C
Chicken George
Guest
Chicken In Chief
New frontiers in Orwellian language from the White House
By Alan Bisbort
Created Aug 30 2007 - 9:46am
George W. Bush is afraid of his own shadow. No president, it seems,
has ever been this terrified of the American people, this hidden away
or secretive, this evasive in speech and behavior. Not even Nixon, who
at least faced the cameras, the reporters and the people even while
his ship was going down.
But George W. Bush is so afraid of us that he can't bear to let us see
him for what he is. Thus, his fear is projected as strength or
resolve. Few are fooled any longer (and, if so, they are indeed
fools). Sure as the Wizard of Oz cowered behind his curtain, our
Commander in Chief is a coward.
Far be it from me to psychoanalyze why this is so. Maybe it's as
simple as his subconscious mind telling him he didn't "win" either
election, that he's not a "legitimate" president (I'm sure it goes far
deeper than that). Regardless of why this is so, his actions as
President speak volumes.
One could amass a quick case study just from the public records of the
past six years: Bush spent his first few months in office hiding on
his ranch, unable to face the enormous responsibilities of the Oval
Office in person for longer than a few weeks at a time. When
terrorists struck on 9/11, he froze in front of a classroom of tots,
waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He flew out of harm's way
and hid out for days before visiting the scenes of carnage. Bush has
held the fewest press conferences of any president in modern history.
Even when he does hold them, "journalists" like the male prostitute
Jeff Gannon are "planted" in the audience to ask the easy questions
(e.g. "How has your religious faith helped you in these times of
peril, Mr. President?").
Too cowardly to fire his associates in person, he sends proxies like
Karen Hughes and Karl Rove to do the job, or makes the lives of his
maverick associates (like Paul O'Neill and Colin Powell) so miserable
they resign, sparing him contact with people whose egos are more
secure or less fractured than his own. He refused to meet with Cindy
Sheehan outside his ranch in August 2005 (that and Katrina, soon
thereafter, were the tipping points of his failed presidency). And so
on.
Most recently, it has come to light that the White House has a manual
that provides detailed instructions to staff about "deterring
potential protestors" from his public appearances, a policy in place
since Oct. 2002. (Which, therefore, no longer makes his appearances
"public," but then Orwellian language rape is part of the coward's
package too). At these "public" events, only ticket holders are
allowed; those with tickets are carefully screened. If an "unscreened"
person manages to get inside an event, "rally squads" are on hand to
drown out lonely protesters ("USA! USA!") or shield them from Bush's
eyes. Any protesters outside the venue are cordoned off far from the
event or Bush's motorcade route. This, again, is to prevent the
Chicken In Chief from having to see them. Thus, though America is
inundated with anti-Bush bumperstickers, T-shirts, posters and
billboards, there is a good chance Bush himself has never seen one of
them.
Best (or worst) for last. In a last ditch effort to rally a hostile
public to support the war in Iraq, Bush has begun a massive media
campaign, called "Freedom's Watch." On all the campaign's ads, a phone
number is provided to connect you with your "members of Congress."
My friend Nick called the number. This is his account:
A very young-sounding girl answered and rapidly said, "Thank you for
calling Freedom's Watch. Do you feel that abandoning our mission in
Iraq will increase the threat of terror?" I said, "No." She said,
"Thank you," and hung up.
New frontiers in Orwellian language from the White House
By Alan Bisbort
Created Aug 30 2007 - 9:46am
George W. Bush is afraid of his own shadow. No president, it seems,
has ever been this terrified of the American people, this hidden away
or secretive, this evasive in speech and behavior. Not even Nixon, who
at least faced the cameras, the reporters and the people even while
his ship was going down.
But George W. Bush is so afraid of us that he can't bear to let us see
him for what he is. Thus, his fear is projected as strength or
resolve. Few are fooled any longer (and, if so, they are indeed
fools). Sure as the Wizard of Oz cowered behind his curtain, our
Commander in Chief is a coward.
Far be it from me to psychoanalyze why this is so. Maybe it's as
simple as his subconscious mind telling him he didn't "win" either
election, that he's not a "legitimate" president (I'm sure it goes far
deeper than that). Regardless of why this is so, his actions as
President speak volumes.
One could amass a quick case study just from the public records of the
past six years: Bush spent his first few months in office hiding on
his ranch, unable to face the enormous responsibilities of the Oval
Office in person for longer than a few weeks at a time. When
terrorists struck on 9/11, he froze in front of a classroom of tots,
waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He flew out of harm's way
and hid out for days before visiting the scenes of carnage. Bush has
held the fewest press conferences of any president in modern history.
Even when he does hold them, "journalists" like the male prostitute
Jeff Gannon are "planted" in the audience to ask the easy questions
(e.g. "How has your religious faith helped you in these times of
peril, Mr. President?").
Too cowardly to fire his associates in person, he sends proxies like
Karen Hughes and Karl Rove to do the job, or makes the lives of his
maverick associates (like Paul O'Neill and Colin Powell) so miserable
they resign, sparing him contact with people whose egos are more
secure or less fractured than his own. He refused to meet with Cindy
Sheehan outside his ranch in August 2005 (that and Katrina, soon
thereafter, were the tipping points of his failed presidency). And so
on.
Most recently, it has come to light that the White House has a manual
that provides detailed instructions to staff about "deterring
potential protestors" from his public appearances, a policy in place
since Oct. 2002. (Which, therefore, no longer makes his appearances
"public," but then Orwellian language rape is part of the coward's
package too). At these "public" events, only ticket holders are
allowed; those with tickets are carefully screened. If an "unscreened"
person manages to get inside an event, "rally squads" are on hand to
drown out lonely protesters ("USA! USA!") or shield them from Bush's
eyes. Any protesters outside the venue are cordoned off far from the
event or Bush's motorcade route. This, again, is to prevent the
Chicken In Chief from having to see them. Thus, though America is
inundated with anti-Bush bumperstickers, T-shirts, posters and
billboards, there is a good chance Bush himself has never seen one of
them.
Best (or worst) for last. In a last ditch effort to rally a hostile
public to support the war in Iraq, Bush has begun a massive media
campaign, called "Freedom's Watch." On all the campaign's ads, a phone
number is provided to connect you with your "members of Congress."
My friend Nick called the number. This is his account:
A very young-sounding girl answered and rapidly said, "Thank you for
calling Freedom's Watch. Do you feel that abandoning our mission in
Iraq will increase the threat of terror?" I said, "No." She said,
"Thank you," and hung up.