There was a semi-recent Daily Show where Jon Stewart had a clip of Bush’s introductory remarks in a series of speeches. He always started with saying why he was wherever-he-was: "I’m here to console the wives of …", "I’m here to …" It was striking, and robotic. It sounded like that line in Around the World in 80 days, "It’s Tuesday, this must be Brussels." But he’s outdone himself with this line [talking about Torture]:
“We had legal opinions that enabled us to do it. And, no, I didn’t have any problem at all trying to find out what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed knew.”
We’re so used to hearing him talk this way, we don’t even notice how callous this remark is. I think a more accurate version might have been, "We got legal opinions that enabled us to do it." It’s not just that there’s no emotional vector to what he says. It’s not even that there’s no acknowledgment of the significance of what he’s saying [America is throwing out her laws, her Constitution, and her adherence to the International Rules known as the Geneva Conventions]. It’s the implied "So what?" in his words that grates. And then there’s:
"And yes, I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.""And, no, I didn’t have any problem at all…"
When he says, "I approved," he seems to think that should end things – likewise when he says, "And, no, I didn’t have any problem at all." It’s as if we’ve stopped noticing what this small-minded fool is saying. When he says these things, I find myself talking back to him in my mind:
"What do you mean by ‘had legal opinions that enabled us to do it’?""Did it occur to you to think about what you were doing?""Did you believe that what John Yoo said was right, or just hide behind it?""Who got you those ‘legal opinions’?""Why are you just telling us?""Why are you smirking, you little …..?""Why the hell didn’t you have ‘a problem’?""Do you know what the Constitution even says?""Do you know what the Geneva Convetions even are?""Who wrote your script today?""Why are you afraid to stand up to Dick Cheney?""How the …. do you sleep at night?"
After the wave passes, I go write something civilized on the blog and calm down until I read the next outrage. I was thinking about this when I read the news. Am I doing the same thing that the Republicans do when they parse every word that comes out of Obama’s mouth and spin it out of control? I sure hope not. Right now, they are killing Obama because he said blue collar people are bitter and turning to guns, religion, and racism. He’s right about that. I’m glad he said it. But it’s being twisted into elitism, and the worst twister of all is Hillary Clinton. What lunacy! I want to talk to her in my mind too. But that last rant was enough to calm me down for a while.
I actually have a point to make. We read daily what people "might mean" behind their words. Obama’s potential elitism might have slipped out. McCain’s temper might have showed. Hillary might be as big a liar as her husband. With Bush, we don’t have to look behind the words. We don’t have to parse anything. He’s running a country he doesn’t understand, ignoring our laws and principles, and he’s doing it badly. It’s in everything he says, right there on the surface…
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