OK, ain't like I been waitin' 'round here checkin' up all the much, what with a lot of 'portant things 'circlin' 'round me in real life, but it 'pears ain't no one got nuthin' to say. Guess they are all too busy listenin' to all the rhetoric floatin' 'round. Ya really jes' cannot shake it. As we continue to move closer and closer to this election, people seem to be growin' closer and closer to swappin' blows or havin' a blood vessels inside their head explode from all the pent up stress. I wonder . . . what 'zactly is the worse that could happen? Either way, the country is likely to survive. Our political system almost ensures such a result. Ever' four years, the gloves come out and the sides start throwin' punches, warnin' jes' how bad off we will all be if the other guy wins the office. So far, no matter who has won, the way it actually turned out was never as bad as forecast.
It really seems that on ever' level of the income ladder I have been on so far in my life, I have always found some way to get by. When I have found myself responsible for others, I have found a way to make sure they always got what they needed. One facet of life worthy of havin' is the ability to survive. I have found I do pretty well in that department. One other facet of life worthy of havin' is happiness. I ain't done so well with findin' much of that, so far. There's time, I tell myself. O' course, I see more sand on the bottom part of the hourglass than is left in the top. Tick-tock-tick-tock. Who actually is in the White House never really affects either of these facets in my life.
My navel had intended to introduce a belly dancer durin' this part of the show, but due to an unknown problem or some sort or 'nother, the guest was unable to appear. End of report.
Posted by Tiger at October 12, 2004 10:45 PMJust remember - when it comes to national elections, the only winner is a politician :-)
Posted by: Ozguru at October 13, 2004 04:06 PMOne final comment. (I promise.)
>Either way, the country is likely to survive.
Don't be too overconfident about this. All empires fall, and Bush is the most dangerous president in American history, mainly because he never had the experience to be president in the first place. I guarantee you he knew less about foreign policy in 2000 than any other incoming president in history. Then he spent more time in the first eight months of his presidency on vacation than any incoming president in history. Then along came 9/11. When it occurred, he was sitting in a Florida elementary school classroom reading the book My Pet Goat with the other students. When told "America is under attack," he continued to sit there. Newsweek:
"The president had tried not to look shocked. 'America is under attack.' I'm trying to absorb that knowledge," Bush tells Newsweek. 'I have nobody to talk to. I'm sitting in the midst of a classroom with little kids, listening to a children's story...and I realize I'm the commander in chief and the country has just come under attack.' "
Richard Perle, who brainstormed the Iraq war in the first place (in the 90's), said, "The first time I met Bush 43...two things became clear. One, he didn't know very much. The other was that he had the confidence to ask questions that revealed he didn't know very much."
That's an understatement. Bush called the Greeks "the Grecians," and in 1999 admitted, "This is a big world and I've got a lot to learn." No kidding. Even after he was in the White House, he confused Switzerland and Sweden. He thought Sweden was the neutral country. Any high school student of European history knows that Switzerland is the neutral country. Maybe a governor could be forgiven for confusing Slovenia and Slovakia. But, man...he's the president. He's holding our futures in his hand.
Mr. President, what about seeing if Sweden would be willing to provide troops to help out with the Israeli-Palestinian situation?
"I don't know why you're talking about Sweden. They're the neutral one. They don't have an army."
Ron Suskind:
"Lantos paused, a little shocked, and offered a gentlemanly reply: 'Mr. President, you may have thought that I said Switzerland. They're the ones that are historically neutral, without an army.' Then Lantos mentioned, in a gracious aside, that the Swiss do have a tough national guard to protect the country in the event of invasion. Bush held to his view. 'No, no, it's Sweden that has no army.' The room went silent, until someone changed the subject."
Great.
But we can all have complete faith in George W. Bush, because he has complete faith in himself, and after all, shouldn't that be more than enough in a democracy? We're not supposed to question our government. We're supposed to accept what they say obediently, enthusiastically even. Here's a sample of how you should act:
"George W. Bush is the greatist [sic] president America has ever had. America is a Christian nation, and it was founded on Christian values, and John Kerry is the Antichrist. George W. Bush is fighting terrorists wherever they crawl into their dark holes and anyone who questions George Bush, the greatest man in hestory [sic], is a trator [sic]. God bless America and God bless George W. Bush."
You can choose your own words, of course...although "God bless George W. Bush" is mandatory.
Bottom line: George Bush is super-super confident that he knows what he's doing. Never mind the fact that he had none of the requisite experience prior to 9/11 that would enable to develop such confidence. Oh, no, wait. He did have the requisite experience, I forgot. He found Jesus Christ.
"I trust God speaks through me," he said recently. "Without that, I couldn't do my job."
Well, if anyone knows how to smite evil people wherever they hide in holes, I'm sure it's God.
(The Sweden quote came from this piece, which hardly tells the whole story, but does provide one glimpse:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html )
Posted by: krj at October 22, 2004 05:57 AM