Far from stupid, Bush is smart and qualified Muniini K. Mulera Dear Tingasiga:
I cannot recall a US president in my lifetime who has been as ridiculed and abused by non-Americans and quite a few Americans as George W. Bush. America’s 43rd president has been called an assortment of unflattering descriptors that essentially suggest he is intellectually challenged. It is not that people just disagree with his policies and actions. They seem to despise the man himself. Many go as far as claiming that he is merely a robot, steered by Vice President Dick Cheney and a cabal of ultra-conservative operators who are out to complete the unfinished business of the president’s father, former president George Herbert Walker Bush. The latest instalment of an anti-Bush insult came from Madame Francois Ducros, the Canadian Prime Minister’s Communications Director, who called the US president “a moron” for using the NATO summit in Prague to drum up support for a war in Iraq. Madame Ducros’ comment, made la! st Wednesday in a private, off the record conversation in Prague, was overheard by at least two reporters, one of whom promptly filed a story about it. The reaction was immediate. Bush supporters, in both Canada and the USA, were so incensed that they demanded the resignation of Madame Ducros. Some declared that the lady was simply expressing the prime minister’s opinion of the US president. Of course the prime minister denied the accusations, though he refused to accept Ducros’ offer of resignation. Meanwhile, many Bush haters and critics have rallied to Madame Ducros’ defence, claiming that all she did was tell the truth, and if a gossip-hungry reporter ran with the story, so be it. But is Bush really a moron? The word “moron” is not easy to translate into East Africa’s languages. The closest word in Swahili would be “mshenzi”; “ekifiire” in Rukiga/Runyankore; and “musilu” in Luganda. According to the Collins English Dictionary, a moron is a foolish or! stupid person; a person having an intelligence quotient [IQ] of between 50 and 70, able to work only under supervision. [The average American’s IQ is above 100]. The argument that Bush is an intellectual lightweight is based on what appears to be his simplistic approach to international affairs. His apparent disinterest in the world beyond the USA – at least up until Sept. 11, 2001 – and his single-minded focus on fighting anti-US terrorism without publicly acknowledging America’s role in nurturing the same terrorists, has ruffled the feathers of many writers and commentators around the world. That a man who allegedly stole the White House from former Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 election is now the dominant political leader in the world has left a bitter taste in many mouths. Two years after what was supposed to be a Pyrrhic victory, Bush is riding high in the polls and on the world stage while Al Gore has fallen off the political radar screen. This! has added to the anger of those who feel that the president fluked his way into the White House, a place to which he was intellectually and experientially unqualified to be. Yet this anti-Bushism clouds certain basic truths about the character and abilities of Bush who, far from being a moron, is a highly accomplished individual who is well qualified to be where he is. The 56 year old Bush, a graduate of Harvard and Yale, two of the world’s top universities, is a licensed pilot who flew an F-102 for the Texas Air National Guard, prior to his career in the oil and gas business in Midland, Texas. He led a team of investors who bought the Texas Rangers, a lucrative baseball franchise, that he later sold for a handsome profit worth tens of millions of dollars. He was the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms, winning re-election in 1998 with 68.6 percent of the vote. His conduct as president, especially in the aftermath of the terr! orist attack of Sept. 11, has shown that he understands his mandate very clearly, namely to lead and champion the interests of the United States. The mistake that many people make is to view him as president of the world, expecting him to serve the interests of the rest of the world rather than those of his United States. Bush understands that his country is under threat and his contract with the people of the United States is to protect them from whatever devilish plans Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and their colleagues have designed for them. Of course where the rest of the world’s interests coincide with those of the United States, Bush has not been found wanting in the efforts to ensure the protection of those interests. But where the interests of the rest of the world are at variance with those of the United States, Bush has put America first, notwithstanding the noises of protests emanating from the rest of the planet’s capitals. Recognition of the s! imple fact that Bush is not the president of Uganda, Uruguay or Uzbekistan, but the United States, would ease the apoplectic screams of those who call him a moron or simpleton because he is putting America first. And the majority of the American voters are very pleased with their leader. His personal popularity ratings remain very high for a president at mid-term. The voters rewarded him two weeks ago by completely humiliating his Democratic opponents at the mid-term elections. Republicans regained control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. While people were busy calling him a fool, he easily passed a very important tax cut, fulfilling one of his main election promises. His response to the attack on America has been firm, measured and effective so far (militarily speaking). At least the majority of Americans think so, and that is what really counts. His “either you are with us or you are with the terrorists” stance has sent world leaders ! scampering to be among the first to be counted on America’s side. This has included those who were once proudly independent and card-carrying members of the non-aligned movement. His Homeland Security project is the most significant government restructuring since President Harry S. Truman directed the creation of the modern Pentagon following the Second World War. It is Bush who has used the United Nations to force Saddam to accept the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. And it is Bush who will almost certainly throw Saddam out of Baghdad, something that his father and the allegedly brighter and more worldly Bill Clinton failed to accomplish in ten years. Of course Bush would be well advised to listen to the opinions of sober rulers and other opinion leaders around the world. He cannot afford to antagonize the majority of the world’s countries, particularly traditional friends of the United States. However, to suggest that he is not aware of this is ! to commit the sin of underestimation. Ronald Wilson Reagan was underestimated, written off as a senile cowboy who had no clue what was going on around him. Yet it was Reagan who presided over America’s triumph over communism, and changed the world’s military and political balance for many years to come. Similarly Bush is about to change, not just America but the whole world, all the while being underestimated by those who feel good by calling him a moron. And by the time he is done, which will almost certainly be after his second term in office, the question will be who the real moron was. November 25, 2002 00:14:35 Gook ---------------------- Muniini read the following also: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64603-2002Nov16.html Bwambuga. -- He it is Who created for you all that is on earth...He is the All-knower of everything. Swaddaq Allahu Al-Adhim. Michael Bwambuga. __________________________________________________________________ The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/
