Update [2005-7-4 23:11:10 by Bionic]:Added a link to where you can find the doc online.
Last night my husband came tearing out of the bedroom and flipped the TV on to CBC Newsworld.
They were playing "The World According To Bush".
(Thanks to ePluribus Media for the link to The Passionate Eye doc at Information Clearinghouse.)
Now this was significant for me, because I lived through a winter of "Why do you waste time reading all that stuff. It's not your country. You can't do anything about it."
So we sat down and watched it together. It was shocking to me how many men in positions of power calmly and boldfacedly (if that's not a word I am making it one now) lie.
My husband knows just about anything you might want to know about art, 20th century music, aircraft and WWII. He does not do politics.
Now he does. Now he understands some of the fear I felt in the fall at the thought of four more years of Bushco.
And it felt pretty good to point out Joe Wilson, speaking in French, no less, and say "He was working with us, ePluribus Media. The Plame thing was what got us started."
I remember on another show Bush 41 telling a "heartwarming" story about his and Bab's experience on 911 flying into Minnesota. How their biggest worry was the safety of their son, the president and all the other family members. Just like you and me! He worried about family. He really isn't some repitilian alien covered in human skin.
Then on the documentary last night, Carlucci of the Carlyle group (and dead eyes) acknowledged that they (the Carlyle board and stockowners) were meeting in Washington at 9 am on 911. Bush 41 was there. So was Bin Laden's brother. But middle America wouldn't know that if all they had was 41's recollection.
And it raises the question for me about the nature of Bush41's lie. Did he stay in Washington or did he manage to hop a flight outta there after all the planes were grounded?
Any time I listen to Rumsfeld he drives me round the twist.
"Do people say I am a complete and utter incompetent who should be tried for war crimes? Yes!
Would it be reasonable to think that those who think that should just kiss my wrinkled old ass?
Yes!
Have I actually said anything about what I think?
No!"
We like to scorn Bush's abysmal rhetoric but most of the time his message is too garbled and "misspoke" to even be sure of exactly what he said.
I won't go into the rest. This weekend we have spent hours parsing their carefully parsed phrases. I am tired of it.
I am tired of the twisting of language so that a lie is shrouded in truth.
It's wrong.
Here's what I want.
I want to see a new standard. I want to see some korrekt behavior from those in charge. Read the quote below for the definition of korrekt.
Here's a quote I read a few years ago. I've kept it because it highlights what so many in Washington (and Downing Street and elsewhere) have lost.
It's a quote from Straight To The Top by Paul G. Stern.
In it he says, in terms of analyzing his own behavior:
"There's a German word korrekt, which isn't quite translatable into English - the dictionary suggests "irreproachable", but that is only an approximation - that sums up my behavior towards other people.
"Korrekt is also a synonym for having integrity, but in German the concept goes beyond the mere possession of integrity to indicate a person whose integrity has never been compromised and will not be, even in the future.
"A korrekt person will protect other people's property and integrity perhaps even more than his own, and behaves towards others in a manner that assumes and champions basic human dignity and humanity.
"For instance, there are some people who, in their conversations, never come right out and lie, but nonetheless say things that lead their listeners to wrong conclusions; a korrekt person won't countenance such behavior."
Tell me if you agree. Is it time for a new version of political korrektness?