| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Bill Case" |
| Date: |
04 Oct 2004 11:03:09 AM |
| Object: |
Bush and Reality, and the Wizard of Oz |
Bush and Reality,,,,, I think Karl Rove is like the little guy behind the
curtain in the movie "The Wizard of Oz". The big question is - to what
degree does Dumbya, and his collaborators, believe their own illusions?
Bush and Reality By BOB HERBERT NY Times October 4, 2004
For 90 minutes, at least, democracy seemed to be working. The two men in
dark suits took their places at the lecterns. The analysts, the handlers,
the spinmeisters and the hangers-on had been cleared out of the way. With no
commercial interruptions, more than 60 million Americans got a rare,
unedited, close-up look at the candidates in one of the most important
presidential elections in the nation's history.
John Kerry got the better of President Bush in last Thursday's debate in
Coral Gables, Fla. The president seemed listless, defensive and not
particularly well prepared. His facial expressions and body language at
times were odd. Some of his strongest supporters were dismayed by his
performance, and polls are showing they had reason to be concerned.
There undoubtedly were many reasons for Mr. Bush's lackluster effort. But I
think there was one factor, above all, that undermined the president in last
week's debate, and will continue to plague him throughout the campaign. And
that was his problematic relationship with reality.
Mr. Bush is a man who will frequently tell you - and may even believe - that
up is down, or square is round, when logic and all the available evidence
say otherwise. During the debate, this was most clearly displayed when, in
response to a question about the war in Iraq, Mr. Bush told the moderator,
Jim Lehrer, "The enemy attacked us, Jim, and I have a solemn duty to protect
the American people, to do everything I can to protect us."
Moments later Senator Kerry clarified, for the audience and the president,
just who had attacked the United States. "Saddam Hussein didn't attack us,"
said Mr. Kerry. "Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us."
Given a chance to respond, Mr. Bush flashed an unappreciative look at
Senator Kerry and said, "Of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us - I
know that."
With no weapons of mass destruction to exhibit, and no link between Saddam
and Al Qaeda, Mr. Bush has nevertheless tried to portray the war in Iraq as
not only the right thing to do but as largely successful. The increasing
violence and chaos suggest otherwise. Even as the presidential debate was
being conducted, details were coming in about car bombings earlier in the
day in Baghdad that killed dozens of Iraqis, including at least 34 children.
The children were not in school because the turmoil had prevented the
opening of schools.
The political problem for Mr. Bush is that while he is offering a rosy
picture of events in Iraq - perhaps because he believes it, or because he
wants to bolster American morale - voters are increasingly seeing the
bitter, tragic reality of those events. A president can stay out of step
with reality only so long. Eventually there's a political price to pay.
Lyndon Johnson's deceit with regard to Vietnam, for example, has never been
forgiven.
The president likes to tell us that "freedom is winning" in Iraq, that
democracy is on the march. But Americans are coming to realize that Iraq is,
in fact, a country in agony, beset by bombings, firefights, kidnappings,
beheadings and myriad other forms of mayhem. The president may think that
freedom is winning, but television viewers in the U.S. could see images over
the weekend of distraught Iraqis pulling the bodies of small children from
smoking rubble - a tragic but perfect metaphor for a policy in ruins.
Mr. Bush got his big bounce in the public opinion polls from the Swift boat
nonsense and the mocking, nonstop criticism of Senator Kerry at the
Republican National Convention. Those were distractions from the real world.
But reality cannot be kept at bay indefinitely. Readers of The Washington
Post got a disturbing dose of it yesterday from a front-page article about
the strain being put on the overloaded systems of veterans' disability
benefits and health care by the thousands of American troops returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan with physical injuries and mental health problems.
The article noted that "President Bush's budget for 2005 calls for cutting
the Department of Veterans Affairs staff that handles benefits claims."
A staff sergeant who was paralyzed in a mortar attack near Baghdad was
quoted as saying: "I love the military; that was my life. But I don't
believe they're taking care of me now."
The real world is President Bush's Achilles' heel. He can't keep his
distance from it forever.
xx
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| User: "ian maclure" |
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| Title: Re: Bush and Reality, and the Wizard of Oz |
04 Oct 2004 11:23:16 AM |
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On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 16:03:09 +0000, Bill Case wrote:
Bush and Reality,,,,, I think Karl Rove is like the little guy behind the
curtain in the movie "The Wizard of Oz". The big question is - to what
degree does Dumbya, and his collaborators, believe their own illusions?
The Great and Powerful Oz managed to ***** over the Wicked Witch
of the West and give the adventurers what they wanted in the end.
Made them work for it but nothing wrong with that. Everybody
except various wicked witches, etc, won.
Are you saying the WWOTW wasn't a threat?
Figures you would.
Headcase of course is just too dumb to realise this.
The story follows some very old themes, many of which seem
to occur on an almost world-wide scale.
IBM
_______________________________________________________________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
<><><><><><><> The Worlds Uncensored News Source <><><><><><><><>
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| User: "Bill Case" |
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| Title: Re: Bush and Reality, and the Wizard of Oz |
04 Oct 2004 12:29:36 PM |
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"ian maclure" <ibm@svpal.org> wrote in message
news:pan.2004.10.04.16.23.13.390844@svpal.org...
On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 16:03:09 +0000, Bill Case wrote:
Bush and Reality,,,,, I think Karl Rove is like the little guy behind the
curtain in the movie "The Wizard of Oz". The big question is - to what
degree does Dumbya, and his collaborators, believe their own illusions?
The Great and Powerful Oz managed to ***** over the Wicked Witch
of the West and give the adventurers what they wanted in the end.
Made them work for it but nothing wrong with that. Everybody
except various wicked witches, etc, won.
Are you saying the WWOTW wasn't a threat?
Figures you would.
Headcase of course is just too dumb to realise this.
The story follows some very old themes, many of which seem
to occur on an almost world-wide scale.
IBM
IDM spends a lot of time in fantasy land.
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| User: "ian maclure" |
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| Title: Re: Bush and Reality, and the Wizard of Oz |
04 Oct 2004 04:13:26 PM |
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On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 17:29:36 +0000, Bill Case wrote:
[snip]
IDM spends a lot of time in fantasy land.
Nope, I may build castles in the clouds but on no account
do I ever attempt to take up residence therein.
Headcase is clearly in orbit so I have to pitch these
explications in terms his tiny little mind can grok.
IBM
_______________________________________________________________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
<><><><><><><> The Worlds Uncensored News Source <><><><><><><><>
.
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| User: "Bill Case" |
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| Title: Re: Bush and Reality, and the Wizard of Oz |
04 Oct 2004 11:14:46 PM |
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"ian maclure" <ibm@svpal.org> wrote in message
news:pan.2004.10.04.21.13.23.632472@svpal.org...
On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 17:29:36 +0000, Bill Case wrote:
[snip]
IDM spends a lot of time in fantasy land.
Nope, I may build castles in the clouds but on no account
do I ever attempt to take up residence therein.
Headcase is clearly in orbit so I have to pitch these
explications in terms his tiny little mind can grok.
IBM
Take your meds, you mental case troll.
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