Bushworld
WASHINGTON
It's their reality. We just live and die in it.
In Bushworld, our troops go to war and get killed, but you
never see the bodies coming home.
In Bushworld, flag-draped remains of the fallen are
important to revere and show the nation, but only in
political ads hawking the president's leadership against
terror.
In Bushworld, we can create an exciting Iraqi democracy as
long as it doesn't control its own military, pass any laws
or have any power.
In Bushworld, we can win over Falluja by bulldozing it.
In Bushworld, it was worth going to war so Iraqis can
express their feelings ("Down With America!") without
having their tongues cut out, although we cannot yet allow
them to express intemperate feelings in newspapers ("Down
With America!") without shutting them down.
In Bushworld, it's fine to take $700 million that Congress
provided for the war in Afghanistan and 9/11 recovery and
divert it to the war in Iraq that you're insisting you're
not planning.
In Bushworld, you don't consult your father, the expert in
being president during a war with Iraq, but you do talk to
your Higher Father, who can't talk back to warn you to get
an exit strategy or chide you for using Him for political
purposes.
In Bushworld, it's O.K. to run for re-election as the
avenger of 9/11, even as you make secret deals with the
Arab kingdom where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from.
In Bushworld, you get to strut around like a tough military
guy and paint your rival as a chicken hawk, even though
he's the one who won medals in combat and was praised by
his superior officers for fulfilling all his obligations.
In Bushworld, it makes sense to press for transparency in
Mr. and Mrs. Rival while cultivating your own opacity.
In Bushworld, you can reign as the antiterror president
even after hearing an intelligence report about Al Qaeda's
plans to attack America and then stepping outside to clear
brush.
In Bushworld, those who dissemble about the troops and
money it will take to get Iraq on its feet are patriots,
while those who are honest are patronizingly marginalized.
In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state
separate in Iraq, even as they increasingly merge the two
in America.
In Bushworld, you can claim to be the environmental
president on Earth Day while being the industry president
every other day.
In Bushworld, you brag about how well Afghanistan is going,
even though soldiers like Pat Tillman are still dying and
the Taliban are running freely around the border areas,
hiding Osama and delaying elections.
In Bushworld, imperfect intelligence is good enough to
knock over Iraq. But even better evidence that North Korea
is building the weapons that Saddam could only dream about
is hidden away.
In Bushworld, the C.I.A. says it can't find out whether
there are W.M.D. in Iraq unless we invade on the grounds
that there are W.M.D.
In Bushworld, there's no irony that so many who did so much
to avoid the Vietnam draft have now strained the military
so much that lawmakers are talking about bringing back the
draft.
In Bushworld, we're making progress in the war on terror by
fighting a war that creates terrorists.
In Bushworld, you don't need to bother asking your vice
president and top Defense Department officials whether you
should go to war in Iraq, because they've already
maneuvered you into going to war.
In Bushworld, it's perfectly natural for the president and
vice president to appear before the 9/11 commission like
the Olsen twins.
In Bushworld, you expound on remaking the Middle East and
spreading pro-American sentiments even as you expand
anti-American sentiments by ineptly occupying Iraq and
unstintingly backing Ariel Sharon on West Bank settlements.
In Bushworld, we went to war to give Iraq a democratic
process, yet we disdain the democratic process that causes
allies to pull out troops.
In Bushworld, you pride yourself on the fact that your
administration does not leak to the press, while you flood
the best-known journalist in Washington with inside
information.
In Bushworld, you list Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack" as
recommended reading on your campaign Web site, even though
it makes you seem divorced from reality. That is, unless
you live in Bushworld
It's their reality. We just live and die in it.
In Bushworld, our troops go to war and get killed, but you
never see the bodies coming home.
In Bushworld, flag-draped remains of the fallen are
important to revere and show the nation, but only in
political ads hawking the president's leadership against
terror.
In Bushworld, we can create an exciting Iraqi democracy as
long as it doesn't control its own military, pass any laws
or have any power.
In Bushworld, we can win over Falluja by bulldozing it.
In Bushworld, it was worth going to war so Iraqis can
express their feelings ("Down With America!") without
having their tongues cut out, although we cannot yet allow
them to express intemperate feelings in newspapers ("Down
With America!") without shutting them down.
In Bushworld, it's fine to take $700 million that Congress
provided for the war in Afghanistan and 9/11 recovery and
divert it to the war in Iraq that you're insisting you're
not planning.
In Bushworld, you don't consult your father, the expert in
being president during a war with Iraq, but you do talk to
your Higher Father, who can't talk back to warn you to get
an exit strategy or chide you for using Him for political
purposes.
In Bushworld, it's O.K. to run for re-election as the
avenger of 9/11, even as you make secret deals with the
Arab kingdom where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from.
In Bushworld, you get to strut around like a tough military
guy and paint your rival as a chicken hawk, even though
he's the one who won medals in combat and was praised by
his superior officers for fulfilling all his obligations.
In Bushworld, it makes sense to press for transparency in
Mr. and Mrs. Rival while cultivating your own opacity.
In Bushworld, you can reign as the antiterror president
even after hearing an intelligence report about Al Qaeda's
plans to attack America and then stepping outside to clear
brush.
In Bushworld, those who dissemble about the troops and
money it will take to get Iraq on its feet are patriots,
while those who are honest are patronizingly marginalized.
In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state
separate in Iraq, even as they increasingly merge the two
in America.
In Bushworld, you can claim to be the environmental
president on Earth Day while being the industry president
every other day.
In Bushworld, you brag about how well Afghanistan is going,
even though soldiers like Pat Tillman are still dying and
the Taliban are running freely around the border areas,
hiding Osama and delaying elections.
In Bushworld, imperfect intelligence is good enough to
knock over Iraq. But even better evidence that North Korea
is building the weapons that Saddam could only dream about
is hidden away.
In Bushworld, the C.I.A. says it can't find out whether
there are W.M.D. in Iraq unless we invade on the grounds
that there are W.M.D.
In Bushworld, there's no irony that so many who did so much
to avoid the Vietnam draft have now strained the military
so much that lawmakers are talking about bringing back the
draft.
In Bushworld, we're making progress in the war on terror by
fighting a war that creates terrorists.
In Bushworld, you don't need to bother asking your vice
president and top Defense Department officials whether you
should go to war in Iraq, because they've already
maneuvered you into going to war.
In Bushworld, it's perfectly natural for the president and
vice president to appear before the 9/11 commission like
the Olsen twins.
In Bushworld, you expound on remaking the Middle East and
spreading pro-American sentiments even as you expand
anti-American sentiments by ineptly occupying Iraq and
unstintingly backing Ariel Sharon on West Bank settlements.
In Bushworld, we went to war to give Iraq a democratic
process, yet we disdain the democratic process that causes
allies to pull out troops.
In Bushworld, you pride yourself on the fact that your
administration does not leak to the press, while you flood
the best-known journalist in Washington with inside
information.
In Bushworld, you list Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack" as
recommended reading on your campaign Web site, even though
it makes you seem divorced from reality. That is, unless
you live in Bushworld