George Bush - Visionary??
If the premise were not so bloody dangerous and beyond implausible, one might incur significant discomfort, and possibly injury, from the gut-busting hilarity and physical reaction inherent in such a discombobulating reflection.
George W. Bush. Visionary? Sorry, think I just hurt myself.
Yet, Rich Lowry ascribes such lofty status to our 43rd president.
“In the 1970s, the Cold War had entered its détente phase, which for the U.S. meant managing the Cold War, not winning it,” writes Lowry in his January 20 column. “This seemed reasonable enough. ‘It took visionaries — saboteurs of the status quo — to widen the range of historical possibility,’ (author John) Gaddis writes. In the West, these saboteurs were Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. In their qualities and in their arguments, there is the distinct echo of George W. Bush.” (emphasis added)
“The distinct echo of George W. Bush?” Rich, you might need to get your ears examined soon.
To ascribe such lofty inspiration to a president grounded in political, pragmatic dogma and literally incapable of integrating nuance and multiple positions on any issue, is, probably, even for your Hummer-driving, intransigent conservative base, cause for a sudden, detectable blanch.
Visionary? In the face of mounting scientific evidence that global warming is impacting significant change to our landscape, the United States continues to stonewall acceptance of the Kyoto protocol. Might hurt our economy. Well, if the world climate changes significantly, as projected, economy may be amongst the least of our concerns.
Visionary? Lowry writes, “Bush looks at the absurdity of a Middle East blotted with dictatorships, and of a great religion producing monstrous suicide bombers, and dares to try to create something better. He realizes the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of the status quo in the Middle East and in the precincts of Islam that tolerate mass murder, and says so unapologetically.”
The United States has bombed more than 25 countries since the end of World War II. The U.S. has toppled governments in South America. In Iraq, an estimated 30,000 civilians have been killed since the U.S. invasion began more than three years ago. Iraq and the Middle East are not exactly a Campfire congregation, but the U.S. will not be confused with the Sea Scouts.
Visionary? Bush recently indicated that faith-based intelligent design should be presented ("Both sides ought to be properly taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is about.”) in the context of scientific discussion about the origin of our species. Yeah, that ought to fill our spiritual bankruptcy while evaporating our scientific and educational foundation.
Visionary? Bush has failed to outline a vision similar to John F. Kennedy’s challenge to America to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960’s in the area of energy policy. Instead of seeking to balance our alternatives with a Manhattan-style project to accelerate the development and integration of alternate, renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biodiesel, Bush continues to pursue an energy platform that relies heavily on oil resources controlled, in large part, by the Middle East dictatorships cited by Lowry as “moral(ly) and spiritually bankrupt.”
Visionary? Here is a president who casts aside the Constitution, the rule of law, if the legal restrictions impact his personal vision or his seeming want to govern as a king. Witness the National Survellience Act end run to wiretap without judicial warrant. The justification? The United States did not want to “compromise national security”, the reliable, Goebbels-esque, rationalization for any government action.
In what possible outskirt of reality, did the government develop the idea that al-Queada ever thought we were not trying to learn about their actions through communication interception? Gee, is that why they encrypt and codify the messages? If common sense appears an elusive target for Bush, how can we possibly venture even within the zip code of visionary?
Yet, Lowry, the National Review editor, compares him favorably to another noted visionary, in his world. Ronald Reagan. Yes, the same Ronald Reagan who removed a perfectly functioning solar water heating system from the White House in the 1980’s. The same Ronald Reagan who championed changes in the FCC, which led to the ability of one conglomerate to own more than 1,200 radio stations in the U.S. The same Ronald Reagan, who trumpeted an impossible defense system, nicknamed ‘Star Wars’, while failing to see the reality of the next generation of warfare, which we are experiencing now. So much for visionary policies—and the leadership to inspire a country.
Oh, yeah, and the same Ronald Reagan who presided over a savings and loan scandal that led to one of the worst recessions in U.S. history (remember: Black Friday in 1987?).
Rich, did we really “win” the Cold War? Or, did the situation in Russia and the Eastern bloc merely play out its likely course because we hung in there until the collapse came?
George W. Bush? Visionary? Think I just hurt myself.
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posted by dq @ 11:11 AM
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