So I'm watching the morning news and I hear some ditzy co-host entertain the idea that the latest military action in Samarra, Iraq might have been ordered by President Bush for purely political reasons. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the television.
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy the public opinion implosion that is happening to the Bush administration and the Republican party as much as the next liberal democrat. It's about time more people started placing some accountability where it belongs for the foreign relations mess our country is in. What bugs me is the caricatures that we create for our political leaders.
When Bush is the good guy, he is John Wayne riding up on a horse to rescue the nation from evil. He is our knight in shining armor coming to save the distressed damsel. He is patriotism incarnate and disagreeing with him means you hate America. Go Team!
When Bush is bad, he is an evil warlord out to conquer the world. He is motivated only by greed or manipulated only by the greed of the people around him. He cares for no human being and in his soul he craves only power. He is a devil who would cheerfully send young men to die in order to get a bump in the polls. Booo...hissss!
What the hell is going on here?
Do these exaggerations come from the press because they think we are too stupid and lazy to grasp the issues so they dumb them down into cartoons for us? Do they come from politicians because they hope that we will be too stupid and lazy to notice? Do they come from the public because we actually are stupid and lazy?
Do I believe that Bush has made some terrible mistakes in his fight against terrorism? I sure do. He has surrounded himself with poor advisors and failed to surround himself with anyone who would challenge him. He has been arrogant and short-sighted and failed to truly take in the global damage that his policies have done. That being said, I believe he is human. I believe he struggles with the choices he makes to send troops to die. I believe he is truly motivated by the idea that he is doing the right things for this country and for the world. He is not evil... he is just wrong.
I do not believe that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfield sit in the oval office rubbing their hands together, laughing maniacally and calculating the money they are making from oil interests...do you? Then why are we painting that picture? Turning them into stereotypes only weakens the arguments against their policies. When cooler heads prevail, we look foolish and so does our case. Don't make the debate about the caricature, make it about the cause.
Anything less is a waste of everyone's time.
No comments:
Post a Comment