Stupid is as Stupid Does

This post serves as an official warning to clear the coastlines and abandon all major cities near any ocean anywhere in the world over the next year. Get started now. Because you see, the collective and simultaneous sigh of relief the planet will give when George W. Bush is no longer President of the United States will cause tsunamis and category 5 hurricane force winds around the world. CO2 emissions will see a huge spike at the moment his successor takes the Oath of Office as a result of the global, relieved exhale. You should also buy ear plugs now because when the entire planet in one voice cries out in its many tongues: “Thank God!” the sound will deafening.

I’m a political guy. I was a political science major and have operated on the edge of the “machine” for a long time. Long enough to be cynical, pragmatic and very analytical about whatever issue we face. I tend to go against the grain. I think most people respond emotionally. Usually this is wrong. In most cases the gut instinct that tells people a given politician is an idiot is based on an ill-informed notion of the facts surrounding the situation. In most cases, politicians have more information than we do. They know about the real issues and causal relationships that exist. They are generally smarter than we are. That’s why we elected them, to be smarter than us and make decisions about things we don’t understand.

I’ve tried to give this guy the benefit of the doubt--looking at the big picture, trying to see the long-term global strategic outcomes and objectives. Not because I am a supporter of the administration and I want to avoid any cognitive dissonance, but because the alternative is too terrifying. I mean, if Bush is really the kind of guy, doing the kinds of things he does for the reasons I actually, instinctively suspect, then we’ve been on the brink of Armageddon for some time now.

It took me seven years to get here, but here I am. Forget the detail and nuances of complex international politics. Forget the complexities of governmental policy-making and social issues. Remove the word “visionary” from your vocabulary. This President is, exactly as your gut tells you he is. He does things for the reasons you think he does.

We are at war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein tried to kill his dad.
That's it. That's the reason. It is, in fact, that simple.

Everything else he does is based on his belief that God is telling him what to do. He actually claims God tells him to do things. I can visualize a scene where Dick Cheney hides behind a couch in the Oval Office whispering: "George? George. It's me again, God. I just wanted to let you know that it's my will that you end stem cel research and cut funding for social programs."

He thinks of himself as a righteous warrior in God’s army of the chosen. His self-delusional state has allowed him to actually believe that he is saving the world from “terror”… whatever the hell that means.

Side note: We are not in a war against “terror”… maybe “terrorism” or even “terrorists”, but not the emotion “terror”. If you want to declare war on an emotion maybe you should start smaller, like a “War on Ennui” or a “War on Mild Anxiety”.

It's not always the case that when someone speaks like an idiot that they were quoted out of context, or just had a bad day or are otherwise smart people who just have a little more difficulty with public speaking than others. Sometimes, the reason someone sounds and speaks like an idiot is because, sometimes... they are.
The problem here is that when the United States sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. I heard a senior Pakinstani diplomat the other day explaining that his military controlled, state of emergency government run by a general exists as a result of following our lead and the policies of the U.S. “We are the way we are because we follow your policies.” In other words, the world will mimic us. When we start illegal wiretapping, the rest of the world notices and decides that sort of thing is okay. When we round people up and imprison them without due process, the rest of the world starts doing it too. When we admit that water-boarding and other forms of torture are acceptable to us, then God help our captured soldiers… because no one else will.

You see, we need to lead by example… and we are not. We are leading by fear. Fear works if you’re a small, European country in between Russia and France and it’s 1939 and all you are asking for is Poland, but not if you’re the world’s only remaining “Superpower”… a moniker that I am seriously beginning to question.

I know this in my gut. I feel it. Most people feel it. People around the world feel it. This guy is a crazy, dangerous religious zealot who has squandered the good will of the post 9-11 world community in order to push forward his vindictive, petty, personal agenda, bringing the civilized world to the brink of collapse. We are on the precipice of a new dark age… or a new ice age, or both. Regardless, it's this guy's fault.

I just want Gerald Ford to come on my T.V. and once more utter the phrase: "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over."

But I'm not holding my breath.