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Trapped
in a Big Office, George W. Bush Wears the Soul of a Little
Man
June 1, 2002
By Teresa Simon-Noble
 The
headline, "Weary,
Bush mocks reporter," intrigued me. Bill Sammon of
the Washington Times was reporting an exchange which took
place in Paris between an NBC reporter and the first born
son of George Herbert Walker Bush.
By now America is acquainted with the story of how when David
Gregory asked George W. Bush, "I wonder why it is you think
there are such strong sentiments in Europe against you and
against this administration? ... Why, particularly, there’s
a view that you and your administration are trying to impose
America’s will on the rest of the world ...”
George Bush answered: "so you go to a protest and I drive
through the streets of Berlin, seeing hundreds of people lining
the road, waving ... I don’t view hostility here ... I view
the fact that we’ve got lots of friends ... the fact that
protesters show up, that’s good. I mean, I’m in a democracy."
Having failed to accept, and to address, the reality of the
question put to him by David Gregory, George Bush went on
to put Gregory down. I think of it more as, George Bush went
on to censor David Gregory by putting him down. First,
by somewhat delusionally describing the people along the road
as waving. Reports are that Bush did not see the protesters
except for a few souls along the road who gave him the finger.
Second, by using as an excuse to put him down, the fact that
Gregory addressed the last part of his question to Jacques
Chirac, in French.
“The guy memorizes four [French] words,” Bush said referring
to Gregory, “and he plays like he’s intercontinental.” Then,
added: “I’m impressed. Que bueno. Now I am literate in two
languages.” (One wonders, English and French? Spanish and
English? Spanish and French?)
What is clear, is that Bush was taking a one-up position
vis-à-vis Gregory, just as he did in Rome, when, after
being warned that he could not address the sex scandal rocking
the Catholic Church, Bush nevertheless told the Pope, “I am
concerned about the Church in America.”
Most of the accounts I have read about this exchange between
Bush and Gregory treat it as a humorous one. I admit that
I was not privy to the tone of voice used by either party
on this exchange of words, but I fail to hear the humor of
it in its written account. By describing the people along
the road as waving in friendship, Bush mocks reality, not
the reporter, and that is a very dangerous (not to mention
sick) posturing to take, particularly by one who insists on
calling himself President of the United States and Leader
of the Free World.
The reality is that there were massive protesters against
Bush and his administration during his most recent trip to
Europe. The truth is that Bush’s response to Gregory might
have been different if he had not been threatened by the frankness
of Gregory’s question and the reality of the protests. Bush
must wear blinders to protect himself and his bogus claim
to being a democratically elected president, pathetically
replicating the behavior of two-year olds who cover-up their
eyes when playing hide-and-seek. Because two-year olds cannot
see the seeker, they think that the seeker cannot see them.
Covering his eyes and ears to the sound of truth, Bush wants
truth to go away, but truth keeps knocking at his door.
The reality is that the same anti-Bush sentiment, demonstrated
by those protesters in Germany and France, flows through many
in this country, although the United States has not yet seen
the point of that overflow of anti-Bush sentiment that was
present in Europe, partly because here truth must be silenced
before it reaches the boiling point.
Americans protesting the war on terror were forcibly turned
back in San Francisco by the Highway Patrol before they reached
the other side of the bridge, the end of their protest line,
because the Highway Patrol feared, it said, that they would
not reach the end of their protest line by the two o’clock
protest deadline.
Touted by Bush in his address to Castro, and in his speech
in Paris, Freedom of Expression is not welcome in this oppressive
Bush regime.
Neither is any sniff of knowledge: “Que bueno. Now I’m literate
in two languages.” In this exchange, Bush reacts to Gregory’s
ability to speak French. Since Bush does not speak French,
he knocks down Gregory’s sandcastle. For a Christian, compassionate
man, George W. Bush is guilty of the sin of envy. Envy, as
many a preacher is always happy to tell you, is the root of
many evils. Including insecurity, paranoia, and the need to
control others.
Teresa Simon-Noble is a freelance writer. She has worked in
the mental health field for eighteen years.
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