Do those who voted Bush into office have the faintest notion of the great harm their vote has brought down upon the heads of every U.S. citizen, like a crown of thorns, including themselves? (That is a rhetorical question–the answer is implied in the tone of it.)
What is the greatest failing of the Bush regime? It is (was) a White House with no culture of debate. (Culture is defined by me as the “way” we communicate.) Without debate, discussion, confrontation, the wrangling that goes on in problem solving. A fear of conflict that his administration might be exposed as a failure. The conflict is needed, he should have known, because it is conflict that is a healthy way to achieve consensus in a resolution of the conflict. The emotional release of good feeling after a difficult conflict is a great way to get a “high”, an elixer of great joy in fellowship.
There you have one of the most significant qualities of a commander-in-chief. I have read the studies written about the debates and discussions among to highest officers that plotted Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhauer’s strategy for invading Europe in WWII. The comparison was made to those strategies plotted by a council of officers under the German Chancellor Adolph Hitler and his dictatorial methods of engaging his officers. Needless to say, the outcomes of that war testify to the high quality of the Eisenhauer supreme command. His methods were confrontational and democratic. Hitler’s mode was dictatorial as the one and only “decider”. He dismissed true discussion that went against his wishes.
President Bush is known to be “incurious”, not finding questions to ask about current affairs of state. He styles himself as, and relishes his role as the great “decider”. He favors cronies as yes-men, who have notoriously, universally shown their incompetence in critical situations. Since he himself hits a low standard of performance, his appointees had to have competence below his standard, and many of them have failed and had to be released.
He did not put together a cohesive team. He relegated conflict to others and wanted no part of it. Bob Woodward has said one remarkable thing was the lack of any sense of urgency. Given that, a timetable of withdrawal in Iraq was not an important thing to decide on.
As a commander-in-chief, remarkably, says Woodward, the man was not capable of empathizing the point of view of the soldiers in the fight.
Was there anything in his campaign performance that indicated he would become the anti-model for a president and commander-in-chief? My first clue was his speaking and linguistic performance. He exhibited no verbal skills that made his presentation of himself a cut above normal disfluency. Historical allusions and references were few and his use of metaphor showed little creativity. He was ahistorical and artless, plain spoken, not learned. Subsequently he had speech writers to prop him up, but I got the feeling his “handlers” dreaded his impromptu speaking. “What did you read this summer?” “I read two Shakespeares.”
Bob Woodward said that we are in for a period of what may be the long shadow of the George Bush administration. The two wars. The present catastrophic failures of financial institutions from deregulation by him and his Republican cronies. The list will be heard coming from the mouth of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
However, those Bush-voters are still out there. We saw them nominating John McCain. And Ms. Palin.
I started this essay with my view of the voters who gave us this sad situation. They are the ultimate failure of this society to produce voters who are discerning. Sen. Obama is a very, very, very intelligent person, learned, articulate and eloquent beyond articulateness. He packs so much wisdom artfully spoken in every sentence.
What gives, that John McCain leads some polls? Is it that Bush principle that doesn’t want someone in a position above me who is smarter than I am? Is it that “I am a Republican and have always voted Republican!” Is it that “I will never vote for a black man, even if I would be voting in my own best interests!”
One of the irrational elements is the picture of John McCain after one of his lying and nasty TV ads. Have you noticed the Mt. Rushmore pose? Have you noticed the angle of some poses that require you to look up to him from a lower angle? Subtle, but I think it must have a positive, unconsciously elevating effect as it is intended.
To me, John McCain, as a president proposing legislation, appears toothless. His dentures will be a Bush-like implant, a mouthful of bits and pieces of the Bush ideology.
