The Republican Convention is only a day old, and already I’m disturbed by what I see.
Thousands of people, who believe that George W. Bush is the best leader to protect the safety of the United States. Every statement uttered seems to end with an emphatic amen — as if Bush is God’s chosen (in which case, God has lousy taste). Their eyes shine like they’ve come to hear the Messiah and his twelve apostles-cum-cabinet secretaries.
Then there are the comments of former mayor Rudolph Giuliani:
“We need George Bush now more than ever. Thank God George Bush is our president. Since Sept. 11, President Bush has remained rock solid. It doesn’t matter how he is demonized. It doesn’t matter what the media does to ridicule him or misinterpret him or defeat him. They ridiculed Winston Churchill. They belittled Ronald Reagan.”
Comparing George Jr. to Reagan is a stretch. Comparing Shrub to Winston Churchill — a man who is about a billion times the human being George W. Bush is — is the most laughable notion ever conceived.
Let’s see…
Winston Churchill was a man of deep intellectual thought, agonizing soul-searching, indomitable courage, and possessed a life time of glorious triumphs — and spectacular failures — from which to shape a unique wisdom. He was one of the greatest bastards in history, with few equals in a thousand years.
George W. Bush is just a run-of-the-mill bastard. Manipulative, cunning, single-minded in the worst possible way. His administration is a shambles, his relations with the rest of the world strained to the breaking point, and he has polarized his country in a way that is only comparable to Vietnam.
But try telling it to anyone in the crowd at Madison Square Garden!
Anyhow, this was only Day One. The build up is just beginning…and the payoff will be Bush Junior’s acceptance speech on Thursday. Now that will make for some interesting political theatre. But I daresay it’s more likely to lean towards pantomime.
