Far From Funny

Mark Crispin Miller's analysis of President Bush is utterly chilling. As author of The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, Miller has read and analyzed transcripts of Bush's public speeches in the last several years, leading him to believe that:

"Bush is not an imbecile. He's not a puppet. I think that Bush is a sociopathic personality. I think he's incapable of empathy. He has an inordinate sense of his own entitlement, and he's a very skilled manipulator. And in all the snickering about his alleged idiocy, this is what a lot of people miss."

Miller goes on to note that Bush speaks fine when he's talking about violence, revenge, punishment, etc., but he makes his infamous mistakes when he talks about ideals, democracy, altruism, compassion. I highly recommend the whole article, but toward the end Miller concludes:

This, then, is why [Bush is] so closely watched by his handlers, Miller says — not because he'll say something stupid, but because he'll overindulge in the language of violence and punishment at which he excels.

"He's a very angry guy, a hostile guy. He's much like Nixon. So they're very, very careful to choreograph every move he makes. They don't want him anywhere near protestors, because he would lose his temper."

Miller's assessment of Bush is eerily consistent with the picture painted by Bob Woodward in his new book, Bush at War. (See the Washington Post's multi-part series on the book, which starts here.) I admit I haven't read the book, but in all the coverage and reviews I've read, the book sounds like it paints Bush as very serious, smart, and determined. In other words, just as Miller says, Bush is not stupid. But he is myopic, he's impulsive and reactionary (a self-confessed "gut-player"), and he's a true-believer (aka: a fanatic or a zealot). To his credit, Bush seems to truly believe he's doing good things. He thinks he's making the world a better place. But that's exactly the problem. If Miller is right (and I definitely think he is), Bush's idea of "a better place" is a very, very scary place, indeed.

According to one of the pieces in the Post, this is what Bush thinks:

Elaborating, [Bush] said that underlying his foreign policy "there is a value system that cannot be compromised, and that is the values that we praise. And if the values are good enough for our people, they ought to be good enough for others, not in a way to impose because these are God-given values. These aren't United States-created values. These are values of freedom and the human condition and mothers loving their children."

Yet simply proclaiming these values is not enough. "You can't talk your way to a solution to a problem," Bush said. "And the United States is in a unique position right now. We are the leader. And a leader must combine the ability to listen to others, along with action."

Here Bush confirms two important facts that anyone looking can observe about his approach to the world: First, the entire world operates according to god-given values, and those values just happen to be American values. Isn't this the definition of a "fundamentalist"? How is it different from Islamic fundamentalism? Bush's conviction that there is "one true way" explains why he feels no compunction about imperialist wars and regime change—these actions only fulfill god's wishes. In other words, like the "fundamentalists" he's waging war against, Bush really doesn't believe that any other legitimate values and/or gods exist in this world. (This trait is fairly common to all fascists throughout history, I believe.)

Second, we learn that discussion and dialogue are relatively meaningless to Bush. This is why he puts so little effort in diplomacy and is always "beating the drums of war." This is why he vehemently dismisses the International Criminal Court and appears to have no respect for the system of international law that the world has struggled to build since WWII in order to prevent war. Bush believes that physical force is the only way to accomplish things, and on an international stage, physical force is military force, i.e. war. Again, this connects with Miller's assessment of Bush's speeches: He's an angry, violent man who only understands anger and violence. Hail to the chief.

Posted 11:16 AM | general politics

Harvard Law's Amazing Race

I'm sad to say I've become a regular watcher of The Amazing Race. If you watch the show, then you know that this season's race featured a team of recent Harvard Law graduates, Heather and Eve. Depending on how you look at it, Heather and Eve were eliminated either for: a) being unable to correctly read a clue and follow directions, or b) trying to cheat and hoping they would get away with it. Either way, their performance doesn't say much for the critical reading and/or ethical training they received at Harvard, now does it?

Posted 10:30 AM | law school

Cornflake Girl

If you're a Tori fan, be sure to check out NPR's nice report on her new album (scroll down a bit to the Real Audio link). I still haven't heard it, but maybe I will soon (hint, hint).

Posted 10:08 AM | life generally

Burn Baby Burn

Random: The students at Texas A&M University just love their bonfires. Remember the fire that killed 12 people in 1999? Apparently it's a big tradition, and isn't it funny and strange how attached university students are to traditions like these? I wonder where they get that attachment. When I was in college, I scoffed at tradition, almost on principle. I thought that a healthy contempt for tradition was what defined a college student. I guess I was some kind of freak.

Anyway, those Aggies are determined to have their bonfire, so whatever. What's noteworthy about this is the way the AP story about it is written. According to this article (first seen in the Billings Gazette real paper edition, but found online at CNN):

Several thousand current and former students gathered in a darkened field about 10 minutes east of College Station for the lighting. "Burn bonfire burn" was a familiar refrain—shouted by student leaders who lit the pile with torches and flares and individuals in the crowd.

Wow. This fire is so important that student leaders had to sacrifice individuals in the crowd in order to light it! Now that's what I call a fire!

Posted 10:02 AM | life generally

And Really I Am

Ok. For the record: I realize that my cynical and sarcastic thank-you list (below) is only half the story. The other half is that I really am thankful that I live in a country where I feel like I can say these things without any real fear of reprisal (at least for now). I'm thankful that, as broken as it is, our political system still offers us (American citizens) real opportunities and avenues to improve things. And I'm thankful that, regardless of our tendencies toward selfishness and insularity, Americans have done great things for the world and have immense potential to continue to do so (though not if we follow many of our current paths). If I did not believe this, I would already have packed my bags for some other part of the world (say, Sweden), and I certainly wouldn't be going to law school. What would be the point?

And so but anyway, check out Letterman's Thanksgiving Top Ten. It's really a lot like my own except simpler and funnier. I guess that's why Dave gets the big bucks...

Posted 09:44 AM | general politics

We Ought to be Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It's great that we have a national holiday centered on the idea that we express thanks for the good things in our lives. My friends and loved ones know I haven't sounded really thankful for much these days, what with all that's going on in our wonderful world. But today I'm going to try to get with the program, to climb aboard the USA happy train and express my thanks for all the great benefits I enjoy as a U.S. citizen. With no further ado, a very partial list of things I'm thankful for:

• I'm thankful that so many stores are open today and that so many of them are running great sales and specials. Thanksgiving sucked when all the stores used to be closed and commerce basically stopped for a day. I mean, we actually had to spend time at home with our families and stuff, which was really a horrible way to spend a holiday compared to the joys of spending money and fighting through crowds at the mall. In fact, let me expand this to all holidays: I'm thankful that in the U.S. of A. I can basically shop 24-7-365. Just knowing that warms the cockles of my soul.
• I'm thankful that turkeys can't breed on their own anymore and have to be artificially inseminated. This is just one example of our technical and business prowess for which I'm just inexpressibly thankful, really.
• I'm thankful that Henry Kissinger will lead an investigation into 9-11-01 intelligence failures and whatnot. I'm sure he'll find the truth and tell us all about it.
• I'm thankful that the American People can dislike the Republican agenda, but still like their Republican president who leads the agenda they dislike. Such baffling contradictions are among the things that make America great!
• I'm thankful that satirists need permission to mock President Bush, and that the Candian official who called Bush a moron was fired. I'm thankful to live in the world that marches to the same drummer—unity is strength, I'm told.
• I'm thankful that my elected representatives pass legislation they don't read and which protects giant corporations from lawsuits (and which, incidentally, also makes it easier than ever for my government to spy on me). Better yet, I'm thankful that no one seems to know where this legislation comes from. I mean, who cares who writes it; it must be good if the president says it is. Anyway, what kind of awful world would we be living in if we did not assiduously protect the rights and freedoms of corporations!?
• I'm thankful that I'm free to go without health care if I can't find a good enough job that either pays for my care or pays me enough to pay for it myself. In other words, I'm thankful that my country allows me the freedom to suffer and die if I choose, since we all know that if I can't find and keep a good job in this "sagging" economy, or if for some reason I'm not healthy enough to work, that's my choice and my problem.
• Related to the above, I'm thankful that we have a for-profit health care system that allows insurance, pharmaceutical, and other health-related corporations to profit from human sickness and misery. It's good to know that someone might get rich from my death—kind of a silver lining in that whole death cloud thing.
• I'm thankful that my government is so vigilant about protecting U.S. access to global oil and ensuring that the price of a gallon of gas remains within my reach. On a related note, I'm glad those low gas prices allow my fellow Americans to drive extremely wasteful and inefficient vehicles which destroy the environment. I'm also glad that cheap gas gives federal, state, and local governments a good excuse not to develop quality mass transit options for people who might not want (or be able to afford) to drive everywhere. In other words: Thank God for cheap gas, amen!
• I'm thankful that my country leads the world in the manufacture and sale of guns and other weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, aka weapons of mass distraction. So long as we continue to stoke the global fires of violence and war in this way, we can also continue to be thankful that our military and security industrial complexes are among America's strongest economic sectors. Making and selling the weapons that are used against us, then making and selling the weapons we'll use against the weapons we've already made and sold—it's a brilliant and self-perpetuating business cycle. So there's something else to be thankful for: American business ingenuity.
• I'm thankful that my country's "defense" budget is practically larger than the military budgets of all other nations in the world combined. I'm thankful that this enormous budget for "defense" makes it impossible for my taxes to be spent on trying to prevent 15 million people from dying of starvation. I mean, who cares about mass famine and cycles of poverty when there are madmen like Saddam Hussein on the loose? I'm also thankful that my country's massive military budget means my taxes can't be spent here at home on improving education or health care in my own country, or on providing public funding for political campaigns, or on improving quality of life for our nation's homeless and indigent citizens. In other words, I'm glad that my government is so focused on the realthreats our country faces, and that no one in the U.S. is stupid enough to believe that ignorance, sickness, corrupt politics, or poverty are threats to our nation's "security."
• And speaking of political campaigns, I'm thankful that you either have to be rich or deeply indebted to special interests in order to win a contest for public office in our country. Sure, public funding for political campaigns might allow candidates with good ideas rather than deep pockets to win elections, but I'm thankful that money wins every time. That's just the American way, and thank God for that!
• I'm thankful that the media have been so quick to pick up on calling the U.S. "the homeland." Sure the term has Orwellian and even vaguely fascist overtones, but I'm glad no one seems worried about little things like that—we're at war, you know, so I'm thankful that we're able to stay focused.
• Probably above all, since it sort of encompasses everything else here, I'm thankful that the politics of fear are so damned effective so I and my fellow Americans don't have to think about all the complicated nuances of what's happening in the world. I'm thankful that my nation's leaders treat us like idiots and children, reducing everything to simple good vs. evil rhetoric so we can just focus on that—we're good, they're evil—leaving us free to shop and consume and drive our SUVs without real concern about world events.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And God (or something/somebody) Bless America! (please?)

Posted 01:14 PM | general politics