The Mahablog has an entry about how Bush seems to be taking a surprisingly timid response to North Korea. It suddenly hit me: Of course he is, because the last time he got into his cowboy suit, he started an ass kicking that hasn't stopped yet, and it's got to have had some effect on him.
It's his Fisher King moment. The story of the Fisher King is about a man who sees the Holy Grail in a fire, but when he reaches out for it, it's gone. Psychologically, it's been interpreted as being about a psychic wound that all men suffer the first time our reach exceeds our grasp.
George W. Bush has shown he's good for exactly one thing, and that is getting dressed up in manly uniforms and talking tough. And now he can't even do that right. Never mind the fact that actually, a bit of "cowboy diplomacy" might be called for in the case of North Korea.
They're a country that actually could be a threat to us-something Iraq never was and never could have been. But on some level Bush must know how badly he's screwed up Iraq (whether or not he'll ever be able to admit it publicly) and now he's once bitten, twice shy.
Sometimes I'm amazed I even have the fortitude to keep trying...
1 comment:
I don't think it's a case of Bush having a Fisher King moment, actually. Bush has always been fixated on Iraq and that's about the only area of interest he has outside of various domestic issues close to his heart like eviscerating the "socialist" policies of FDR. The truth is, Bush didn't care about Afghanistan (& he sure doesn't want to capture bin Laden because it's too valuable a bogeyman to scare folks with). Bush named Iran & North Korea in his asinine "axis of evil" comment but even if he were genuinely interested in being a big tough guy vis a vis North Korea, he'd never do anything to really rile them up, because George Bush is a coward. Cowards always go after the weak. Iraq was weakened by UN sanctions and even old Saddam wasn't much of anything to get het up about. So, naturally (to a coward like Bush), Iraq was the target of choice amongst the axis of evil. Iran -- no, they're bigger & more powerful than Iraq. North Korea -- gosh no! Man, they don't even have any oil and they got BAD STUFF TO MAKE BIG BOOM BOOM! If George were ever made by his handlers to stand up to the likes of them, they'd find him shortly after hiding under his desk in the oval office, sniveling in terror.
The sad truth about Bush & North Korea is, the guy just doesn't care about what happens in North Korea. Mention Iraq & he gets all punchy & combative. Mention NK and he's listless in the face of a true threat to the USA and the world.
There's leadership for you.
Post a Comment