A Time for Color

[domer70]

I'm using the metaphor of black and white to describe President Bush's dominant mindset: a notion that he is almost literally ordained by God to spread "righteousness" in the world. This is tragically manifest in his Iraq misadventure, his persistence in his original plan ("victory") in the face of virtually conclusive evidence on the ground to the contrary and his rejection of a "political" solution involving regional powers that would require him to change his mind and maybe eat some crow. In this complex and complicating situation, Bush thinks simply in the terms of "simple games," that is, conflicts with clear winners and losers according to traditional, military measurements. Of course, Eisenhower, for example, wouldn't see it that way, nor would his father. The "game" that is afoot is the struggle of moderate Muslims and the West with violent, radical Muslim extremists, and our success in that endeavor does not depend on any one engagement (battle) but on a whole course of public sentiment, which, if it turns our way, will dry up popular support bases for the radicals, their flow of recruits, their flow of money, their ability to find safe havens, and even their zeal as a competing brand of Muslim adaptation to the modern world takes root and flourishes to its exclusion. Bush is not what the world needs now: a true strategist and a visionary thinker. The leader who will save us from this mess will see the whole palate, and will be able to paint a tableau of substantial, if not universal, acclaim. Or, we can waste more lives.

[Plane]

I'm using the metaphor of black and white to describe President Bush's dominant mindset: a notion that he is almost literally ordained by God to spread "righteousness" in the world. This is tragically manifest in his Iraq misadventure, his persistence in his original plan ("victory") in the face of virtually conclusive evidence on the ground to the contrary and his rejection of a "political" solution involving regional powers that would require him to change his mind and maybe eat some crow. In this complex and complicating situation, Bush thinks simply in the terms of "simple games," that is, conflicts with clear winners and losers according to traditional, military measurements. Of course, Eisenhower, for example, wouldn't see it that way, nor would his father. The "game" that is afoot is the struggle of moderate Muslims and the West with violent, radical Muslim extremists, and our success in that endeavor does not depend on any one engagement (battle) but on a whole course of public sentiment, which, if it turns our way, will dry up popular support bases for the radicals, their flow of recruits, their flow of money, their ability to find safe havens, and even their zeal as a competing brand of Muslim adaptation to the modern world takes root and flourishes to its exclusion. Bush is not what the world needs now: a true strategist and a visionary thinker. The leader who will save us from this mess will see the whole palate, and will be able to paint a tableau of substantial, if not universal, acclaim. Or, we can waste more lives.

Could you use a quote form President Bush himself that supports your theisis?

[Universe Prince]

The biggest problem with your comments is your apparent desire for a "leader who will save us". You condemn Bush for believing  he is appointed by God, and then speak as if you were waiting for a messiah.

[domer]

The phrase "save us from this mess" is used, clearly, in its everyday, common-sense, secular meaning. The notion of "salvation," if it must be highlighted from this rather penetrating piece, is a universal human phenomenon, whether actually occurring or just yearned for. The theme is suited to and was seized by religious writers, especially Christian, but their use of the concept does in no way co-opt it from the wider, nontheistic usage to which I refer. One can just as easily refer (from a certain perspective) to Reagan's election as "saving" us from the ditch Carter had dug, but in no sense, on its face, would it necessarily imply a theistic or theological implication for the dramatic change of events. "Messianism," a special form of salvic action, is limited, to my mind, to those perceiving themselves or perceived by others to have a special mission from God, as Bush seems to believe for himself, beyond a "normal" communion with the Almighty that guide or influence one's behavior. At the margins, ordinary acts of "salvation," which occur everyday in every way, might tend to blend into "messianic" activities to the extent they are imbued with a notion of "selectness," of "special communion not available to others." Its a complex matter of thought processes and methods at arriving at the truth. On the sspectrum, I'm afraid, Bush falls towards the "messianic," rigid, closed, persistent even in the face of contrary evidence, overly invested in the "rightness" of his cause, as he sees it, with an unhealthy dose of "divine inspiration" influencing his thinking, and an inability to adapt and adjust the scope of his understanding that "God has ordained." One's placement on the "certainty spectrum" can be a matter of degree leading to a change in actual quality and character of the decision-making process. A messianic individual, like Bush, once he has started something "divinely inspired" is prone to promote nothing but inertia (staying the course) as the conflict unfolds, it being that dangerous, does it seems to him, to question "the word of God."

[Universe Prince]

That is all nice and good, Domer, but that doesn't alter the basic nature of the language you used. Perhaps you just want a political messiah and not a religious one, but it is a messiah you're asking for nonetheless. I doubt the open-minded genius you describe as the "leader who will save us" is going to come along. And in any case, we live in a democratic republic. Seems to me the responsibility for getting us out of this mess rests with us and not some idealized leader.

[Michael Tee]

<<Could you use a quote form President Bush himself that supports your theisis?>>

"You're either with us or with the terrorists."  "Axis of Evil"  "They hate us for our freedoms." 

I dunno, how many do you want?

[Plane]

<<Could you use a quote form President Bush himself that supports your theisis?>>

"You're either with us or with the terrorists."  "Axis of Evil"  "They hate us for our freedoms." 

I dunno, how many do you want?

I would want a serious in context quote that reveils President Bushes attitude in reality.

Imagining a steriotipe to be the president releases an argument from reality.

I don't see the president as a Messia and I kinda doubt he does either .

[domer]

UP, your response was petty and peevish. I don't have time for nonsense like this. Another fruitful way to look at Bush's inability to adapt and to see the big picture beyond his own limited horizons is the psychology of a recovering alcoholic, which I'll leave to Crane.

[Michael Tee]

<<I would want a serious in context quote that reveils President Bushes attitude in reality.>>
I presume the "President" was serious when he said each of those quotes I gave you.  He didn't seem to be joking and nobody was laughing. 

As far as I'm aware, the context of each of those quotes was the "war on terrorism" and the words did seem to apply to that situation and not some cocktail party that Laura was planning for afterwards.

And I don't see why the words that came forth from his own mouth WOULDN'T "reveal President Bush's attitude in reality," unless of course he is just a lying bullshitter who doesn't mean a single word that he says.

<<Imagining a steriotipe to be the president releases an argument from reality.
Really, plane, I didn't imagine a stereotype speaking those words, they are actual Presidential quotes as accurate as I can make them from my memory.  I don't think my memory deviated from the substance of what those quotes were meant to convey although the actual words might have been very slightly different in some places.  I think my argument is VERY reality-based.  Not that sure about yours, though.

<<I don't see the president as a Messia and I kinda doubt he does either.>>
I really have no idea whether he is or is not the Messiah, whether you see him as such or don't or whether he sees himself as such or doesn't.  I think he was described as tending to see things in black or white and you asked for quotes showing that tendency, which I promptly supplied.  Where the Messiah enters into this debate is not clear to me at all.

[Plane]

"as accurate as I can make them from my memory"


Are we stuck with dueling memorys?

"  I don't think my memory deviated from the substance of what those quotes were meant to convey..."


Perhaps , but I understood these fragments of quotes in a very diffrent light when I heard them , when the small fragment's only context is your own opinion I expect it to be colored more in your expectation than in the intended meaning.


[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

"...Another fruitful way to look at Bush's inability to adapt and to see the big picture beyond his own limited horizons is the psychology of a recovering alcoholic,..."

Is it your opinion that any Alcoholic is equally unfit for trust?
Is real recovery impossible?

[Universe Prince]

Yes, Domer, we all get it. You think Bush is horrible and completely unfit for the job. That you long for an idealized leader to save us all from this mess does not make your most recent comments about Bush any less tedious. The response I gave them is exactly what they deserved. You want more substantive debate? Say something more substantive.

[Michael Tee]

"as accurate as I can make them from my memory"


<<Are we stuck with dueling memorys?>>

Only if you want a duel.  Come on, was my memory so very bad?  What did I get wrong?  Why not just admit that I got it right after all, in substance?



<<Perhaps , [perhaps MT's memory didn't deviate from the substance of what those Bush quotes were meant to convey] but I understood these fragments of quotes in a very diffrent light when I heard them , when the small fragment's only context is your own opinion I expect it to be colored more in your expectation than in the intended meaning.>>

Oh, then by all means let us hear what you understood those "fragments of quotes" to mean, in the context of the rest of the speech in which they occurred.  Naturally, for those of us who are too stupid to remember the parts of the speech forming the context of the quotes, you will provide those context-providing portions as well.

[domer]

While I speak in metaphors, trendlines and tendencies in criticizing Bush for habits of mind which profoundly affect our world, there is more direct literature about his basic orientation. Here is one example:


 
Read today's paper · Jobs Search:   
  Guardian Unlimited  Web 
 
 
Home    UK news    World news    Politics    Business & Media    Comment & Leaders    Focus    7 Days
 
Sport    Review    Travel    Cash    Observer Woman    The Observer Magazine    Food    Music
 



     
 





  Tools
   
Text-only version   
Send it to a friend 
Save story   
  The Observer   
Front page   
Story index   

  The Guardian   
Front page 
Story index 





  Bush says God chose him to lead his nation


Book reveals how President's religious and political beliefs are entwined - and claims he did pray with Blair

Paul Harris in New York
Sunday November 2, 2003
The Observer


President George W. Bush stood before a cheering crowd at a Dallas Christian youth centre last week, and told them about being 'born again' as a Christian.
'If you change their heart, then they change their behaviour. I know,' he said, referring to his own conversion, which led to him giving up drinking.

Behind Bush were two banners. 'King of Kings', proclaimed one. 'Lord of Lords', said the other. The symbolism of how fervent Christianity has become deeply entwined with the most powerful man on the planet could not have been stronger.


Article continues

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Few US Presidents have been as openly religious as Bush. Now a new book has lifted the lid on how deep those Christian convictions run. It will stir up controversy at a time when the administration is keen to portray its 'war on terror' as non-religious.
The book, which depicts a President who prays each day and believes he is on a direct mission from God, will give ammunition to critics who claim Bush's administration is heavily influenced by extremist Christians.

Bush is already under fire for allowing the appointment of General William Boykin to head the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Boykin, who speaks at evangelical Christian meetings, once said the war on terror was a fight against Satan, and also told a Somali warlord that, 'My God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol.'

Bush has also been accused of a 'creeping Christianisation' of federal government programmes. In September, the government made more than $60 billion available for religious charitable groups. Critics say the groups will be able to use the cash to promote their religion. One group that benefited from previous grants was an Iowa prison project that entitled inmates to televisions, private bathrooms and computers - in return for Christian counselling.

Now Bush is likely to face intense scrutiny. The book, The Faith of George W. Bush, was written by Christian author Stephen Mansfield. It details numerous incidents where Bush's faith has been shown to be at the centre of his political thinking.

Among Mansfield's revelations is his insistence that Bush and Tony Blair have prayed together at a private meeting at Camp David. Blair has previously denied this.

Mansfield, however, says that, while there were no witnesses, aides were left in little doubt as to what had happened. He told The Observer: 'There is no question they have shared scripture and prayed together.'

The book also shows that in the lead-up to announcing his candidacy for the presidency, Bush told a Texan evangelist that he had had a premonition of some form of national disaster happening.

Bush said to James Robinson: 'I feel like God wants me to run for President. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen... I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.'

In another incident, Mansfield recounts how, on Palm Sunday last year, Bush was flying back from El Salvador aboard the presidential jet Air Force One and seemed to be destined to miss church.

However, knowing that Bush hated to miss a service, some officials suggested they worship in the air. Bush agreed, and soon 40 officials were crammed into the plane's conference room. The service was led by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, while the lesson was read by close Bush aide Karen Hughes.

The author also proves anecdotes about Bush that had previously been dismissed as false. Rumours that he had prayed with a young soldier who had lost a hand in Iraq were thought to be myth, but Mansfield tracked down witnesses and a hospital chaplain who said that Bush had prayed with the man, ending by kissing him on the forehead and telling him he loved him. 'For me, that sums up Bush's beliefs. He really believes Jesus is taken up in his heart and soul,' Mansfield said.

· A woman rammed a car carrying her children, aged three, five and eight, into a building where Bush was campaigning in Mississippi yesterday. Betina Mixon, 29, was dragged away at gunpoint and charged with aggravated assault.





More from Ed Vulliamy
23.06.2002: Focus: The Bush Presidency in trouble
23.06.2002: Bush declares war on fat America
16.06.2002: Magazine: Dark heart of the American dream
Worldview highlights: best of Ed Vulliamy

More from The Observer
Observer international news
Observer Worldview
The Bush files: special report

Debating American power
26.05.2002: Henry Porter: Don't wag your finger at us, Mr Bush
Worldview highlights: debating America

Terrorism crisis
War on Terrorism
War in Afghanistan

More from Guardian Unlimited
Special report: George Bush's America


Advertiser links
Download Music of Independent Artists
Search our selection of independent artists from various...

indiecentric.com
 
ABC Banks, Baby Accessories and More
We have security blankets, growth charts, crib mobiles,...

onlyolena.com
 
Credit Card
Apply online for a credit card. Bad, good, or no credit, we...

shoppingforcredit.com
 
cheap flights | weight loss | adventure holiday | golf holiday | account saving  Observer sections _______________________ BusinessCashCommentFocusInternationalLeadersLettersLifePoliticsReviewScreenSportTravelUK newsstyle guideserver contacts7 daysworldethical awardsSport MonthlyFood Monthly2001 electionPress freedom campaign   







 

[Plane]

Domer comes out in favor of a religious test for office ,necessitateing a constitutional change.



Or are you merely finding evidence tha President Bush is an actual Christian and takes his religion seriously , meaning that he cannot be trusted with sharp tools?

[Michael Tee]

<<Or are you merely finding evidence tha President Bush is an actual Christian and takes his religion seriously . . . >>

Yeah, particularly the part where Jesus says, "Thou shalt bomb.  Thou shalt bomb thy neighbour.  Thou shallt bomb thy neighbour before he bombeth you.  Thou shalt bomb thy neighbour on the mere possibility that he might be planning to bomb you, for thou must take no chances."

Yeah, I can see that Bush is a real Christian.  I can see how seriously he takes the Christian religion.  It's very impressive.