Bush's Potemkin World

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“Bush's Potemkin World” By Tom Engelhardt
http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2005/02/potemkin.html

Once in an interview on 'Fresh Air' with Terry Gross, the Rev. Jim Wallis recounted a conversation with President Bush in which Bush asked him to explain the thoughts of poor people.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4460055 (at 21:20 of the interview)

"I've never been around poor people, I don't know how they think. I've never lived in a poor community." "...I don't get it, How do I get it?"
Bush then asked Rev. Wallis to explain the lives and thinking of poor people.

That conversation produced neither change of policy nor profound new understanding.

The same might be said of this past week’s “listening tour” in which the President admitted in an offhanded way that he didn’t understand Europe. He was here to listen, he said. The result? Emptied cities, life in the bubble, no contact with a world he admittedly misunderstands: a larger Potemkin Villiage.

“So yes, last week European leaders stepped inside the presidential bubble, smiled, supped, shook hands, and said the right things to signal amity-restored; but they also understood that the very presence of the President in Europe and his visible unpopularity outside that bubble were indications of just how humbled the American "hyperpower" had been. And then they went their own ways. “

[BlueEyedSon]

1. kick

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2. Spot on!

When I first saw this I was quite impressed. On a closer look it just keeps getting better. It may be the single best understanding of the week's events yet.

[bear425]

3. Do you live in Mainz?

Thanks for posting this great article. I sent it on to a republican(friend) of mine.

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4. Yes, Mainz

I've posted a link to a view of the city while he was here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3186930

I may try to keep the story going for a few more days. Thx.

[bear425]

6. Thanks for the link to the pics

That was truly very well done. The pic of the hat is just begging to be captioned! Again, thanks.

[priller]

5. One of the biggest whoppers Bush ever told was:

"The American people need to know they got a president who sees the world the way it is."

That was from an interview with Tim Russert. The level of delusion is stunning.

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7. Stunning...

...and yet I'm sure I heard that quote or one's like it and it slipped by without my notice. It's hard to keep up. I think they intend it to be hard to keep up.

[Hidden Stillness]

8. "Bushie's Little Made-Up World"

Bushie's world is a scary place,
A puppet show in time and space;
I tried so hard but could not erase--
Now all is become a foreign place.

Delusion plays as reality
It comes from them, they claim it's me.
My own voice I cannot trace;
All is that distant, smirking face.

Gone is the drone I used to hear,
"Whitewater! Whitewater!" in my ear;
But now whenever I try to see,
halls of mirrors are turned on me.

Cheers coming from everywhere
Yet wherever I searched, no one was there.
Where do facts go when they die--
A lie agreed-on is still a lie.

Images that are not real
A world you can no longer feel;
They give me orders that I have "choice,"
Yet where is the sound of my own voice?

A whirl, a blur of crimes and lies
They used to be writers, now they are spies.
No one keeps straight all they disclose;
the worse it gets, the faster it goes.

Scandals lasting a second or more,
Loyalty oaths, gay porn and war.
The treasury's bankrupt, the media's fake
There's no real world out there, it's all a mistake.

Don't solve our problems; that would be real.
Think up a slogan, a sales pitch, a spiel.
The grinning corporate front, a knife behind its back,
You live in Corporate Ad World Hell, and everyone's a hack.

Life is now a shadow-play,
The nearby world so far away.
You open your mouth, and hear their voice shout--
How will we ever find our way out?

[acmavm]

9. Did you write that? Whoever did captured the essence (or lack of) the

foolish, horrible creature.

[Hidden Stillness]

10. "Bushie" Poem

Yes, I did. Thank you. I love poetry, and hate Bush and neocons.

[susu369]

11. Bu$h = The Potemkin Village Idiot

Have been calling him that for many years now. James Wolcott had an apt description, "Bush represses his under rodeo bravado, strutting his stuff before applause-machine audiences that resassure him that he's top gun."

That bubble has got to burst at some point.

I see bu$h as Rufus T. Firefly (although I love Groucho so much I hate to associate the two):
"Who is this Rufus T. Firefly?
A stranger in our midst, an agent for the Eureka Ammunition Company. Think of it, Gentlemen, an ammunition salesman dictating the policies of our peace-loving country.
All (singing)
Hail, hail, Freedonia....
Mightiest of mighty nations!
Hail, hail, Freedonia,
Land of the brave and free."