Bush’s inauguration speech was a declaration of holy war

[paineinthearse]

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/editorial/documents/04431346.asp

God and guns
Bush’s inauguration speech was a declaration of holy war


George W. BUSH’S breathtaking arrogance and dangerous simple-mindedness may have reached new heights — or depths — in his Inauguration Day speech. On the surface, his call for " freedom " and " liberty " across the world sounded like lofty rhetoric, the sort of ceremonial hot air likely to be forgotten soon after it’s delivered. But if we have learned nothing else about this president, we certainly should know that when he lectures other countries on what he expects them to do, that generally is just a first step.

Bush delivered his speech at a time when 150,000 American troops are risking (and losing) their lives in Iraq, and just hours after Vice-President Dick Cheney rattled his saber at Iraq’s giant neighbor, Iran. So when Bush says that " it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world, " it would seem to make eminent good sense to try to figure out exactly what he means — and to stop him before he can act.

As we already know from bitter experience, Bush’s idea of supporting freedom and democracy is increasingly close to fascistic. His ideology is a combination of two strains: the small-town Republicanism he absorbed growing up in Midland, Texas, and the born-again Christianity he embraced when he turned 40. Bush’s entire world-view appears to have been shaped by these two experiences — as well as colored by a petulant sense of entitlement derived from membership in the imperial Bush family — and he has devoted much of his presidency to imposing that view on others. His narrow vision, combined with his overweening hubris, calls to mind the ludicrous words of Nebraska senator Kenneth Wherry, who in 1940 said, " With God’s help, we will lift Shanghai up and up, ever up, until it is just like Kansas City. " Fallujah is not like Midland yet, but Bush intends to keep trying.

Critics who possess the maturity and wisdom that Bush lacks were quick to point out the dangers of Bush’s desire to force democracy upon the world. Americans and Iraqis are dying every day so that Bush can hold an election in Iraq on January 30. There is still a possibility that the long-suffering people of that country could have a better life than they had under Saddam Hussein. But they have already paid an incredibly high price for Bush’s vision of freedom, imposed by the barrels of American and British guns. Certainly the families of civilians killed since the war began nearly two years ago — estimated at as many as 100,000 — would dispute the notion that Bush’s messianic adventurism has been worthwhile.

more......

What do you think? Send an e-mail to [e-mail]

[Inland]

1. Only question: did Bush mean any of it, or was it just another bit of

a craven idiot sociopath pretending to adopt the values of people better than himself?

[aquart]

2. Sounded like nation-building to me.

As to the number killed, there have always been those who believed it was worthwhile to burn bodies to save souls.