Bush: Enemy of Freedom
Why do I get the urge to punch something whenever Bush speaks?
I should say that i've been in pretty good spirits lately, even if my tone seems negative. But the state of the union address really pushed my buttons. The president gets an hour of free airtime to distort the truth, gloat to his friends, and condemn those who disagree as unpatriotic enemies of America. And the only feedback allowed from the audience (congress) is either enthusiastic applause or a standing ovation. I'd imagine that if Bush gave his speech to Parliament in Britain he'd have been booed to death. (similarly, if he'd given the speech to Parliament, the band, he would have been funked up. *rimshot*)
The camera panned away during applause for audience reaction, but whenever it panned back to Bush he was giving his characteristic dumb-ass, arrogant smirk. Laura Bush, on the other hand, maintains an incredibly creepy, demented grin at all times. She's either drugged beyond belief or is actually a robotic house wife from circa 1952.
Have you noticed how often Bush talks about "freedom"? I believe that he is employing a well-known technique where one repeats a word so often that the word becomes meaningless or loses its original meaning. After hearing a Bush speech one starts taking the words free and freedom for granted, which inevitably opens the definition up to distortion. For instance, does the PATRIOT act preserve America's freedom or does it enable government agencies to spy on law abiding citizens, thus encroaching on their freedom? Does the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage preserve America's freedom or does it discriminate against a large group of people? Bush complained, "Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people's voice must be heard." I almost smashed the TV at that line. Coming from the president who said he didn't pay attention to focus groups (the millions of protesters before the war), I'd say he can pretty much STFU on this one.
Back to freedom -- I particularly enjoy the term, Enemies of Freedom. To put international terrorism and politics into such comically simplistic terms insults everyone's intelligence. And coming from an intellectual titan like Bush, it's doubly insulting. Any enemy of the US is just jealous. They just hate our freedom, that's all.
But wait a minute, if this epic battle is all about freedom, shouldn't people be free to hate America's freedom? And, since Rumsfeld said, "...freedom's untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes.", does that mean I'm free to loot? Oh no, I'm getting trapped in a maze of meaningless uses of the word freedom!
Well, if Bush is going to refer to any miscellaneous enemy of America as an Enemy of Freedom, I'll have to start using the term to refer to a true "Enemy of Freedom": George W. Bush! My mischievous hope is that by linking Enemy of Freedom to Bush's site (and if others do, too), the phrase will be Google bombed, and anyone searching for Enemy of Freedom will be directed to a true Enemy of Freedom. Try searching for "miserable failure" on Google. The bombing campaign works! Try it -- it's fun!