I don't know whether you saw the symbolism of the Press Conference.
Instead of being flanked by flunkies Bush came out alone. He walked into the hall that seems to be perhaps 30-40 yards long. The camera pointed down the hall as the President walked alone to the rostrum and there, without support, was in complete control.
In other words, this was the President's Press Conference.
Unlike the turmoil of a usual Press Conference, with everyone clamoring for attention, while the "star" picks ABC, NBC, CBS, the NYT - and so on, Bush had a list of the major news operations and chose them in turn. He kidded about it at one point.
This meant that Helen Thomas wasn't called - she wasn't on the list.
At conclusion, the lonely figure walked back through the hall and turned out of sight. Come to think of it, it looked something like that great shot of Gary Cooper as he stood alone in the street waiting for the bad guys in "High Noon".
Bush essentially said what he says all the time. He continually repeats the same argument - which is fine. (Though, I don't listen to him much.)
Every salesman, whether he goes from door to door, office to office, company to company, finds a sales pitch that works and continually repeats it. When he is experienced, he will vary somewhat, using different words, but the message will remain the same - the message that works.
The major problem with all discussion of Bush is that it starts out with the assumption that Bush is a kind of Associate Member of the Axis of Evil (one of his sillier remarks).
Once it is accepted that Bush is bad - everything follows from there. Brad can be talking about boiling an egg - but he'll get in a swipe at Bush as he counts off the three minutes.
Bush, no doubt jocosely said at a reception for a Senator - no doubt while sipping a Perrier - "He tried to kill my daddy."
This becomes from Brad a "cry" rather than an amusing remark perhaps to a blue haired dowager and major contributor who asked "Why do you think Saddam is so evil?" "Well, he tried to kill my daddy."
So everyone dutifully smiled - or really laughed - and the punch levels fell in the bowls and the money changed hands.
But an Electra complex is much more exciting than a mild attempt at humor - also it sounds kind of official and scientific.
I found over many hundreds of hours of radio work, that one must be careful what one says off the cuff. Invariably it is taken the wrong way by someone. I was unimportant. I would expect that when "the most powerful man in the world" talks, anything he says will be endlessly analyzed - even when it's insignificant.
So well is this satanic Bush ingrained that the adorable Karen and I nearly came to blows because I felt the law in Florida elected Bush seven days after the election and he should have been declared the winner on the following Saturday AS THE LAW DEMANDED.
Everything else that happened was politics and of little consequence. Karen wasn't happy about that conclusion.
Trouble is we KNOW that Bush is a drunken, cocaine sniffing, incompetent, who hasn't the intelligence to read a book and is controlled by the self-interested oil millionaires who surround him. (That changed a little later to his being a loose cannon who refuses to listen to his advisors - heck, whatever works.)
Yet, he was a pilot of a modern air force supersonic jet. I suppose it doesn't take philosophical brilliance to fly a supersonic jet - but I suspect an incompetent pilot would finish up nose-first in the Texas prairie (that is, if he were allowed to fly).
Almost two decades ago, he apparently got religion and gave up drinking. I'm not religious at all - but I suppose that conversion was a good thing to get him off the sauce. It was something that Churchill never managed, probably imbibing his daily half bottle of brandy to the end. Maybe that's why he never amounted to much.
Anyway, the point is that Bush was evil when he was drinking, and evil when he stopped.
At least, the argument that his low IQ is responsible for his malapropisms has stopped. Now, he rarely makes a slip (he almost made one during the hour-long Press Conference - probably his Ecstasy habit - but he instantly recovered).
Anyway that is no longer mentioned. Yet, those who know claim that an IQ is fixed. Hey! Is Bush taking some of those peculiar herbal remedies supposed to raise IQ? Maybe, he is addicted to them? Well?
The interminable efforts to psycho-analyze the President are funny. I cannot recall one attempt to show he's a normal person., though the Guardian suggested he might be shrewder that was thought.
That was after the Republicans won the mid-terms in unprecedented fashion. It was after Bush did something he shouldn't. He went on the road campaigning - laying his reputation on the line. If the maneuver (manoeuvre) had failed (as was expected) it would mean a black eye for Bush. I'm sure the political old hands in the White House were firmly against it.
Bush went ahead anyway (loose cannon) exposing himself to the prospect of failure (arrogance) and denying the advice of experts (low IQ or drug-induced over-confidence).
To me, it looked like political courage. But, he was probably working off an alcohol/drug high.
If he manages to bring off the Iraqi thing, it will be the coup of the century - perhaps of the millennium. He has to win the overt war as painlessly as possible.
He MUST bring the Iraqi people over to our side (after the bombs stop falling. He must weld together the distinct (and not particularly friendly) subgroups within the country.
He probably needs to bring Iran into the discussion of Iraq - conveniently forgetting they are part of the Axis.
France and Russia will become friends pretty quickly. They have sunk a lot of money into the oil fields in Iraq. The principle of avoiding war will rapidly be buried under the principle of saving their investment.
Maybe they will offer him sanctuary if he promises not to set the oil fields ablaze. But, then, maybe my view of modern governments is jaundiced.
It is always easier to do nothing rather than do something. I suspect this is the situation at the United Nations. There is also the normal aversion to war most of us have. We had it in the late 1930's - and with reason after what had happened 20 years earlier.
We can dream a little - considering war seems inevitable. If Bush pulls it off and his stock is very high (not to mention close to quarter million British and American troops in the area) perhaps he will be able to force nationhood on the Palestinians.
They have been able officially to become a State since the early 90's. The Arab nations have prevented any Palestine that doesn't include the area now known as Israel. The US sends a lot of money to Palestine. Europe used to send money - I'm not sure whether they do now.
The Arab States send little or nothing.
So altogether Bush has heft, which might mean a Palestine nation, along with a withdrawal of Jewish settlements.
One can hope.
I keep telling Democrats they underestimate the President, but they don't seem to believe me. An old political dictum is 'don't believe your own propaganda'. Democrats have been telling everyone how crass, incompetent, and iniquitous is George Bush since long before the election. That's OK - but they began to believe it themselves.
If our action in the desert brings us a famous victory the American economy is likely to improve - even to soar. Then expect an eight year Bush Presidency - during which he will have no way to go but down. That's the way it goes.
But I expect me to be wrong on that.
Harry --------------------------------------------------------------
Keith wrote:
I've been fascinated by the little glimpses of Bush given by Elisabeth Bumiller's article, "Aides say Bush girds for war in solitude, but not in doubt" in today's NYT. Here are two paragraphs from the end of the article that add some evidence to my view that (a) Bush does as he's told and (b) he has no real idea of the awsome responsibilities that he carries and the repercussions that might follow as he's about to invade Iraq:
<<<< Mr. Bush also spoke this week with his father, who called to congratulate his son on his presentation at the news conference, aides said. The two men, who have both taken on Mr. Hussein, continue to speak all the time, aides say. Aides say they are almost never in the room during the phone calls.
In the march toward war, there has also been an occasional moment of humor. "While he was giving the State of the Union, he winked at me," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. "He sort of winked, a couple of times. And I winked back at him." >>>>
Oh, and then there's a final paragraph which, quite simply, is dead wrong:
<<<< "Whether you agree with him or not," Mr. Schumer said, "one of Bush's strengths is that he goes with his instincts. And at a time like this, when the winds are swirling around in all different directions, a president is well served who has his own internal gyroscope." >>>>
There's a gyroscope at work all right, but it's not his own.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/politics/09BUSH.html?th>
Keith Hudson
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