The Prince

No not the singer bitches, the book. Here's an excerpt:

At the beginning of his rule, he attacked Granada, and that enterprise was the cornerstone of his reign. For some time he carried on the siege in a leisurely way, and without any outside distractions; he kept all the barons of Castille preoccupied with it, and while they were thinking of the war, they never considered the changes he was making in the state. Thus he acquired reputation and authority over them without their being aware of it. Money from the Church and the people enabled him to recruit big armies, and in the course of this long war to build a military establishment which as since won him much honor. Apart from this, he made use of the pretext of religion to prepare for still greater projects... On the same pretext, he attacked Africa, he carried out a campaign in Italy; and finally he assaulted France. Thus he has always been planning and carrying out some great design which has enthralled and preoccupied the minds of his subjects, and kept them fascinated with the outcome of his schemes. And his various projects have risen one out of the other, so that they never allowed men leisure to take concerted action against him.

Notice the words I highlighted? Replace them with some choice words of your own, and what you get is the striking similiarity of our current situation with Mr. Bush.