Monday, April 24, 2006

George Bush: From Savior to Antichrist

By The (liberal)Girl Next Door

Yes, I believe that Bush is the worst President in history for all of the reasons Sean Wilentz points out in his article “
The Worst President Ever?”, but Bush’s stance on global warming, his failure to do anything at all to change our course and his ruthlessness in stifling research and suppressing scientific findings on the subject, could very well be the biggest.

There is a sense among us rational folks that Bush’s Fundamentalist Christian base are enthralled by him and believe him to be the one who will usher in the End of Days and have therefore supported his ignorance and rejection of all things scientific, especially climate change, because the sooner the Earth dies, the sooner they get to be hoovered up to spend eternity at their Lord’s feet. But some of them are beginning to question the sanity of such of move, and that perhaps Bush isn’t God’s messenger on Earth after all. As I’ve pointed out before (see here), if Fundamentalists follow their own crazy logic, they should easily come to the conclusion that Bush is, in fact, the Antichrist, but I guess even following their own internal logic is a challenge.

About a month ago I wrote about a group of Evangelicals breaking with the President on climate change. It seems that some Evangelicals have started reading their Bibles and have been reminded that we are supposed to be caretakers of the Earth and God may not look so kindly on those that did nothing to protect it. Personally, I think that’s a silly reason to care about global warming, but as long as it works, I have no complaints. Now, in addition to Evangelicals, the business community is growing concerned about Bush’s ostrich approach to science. I guess they’re beginning to realize that a massive die off of coastal peoples will likely have a negative impact on their profit margin. Clearly things are bad when GE starts asking the Senate for carbon regulations!

Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, will be released next month, and he may have found the perfect time for the message he’s been trying to convey for decades. It’s possible that this movie will catch fire, not just with environmentalists, but also with mainstream Americans who are waking up to the reality that we have reached a critical time and that protecting the Earth is directly tied to securing a future for our children. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but the trailer (see here) was enough to ruin my day. I hope the movie does well because it will give Americans a chance to see a glimpse of an alternate history. As far as I know, the movie isn’t about what a great President Al Gore would have been, but the thought will still likely run through the minds of those who watch it. How could we have allowed Bush, an incompetent man with regressive ideas, to run our country at a time when courage, ingenuity, and forward-thinking were so critical?

The word impeachment evokes strong feelings and memories for many Americans. The impeachment of Bill Clinton was seen by Democratic and Republican voters alike as being “politically motivated” and the whole Watergate mess is something Americans would much rather forget, so it’s not surprising that the country is divided over whether or not Bush should be impeached. I’ve often wondered what the numbers would look like if the question were posed to voters in another way. “Would you rather not have Bush as President if he could be removed from office by magic?” I bet there’d be near total support for that! To have this Presidency simply erased would be a dream come true for the Left, and something the Right would probably welcome (well, except the top 1% that have seen their fortunes grow exponentially over the last five years). That way, they wouldn’t have to have any ownership in what they have unleashed on the rest of us, a solution that fits in perfectly with their whole philosophy of abdicating responsibility and handing it over to dictators and God.

Unfortunately, magic won’t get us out of this mess and hopefully slight of hand, otherwise known as electronic voting, won’t keep us on the road toward making it worse. I am an optimist by nature, but living under the thumb of the Bush regime has all but beaten the sunshine out of me. I’m still holding on to that last little bit though, trying desperately to find at least one small thing each day that provides some small scrap of hope that things are turning. Today, it’s that profit-seeking companies may have found that their future depends on ours, and that those who believe in God may decide to protect “His” creation. It’s not much, but that’s how it goes in Bush’s America.

(Cross-posted at The (liberal)Girl Next Door.)

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5 Comments:

  • "I am an optimist by nature, but living under the thumb of the Bush regime has all but beaten the sunshine out of me."

    Bush may indeed be the "worst president ever" but exaggerations like this drive me crazy. Are you really "under the thumb of the Bush regime"? This implies that, somehow, your everyday life is oppressed and stifled by Bush. I don't think many people think this way. This is why I object so much to liberal or conservative ideologues; when you become a parody of yourself and go off the deepend.

    I read an article the other day that talked about the US now having a regime of "crony capitalism." You mean, just like Russia or Third World countries. C'mon, criticize Bush but keep it within the range of sanity.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:27 AM  

  • Marc—Wages have stagnated, gas is up, healthcare costs are up, education for my children is in the dumps, there’s no way for most of us to survive AND save for retirement at the same time, and the safety net of Social Security is on the way out.

    My air is less clean, my friends are being sent off to fight in an immoral war based on lies, our budget surplus has turned into the biggest deficit in history, we have wasted five years and billions of dollars pursuing foreign oil instead of investing in alternative energy (a bill my children will have to pay), fellow American citizens are being held indefinitely without trial, we are torturing people (with pictures and all) around the world and my government may or may not be intercepting my email and telephone calls without cause or warrant. Yeah, I’d say I feel like I’ve been living under the thumb of the Bush regime, but it’s possible that I’m just more of a stickler than you are when it comes to what Democracy actually means.

    By Blogger The (liberal)Girl Next Door, at 9:20 PM  

  • Don't forget, the so called bankruptcy reform, wiretaps and suppressing climate research.
    I just waiting for W to declare himself president for life.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:31 PM  

  • Bob--Don't even joke Sir! I have a hard enough time getting to sleep at night.

    By Blogger The (liberal)Girl Next Door, at 6:01 PM  

  • RE: "if Fundamentalists follow their own crazy logic, they should easily come to the conclusion that Bush is, in fact, the Antichrist"

    Are You The Antichrist? Test Here...
    http://beepbeepitsme.blogspot.com/

    By Blogger beepbeepitsme, at 9:04 PM  

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