Bush's "60 Minutes", Part II

Actually, I thought this was one of the best interviews of Bush that I’ve ever seen, his slaughter of the English language aside. He was relaxed, he was at Camp David, out in the country, he was in his comfy clothes. He seemed very at ease, and why shouldn’t he be? This was his 365th day spent at Camp David. One whole year spent at this retreat, out of the six years he’s been in office (page 3). And that’s not counting all the cumulative time he’s spent at his ranch in Tx. Presidentin’ is hard work. One only has to check out his vacation record to see how much harder presidentin’ is for George compared to any other president in history. But I digress.

Bush is trying to instill confidence and assuage fears. His interview did neither. I looked at his affectation, his eyes, his expressions, and his body language. I listened to every word he said, trying to get some idea of the world he lives in. I came to the conclusion that he actually believes the things he says. Oh he skirted some questions, gave non-answers to others, but all in all he seemed convinced that he is absolutely doing the right thing. He is also convinced that he owns all the power to do it. I shudder at the thought.

See, there is no dealing with someone like this. There is no room for other ideas, no room for other opinions, no room for the tiniest of possibilities that he might be wrong. Which means, of course, there is no room for an alternative plan. When one is convinced that his ideals are golden, there just isn’t any reason for alternatives. And this is what makes him so dangerous. Napoleon and Hitler spring to mind, as does the leader of Iran, Saddam Hussein, and Jim Jong Ill. How does Bush differ from these other leaders, who are generally thought of to be insane? The short answer: he doesn’t.

I’d rather Bush had come across as an insincere liar. At least then you’d KNOW that he knows what he’s doing is wrong, but for ulterior motives, he’s going to do it anyway. Evil and dishonest don’t worry me nearly as much as maniacal with delusions of grandeur.

You can’t reason with crazy. And when your president is one cow shy of a herd, where do you go? A thoughtful commenter said that all this war needs is more time. Are we talking months? Years? Decades? It is a delusion to think that time is all that is necessary to lessen the deep, DEEP hatred the factions in the Middle East have for each other. This has been going on for generations. Children are born into this hatred. They are raised on it and fed a steady diet of it every day of their lives. This hatred has become part of their religion….for generations. How absolutely arrogant and delusional of us to think that we can ride in on our white horse of democracy and change that. Especially since nobody asked us to.

Let’s face it, if the Middle East didn’t have all the oil, and if Saudi Arabia weren’t so heavily invested in the United States, we wouldn’t be there, forcing them to adopt our brand of democracy. WE need them to become a democratic society. We need a permanent foothold in the Middle East to protect OUR interests. This war isn’t for them, it’s for us. It is no coincidence that the president who has the most entanglements with big oil is the president who decides to wage war on the Middle East.

Bush is not a smart man. He is not well educated. He’s not a deep thinker. Bush is a pawn, a pawn who wants to be great, a pawn who has been convinced by those around him that this war is his ticket to greatness. I believe he is a deeply insecure man who is convinced that this war is his ticket to finally impressing those he holds in esteem. And his need for that acceptance far outweighs anything else, like rationale.

Bush needs to be relieved of his duties. He needs to be permanently at the Crawford ranch, clearing brush and working out his daddy issues. He is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. You can stop drinking, but if you don’t address and resolve the issues that made you an alcoholic in the first place, then you are just a mentally and emotionally damaged man who doesn’t drink.

I no longer care, necessarily, about Bush being brought up on charges, as we don’t usually punish people for being mentally ill. But neither should we allow them the position to control the free world, have their finger on the button, and continuously poke others who have a button of their own…