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Whenever anyone asks me why I will never choose to
vote for George W. Bush, I remind them of the 1999
Talk magazine article written by CNN Crossfire co-host
Tucker Carlson. Riding in a car with the then Texas
Governor, Carlson recounts a conversation dealing
with the death penalty wherein Bush purses his lips
and mocks the alleged plea of recently executed Karla
Fay Tucker, whimpering “‘Please, don’t
kill me,” to the shocked conservative pundit.
Ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner is unarguably
cruel, but what makes the episode especially revealing
is that Bush, a professed born-again Christian, was
ridiculing a woman who had gone through her own Christian
conversion on death row.
Seen in this light, Bush’s later claim that
Jesus Christ was his favorite philosopher during the
2000 presidential debates comes off as some sort of
sick joke. And it stands to reason that Bush’s
inability to pronounce correctly Abu Ghraib during
his address to the nation three months ago wasn’t
just another example of the president’s never
ending bout with language but an indication that he
couldn’t care less about the gross and vicious
assaults at the notorious Iraqi prison.
On the other hand, when I begin to assess the candidacy
of the Massachusetts senator, he scores points straight
away for his ability to woo and marry such a saucy
and spirited wife as Tereza Heinz, whose off-the-cuff
remarks are legendary and delivered with uncommon
relish. The recent criticism of the South African
born heiress can be traced to the fact in the year
2004, despite all of our “progress,” both
men and women continue to fear and envy such an outspoken
and intelligent woman, especially when she is foreign
born. It takes a strong and smart gentleman to win
such a lady.
And Kerry’s clever off the cuff comment, “What,
did the training wheels fall off?” (on hearing
of Bush’s bike tumble), reveals just such a
guy. For such razor sharp wit, delivered at a moment’s
notice, indicates an active, engaged and fertile imagination.
A mind capable of immediately reacting to the kaleidoscope
of daily news and security briefings that make up
a president’s life and not one that will seize
in fear and trepidation for seven long minutes in
an elementary school classroom while the country is
under attack.
| D.A. Blyler is the author of
the novel Steffi’s Club. His essays have
appeared at Salon.com, The Korean Herald, Bangkok’s
The Nation, and other international and online
publications. A lecturer at Rajabhat University
Rajanagarindra, he makes his home in Thailand.
His latest novel can be purchased at Amazon.com. |
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