Pope George I
I think that even the most partisan among us would be appalled at the headline I read yesterday: "Bush Tells Shiite Leader He's Unhappy With Violence." Unhappy? Almost 3,000 dead American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed Iraqis, billions of dollars squandered, a country in flames because of the war he started, and his way of dealing with it is to tell the head of one of the warring factions he's unhappy with the violence! It occurs to me he thinks of himself as a spiritual patriarch who exerts his influence with either a blessing or an admonishment. He simply doesn't realize what a political leader does, especially in times of great conflict. Real leadership requires deep understanding of all the opposing forces, a cold-eyed perception of reality, an evaluation of the options, courage to admit mistakes, and the diplomatic skill to bring everyone to the table and get them talking. Of course, this was the guy who looked into Putin's soul and liked what he saw, the guy who had a summit meeting (what in Hollywood we call "doing breakfast") a week ago with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and stopped just short of declaring to him, "Nouri, you're doing a heck of a job."
posted by John M Crowther @ 10:56 AM
5 Comments:
I think we agree he's the worst president ever, and so does the Washington Post...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101509.html
and historian Sean Wilenz and many others
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history?rnd=1145468541266&has-player=true&version=6.0.8.1024
Sorry, after being bombarded for more than a year with negative political ads, etc., I have grown too tired of all of it to find any political cartoon funny so I do not want to make any comment. I can feel only saddness at how vitriol some of the American public on both sides have become with their sweeping statements.
Lee, I appreciate your comment on the cartoon. I think there can and should be discussion and opposing interests without vitriol. The sad thing, IMO, is not when there is debate, especially if it is civil, but when it devolves into barroom brawling, which seems to be the way it is nowadays. But good Lord, there has to be discussion, and differences of opinion, when a nation of people are suffering horribly and dying (11 young Americans today). What are the alternatives? To go on about our lives pretending that nothing is happening? To be supportive of malignancy? To be silent witnesses to horror? Yes, there is conflict and tension, as one might expect when the tragedy is man-made. These are important times, arguably among the most critical in the history of the homo sapiens adventure on this planet. The least we can do, I believe, is not try to retreat from it, with our heads in the sand. And as artists we have a responsiblity to give ourselves to experience and allow it to find a way into our work. I'm not going to go down with the ship quietly.
John C, first let me say that I am an independent, belong to neither party, and agree totally that there should be discussions but more importantly there should be solutions. This is a terrible mess, I was opposed to this war, felt that it would not be a good thing and spoke out loudly 3 years ago. That is the past, now we have to find a way of ending this. But I have no idea of how it can be done, anymore than it seems either the Republicans or the Democrats for all their yelling and name calling have either. I would respect the Democrats more if they ceased the vitriol statements and started thinking about something other than regaining power and keeping it. Neither one of the parties are thinking about the public good, only how they can get or retain power and frankly, I am tired of both sides. I do not think that Clinton's head in the sand policy was better, nor do I have any respect for former President Carter whose remarks seems to give the fanatics more fuel for their anger. These are my opinions only and I do not go around shouting from the rooftops that neither of these men were good presidents. Truth is I do not think many of the men who have held that office made good presidents but I do respect Truman as I have read about him at length and I think that he had old-fashioned courage.
So if someone can come up with ideas that are truly working toward solutions, not insults, I will be first in line to help but until someone does, I will not join in the bashing of either party as truly I do not see much difference between them except the names, Dem or Rep.
Personally, I think that we have a tiger by the tail and can not let go.
PS I do give Bush the benefit of thinking that his intentions may have been good but you know what they say about 'good intentions' and I am beginning to believe the saying is true, as I think we are indeed on the road to Hell. I believe that neither Bush nor anyone advising him knew the truth nature of the middle-east mind set. Ignorance got us into this mess but knowledge is the only way out and no one can gain knowledge with a closed mind on either side of the political blanket.
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