By PAUL C. CAMPOS
Of all the phony political images that have bombarded us in the five years since al Qaeda terrorists struck the United States, the phoniest of all remains the sight of George W. Bush donning a fighter pilot’s uniform and landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier to proclaim "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq.
The point of that little stunt was to send the visual message that Bush was the strong leader that America needed to triumph in a war against our enemies. As a piece of propaganda, it was fabulously successful. If the goal of propaganda is to make black seem white, then the fact the Bush administration still emphasizes this message is a tribute to the administration’s ongoing triumph in its propagandistic war against reality.
That, however, is the only war this president is actually winning. With a little more than two years remaining in his presidency, Bush is on course to end up as the worst commander in chief in the 217-year history of his office.
One way to appreciate just what a colossal failure he has been is to imagine for a moment that he wasn’t a straight-talking, brush-clearing, football-loving fellow from the hardscrabble West Texas countryside, but was instead someone whose outward appearance didn’t lend itself so readily to projecting a superficial image of strength.
Imagine, if you will, how George W. Bush’s performance as commander in chief would be perceived if he happened to be a woman. To help this thought experiment along, let’s give him a woman’s name. Don’t think of him as "George," think of him as "Hillary."
Now imagine if Hillary had been president on Sept. 11, 2001. Suppose that, five years later, the man responsible for that attack was not only still alive and free, but was thumbing his nose at the United States via tape recordings that mocked America’s military power and national resolve. Would such a woman seem like a strong leader?
Imagine if Hillary was in the process of losing not one, but two, wars against miserable Third World countries whose combined armed forces didn’t equal a 50th of America’s military might. Would she still seem like an able commander in chief? How would Americans react to her repeated assertions that, despite her catastrophic record as a military leader, we could trust her to keep America safe?
Imagine if this woman had allowed a surrounded Osama bin Laden to escape because, instead of sending American troops to either kill or capture a man who has murdered thousands of Americans, she trusted foreign mercenaries to do the job instead.
Imagine if she refused to fire the inept buffoon who was her secretary of defense despite repeated complaints from across the political spectrum _ and even from her own generals _ that he had utterly bungled both the wars her administration was in the process of losing. Would that decision project an image of strength?
It is indeed a miracle of propaganda that President Bush can claim he has been anything but a spectacular failure as commander in chief, and not elicit hoots of derision from everyone who isn’t actually paid by the administration to utter politically convenient lies.
If he were a Democrat or a woman (or, God forbid, both), he could have never gotten away with any of this. After five years of his "strong leadership," Iraq is a chaotic mess, three-quarters of Afghanistan is back in the hands of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden is alive, free and planning more terrorist attacks. With strength like this, who needs weakness?
Yet our lapdog media keep obediently delivering the message that black is white. Perhaps the president should land on another aircraft carrier, and call it "Mission Accomplished Again."
(Paul C. Campos is a law professor at the University of Colorado and can be reached at Paul.Campos(at)Colorado.edu.)
13 thoughts on “George W. Bush: Phony warrior”
Bush is no more a warrior than the other elitist chicken hawks who’ve killed millions of mostly innocent people. Even his own father is what he’s not, Bush the Elder at least flew combat missions and was shot down more than once. HE was dropping bombs on people trying very hard for their part to blow him right out the the air. GWB never been shot at, never killed an enemy soldier in battle, let alone been wounded or lost commrades. He has no moral right or authority to send others to their deaths. I thank God I never joined the military.
President George Bush was a commissioned officier and pilot in the Air National Guard. Had his unit been called to combat duty, he would have gone to Vietnam. To call him a phony warrior is to be lying. I doubt that Paul C. Campos has served in the military in peace or war. I would bet good money that he undermined the war in Vietnam, just as he is doing in this one.
The day the war started over three years ago, I told my wife that the Democrats would turn on the war the first chance they got. So I wasn’t surprised. I had seen the leaders of the Democrat party in their youth protesting the Vietnam war. Their actions are the main reason I don’t vote for Democrats.
The liberals seem to think that life is some scripted movie where certain things should happen in a logical way. Such as this war should be winding down after three years, with a light at the end of the tunnel. Sorry, but life is not like that. In the battle of Okinawa,the last battle of world war two, we lost four times the people that we did at Pearl Harbor,the first batlle. That was not in the battleplan. Yet no one demanded we stop fighting the Japanese. We went on to victory.
Without meaning to sound callus, forty times as many United States citizens have been murdered here at home in the last three years as military personel have died in in Iraq. I am not being cavalier about that fact either; My youngest brother is a marine on his second tour over there. I have a stake in this war too.
Finally, Our enemies shall only be emboldened by retreat in the way bullies are. They shall not see it as a reasonable move to be respected. No, they shall see it as proof they are on the right path to defeat us completely. All they have to do is outwait us.
Big George
(To the tune of “Long John Blues” as recorded by Dinah Washington)
Oh we got a president thinks he’s ten feet tall
We got a president talks like he’s ten feet tall
But when we look hard at him
Why, there ain’t no man there at all
He don’t fly no plane, don’t drive no car
Falls offa his bike, can’t play guitar
Can’t knock a nail in a little bit o’ wood
Yet he took us to war — ‘cos God said he should
Says he talks to God ‘most every day
Yet loves scheming rogues like Tom DeLay
Despises the Constitution, of paper a scrap
Made to be avoided and treated like crap
Rides a mountain bike, keeps away from hills
Loves to wear uniform, war gives him the thrills
Loves to dodge duty, breaks his oath at will
Hell, I’m a war president, I’ll do what I will
From a college that already breeds controversial views, like those of Ward Churchill, comes yet another professor jumping on the anti-bush bandwagon. Is a liberal law professor really an expert on GOP politics? I highly doubt it.
Campos brings up the only defense that the ill fated Democratic Party has in their arsenal which is spend all resources into bashing Bush. So long as the Democratic Party presumes that agenda they do not stand a chance in the political arena.
Ok, so Bush did fly on to a carrier donning a flight suit. All aircrew and VIP wear the required flight suits and survival gear. The flight suits are flame retardant and the rest of the gear is for water survival incase of a crash. We all know that there was a “Mission Accomplish†banner on the ship that was viewable when the President spoke. The ship’s crew was responsible for hanging that up after completing their mission (6 month cruise) of defending our country. Besides, the Encarta encyclopedia defines a mission as “an assigned task†or as “or a single taskâ€Â. I would agree with Campos if the banner stated “War was won†or “We are victoriousâ€Â. Bush does not need a “little stunt†to send the message that he is a strong leader. Those little stunts are needed for presidents like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Now there are two leaders who failed to step up to the plates and put a stop to terrorism before it started. OBL (Osama Bin Laden) did not just only appear during the Bush Administration, but he was threatening us long before then. So, ask yourself, how come President Clinton didn’t do anything after the first WTC attack? I know, because he was on track to join the best U.S. Presidents list just because we had a booming economy. He didn’t want to upset his chance with a war on terrorism.
Another thing to consider is that we haven’t had a terrorist attack since 9/11. So it is obvious that something is being done right. I’m just sick and tired of people (especially democrats) who undermine our president and the current wars to achieve political status. I remember when we had a nation that was brought together after the tragedy of 9/11 only to separate themselves from society after losing the 2004 election. Our nation needs security and the democratic try to undermine our nation by trying to make the president look bad so that they will look like heroes. The Democratic Party has stalled on securing our borders, obstructing the patriot act, and bashing our commander in chief. They fight harder for Al Qaeda prisoner rights then our own citizen’s rights. And their partners at the New York Times disclosed information that undermines our national security. Do you wish to align yourself with a party that wishes that the U.S. would get attacked again so they can say “I told you so� Or, do you want your political party to focus on name calling more than focusing on how they can ethically get back into the house? For me, I wish to align myself on positive politics that stay optimistic on the war on terror and that do not back down to threats made to our wonderful country. It’s one thing to say that something is totally messed up and it’s another thing to do something about and in my opinion the democrats failed to do the latter.
President Bush may never be one of the greatest, but in our time he fits the position better then those coward democrats. Just look back at the last few years, we haven’t been attacked, our economy came out of a recession, taxes were less then ever considering the nation’s effort, no child left behind is working, millions of new jobs were created, and most American’s do not live in fear anymore.
My advice to Democrats, abandon your president bashing politics and actually do something for your country beside talk.
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