For Bush, Iraq historically trivial
To President Bush, the Iraq war, the 2600 American dead, all the families torn apart, all the grief, death and destruction will be considered a "comma" in history.
In an interview with Wolf Blitzer yesterday, Bush told Blitzer that the horrific violence in Iraq will be viewed as "just a comma" "when the final history of Iraq is written."
I guess when you're viewing things with a perspective of all history since the beginning of time, you can have the luxury of figuring that monumental slaughter and destruction embarked upon out of ignorance, ego, and ideology isn't that big a deal.
It then follows that John Wayne Gacy didn't really do anything worth getting upset about, since compared to the millions of people killed in the last few hundred centuries, his victims were negligible.
For all his lying, all the phoney stagecraft, all his scripted dissembling, Bush has often given glimpses into his true mindset, such as when he mocked condemned prisoner Karla Fay Tucker's pleas to be spared while he was Texas Governor. In an interview with conservative Tucker Carlson, Carlson was shocked when Bush mimicked her pleas by saying in a mocking female voice, "Please don't kill me! Oh please don't kill me.", showing clearly that in his elitist, juvenile, and near sadistic mind, a woman for whom even the Pope recommended granting clemency asking that her life be spared was a source of humor and mockery.
There's been other glimpses into the rather pathological mindset of the man which I won't list here, but a couple quotes from his mom seems to convey the basic outlook of her son.
His mother provided another insight post-Katrina after touring a crowded arena filled with Katrina refugees in Houston, remarking, "What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”
Yep Babs. They've lost everything. Don't even know where their family members are or if they're alive or dead. Have nothing to return to, and are virtually refugees inside their own country. Yep. It's working out just great for them. Translation: These darkies never had it so good.
Or the day before her son issued the ultimatum to Hussein to leave office or face invasion. When asked by Diane Sawyer if she watched the news, Babs replied haughtily, "But why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's, it's not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"
It seems apparent by Bush's "comma" remark that his beautiful mind isn't wasted on body bags and deaths and other such untidy things. It's just the little people being fed into a meatgrinder on behalf of the economic elites, just like always. No biggie in the scheme of things, and no reason to get upset too much. Bush understands this and is under no illusion that the war is for some noble cause, and since he expects Americans to line up to die in any cause they can be sold on, there's nothing special that's happened. Even if it is all a huge mistake, oh well, that's history for ya.
One can't help wonder how the thousands of sons, daughters, wives, husbands, mothers and fathers of servicemen and women who have been slain or permanently crippled and scarred in Iraq feel about being told by the man who ordered them into battle that it's all ultimately nothing but a "comma" in history? How would you feel?
Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher posts a comment on this sentiment by the man who led the country into his war of choice.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 9/26/2006
3 comments
3 Comments:
George Bush is so unserious that he cannot possibly be troubled by his own incompetence. Bush sees no connection between his actions and the consequences of those actions. This is the definition of a coward. Bush claims to be the “decider” but will not own up to any of the consequences of his actions. If anyone questions his actions, they are “morally confused”, un-American or just don’t understand the actions within the scope of history. Never once have I heard the man admit to having made mistakes. When Dick Cheney was asked if he would change anything that ahs beend one in Iraq just a few weeks ago, he answered “nothing”.
This administration is completely disdainful of government. They do not believe the government has any role other than ensuring that the rich and powerful are free to carry out their business. When they are disdainful of government, is it any wonder they are inept at governing? Every time I think there is not enough shame in the world for this group, I am proven wrong.
A friend of mine calls me from Vienna when he cannot sleep. He yells at me that we U S citizens must be a bunch of zombies. He cannot understnd how we can continue to tolerate Bush & Co. I tell him we are a democracy and so our repesentatives have to vote to make changes in the direction we are going.
Incidentally, I always thought both Bill Clinton and George W. started their terms with refusing to commute death sentences. You correctly point out George W's mocking behavior and my recollection is that Bill Jefferson Clinton let a retarded person die ( he took time off from his campaign to go home to sign the order). No wonder both their terms in office have been fraught with disasters. Just like in Hamlet it just wouldn't wash off.
That is a great blog and needs a wider distribution. Can I send it on to a friend?
anon 23:23
Sure, pass it on to as many people as you'd like.
And you're correct. Clinton got a lot of heat from the left for OKing the execution of a prisoner who was clearly mentally deficient. It was also widely assumed that he did it for purely political reasons.
But set against Bush Jr. setting the record for number of executions in one state in the last 220 years, including cases where prisoner's court appointed attorney actually SLEPT during court proceedings, or others where the attorney showed up drunk, and similar cases which clearly should have been dismissed on appeal and retried.
Bush also displayed his shallow immorality by spending no more than 15 minutes "reviewing" clemency appeals before ordering people to their deaths.
Not only that, he couldn't even bother to read opinions and background information on those over which he had the power of life or death, but would order a subordinate to summarize the case before automatically approving the execution.
15 minutes he'd spend to decide whether someone should live or die.
And he presided over more deaths than any other governor in U.S. history.
The spooky thing is that after reading Bush's history and the descriptions of those who know him best, including his allies, and you come away with the distinct impression that not only did Bush not worry a minute about the possibility that he might be sending an innocent or wrongly convicted person to their deaths, but that he actually felt it made him tough, that if fed his ego in a sick way to the point where he actually felt pumped up to be able to do it.
It's not hard to believe that in Bush's twisted macho sensibility, the more people he sent to death, the more powerful he felt.
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