He stares in amazement at the joyful face of the dancer, and then remembers that his duty is to smile. A smile slowly starts to arise to his lips, but before it owns his mouth, his face, his eyes, he also remembers that he is bitter. What started to be a smile turns to a smirk.
He begins to give in to the rhythm of the music, to click his fingers, to move his feet just a bit. But reminding himself that people are watching, he turns to his host for a cue. Straightening his back to appear more dignified to his audience, he forgets the dancer and the music.
He did not sleep well last night or the night before. He cannot remember the last night that he slept well. His existence has become a series of empty motions. He cracks dumb jokes to keep those around him in good spirits. Can't let them down, can he? Have to keep up the show.
As for his enemies. He hates them, and in private, rages against them, blaming them for his failures. Weakened by blow after blow struck not by his political foes but by his very friends, and, yes, by his own lack of judgment, mistakes, missteps, misstatements, arrogance, he flails at fate and, secretly, deep inside, even at God himself. "Oh, God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
He persuades himself that he must persevere. History is watching. He must make this one next speech, this one next statement, dance this one more time. He must succeed. He must win.
But, as he knows, as we all know, Bush is broken. A cycle of history is coming to an end. A new era will begin. Maybe this year. Maybe in four years.
It is not just Bush that is now a shadow of his former self. It is the entire palette of right-wing hopes, dreams, schemes and personalities. They sought to conquer in the name of the gods of profit and power and free markets, but their gods have failed them. Their only hope now is to bow to their defeat and fall on their swords.
Since the assassination of John F. Kennedy, president after president has failed. Each one has taken office with a vision for our country. Each has left office, defeated, discredited, a shadow of himself.
Perhaps Bush and we will yet recognize that the tragedy of Oedipus is his own.
When I read this to someone, he objected. Bush, he says, is a criminal, and I should not elevate him to the level of a the noble, but tragic character Oedipus. I think my friend is probably right, but I still think the comparison has some value for us as we look at this video of the defeated Bush. This is how Bush sees himself. This is how Bush feels.
Oedipus:
Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta. At his birth it was prophesied that he would murder his father and marry his mother. To avoid this calamity, the child was given to a herdsman who was told to kill him. The herdsman, out of pity and yet fearing to disobey, instead abandoned the child, tying his feet together and piercing them with a stake (which caused him to permanently have swollen feet - hence Oedipus which translates to "swollen foot"). The child Oedipus was found by a peasant who took him to his master, the king of Corinth, Polybus, who adopted him as his own son.
. . . .
As Oedipus was traveling by horse to Thebes, he came to a crossroads where he met a chariot, which, unbeknownst to him, his true father was riding in. A dispute arose between Oedipus and the driver, and the outcome was that Oedipus killed Laius. Continuing on the way to Thebes, Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, who stopped any traveler and asked him a riddle that none had yet been able to solve. If the traveler failed, he was eaten by the Sphinx. The riddle was “What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?" The answer was “Man”. Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx instead perished. The gratitude of the Thebans led to them appointing Oedipus as their king. Oedipus was also given the widow Jocasta (who unbeknown to anyone was also his mother) as an extra token, whom he married and later had four children with - two sons Polynices and Eteocles, and daughters Antigone and Ismene.
Soon after, on account of these happenings, a plague struck the city of Thebes. No soothsayer could find the reason. Oedipus, with his typical hubris, asserted that he could and would. He ultimately asked the prophet Tiresias, who warned him not to try. Undaunted, Oedipus continued. He then found the very same herdsman who had left Oedipus to die as a baby. From that peasant Oedipus learned that his nominal father was not his true father, who was Laius. Thus, at the crossroads at which he had killed Laius, he had killed his own father; and then he had married his own mother Jocasta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus for more
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