Orwellian Prophecy
2004-10-19 02:35:01 UTC
Without a Doubt
By RON SUSKIND
Published: October 17, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html
Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a
treasury official for the first President Bush, told me recently that
''if Bush wins, there will be a civil war in the Republican Party
starting on Nov. 3.'' The nature of that conflict, as Bartlett sees it?
Essentially, the same as the one raging across much of the world: a
battle between modernists and fundamentalists, pragmatists and true
believers, reason and religion.
''Just in the past few months,'' Bartlett said, ''I think a light has
gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this
instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea
of what he thinks God has told him to do.'' Bartlett, a 53-year-old
columnist and self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been
a champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's
governance, went on to say: ''This is why George W. Bush is so
clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He
believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that
they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them,
because he's just like them. . . .
''This is why he dispenses with people who confront him with
inconvenient facts,'' Bartlett went on to say. ''He truly believes he's
on a mission from God. Absolute faith like that overwhelms a need for
analysis. The whole thing about faith is to believe things for which
there is no empirical evidence.'' Bartlett paused, then said, ''But you
can't run the world on faith.''
Forty democratic senators were gathered for a lunch in March just off
the Senate floor. I was there as a guest speaker. Joe Biden was telling
a story, a story about the president. ''I was in the Oval Office a few
months after we swept into Baghdad,'' he began, ''and I was telling the
president of my many concerns'' -- concerns about growing problems
winning the peace, the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanding
of the Iraqi Army and problems securing the oil fields. Bush, Biden
recalled, just looked at him, unflappably sure that the United States
was on the right course and that all was well. '''Mr. President,' I
finally said, 'How can you be so sure when you know you don't know the
facts?'''
Biden said that Bush stood up and put his hand on the senator's
shoulder. ''My instincts,'' he said. ''My instincts.''
Biden paused and shook his head, recalling it all as the room grew
quiet. ''I said, 'Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough!'''
By RON SUSKIND
Published: October 17, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html
Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a
treasury official for the first President Bush, told me recently that
''if Bush wins, there will be a civil war in the Republican Party
starting on Nov. 3.'' The nature of that conflict, as Bartlett sees it?
Essentially, the same as the one raging across much of the world: a
battle between modernists and fundamentalists, pragmatists and true
believers, reason and religion.
''Just in the past few months,'' Bartlett said, ''I think a light has
gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this
instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea
of what he thinks God has told him to do.'' Bartlett, a 53-year-old
columnist and self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been
a champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's
governance, went on to say: ''This is why George W. Bush is so
clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He
believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that
they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them,
because he's just like them. . . .
''This is why he dispenses with people who confront him with
inconvenient facts,'' Bartlett went on to say. ''He truly believes he's
on a mission from God. Absolute faith like that overwhelms a need for
analysis. The whole thing about faith is to believe things for which
there is no empirical evidence.'' Bartlett paused, then said, ''But you
can't run the world on faith.''
Forty democratic senators were gathered for a lunch in March just off
the Senate floor. I was there as a guest speaker. Joe Biden was telling
a story, a story about the president. ''I was in the Oval Office a few
months after we swept into Baghdad,'' he began, ''and I was telling the
president of my many concerns'' -- concerns about growing problems
winning the peace, the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanding
of the Iraqi Army and problems securing the oil fields. Bush, Biden
recalled, just looked at him, unflappably sure that the United States
was on the right course and that all was well. '''Mr. President,' I
finally said, 'How can you be so sure when you know you don't know the
facts?'''
Biden said that Bush stood up and put his hand on the senator's
shoulder. ''My instincts,'' he said. ''My instincts.''
Biden paused and shook his head, recalling it all as the room grew
quiet. ''I said, 'Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough!'''
--
Orwell saw this coming. Bush is Big Brother, and you're fucked.
Hell no, Bush must go!
Vote Nov 2: Bush finally gets his pink slip.
Orwell saw this coming. Bush is Big Brother, and you're fucked.
Hell no, Bush must go!
Vote Nov 2: Bush finally gets his pink slip.