GTFO!
Disrespectful? No freakin’ way. I don’t care how much he may or may not have done for HIV in Africa. I don’t care how many piddling positive programmes he may have initiated. I don’t even care that he found a giant surplus and left a gaping deficit; that’s not why I hate him. What I care about is 500,000 dead, innocent Iraqis, casualties in a disingenuous war for oil. George Bush, to Hell with you, you mass murdering, lying, bullying son of a bitch.
…And welcome to that nice Irish fella, Barry O’Bama, who’s got the world fooled into believing he’s a half-Muslim, half-African dude named Barack. I was not able to watch his inauguration live, as I was zipping about Ottawa running errands. But I caught most of his speech on the car radio, and part of it on CNN when I was in a little Iranian shop waiting in line for a submarine sandwich.
Everyone in that shop was mesmerized by the man’s bearing and words. The shopkeeper, an old Farsi-speaking gentleman, was moved to tears by the moment. But of course in every brief, rare moment of wellness, there is always a pimple of pustulence. A fat dude with a lisp kept shouting for all to hear, “I’m sick of his monotone voice! He’s gonna come looking for our money! He’s coming to Canada to ask for a loan!”
President Obama’s speech touched on everything I wanted to hear. I perked up when the words, “data” and “statistics” were mentioned. This is a man who wants to push aside 8 years of official anti-intellectualism…. Thank God! I mean…. Thank Darwin!
Speaking of God, I perked up again when he said: “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.” OMG! A President who acknowledges that his nation is no longer a Christian bastion…. and who even makes room for atheists! Now this is progress.
“To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.“
Yeah, baby!
“…the time has come to set aside childish things.“
Um, are you listening, Georgie Boy? He’s talking about you.
“We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.“
Are you listening, Darth Cheney? He’s talking about you.
“They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.“
All you freakin’ warmongers out there, and especially the chickenhawks…. He’s talking to you.
Words have power, words are important. But words are cheap. (Unless you’re using an overpaid Washington speech writer, that is.) Let’s remember these words, and let’s see if the actions match the rhetoric in coming months.
(PS, I talked about the Bush Legacy a few months ago, if anyone is interested.)
