Re: Baghdad Bush

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 02:18:55 +0000, George Stewart
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>  

  typed:

>I think he's brave.  He's also said to be extremely personable close
>up, very charming (he won over a few sceptical opposition politicians
>who met him on his state visit here in the UK last week).
>
>I certainly don't like his politics (he isn't really a free-marketer
>at heart, he's too fond of big government for my tastes - and
>regulation certainly makes life easier for the kind of crony
>capitalist he's accused of being, that's for sure, so that would fit
>the more critical picture of him).  I can't be sure, but I don't think
>he's my type of person (in the sense of I can't imagine my wife and
>friends and I ever really enjoying an unbuttoned dinner with him).
>
>I heard he's suspected of somewhat shady dealings in the Texas
>politics/business nexus (the stories vary - hard to decide whether
>there's any truth to them).
>
>One thing's for sure, of the people available, he seems to be the
>right man at the right time, and I thank the Gods that Al Gore wasn't
>in Bush's position on Sept 11.  For whatever reason, maybe it's just
>sheer survival instinct combined with a modicum of intelligence, GWB
>seems to be very aware of the urgency of the current situation, and of
>the need to prevent a bloodbath of the kind we used to have in the
>20th century.
>
>There are many things to worry about this coming century, but one of
>the worst case scenarios is an ocean of fused glass in what's now
>called "The Middle East" (and the name of "America" cursed by
>generations of human beings).  Which _is_ a highly feasible US
>response to a nuclear terrorist holocaust on US soil.  (After all, it
>can never be forgotten that the US _has_ used its nuclear arsenal in
>anger, and is therefore not barred by precedent from ever making a
>nuclear response to nuclear terrorism).
>
>I shudder to think of that.  I like America too much to want that to
>happen, and I have no ill-will towards the mass of living, breathing
>human beings, with their hopes, achievements, etc., in the Middle
>East.
>
>One can't be absolutely sure, of course, but so far it seems that Bush
>is doing everything he can to avoid that sort of outcome too, by
>acting now to ensure the spread of democracy as a way of defusing
>terrorism.
>
>The _most_ charming and telling thing about him, IMHO, is that he
>doesn't mind being made a fool of, and for strategic purposes doesn't
>seem to mind being touted by pseudo-intellectuals as a hick idiot.  I
>think this shows a sense of humour (in a sort of black
>humour/Deliverance sort of way), and an admirably well-controlled ego
>- well, either that, or he just isn't aware of how much of an idiot
>people seem to see him as, which is highly implausible.
>
>At the end of the day, I think he's a "good" religious person (in the
>acceptable sense of somebody who tries to live a moral life, and
>thinks on occasion of his relation with the Cosmos as a whole, and
>with what he thinks of as its Creator) - the kind of religious person
>who really isn't much trouble to the rest of us.  He also seems to
>have overcome some personal problems (booze mainly), which is a rare
>enough attainment, productive of some insight into one's self, and to
>be applauded.  At least wrt to the international situation, he seems
>to be doing his best, which I suppose is all you can ask of the man.

a most excellent post....
welcome from upm....

i suspect the glass scenario will depend a great deal upon the
    sanity of the medievalists....
no sane person will hate those who do the best available....

regards....

-- 
web site at www.abelard.org - news and comment service, logic, 
    politics, ethics, education, etc >650,000 document calls yearly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  all that is necessary for       []     walk quietly and carry
  the triumph of evil is that      []           a big stick.
  good people do nothing     []   trust actions not words
                    only when it's funny -- roger rabbit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------