George W.'s speech, Part II

The former president's speech, last Thursday, in economically devastated Michigan, prompts reflection once again on the one constant in George W. Bush's Chauncey Gardinerlike life: its wake of destruction wherever he's gone, in whatever he's done, upon whomever he's touched, with the lone exception, I assume, of his immediate family.

Always an immensely privileged bumbler, neither physical effort nor mental exertion was ever required of George Bush to lead the most comfortable of lives. Everything -- and I mean everything, including but especially the presidency -- was simply handed to him by others. It seems he came to expect such unearned gifts as the natural order of things, hence that singular word that came to define him: entitlement.

Historically, other notables born into high social station have felt similarly entitled -- one thinks of presidential patricians such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Kennedy -- but concomitant with that sense was a sense as well of obligation, of return, of, in the most honorable intent of the words, noblesse oblige.

Whether that latter sensibility came naturally to those men or was rather grudgingly embraced I'll leave others to speculate on; but the fact is, it did come. And it was of benefit to millions.

Perhaps the woefully wholesale lack of it in George W. was his parents' fault. I don't know. But one is also led to ask if it wasn't more the result of something deeper in George's essential character, something defined by its absence. And by that I mean his profound lack of wonder -- at himself, and the world at large. With it he might have stopped to ask at least every now and then: Why is it I've been able to go so far while trying so little? -- indeed, not trying at all.

At that point he might have said to himself: Maybe others could use a bit of a leg up, because maybe others are so far down only because people like myself are unjustifiably -- one could say, even, oppressively -- so far up.

And at that second and more advanced point, the real world might have then come into human focus for George. Indeed, given all that he started with and all that was handed to him throughout, he might even have made something of himself.

Comments

[clarence swinney]

draft dodger
criminal deserter
criminal cocaine snorter
criminal drunk
criminal insider trader
alleged adulterer(wher e is girl-dead)
pathological liar
google clarence swinney + bush lies 254
+ bush waffles(loon)

[Cole...]

george W. had a narrow area of interest.
One was that he got to 'make decisions'--from a small list made by others, with the choice clearly underlined.
Another was that he had to have a 'good time'--most of which was at he expense of others, such as executions, tortures, wars, using grief of others as his private 'learning experience'.
Another was spend his time exercising.
Another was his devotion to an enjoyment of his meal.
Another was---? Well that's about it.
Make something of himself? What for?

[Cole...]

The big question remains: Why with his /Chauncey Gardinerlike life/ which was well known, did the GOP glomp onto this most undeseriving type, and why did the GOP relentlessly avoid any exposure of failures (noted in the above comment by clarence) and why above all else did they insist on shoving pictures of george W. with a halo like illumination about him? Why did they like to photograph him in the grimace of scrunched up pain while in pretending to be in the pose of the joy of 'praying' ?

What is it in the GOP psyche that draws them to accept a narcissistic sadist as a leader and someone they just want to have a beer with?

And why, above all else are there so many of them?

[Carolyn]

He has to know he never won an election, but it doesn't seem to bother him.
The man thinks he's entitled to lie, cheat and steal, because that's what Bush's do.

[kilgore trout]

The late great Kurt Vonnegut said it best:

I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d'etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka "Christians," and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or "PPs."

To say somebody is a PP is to make a perfectly respectable medical diagnosis, like saying he or she has appendicitis or athlete's foot. The classic medical text on PPs is "The Mask of Sanity " by Dr. Hervey Cleckley. Read it! PPs are presentable, they know full well the suffering their actions may cause others, but they do not care. They cannot care because they are nuts. They have a screw loose!

http://www.masters-of-war.org/vonnegut.html

[karen_j66]

if one can recall barbara bush's comment at the sports dome during katrina....." they have it better here than they had it at home" its very easy to see why george jr thinks the way he does. the apple doesnt fall too far from the tree.

[Truthseeker]

"Manboy"Bush has had someone clean up after him since the day he was born. The Bush Crime family stole the election to do as much damage as possible Globally. What utterly,despicable selfish demons they are. They are the poster children for self-centeredness. And yes, Barbara Bush is heinous. She said she didn't want to waste her beautiful mind seeing flag-draped coffins returning from Irag. Re: Katrina she said "they are underprivileged anyway, so this is working out well for them. You can feel the ice water running through her veins and her spawn Commander Bunny Pants.

[bird]

the right tried to overlay a reagan image over bush 2 for 8 years - it never worked. neither were good leaders, but bush 2 was a disaster. don't blame only the bushies for stealing the election and wrecking what was good about america - many americans drank the kool aid or just refused to see clearly and supported the coup. of course it's not in the media's interest to open people's eyes to reality... we are all complicit in breaking this country.