Remorse

I feel bad for President Bush. I had been thinking he was an idiot for the longest time, but I hadn't given him the time of day. It was easier for me to believe my critic friends and my cynical opinion. When I heard him discuss the price of gas possibly jumping up, he managed to put together a decent on-the-spot speech. It's hard to speak in public, especially for those of us who don't have to be in front of others 24-hours a day for a job. I can somewhat sympathize with his stammering over words and not being an expert in everything all the time. It's tough. I have to be an all-knowing answerer on all topics about everything from all over the world... a foreigner is a foreigner... I should know about "all that stuff."

He has matured, the grey hair reminds me of the madness after Clinton's 8-year stint. Just a lot of stress and sighing... president's got to be a difficult job. I liked hearing Bush's strong opinions, even after he's been made out to look like a liar and a cheater. He has a clear goal, based on his economic understanding and ideology. It is certainly one-sided, but at least its clear. And his intentions are truly paved with the gold (that leads to hell). But he is not evil... At least he is consistent. And strong. And, from what I understand about stupid Democratic-party American Idol contests... Bush's stubborn close-mindedness is at least something to admire for its steady pace.

I understand his long vacations at his ranch. We all need that privacy, when we have so many eyes on us. He has billions of pairs, whereas I only have 2500 pairs of eyes of students and teachers... and every person who I walk/ride by o the streets, everyday.

I sympathize with the (thank you Falkner) story created by this idiot, because he is not evil. He is just human. Attempting to strengthen one's own country at the expense of others is the way it's done these day (however, wrong it may be). In this he has made the USA look rather selfish in the eyes of the world... but he isn't concerned with the world, just his country. The world didn't elect him, his country did. Its much easier to critique than to empathize. But he is a human being with a rough job... and, for (225) years the spoils have gone with the victors... so this is really nothing new.

(I wanted to run a comparison to Adolf Hitler here based on my studying WWII in depth at university, but the analogy isn't quite comparable. I do, however, want to point out that I the thought of parallels between Hitler and Bush have run through my mind.)

So, while I am appalled by the last eight years of American... NO, not "American," as they say in Japan, but US history, I know that it is a story of real human (created) drama. I know that citizens "re-elected" him or sat idly by while his cohorts bypassed Democracy in lieu of money... or was that the first election? We watched twice, as Democracy was IGNORED and did nothing. Fuck US (this is not an abbreviation). This means you and me, us... citizens of the U.S. Disgraceful. This eight years can be a reflection for future generations of how humans managed to deceive themselves. Blame Bush? Nope, he is the perfect reflection of the horrible people that we are in the US (easy to play on U.S. and to capitalize "us"). I am guilty of perpetuating this; I didn't speak up as much as I should have. WE blew it. A great record of human history. I feel bad that President Bush has to have his face on it, but I think that has caused all of the grey hair. I feel bad for him, like I feel bad for myself for just being in the wrong time (in history) at the right place (in history).

But I cannot, no matter how much I appreciate his consistency or martyrdom, defend or condone the war he created. To destroy human conventions is borderline bad, but to destroy human life is sincerely shameful.