Dr. Forbush Thinks

George W Bush has a problem. It isn’t anything that he has done, because he never does anything wrong, or make any mistakes. Except for his speech. He has always been ridiculed for his lack of mastery of the English language. And, whether you realize it or not, George W Bush has used this lack of skills to his advantage.

George W Bush has a problem, and it isn’t what he has done, but what he has failed to do. He has failed to properly convey his vision to us. Things are going exactly as planned in Iraq, but George W Bush is no longer going to “stay the course.” It isn’t that he isn’t going to “stay the course,” but he is not going to say that any more. This is because “Staying the course” is a good thing to do, but it isn’t the way he wants to say. Instead, he is telling us that he is “going to get it done.” This is the same thing as “staying the course,” but it’s just saying the same thing with different words. It means the same thing, but it says the same thing in a different way. Or, perhaps he is doing something different and saying something different and hoping that we don’t notice too much.

George W Bush and his press secretary are both telling us that they aren’t doing anything different. They are, however, changing the way they are saying what they are doing. So, are they or are they not doing something different? Well, he is hoping that the Republican congressmen think that he is doing something different. They are loosing in the polls and they might loose one of the houses of congress. They want to be able to tell the voters that they are going to do something different. But, George W Bush has made a big deal out of not changing even when all odds are against him. What else can he do but walk the tight rope by not admitting to doing anything different, but changing the way he talks about doing what he has been doing. Later his action will fall into line with what he was saying and abracadabra George W Bush magically changes course by “staying the course.”

This isn’t the first time the administration has done this. In fact, their entire six years in office is riddled with these changes in vocabulary. Does anyone remember “compassionate conservatism?” This whole idea was based on having religious organizations distribute eight billion dollars a year to the poor and disadvantaged. Well, the idea got many religious people on board and could have been instrumental in getting just the right number of votes in Florida to put him over the top. But, shortly after the creation of this new bureaucratic department the Bush administration ignored the department. The money never came, and those religious groups were left out in the cold. Of course a small number of groups received a small amount of money, but that was measured to be just enough to keep these religious leaders on board until the 2004 elections. And, the creative text - “compassionate conservative” was dropped from the Republican vocabulary.

So, when we look at Iraq and the mess that George W Bush has created for himself we need to listen carefully to the words that are used to describe the debacle there. It isn’t a Quagmire, but the current situation in Baghdad could be compared to the Tet Offensive. Personally I am surprised that he doesn’t compare it to the storming of the Beaches at Normandy. We can compare some things in Iraq to some things in Vietnam, but certainly not “bad” things. Unless the “bad” things show the Bush administration in a positive light. But, the vocabulary used is more complex than just mere comparison.

If anyone was breathing at the time of the Iraq invasion we all know that George W Bush told us that this was going to be a long road. In fact, besides telling us that we were going to stay the course he also told us that there would be no timetable or schedule for when we will be going home. We all know that the Iraqi government could have us leave at any time, but we would stay as long as they wanted us there. So, now we have an Iraqi government that would rather not take responsibility. They would like us to stay until the violence goes away. We don’t have any means to put any pressure on them, because we pledged to stay as long as they want us there. So, why would they want to take up the tough fight if we are doing it for them? The answer is that they want us to stay and there is nothing we can do about it, except change the vocabulary.

So, George W Bush will not even mention the words “deadlines,” “ultimatums,” “timetables,” or “schedules.” Instead George W Bush talks about “milestones” and “benchmarks.” These subtle distinctions in language don’t seem to match the image of an American President that stumbles over every other sentence and barely understands what he is reading himself. And, this is where the truth becomes apparent. George W Bush has used his inability to move his tongue to created the image of a person who can’t string two sentences together. Based on this illusion he has been able to forward his message cloaked in lies and inaccuracy and blame the problematic language on his lack of mastery of the language.

So, when George W Bush uses the subtle language of being willing to change “tactics,” but not being willing to change “strategy” we should realize the this is a “political tactic” that is part of a “political strategy.” The “strategy” is to maintain political power at any cost, and he is unwilling to change it.





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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."


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Politics