A Play On Words:Critique of Bush's State of Mind

A Play on Words:
Critique of Bush's State of Mind

One half of George W. Bush’s 2007 State of the Union speech on Tuesday was about Iraq and the War on Terror, and it revealed more about the “state of the President’s mind” than the “state of the Union.” Though many folk say American military victory in Iraq is not possible, the President says a “surge“ of effort will do the trick. Let’s leave the “strategy” debate aside for a moment. There are still “conceptual” problems with the President’s attempt to explain his “new approach.”

An effective way to pick up on a speaker’s message is to note certain words he highlights. In his Address, George W. Bush’s favorite words were resolve, victory, and unity. These are common, useful words we all understand. But Bush’s use of them was specialized and off to one side. Here’s what I mean, one at a time.

Resolve seemed to be the keynote of the President’s address. He would have us know that resolve means unwavering support for his program. Resolve will release adrenalin; it is the banner for those who answer the decider’s call. Determination is not strong enough, for with determination part of ones energy is siphoned off by having to watch the sides and the rear. If you choose the winning course, you can count casualties and mourn after the fight is won. If your spirit flags, the enemy wins. So when you find yourself in a tough spot, do a gut check. Instead of counting casualties, proclaim them heroes. If you need numbers, enlist 92,000 more hopeful heroes. Too much measuring and adapting causes sluggishness in response and gives the enemy the wrong message. So put your head down and plow forward. Wrap your cloak about you and accept the risks. Take a deep breath and hold it. Determination is for individual reflection, but resolve will rally a fine looking fighting force. Determinations and findings are for quiet times, resolutions are for getting, by taking the fight to the enemy. Resolves are slogans that cheer and encourage as we march ahead. What we need in a crisis is pumping, not shoring.

Tied in with resolve is another favorite Bush term--victory. We all want victory, but to this President victory is unicolor--red. Victory must be won by military conquest. We have to make a statement, or we will be forever bullied around. What George Bush doesn’t understand is that army bugles have more than one tune. And even if we were to “win” on the Iraq battlefield, victory traditionally is sealed by an agreement between the two sides, a treaty. Treaties are signed by official bodies, representatives of the government, so as to cement the results.

Who is our enemy in Iraq to whom we shall dictate terms? Hussein can’t lift a pen any longer. Al Qaeda is not a nation and does not meet with dignitaries. And who are the insurgents? Besides terrorists from outside the country, they are Iraqi citizens with age old grievances who are at war with each other, with our soldiers caught in the crossfire. Does anyone expect we can dictate to the Shiites and Sunnis how to get along? Who is there to affirm our claim to “victory”? Officially we would only be cheering ourselves--a one-handed clap. It is no longer our fight.

Strategic retreat can be found in any military textbook, but this approach is for the military professionals to regard, or for the wounded and widowed to wish for. Bush is only auditing (by proxy) this war seminar, and he conspicuously declines to visit graveyards or welcome body bags.

So when his military acumen is questioned, even by his generals, he now substitutes , reluctantly, the word “success” for the word victory. Though after this lumbering word is spoken, with a tacit nod to the Congressional appointed Baker-Hamilton bipartisan group, he pushes his vocabulary default button, so we don’t forget that he is the Commander-in-Chief who knows how to save the situation, as if this were the same as saving the nation.

So back to the term victory.

But wait a minute. Before we forget that we are trying to understand the President’s message, we may note that even if success is what the President wants, he can’t just have it. Success is a judgment on a program. That may be why Bush is uncomfortable with the word. Success has staying power. That is why conquests are followed by treaties. In Iraq, according to our President, when we have fulfilled our mission there, we will turn matters over to the new Iraqi government and bow out. “Success” in Iraq will be judged by the Iraqis, not by invading outsiders, and will be defined by historians, not by the news media. Facing a political storm at home and abandonment by some of his own party, we are observing in the “sad state of the union” address, a President falling back on the realization that a military victory is the only thing his job gives him sole control over.

If you rewind the video and listen again to his talk, you may notice that, more than analyzing the state of the union, Bush is telling us what we need and interpreting for us how to look at things, and telling the Iraqis what they must do to fall in line. Father knows best. If you don’t clean your plate you will starve to death, probably before tomorrow. Because his words were not received well by some of his children, in his post-speech comments he has made it more clear. It is his way, or it is disaster.

Again, with his third key word--unity--the President’s lyrics don’t match the song. Including this fine word, unity, in a litany to the nation, would seem appropriate if only the President understood the concept. George Bush has a ”divider’s touch.” His speech was division in action. Congress and the public are at odds with him over Iraq. Bush’s “way forward,” outlined in his speech is staunchly one-sided. Recognizing this, Congress immediately began considering a statement of dissent.

We all want a return to unity--the kind of emotional and spiritual unity we felt as a family in the hours after 9/11. The power of unity is a dynamic; it is cooperative. Unity listens and shares, and becomes a force from within. Leaders don’t create unity, they represent it; they arise from it. George Bush’s Address shows that he doesn’t get it. His lead-in to announcing his “new” military plan was 15 minutes of fear mongering.

His play on fear began after 9/11, when it seemed that we welcomed his leadership from fright. But what actually united us was shared trauma. Fear was an overlay on the trauma. Fear is froth. By contrast, awareness, information, perspective, a grasp of complexities, a re-rooting dispels and moves us out of fear. With his ratings in the polls in the 20’s, Bush is playing the fear card again. He disses Congress’ months of study and investigation, does his own brief “consultations,” and announces his decision.

Leadership is lonely when you have to “wish” for unity. When unity eludes your leadership skills, you fall back on unanimity and mis-label your call, hoping no one will notice the slight-of-word. The trouble is that the decisions have to bring good results in order to be admired (unless, of course, you have agreed ahead of time to lock-step with your Chief.)

Bush’s dilemma is that he is employed as the Administrator in a democracy. Given Bush’s personality and convictions, no wonder we are watching a confrontation between Congress and the Presidency brewing. In a democratic pot, this dilemma is like salt in heating water The President is irritated and is actively making his personal dilemma a national dilemma. Congress and the public be damned.

Bush’s clarion call to the nation on Tuesday may remind us of another President’s famous phrase about “fear.“ Retooled for a different message, it runs, “We have everything to fear, so kick it in gear.”

We don’t need a kick in the pants. We need brains, not balls. Wisdom is not unavailable.

Instead of resolve, victory, and unanimity, we need determination, success, and “real” unity. George W. Bush doesn’t just use the wrong words; he actually says what he thinks. That’s what is scary.
Doug Good