I’ve seen a lot of sad things in American politics in my lifetime — the resignation of a president who became a national disgrace after he oversaw a campaign of break-ins and cover-ups, another who circumvented the Constitution to trade arms for hostages, and yet is now hailed as national hero. And those paled to what we have seen in the last seven years — flagrant disregard for the Constitution, the launching of a "pre-emptive" war on false pretenses, and discussions about torture and other shocking abuses inside the White House inner sanctum.
But now it’s come to this: A new low that I never imagined was even possible.
President Bush went on foreign soil today, and committed what I consider an act of political treason: Comparing the candidate of the U.S. opposition party to appeasers of Nazi Germany — in the very nation that was carved out from the horrific calamity of the Holocaust. Bush’s bizarre and beyond-appropriate detour into American presidential politics took place in the middle of what should have been an occasion for joy: A speech to Israeli’s Knesset to honor that nation’s 60th birthday.
But here’s what he said:
JERUSALEM (CNN) – In a particularly sharp blast from halfway around the world, President Bush suggested Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of "appeasement" of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II.
"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," said Bush, in what White House aides privately acknowledged was a reference to calls by Obama and other Democrats for the U.S. president to sit down for talks with leaders like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said in remarks to the Israeli Knesset. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American Senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
As a believer in free speech, I think Bush has a right to say what he wants, but as a President of the United States who swore to uphold the Constitution, his freedom also carries an awesome and solemn responsibility, and what this president said today is a serious breach of that high moral standard…
But what Bush did in Israel this morning goes well beyond the accepted confines of American political debate, When the president speaks to a foreign parliament on behalf of our country, his message needs to be clear and unambiguous. Our democracy may look messy to outsiders, and we may have our disagreements with some sharp elbows thrown around, but at the end of the day we are not Republicans or Democrats or liberals or conservatives.We are Americans…
Tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly will explain to us that what Bush said today is fine, maybe even courageous. This weekend, the Talking Heads on the Sunday T.V. shows will rally behind his speech. Fox News will join in the support. Dick Cheney will amplify on Bush’s statement. Maybe some of those West Virginia voters I saw on television tonight will get interviewed again agreeing with the President.
No doubt that invoking Nazi imagery is a very low blow in his campaign against anyone who seems to disagree with his viewpoints, but I’m not sure that treason is the right word. Link baiting seems more appropriate. As someone who has access to an enormous platform, he knows the impact that this type of inflammentary language will have. In some ways Bush is the Ultimate A list blogger because whatever he says will get devoured by the press. He knows that by throwing this hand grenade out there that he is stirring up trouble, but as you said it’s his right as an America to say what he thinks, even if we both know that cutting off all lines of communication is what got us into this mess to begin with. In some ways this makes him even more American. I’ll be glad when his reign is up and either of the two candidates take over, but if we are going to call him out for treason it needs to go beyond just rhetoric. He needs to have betrayed America and supported her enemies instead (or at least tried to take advantage of foreign rules to avoid his taxes.) He may be misguided, but I don’t doubt his love for the US.
In response to the comment above, you don’t think destroying our reputation in the world, lying to the people of our country countless times, stomping on our constitution, lying us into war, bankrupting our country to name a few of the many more things Bush has done is enough? I dare say I strongly disagree with you Mr. Freeberg.
Mickey,Abby’s mom, Please check out web site atlargely.com about all the Bush family and the Nazis and Hitler.
I hadn’t seen Larisa’s blog before. That’s quite a post! That information wasn’t in The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty [says Abby’s Mom]. It sounds like George H.W. Bush was a moderate in a sea of fanatics. Very interesting. It also reminds us of the roots of the Neoconservative story. I call them fascists in conversation, and I don’t say that lightly. Fascism actually means “the rule of the powerful”…
Davis,
I’ve struggled with using the word “treason” myself. It sometimes feels like treason, but when I look it up, the definition is as you say. Then I twist and turn things to make whatever I’m upset about fit “aiding the enemy,” but it’s a rationalization, and I know it is. But as to, “He may be misguided, but I don’t doubt his love for the US.” There are some “traitors” or “actors in a treasonous drama” who are just crooks, or even enemy sympathizers. But there are also people who become over-zealously involved in their opposition to some force and become “treasonous” out of a misguided love of country. The comment by joyhollywood points to a blog post by Larisa Alexandrovna that characterizes Bush’s grandfather as exactly such a person.
I don’t question Bush’s love of the U.S. I would question his respect for what American government is – of, by, and for the people. It reminds me of a song on Paul Simon’s Graceland album that has the line, “I don’t want no part of your crazy love”…
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