Sunday, October 29, 2006

President Gone Wild


President Bush has apparently been stumping so hard for Republican candidates that he has shouted himself hoarse. This brings up something that I've noticed- does he seem sort of unhinged lately? Every time I see a press conference with the President on CNN as of late, he looks like he's about ready to to step into the ring on WWF Smackdown. He's always been a bit condescending to the press, but lately, he seems angry and downright contemptuous. Is anyone else starting to wonder about his mental state?

I don't usually write about the man because I tend to view him differently than everyone else I know. I think he's essentially a good man who is doing what he believes is right, and relatively tragic in that he's simply failing as President. I don't think he's evil, or a pawn of Halliburton, or a born-again wacko. I think he's banal, if anything. So, the Conservatives who glorify him strike me as misguided, but so do the Liberals who villify him. He seems to me like he might be a great office manager or coach somewhere, but by some cosmic mishap, he became President, and he's in way over his head.

And it's sad too because I don't think he realizes how lousy a job he's done. I think he really believes that it's just a conspiracy of Liberals who want to see the terrorists win, who are complaining about him. I think he has started to go into tyrant mode; but not to protect the nation; just to protect some delusion about himself and his party. He simply does not seem to understand that a democracy cannot function without a certain trust and respect between parties. In this, he is not alone though. The rhetoric on the left and the right is downright poisionous for democracy. And again, many people do seem to hate the man as they hate no one else.

So, maybe that's why he's been screaming so much in recent news clips. It's getting to be a bit alarming. American politicians haven't been big screamers since the days of Huey Long. I think screaming makes us think of Mussolini or Hitler, or some other El Presidente. It only took one scream to undo Howard Dean, remember. Maybe it will win over the undecided voters who want a tough guy. But, I'm personally kind of exhausted by the overheated and paranoid tone of politics these days. Do they want us to vote for them, or suffer a heart attack? Personally, I'm expecting Bush's head to explode, like in Scanners, at some point.

2 comments:

historyjen said...

Good post, Rufus. I suppose you are at least largely right... though I've heard serious scholars tell me (over a beer, but still) that his chronic cocaine use turned him into a sociopath (no ability to empathise, etc.). He might mean well in his own mind if he were like those of us with consciences. Whatever. Let's assume you're right on this one. Happy election!

Rufus said...

I guess it's like I don't think his goals are as terrible as they get made out to be. I think he really does want to end terrorism and spread democracy and all of the other things that he says. But, I do think he believes that noble ends excuse ignoble means. Cheney's line about torture being a no-brainer suggests the same thing. Also, I'm not sure at all that Bush understands the depth of his failures.