July 27, 2004

• Political Viewpoints

  We spent Sunday with some Bush supporters.

  Supporting Bush is not, in and of itself, wrong, but I was surprised at the manner in which these people defended their hero. They have obviously heard and memorized a number of standard arguements against Bush. As soon as any of us started to say or ask something, they classified our unspoken thoughts into one of their categories and interrupted us to present the appropriate counter to the expected arguement. We never got a chance to say or ask anything. Their responses were highly inappropriate to what I, in particular, had been planning to say -- and were at a much higher level of vocal volume than I was willing to use for something so trivial -- and they were embarassingly emotional about the whole thing.

  Following a Bush can get you into a lot of trouble. When Moses led his people out of Egypt, he went up on the mountain and spent a few days talking to a really hot Bush -- who gave him some rocks with laws carved on them -- and he and his people wound up lost in the desert for the next forty years.

  The senior Bush gave us one war in the Middle East to boost his popularity and then invaded Panama and kidnapped its leader. He carefully picked very weak targets and hit them with overwhelming force. Both times, he stopped when he achieved his objective and was able to pull out cheaply but without losing face.

  Young Dubya thought the same plan would work for him ... but he didn't want to stop when he should have. He wanted to finish the job, the way he thought his father should have. He picked two unpopular and weak opponents and hit them hard. And he stayed, looking for the leaders he had gone in after, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, one of which was actually found alive.

  Those wars, while profitable, were completely unnecessary.

  Both of the bad guys we went after were our creations. We trained and armed both of them. Saddam Hussein did our bidding up until the very end, using the weapons of mass destruction we and the Russians provided him against his Kurds as well as against Iran in a futile eight year war designed to bring financial ruin to both Iraq and Iran.

  It would have been much better to simply have removed the sanctions against Iraq decades ago and let them sell their oil on the open market.

  Israel wouldn't have liked that.

  Israel wants Iraq and Iran to be weak and defenseless. They have been known to launch attacks against Arab neighbors who get too strong or prosperous, and they have between 200 and 300 nuclear missiles with which to attack.

  To keep Israel happy, so they keep their nuclear toys locked up, we pound on their enemies for them. It's good sport.

  Bush has promised more of the same. Kerry has promised to do even better.

  They leave little to choose from, between the two of them. It's like having to choose between head lice and dandruff.

  I worry about Bush, though. He isn't the smartest president we've had. He's sincere ... just not all that bright. I'm afraid his followers are leading us down some paths that will prove, in the not too distant future, to lead to great domestic intranquility and unrest.

  • 01:57
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