Pacific Views
You've been had. You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. - Malcolm X
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| Pacific ViewsYou've been had. You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. - Malcolm X |
As you know, George W Bush is on a Latin American tour to bring hope and friendship to our Latin American neighbors. The press spin is that Bush is looking to create his legacy (watch the CNN video), but I suspect that this trip is an opportunity for him to get away from the furies that plague him at home and to commune with those leaders of countries who have figured out how to make tinpot dictatorship work. I wonder how many gunships he will arrange to sell to the Colombians to wipe out their "terrorists" in a show of solidarity?
So far he's found a warm welcome with thousands of protesters and wafts of teargas filling the streets. When he says he really likes to visit places that allow demonstrations I have to laugh.
Yet, I find myself getting sick when I hear him proclaim his love of democracy and human rights. Here was one of the interviews he held with the Latin American press:
THE PRESIDENT: No, my trip is a chance to tell the people of Colombia and Uruguay and Brazil and Guatemala and Mexico that the United States cares deeply about the human condition. My budget this year has got -- or last year has $1.6 billion of bilateral assistance. Much of that money is spent on social justice programs -- programs like education and health care.
You know, oftentimes, people really don't understand the United States, and my trip is to really explain to people that we believe in education for all. We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in prosperity, and the people of this country have been very generous in their help and support to people.
I wondered how the hell he could say that when he has created all of those secret and brutal detention centers and when he personally glories in the efficacy of torture. Then I realized what allowed him to say these words without blushing. It's because those people he has captured in his Kafka nightmare are not human in his eyes. Because they are not human, they have no rights nor should they have any expectations of being treated with dignity.
Posted by Mary at March 9, 2007 12:19 AM | International | TrackBack(1) | Technorati links |When President asshole said, "My trip is to explain, as clearly as I can, that our nation is generous and compassionate", a comic choking sound erupted automatically from my vocal chords. He has never earned the right to speak for our nation and be trusted. Never. His words are always as clear as mud.
Posted by: Wells at March 9, 2007 07:50 PMAnd don't you love the irony of the fact that "The Leader Of The Free World" must travel to other countries "where freedom of speech and expression are the law of the land" and that Bush's favorite "thriving democracy", Columbia, has a General at the head of it's police service who has "taken measures to neutralize [the protesters]".
Posted by: wizardbill at March 9, 2007 09:16 PMHe can say stuff like that because he is a barefaced liar. George Orwell was too timid in describing this kind of conduct as doublethink.
Posted by: Scorpio at March 10, 2007 10:59 AM