying: well, what was this about then? The
weapons of mass destruction? None found yet.

So, for the first time in his Presidency, Mr. Bush finds himself at a
popularity rating under 50%. The number of people who are making jokes
about the $87 billion the President needs to hold our position in Iraq
punctuates the fact.

So, while Mr. Bush tied up traffic on the east side of New York he wasn’t
able to lock down much support at the United Nations which means we are on
the hook all on our own for the price of the “new American Empire.”

This Imperial Attitude was one flirted with by a majority of the country in
the first flush of Iraqi success and one that is now finding itself under
attack with the same ferocity American troops are facing in Baghdad. Ultra
conservatives are seeking cover as fast as any American in Iraq.

With a failure to gain support from the international community either for
troops or money, the price of “empire” is becoming painfully clear.
Particularly with the need announced for more Reserves to be called up to
sustain our stretched ambitions. The cost in human terms and dollars is now
a matter of national debate and not just among Democrats, who did their bit
for gridlock by having their ten-person debate in the city this week.

It still appears the country is in economic doldrums that war deficits are
not elevating. Jobs seem elusive to those who don’t have them.

It seems, suddenly, that Bush & Co. is vulnerable. The war is not
considered a failure but appears now an unconsidered adventure, waged for
the wrong reasons at the wrong time.

And if Mr. Bush is having a bit of a rough go, think of Tony Blair. He
doesn’t have the luxury of our system. He could lose a vote of confidence
and be gone long before W really realizes he might be in quicksand.