The news cycle of the past month was rich with stories of cyclones, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions around the world. So the last thing we needed in the US of A was a neo-political eruption from the unpopular George “Gushing” Bush. By his own admission and my own chronicle he has trouble with the English language see Rove Resigns, Bush Quips.
The meaning of patriotism
When I went to see my guru in the Indian Punjab for the first time our party was met with a bus and armed troops to protect us from possible sniper fire--no kidding. As the Punjab through the 1980s and 1990s was a hotbed of unrest and our guru would take no chances with Western lives. We were VIPs in his eyes. He gave discourses every day and one day someone asked him about the chance of another visit to America. And he told us that the Punjab, home to the Dera, was like a volcano. And only his presence there kept it from erupting. In those short words he spoke clearly about the hallmark role of love: protection. One protects what one loves. And those in service to a nation must have his or her heart aflame with love for country and fellow countrymen.
America is in a peculiar political situation. Why, because we must love Israel as much as we love America. And that means protection. If you think this is only a right-wing conservative value—think again. Because the monies and military support that have been given to Israel hadto go through Republicans and Democrats alike, and this has been the case for the past sixty years. But hold on, there is also popular prophecy that described Israel’s total destruction led by Russia along with other Arab nations.
It would include a treaty that, when signed, would begin the final seven years before Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ. A march leading to “the great tribulation.” It’s a pledge of Biblical proportions. This patriotic pledge as dear to the religious right as pro-life judges sitting on the Supreme Court. So, President Bush hit his stride when he played the scare card. "Appease" was the unfortunate buzzword shoved into Bush’s mouth that erupted in the Knesset. You can read the entire text here. "We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." And like Mount Vesuvius it sent ash into the atmosphere blocking out the light of the sun. It blocked the truth of the very meaning of the word. Its first definition suggests “peace” and its third definition suggest what Bush had in mind “conceding to the belligerent demands of a nation or group,” in other words, capitulation in the face of tyranny or terrorists regimes.
To appease is to make anxious overtures and often undue concessions to satisfy the demands of someone with a greed for power, territory, etc.: Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler at Munich.
Read the entire speech because it is a damned good one. One that I know Bush did not write and could barely deliver. So, if he did not call out Obama by name, then what’s to say that the writer of this lofty speech did not have him in mind? Within that same speech Bush splits the world into two halves one good, one evil when he gushed: "On the other side are those who pursue a narrow vision of cruelty and control by committing murder, inciting fear, and spreading lies." It might easily be argued, as many historians have, that the Iraq war was borne in a bed of lies, spread by the Bush administration.
Bush’s cheap shot this morning violates two long bipartisan traditions of American foreign policy: (1) keep domestic partisan politics out of foreign affairs and (2) never engage in criticisms of American political leaders or policies while on foreign soil.
Enter Edwards' Endorsement
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