Friday, September 17, 2004
"I Hate That Face that He Makes..."
So, just what is it about George Bush that ties him so closely to the Hate America phenomena of our time?
Opinion polls and mass media the world over make it clear, "the world" hates George Bush.
I won't attempt a tedious scientific inquiry to quantify the good and bad attributes of America to determine if it really is some anomaly of all-around badness. Suffice it to say that such analysis could be performed on any country, and with the exception of a very few (Iceland comes to mind), they'd all come out wanting in a contest of national moral perfection.
There does appear to be some truth to the conclusion that increased hatred for the U.S. is closely linked to hatred for the current president. So, what exactly is so remarkably horrid about George Bush? He comes from a wealthy family. No, that can't be it. Lots of people in politics are "rich." In general, people who hate Bush, adore John Kerry, and he's a master in the cash accumulation crowd. The idea that wealth and power go hand in hand certainly isn't a new concept. Castro and Kim Jong Il probably don't show up on paper (or in photographs) as very wealthy but for all practical purposes, they own entire countries. Okay, Bush has some cash, for the sake of argument lets say we should hate him for it.
I've heard one particular argument against Bush made more than once. Some variation on, "I hate that face that he makes." One of the reasons GWB spawns vicarious hatred for the U.S. is because of some "face that he makes?" Somehow, I'm not convinced.
Personally, I can't think of a political figure that should elicit more neutrality or indifference than "W." I don't think there's anything in particular about him to either love or hate. He's just some guy. Of course this guy has made some critical decisions in some critical times. Are people that mad that he removed a nice guy like Sadaam Hussein from power and refuses to hand Iraq over to a bunch of Islamo-Fascist thugs? How about the Taliban? Maybe he should have been nicer to them. I mean, he tells them to close down terrorist camps and hand over the head of Al Queda or the U.S. would come in and do it for them -- and then he actually does it! Yeah, that's it, the response to 9/11. He should have let it slide. 'Just a couple of big buildings. What I don't get though, is that Russia was in Afghanistan the better part of a decade with massive destruction and civilian casualties. Russia's been in Chechnya too, for years, and has committed some deliberate gruesome violence against civilians that far exceeds anything done by America in Iraq. How come no world wide protest against Russia? Oh yeah, I forgot, America took away Russia's dictatorship as well, they had to respond in some way so, lets not fuss over war if Russia's involved, and massive world protest against those wars are definitely out of the question.
...So, what exactly are the logical, objective, and fair reasons for despising George Bush? Every president and world leader has supported and opposed domestic and international policies that are controversial. Could it be that he's just not trendy enough in his general take on things to garner the affections of those who love the "compassionate" State, dictatorship, and socialist bureaucracies?
It seems that along with a world that hates George Bush and America, there has coincidentally been a world media that has reported a particular view of the U.S. and Bush. The movers and shakers of international news, entertainment, and education (the so-called "international spokespersons") have rather consistently presented a view of events that depict both targets of scorn in less than appealing light. To watch a Hollywood movie or attend a high school class today, it would be difficult not to see the U.S. and its president as anything but fonts of pure evil and "injustice."
Everyone knows of course, that in America only a few rich capitalists lord over millions of poverty stricken unemployed slaves (that's why America is the wealthiest country in the world with a 5.4 unemployment rate -- its all in the "distribution").
Everyone knows that GW secretly planned the terrorist acts of 9/11 so he could invade Iraq and steal food for oil kickbacks from France, Germany, and Russia. ("International Spokespersons" don't talk about the food for oil kickbacks much).
So, it's all pretty clear. The "world" has its facts strait, the "world" is objective, and the "world" hates America, mostly because Bush is president,...and partly because of "that face that he makes."
Opinion polls and mass media the world over make it clear, "the world" hates George Bush.
I won't attempt a tedious scientific inquiry to quantify the good and bad attributes of America to determine if it really is some anomaly of all-around badness. Suffice it to say that such analysis could be performed on any country, and with the exception of a very few (Iceland comes to mind), they'd all come out wanting in a contest of national moral perfection.
There does appear to be some truth to the conclusion that increased hatred for the U.S. is closely linked to hatred for the current president. So, what exactly is so remarkably horrid about George Bush? He comes from a wealthy family. No, that can't be it. Lots of people in politics are "rich." In general, people who hate Bush, adore John Kerry, and he's a master in the cash accumulation crowd. The idea that wealth and power go hand in hand certainly isn't a new concept. Castro and Kim Jong Il probably don't show up on paper (or in photographs) as very wealthy but for all practical purposes, they own entire countries. Okay, Bush has some cash, for the sake of argument lets say we should hate him for it.
I've heard one particular argument against Bush made more than once. Some variation on, "I hate that face that he makes." One of the reasons GWB spawns vicarious hatred for the U.S. is because of some "face that he makes?" Somehow, I'm not convinced.
Personally, I can't think of a political figure that should elicit more neutrality or indifference than "W." I don't think there's anything in particular about him to either love or hate. He's just some guy. Of course this guy has made some critical decisions in some critical times. Are people that mad that he removed a nice guy like Sadaam Hussein from power and refuses to hand Iraq over to a bunch of Islamo-Fascist thugs? How about the Taliban? Maybe he should have been nicer to them. I mean, he tells them to close down terrorist camps and hand over the head of Al Queda or the U.S. would come in and do it for them -- and then he actually does it! Yeah, that's it, the response to 9/11. He should have let it slide. 'Just a couple of big buildings. What I don't get though, is that Russia was in Afghanistan the better part of a decade with massive destruction and civilian casualties. Russia's been in Chechnya too, for years, and has committed some deliberate gruesome violence against civilians that far exceeds anything done by America in Iraq. How come no world wide protest against Russia? Oh yeah, I forgot, America took away Russia's dictatorship as well, they had to respond in some way so, lets not fuss over war if Russia's involved, and massive world protest against those wars are definitely out of the question.
...So, what exactly are the logical, objective, and fair reasons for despising George Bush? Every president and world leader has supported and opposed domestic and international policies that are controversial. Could it be that he's just not trendy enough in his general take on things to garner the affections of those who love the "compassionate" State, dictatorship, and socialist bureaucracies?
It seems that along with a world that hates George Bush and America, there has coincidentally been a world media that has reported a particular view of the U.S. and Bush. The movers and shakers of international news, entertainment, and education (the so-called "international spokespersons") have rather consistently presented a view of events that depict both targets of scorn in less than appealing light. To watch a Hollywood movie or attend a high school class today, it would be difficult not to see the U.S. and its president as anything but fonts of pure evil and "injustice."
Everyone knows of course, that in America only a few rich capitalists lord over millions of poverty stricken unemployed slaves (that's why America is the wealthiest country in the world with a 5.4 unemployment rate -- its all in the "distribution").
Everyone knows that GW secretly planned the terrorist acts of 9/11 so he could invade Iraq and steal food for oil kickbacks from France, Germany, and Russia. ("International Spokespersons" don't talk about the food for oil kickbacks much).
So, it's all pretty clear. The "world" has its facts strait, the "world" is objective, and the "world" hates America, mostly because Bush is president,...and partly because of "that face that he makes."
