A Good Man?
There was a discussion of Bush's latest moves (including a push for more money & work on AIDS in Africa and a seeming about-face on global warming) that seem to be out of his compassionate conservative playbook of 2000 on today's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. In that discussion, Sam Donaldson said that he believes Bush is at heart a good person.
I am one of those optimists who do like to think all people have good in them. And I would love to think Bush does. That he's nice to his family and friends. That he doesn't kick puppies or pull the wings off of flies. And maybe that would make him a good person. But isn't the measure of a person more than how he treats those nearest him. Isn't it also the measure of his deeds? And in the end, could a good record on African AIDS really outweigh ignoring Darfur? Can an 11th hour turn around on global warming (if it really even is that) outweigh eight years of financial and legal incentives hand-fed to polluters? And in the end, is there anything this man can do to outweigh the murderous missteps of the Iraq war?
I am one of those optimists who do like to think all people have good in them. And I would love to think Bush does. That he's nice to his family and friends. That he doesn't kick puppies or pull the wings off of flies. And maybe that would make him a good person. But isn't the measure of a person more than how he treats those nearest him. Isn't it also the measure of his deeds? And in the end, could a good record on African AIDS really outweigh ignoring Darfur? Can an 11th hour turn around on global warming (if it really even is that) outweigh eight years of financial and legal incentives hand-fed to polluters? And in the end, is there anything this man can do to outweigh the murderous missteps of the Iraq war?
posted by Anonymous at 11:34 AM
3 Comments:
I hate to burst your bubble, LP. Bush may have a compassionate side, but to emerge, he'll need some very powerful meds.
His AIDS proposal is loaded with hidden funding for abstinence education and profits for Big Pharma. His global warming proposal is nothing more than a stalling tactic to muddy the waters and prevent passage of the excellent European proposal at the G8 summit. It depends on self-regulation by Big Oil and Big Energy.
Not bursting my bubble. Maybe Sam Donaldson's. I think even as Bush tries to buy off history's good opinion with small steps (which aren't that great as you point out), it won't change anything. He's made his bed with Iraq and nothing will change that.
He will go down in history as the worst pResident of all time. If anyone ever breaks his record, the nation shall not survive.
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