So Bush vetoes a health care bill for millions of children, and everyone is furious. Myself included. But at this point, is anyone really surprised?
Disgusted, yes. Surprised, no.
For years now, I’ve been trying to piece together what makes Bush such a horrible president, beyond all the obvious reasons. Why does he do what he does, the way he does?
He says one thing, then does the other. He makes promise after promise, then almost invariably goes back on his word. He lies straight to our faces through the eyes of a camera, and seems completely unconcerned with the fact that almost everyone with some degree of intelligence can see right through him.
This behavior is not atypical of most politicians. But Bush is especially notorious.
He promises no child left behind, and then leaves them behind.
He promises less government intrusion, then legislates more government intrusion.
He says “We do not torture prisoners,” then fights to keep torture laws lax, and sends prisoners to countries where the rules don’t apply.
He claims to care about humanitarian issues, but ignores crisis in places like Darfur, and victims of hurricane Katrina.
He vows to help put an stop to global warming, and does very little beyond a few photo ops with auto execs.
He opposes scientific advances that could help save lives.
He opposes helping the most vulnerable people among us — namely children and the elderly. And, in fact, makes life harder for them.
He claims to want peace on earth, but in recent years he’s severely hampered ties with many nations, most notably Iran, Russia, and recently China.
He declares “mission accomplished” when the fight has just begun.
The list goes on...
...and on...
Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last seven years, I’m not really telling you anything you shouldn’t already know. The bottom line is; for too long Bush has placated us with lies while rarely ever delivering. One thing you can count on is that he’ll keep funding war with our tax dollars, with troops, and with lies, for as long as he can get away with it.
But I want to know why. Why does he continue this blatant reign of deceit? To what end does he put forth such effort, or lack thereof? There must be a reason.
It’s hard to say. I don’t know the man. I can’t read his mind, or his heart.
But I have a theory.
A couple years ago my grandmother asked me, “Do you think Bush is really a Christian, like he says he is?” She couldn’t understand how a man could claim to follow the beautiful teachings of Christ, and yet be such a horrible person. She’d like to believe he could have some change of heart and redeem himself through his faith. So she was a bit stunned by my answer when I said “I hope he’s not a Christian.”
My reason: I’d have an easier time believing Bush’s motives are simply about oil, money, power.
But in reality, the majority of Bush’s most ardent supporters tend be extremely right-wing fundamentalist Christians; radicals who simultaneously take every word of the Bible at face-value while cherry-picking the parts that fit their skewed ideology, and dismissing the rest (usually the nice, uplifting, happy parts).
Listen to any fundamentalist Christian broadcast, and you’ll learn that they believe that the world is coming to an end soon. And, when it does, they will be swept off to heaven while the rest of us are left behind to fend for ourselves, eventually meeting a horrible demise, and spending and even more horrible eternity in the bowels of hell. This scenario delights the fundamentalists and they would love nothing more than to be the first in line to help “Dubya” push the button, so to speak.
If Bush is one of these people, it certainly would explain a lot about the decisions he has made as president. It certainly paints a picture of a man who’s willing to create more chaos and strife whenever possible.
The book of Revelations, which outlines how the world will end, speaks of great wars, chaos, and plagues. It even seems to paint a pretty accurate picture of the consequences of global warming that we are now seeing.
But any practical, logical and sensible human being can see that these things aren’t happening in order to hail salvation for fundamentalists. Much of it is happening
because of fundamentalists, and the politicians they’ve elected over the years.
It’s not at all unusual for guys like Bush or his cronies to commit as many egregious acts as possible while in office. They BS some idea or plan that is masked with good intentions, but their decisions ultimately aid in facilitating some of the very same nightmare scenarios the book of Revelations predict.
So I truly do hope that Bush is not the Christian he claims to be. Otherwise, that would mean he’s one of those radicals who make up his base.
I’m not talking about the Christians who do things like missionary work in poor countries, or who want to help stop the spread of AIDS. I’m not talking about the Christians who actually follow Christ.
No, Bush’s are a different breed. They envision a God who sits atop a throne of oil barrels and cash, with a Bible in one hand and a firearm in the other. Ironically, it’s unlikely that radical Muslims envision their God much differently.
The world’s problems cannot, and will never, be solved by people who believe the end is near. How can we look toward the future when they eagerly anticipate our deaths at any moment?
People say Bush is stupid. I don’t know about that. Ignorant, yes. But not stupid. It’s easy to believe that he’s just a moron and go about our day. But I think Bush knows exactly what he’s doing.
He claims to believe he was placed in the White House by God. If he truly thinks that, then this country — and perhaps the rest of the world — is in a lot of danger. No better argument for the separation of church and state could be made when you think about this. When you put a radical in power, they will put their beliefs above all others. That’s a fact. This country, and the world, has suffered greatly because of this man. And if even more fundamentalists take Bush’s place in The White House, well… we’re doomed.
Call Bush “stupid” if you want. But I’ll bet that’s just what he wants you to think.
