Let me just say that I am thrilled that George Bush has decided to be the Uniter again. First, he is pissing off his base. Second, he fired Rumsfeld. But even when he tries to be good it is disconcerting how he comes off as just a little bit evil - or at least, mindnumbingly stupid. Take this gem:
Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war
http://www.cnn.com/...
Great. That's real great. We're very proud of you for deciding to hold elections anyway, even though we are in the middle of a big war. It was very generous of you. I mean, no other country would do that.
My boyfriend, who is from Colombia, was a little offended by your remarks, but what does he know? His country has only been fighting an endless civil war for four decades now and the frequent terrorist attacks and loss of nearly 1/5 of the country to the control of guerillas aren't really what I would call a "serious challenge". Its easy for them to have regular elections now - but just wait until they have a moral challenge like the War on Terror or the Last Defense of Freedom or the Battle for Civilization or whatever we are calling it. Then, fortunately, they will have us to look to for guidance.
It reminds me of all of the people who claimed that the world was critical of our rush to war because most countries "Don't really have a free press like we have here". Or my mother, who thought that everyone around the globe was glued to the results of the 2000 race because, "they are curious about what democracy is like".
How are we ever going to fix what is wrong with our press, our political process, and our broken and deferred promises of civil rights when we can't even see past our national delusions of grandeur?