The Idiocy of President 'W'

George W's cabinet is full of many luminaries. Privately, some of the most distinguished senior administration officials confirm what so many in public have long suspected: an isolated, addled simpleton easily manipulated by craven operators. He can't even string together a simple sentence without grammatical errors, one of his most eloquent senior administration officials tells us. He relies on words and speeches put into his mouth by a conspiracy of commercial interests, led by one of his cronies, on whom the President relies too much. The President's own Secretary of State worried that he was serving dark, antidemocratic forces at work in the country, that if unchecked would soon lead to a loss of rights and a return to oppressions as bad or worse than the ones we overthrew our colonial rulers for. Abroad, President George was alienating important allies and hypocritically supporting dictatorships. The President came into office after an election many questioned the legality of, and even worse, President George 'W' was reelected to a second term! Would he stop there, or just proclaim himself King and dispense with elections altogether?

You'll have to pardon me for my willfull deception. I was trying to make you believe I was talking about President Bush, when in fact all of these things were said about President George Washington--by the likes of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Adams, of course, was Washington's Vice President, and Jefferson was Washington's disloyal and ineffectual Secretary of State (though he had many other virtues, being Secretary of State for Washington wasn't one of them). They feared that Washington was senile, and being manipulated by the commercial interests represented by his protegé Alexander Hamilton. (who did in fact write most of his speeches). Jefferson thought Hamilton was a monarchist itching to return to colonial rule by England, and he was upset that we might be alienating important allies like France by making a treaty with dictatorial England. Adams supported that treaty, but felt the President was unintelligent, senile, detached, and too easily manipulated by the likes Hamilton (and, sadly, not easily enough manipulated by the likes of Adams). (For documentation on my characterizations here, just one source among a welter you could consult, would be Joseph Ellis' Founding Brothers pages 124, 125, 138-139, 140-141, 143-145, 175, and 217)

My point is not that George Bush is as great a president as George Washington, something his most perfervid supporters wouldn't claim. I certainly don't believe that. But there is a basis of truth in everything Washington's detractors said about him, even though many of them, such as him being captive to manipulators and wanting to be King, are grossly unfair.

I am not trying to show that all the awful things people have said about Dubya are false or unfair, though some of them are. What I want to know is, is this characterization useful? Either as a weapon to defeat him, or as a key to understanding his administration, I don't think these accusations have been terribly useful. So long as his enemies keep misunderestimating him, the rule of George Bush is, for better or worse, safe.

The Dilettante Debut

One of my favorite books is the science fiction novel Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner. Written over thirty years ago, it anticipates a number of the features of the modern society we live in now, including powerful multinational corporations, social disintegration, random violence committed by anarchists, and the growth of multiculturalism and religious fanaticism. While not accurate in every detail, it's still eerily prescient. The hero of the book is a professional dilettante, paid by the government to follow his curiosity wherever it leads him. The only condition is he share his findings with his government minders. I'm too undisciplined, even as a dilettante, to be considered a professional. But I think it's a cracking good idea, an army of amateurs helping to make connections and make sense of the world. This is my offering. My only guarantee is to share the thoughts and research I find interesting, my only hope is that they'll be of interest to others as well.