The Envy of President Bush
Fri Mar 14, 2008 at 08:15:50 PM PDT
U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful on Thursday about problems and progress in Afghanistan where a war has dragged on for more than six years but been largely eclipsed by Iraq...
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.
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There are times when President Bush says things that are so brain-bendingly stupid that they drive me beyond mere offense and into a universe of disgust unheard of among feeling people. That a Commander in Chief of the United States military can be so callous, and so wrong, about war defies all notions of logic and decency.
The above quote is perhaps the most illuminating to ever fall unbidden from the Emperor's lips. It gives us a window into his tiny little mind. "It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic," he said. In the world of George W. Bush, war is still the good guys vs. the bad guys. It's John Wayne and Audie Murphy.
I should be angry right now. I should be running into a profanity-laced tirade. I'm trying to get mad, and I just can't do it. I think my rage meter has finally broken. It's just so sad, that a man who sent thousands of our fellow countrymen and women to disfigurement and death should have such a cavalier attitude about the enterprise he created. Bush has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he sleeps easy at night despite the hell he has inflicted on so many. To him, it's noble and good and righteous. He knows nothing of sleeping in a dirt fighting hole, filthy from head to toe with no way to bathe yourself with any real satisfaction. He knows nothing about IEDs blowing holes in your hummer and taking your legs with it. I wish someone would tell me what is so romantic about traumatic brain injury. What's so romantic about losing that piece of your soul that goes when you kill another human being, regardless of the circumstance? What's romantic about a roach-infested Walter Reed?
Bush even had his shot. He could have had his romantic moment in Vietnam. He could have seen the romanticism of punjy sticks and hand grenades and dead Vietcong and dead fellow soldiers. But he chose to watch the romance from the exciting ranks of his daddy's influence. The romance was so much, he couldn't even show up for his National Guard movements.
Our men and women dying and suffering in foreign lands are actually having a great time, in Bush world. That son of a bitch is no better than the Cheeto-stained chickenhawks of the side of the blogosphere that worship him. I've seen to many of them express just that sentiment; they wish they could experience the glory of war firsthand. It never occurs to them to cart their cowardly asses down to the recruiter's station and go get some of that romance themselves. Oh, no. Maybe they're afraid the reality of war will sully the fantasy that makes them cream their jeans. I don't know.
All I know is this thinking seems to be pervasive among people in this country. It's the attitude that allowed this folly in the first place. We need to wake up. Most of you know I saw all the romance of war first hand, and it almost killed me. Twice. I wouldn't want that for anybody, unless there was no other option.
I hope one day Bush is forced to face the aftermath of his romantic exercise. I hope he is forced, Clockwork Orange style, to witness what he has wrought. But I know he won't. He'll continue to sleep easy while I have dreams about Iraq for the rest of my life. Those romantic, terrifying dreams.
Ten more month's of a man who's worldview is about as nuanced as a ten year old boy who's seen one to many old war flicks. God help us. God help our military.
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