Bush as Leader

"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence."
Charles Austin Beard

Much has been said regarding the despotic approach to government we have experienced under the Bush administration, but the above quote by Charles Austin Beard nicely illustrates the degree to which we have deluded ourselves by allowing this administration to remain in the White House for another four years.

At what other time in our history have people been so deeply divided by issues such as we face today? Other than the Civil War, can you think of one? Then, the nation was severely divided over the issue of slavery to the extent that war was unavoidable.

Yet, in 2001 the United States had come together unlike any other time in history as a result of the attacks we suffered on September 11. The camaraderie was apparent everywhere you looked. Flags on house fronts, stickers on car bumpers, editorials in the papers. You could not escape the certainty that the people of this nation were as one against the perpetrators of this attack. We would pay any price, face any hardship, and go to any lengths to protect our families and our countrymen.

With near unanimous consensus, the people of the United States wanted an explanation of how this had occurred and assurances that everything would be done to prevent future attacks. Many demanded retribution against those responsible for the numerous deaths of their friends and family members. They all looked to the White House for leadership and direction and counted on the character of the man who had been elected president of the world’s most powerful nation to set the tone and a course of action for the country.

Instead they found George Bush who did not have a clue how to lead this country because he is not a leader. He is merely the mask covering the apparatus that runs the country. George was given his lines and tutored on his mannerisms and temperment to augment his public image. Then he was placed with crowds friendly to his message to exhibit him as a strong, patriotic leader. But by himself, he was incapable of making the most basic decisions, such as what to do immediately after being informed of the attacks. Even the president’s detractors attribute to him the capacity for bad decisions, however this is not the case. The president’s decisions, bad or otherwise are not of his own making. His agenda has been produced for him, making him just another actor following a script. He delivers rhetoric devised to keep him “on message” while ceaselessly advancing the days “talking points”.

The leader that the country looked to on 9/11 for leadership was himself being lead. And the people leading him were not the least interested in what the citizens of this country wanted. They were interested only in how they could use the events of that day to their advantage. A small group of Neoconservatives had been advocating war against Iraq since early in the Clinton administration and viewed 9/11 as the answer to their prayers. Many influential members of the energy industry, already enjoying preferential treatment owing to their association with former Haliburton CEO and current Vice President Dick Cheney, considered US involvement in the middle-east as a welcome matt for expanding their own operations. A growing yet still minority group of religious right wing fanatics saw their opportunity to exploit a relationship with the self-professed “born again” chief executive in the midst of his “crusade” in the heart of the Muslim world.

It is difficult to see how a deception of this magnitude is possible, difficult to understand how it has not been exposed in a free and open society like ours. It is difficult because we have learned to expect our government to be held accountable for its actions. Because we believe that our elected officials would not compromise their integrity by failing to challenge others whose actions and policies are constitutionally debatable, adverse to national security or risk people’s lives unnecessarily. And also because journalists, until recently, were at liberty to tenaciously pursue the truth from those elected to represent us. Nevertheless, George W. Bush is unquestionably the marionette president and those pulling his strings have contributed exorbitantly for the honor.