bush doesn’t see it
george and laura bush were recently interviewed by larry king. larry is a great interviewer, and early in the interview, the question of the presidents opponents came up…
larry king live, with george and laura bush [august 15, 2004 airdate]KING: You don’t have your opponent[s], though?
G. BUSH: Not at all. Listen…
L. BUSH: No, of course not.
G. BUSH: There’s a chattering class of kind of, you know, professional politicians who get on the airwaves and they kind of feel like it’s their duty to stir things up. But the American people are — they’re focused on their families, and they’re focused on their work. And they’re interested in, you know, how government can help secure this country during these dangerous times. But I just don’t see it. When I travel the country, and I’ve been traveling a lot, there are thousands of people who come out and wave, and they are — you know, they respect the presidency. Sometimes they like the president, but I have this — I don’t have a sense that there’s a lot of anger.
i’m just feeling a bit compelled to emphasize this bit… opponents? bush just doesn’t see it.
the easy angle on this is that bush travels in a criticism free zone – a truth -free zone, sheltered from uncomfortable facts on the ground with his opponents (the ones he doesn’t see) kept at a safe distance in designated free speech zones, even when he’s visiting our allies. he simply doesn’t realize he has opposition, because even the t-shirts are screened to protect his view of reality.
we could blame the security and political apparatus that support this president for protecting him from any realization that some americans don’t support his policies. that could be enough to do it. i’m reminded of a story about an emperor and a pair of tailors.
“Besides being invisible, your Highness, this cloth will be woven in colors and patterns created especially for you.” The emperor gave the two men a bag of gold coins in exchange for their promise to begin working on the fabric immediately.
why do i feel like i have a few coins in that bag? oh yeah. this empire is a democratic republic. that’d do it.
on the other hand, the righteous know no opposition.