An Inaugural Address
Did yesterday's inaugural address -- which was mightily short on specifics, used the words 'liberty' and 'freedom' a combined 43 times, never mentioned the word 'terror', and focused on defeating 'tyranny' -- hint at a second Bush term in which the target of the Administration's democritization efforts are repressive regimes like North Korea and Iran?
Will the White House be taking on Putin in Moscow or the communist leadership of China anytime soon?
Or was yesterday's address meant to indirectly bolster support for (or distract from) an increasingly bloody, open-ended, and inconclusive Iraqi occupation?
Discuss.
posted by Sean @ 1/21/2005 09:31:00 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
What is “all of the above,” Alex?
Did anybody else suddenly get a flashback to 7th grade history and the idea of “manifest destiny?” Back then it was the idea that we were empowered by God to spread the fruits of “civilization” from sea to shining sea, and tame the savage, indigenous populations of the American West. Apparently, we’ve gotten a little more ambitious in the last 100 years or so. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the Inaugural Address:
“The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.”
(So, does this mean more pre-emptive strikes against nations that may (or may not) have WMD’s that they may (or may not) use against us, all in the name of expanding freedom to secure our own liberty? Look out General Tso, here we come!)
“America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.”
(“Yeah, that’s right, Iran! We’re going to stick this “considerable” boot right up your ass!”)
“Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.”
“Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom.”
(What “liberating tradition?” I seem to have missed the part where we were somehow ordained as the bringer of freedom to the world. Is this a bit of revisionist history or am I just off base? Seriously, I’d like to know.)
“By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.”
(Again, who appointed us as the “fire starters of freedom” (good name for a band, no)? I’m all for participating as a member of the United Nations in working to stop genocide, assisting nations (who ask for help) in establishing representative democracies, keeping the peace, protecting the innocent, etc. But, with Bush, I get the impression that he sees us as the Lone Ranger, riding around on our trusty stead, driving off the cattle rustlers, and saving the helpless townspeople (and, of course, making time with the Millers’ daughter behind the haystack.))
What’s worse is that he can say these things and then, in the same speech, say stuff like this:
“In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives.”
“And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.”
(I guess abandoning bigotry and racism doesn't extend to homosexuals. Mores the pity.)
“And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.”
(OK, so we’re going to let them (and I assume we’re talking about Iraqis here) find their own way... with 125,000 of our troops sitting around in tanks?)
Man, and I was just beginning to think that maybe the next four years weren’t going to be THAT bad…
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