Adam Felber at Fanatical Apathy has a cogent take on the Bush Iraq visit:
Thanksgiving surprises like this happen all the time — but usually they’re made by divorced deadbeat dads without visitation rights who show up at the back door for a quick, drunken “How ya doin’?” while Mom’s off stuffing the turkey. The kids may be happy to see Daddy, but it’s a sad and fleeting pleasure. A visit that doesn’t take responsibility for itself is little more than a furtive prank.
My immediate impressions on the Bush visit:
slinking
fearful
desperate
self-congratulatory
ineffective
cowardly
staged
laughable
weak-kneed
I could go on and on. I really think Bush thinks the whole Iraq thing is a grand joke, some kind of high-school prank that gets those in the know to applaud him into class president-hood. I keep trying to picture in my mind the set of his facial expression as the plane crossed the Atlantic and glided into Iraqi airspace… the only image I can come up with is one of schoolboy anticipation, with those raised eyebrows, widened eyes, and pursed lips. And of course that terminally stupid smirk. He probably couldn’t sit still in his seat, continually crossing his legs and switching postions to peer out the window, turning to his aides to crack nervous jokes, his palms sweating. Such a brave, brave boy!
1
By: butuki
on December 7, 2003
at 01:57 AM
Oh, the _smirk!_ Grr…
My “favorite” picture of the W shows him embracing a tearful woman here after the fires; he looks profoundly stiff and uncomfortable, which really seemed to capture his essential inability to deal with serious things seriously and compassionately. He seems to have three main expressions: boredom, reluctance and gleeful smirk. Such gravitas and compassion — not.
2
By: Rana
on December 7, 2003
at 09:28 PM
A helpful aspect of my recent practice has been reminding myself that Mr Bush is sincere. Ok, fine, he’s sincerely wrong. And he has moral clarity (but, don’t look now, so did Goebbels and company).
But, reminding myself that he is sincere helps me. I really don’t think he goes to bed at night thinking evil thoughts and gleefully rubbing his hands and cackling while Laura puts on her night mask (or whatever the night ritual is in their household). No. I think he says his prayers and thanks the Lord and asks for guidance from Jesus, and then gets up the next morning and honestly tries his darndest to do the Lord’s will.
And yes, I realise how scary all that sounds. But somehow, knowing that he’s sincere makes it a lot easier for me to cultivate compassionate thoughts towards him.
Cheney though…
3
By: commonbeauty
on December 8, 2003
at 02:50 AM
My take on him is that he is an alcoholic who has no emotional or spiritual recovery. And the arrogance that I percieve in him scares me the most.
4
By: basha
on December 12, 2003
at 03:07 PM
