There you are, you’re George W. Bush, you’re trailing badly in the polls, you’ve got this nasty little problem with domestic spying making headline news all over the place, your war in Iraq is continuing to go sour, and all your best buddies are getting indicted for corruption and bribery. So what do you do?
You call out the heavy artillery, that’s what!
Last week, after a year’s absence, George W. Bush’s biggest supporter, Osama bin Laden made a rare appearance, via an audiotape mailed to Aljazeera TV.
In the tape, bin Laden alternately threatened to bring the war back home to America, and then offered a truce.
Predictably, Bush responded in character, challenging bin Laden to “…Take your heathen ass outside and fight me like a man, you goat-loving Arab!” On and on…
All the various exchanges had obviously been arranged in advance by Bush and bin Laden. The whole thing was tightly choreographed to maximize the impact for both sides.
In response, the paranoia/fear index climbed sharply in the US last week; there was even a little talk about raising the national terror alert level.
And as planned, it diverted the public’s attention away from the horrible mess George W. Bush has made of pretty much everything he’s touched.
Quite a coup, GW. Good job at diverting everyone’s attention!
Let’s face it, without Osama bin Laden, Bush is nothing. Osama made George, and likewise, George made Osama.
How? Well if bin Laden hadn’t attacked the World Trade Center, Bush would have been a one-term wonder. No question about it. He was going nowhere real fast, pre 9/11.
Then along came Osama. It was like a dream come true for GW.
Bush (or his handlers) was smart enough to realize that everyone rallies around a “wartime” president. So what do they do? First, they invent a “war” against terrorism – with terrorism personified by Osama bin Laden – and then second, they take us into a couple real wars for good measure – against Afghanistan and then Iraq (and maybe soon, Iran).
And so the country predictably rallies around the president in this time of great national uncertainty.
What a deal these two have: Bush drives thousands of converts into bin Laden’s camp by being a warmongering Christian Crusader, occupying holy Muslim lands; and to reciprocate, bin Laden solidifies Bush’s base of support here at home by providing a convenient target for everyone to hate and fear.
It’s a true symbiotic relationship; neither one could survive without the other.
When you look at all this in its totality, and you can only wonder at the true genius of the situation.
The thing that strikes me, is that it’s obvious someone in the Bush administration has read George Orwell’s 1984 – and taken it to heart. Actually, when it comes right down to it, if you look closely at all the parallels, you really have to wonder if maybe that book might even be their bible.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Osama bin Laden is indeed Emmanuel Goldstein. No question about it.
Shall we get ready for our Two Minute Hate?
A one-a, a two-a, a three-a…