Bush today warned Syria that it was
"out of step" with other nations in the Middle East for harboring terrorists and promoting instability in Lebanon and Iran.
If you're like me, it's mighty hard to get past the tone and the subtext of a remark like that to evaluate the intended substance of it. It's not just that "out of step" recalls the 9/11 Bush Doctrine ("with us or against us"). It's that it is so naked in its true intention.
What does Bush really mean?
He's not criticizing Syria for being outside the neighborhood mainstream, certainly. There are other nations in the Middle East harboring terrorism and promoting instability outside their borders, and we count several of our allies among them (I'm looking at you, Saudi Arabia).
Dancers step in time. Soldiers step lively. There's the lockstep, connoting obedience and conformity. And there's the goosestep, which has come to symbolize the Nazi brand of fascist imperialism. All of these connotations inform Bush's statement. What he is clearly saying to not only Syria but all state agents with anything less than a sycophantic relationship with America and its foreign policy is that we are giving the orders. On the post-9/11 world stage, we are the director, we are the drill sargeant, we are the law, and we are your master and commander.
It's more than "with us or against us." It's "fall into line or suffer."
This doesn't surprise me, of course, but I continue to be embarrassed at how much ignorance and arrogance seems to be projected in every fiber of every sentence the man speaks to the world at large. And in the true spirit of dissent (which would no doubt be spun as support for Syria in wingnut circles), I would like to hereby pronounce myself as "out of step."
I'm "out of step" with the Patriot Act. Arrest me.
I'm "out of step" with Bush's brand of tort reform. Sue me.
I'm "out of step" with torture. Torture me.
I'm "out of step" with illegal wars sold on lies. Draft me.
I'm "out of step" with manufactured crises used to sell Wall Street Welfare. Fleece me.
I'm "out of step" with propaganda in the White House Press Room and the MSM. Brainwash me.
I'm "out of step" with Bush's Merka. Shut my mouth.