The Root Causes of George W. Bush
 
This week, the good President of The United States stated that “Sometimes the world likes to take the easy route in order to solve a problem. Our view is it's time to address root causes of problems...” By “Root Causes” he means terrorism. He means he likes to take the easy way out. Talking about terrorism has always been this President’s comfortable conveyance to wherever it goes. Reading resumes and planning have been the insurmountable barrier. As rhetoric, the identification of Hizbollah as the source of the trouble only gives the real roots deeper purchase. As a basis for action it amounts to clearing the wrong forest. To list the root causes of any conflict in which Israel is a party and fail to itemize the statelessness of Palestinians is nothing short of stunning. The shadowy terrorist, the communist under the bed, the evangelist in the closet and the old man in the brush are the favorite targets of those without the energy to aim. Holes in the walls and furniture pass for incremental progress toward putting the house in order. The main foreign policy accomplishments of this president are blown-up buildings and imprisoned people that may very well have been of use to the enemies of freedom, perhaps recently. The root cause of every conflict is a long list of grievances over injustices and just desserts. Extraordinary as well as predictable events and suspicions obstruct all of humanity’s nations and tribes from the glory and gluttony which should surely be their part and parcel were they not conspired against. A successful diplomatic effort in the Middle East would see the grievances of the Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese as unreliable and the solution which left the fewest insecure or endangered as reliable. People tend to live as victims in the absence of a realistic hope. Americans from the left and right, along with every side in the Middle East conflict stand convinced of dishonorable injuries against themselves and decry their abusers. Far more honest than people in fear are people who see a way forward and are confident of the resources needed to get there. By seeking the terrorist to blame, the President addresses the source of the problem by reinforcing it for all parties. I thank God for the failure of the most recent terror plot against the UK and US, as should the people of Venezuela and Djibouti against whom we may well have retaliated. The root cause of a Government’s incompetence is the inability to distinguish between problems to solve and crises to proclaim. I don’t blame the President and his lieutenants for rhetorical flourishes even to the exclusion of relevance. I do, however wish they didn’t take the people’s burden of listening to their nonsense as a duty for themselves. When you speak entirely in irrelevancy, misdirection and foolishness, insincerity is the key to success. If the administration were viciously berating Hizbollah while quietly pressing for the Palestinian state, then root causes might be addressed. If the administration had vocally proclaimed emergency management to be primarily a state’s responsibility while quietly preparing for a storm to come, or preached the importance of a well-monitored pharmaceutical trade while using science for the purpose, if they would recognize the lies leaving their lips and manage according to the unspoken truth, all the functions of government including propaganda might be working toward achievements of some merit. To paraphrase Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV,) where there is no fiction, the people cast off all restraint. To quote a different Proverb (16:18, Jamie Dawn) Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. The pride of our leaders is the faith that their dissembling is of a quality worth acting on in a haughty spirit. The destruction and fall are all around us, root causes for the next bloodletting and justification for proud and haughty spirits yet unrisen. Today, there are rumors of peace in the middle-east. We can all hope this preceding piece is horsefeathers. The odds aren’t bad. The Prattler Wordbook ZEALOT, n. Anyone with certainty in the heart, mud in the head, scales over the eyes and a blog. ZEALOUS, adj. Hungry and lonesome. ZEBRA, n. A species of equine with Republican markings and a Democrat’s heart. ZEN, n. . ZEITGEIST, n. This year’s revival. ZENO, n.p.. An Eleatic philosopher who inferred from the fable of The Tortoise and The Hare the impossibility of motion. ZERO, n. The sum of theory and experience. ZEST, n. The physical expression of emotional incontinence. ZEST, v.t.. To eat the peel when life gives you lemons. ZESTY, adj. Intolerable. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/07/bush.mideast.ap/index.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0
Saturday, August 12, 2006
From the collection of Richard Samuel West / Periodyssey.http://www.periodyssey.com/private/press.htmshapeimage_5_link_0