The Unfeeling President

[GoddessOfGuinness]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.doctorow06oct06,0,4624657.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

By E. L. Doctorow
Originally published October 6, 2004
IFAULT THIS president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than General Eisenhower could bear.
But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the weapons of mass destruction he can't seem to find; you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man.

He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion that he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the 1,000 dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be.

They come to his desk not as youngsters with mothers and fathers or wives and children who will suffer to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and the inconsolable remembrance of aborted life. They come to his desk as a political liability, which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the arrival of their coffins from Iraq.

How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret, and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his "mission accomplished" a disaster. He does not regret that, rather than controlling terrorism, his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice. <snip>


I fear it is not only Dumbyass and his henchmen who are unfeeling. Anyone who supports this regime has a serious morality void.

[RebelYell]

1. The reason death means nothing to Bush

is because he wasn't allowed to mourn when his sister died. They never spoke of her again. So the story goes.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. I had no idea......

but why am I not surprised?

The Bushs have to be one of America's most dysfunctional families.

[RebelYell]

4. Even worse than MY family :)

Her name was Robin, died in 1953 at the age of 3. I forget why she died, but I've read more than one account of where they never mentioned her again. No funeral, nothing.

George the 1st and Babs were used to losing kids. Babs had quite a few miscarriages before she stopped drinking Gin.

Edited to add

[Lisa]

10. Robin had cancer

In that era, many people were frightened or even ashamed of "the big C" and didn't want to talk about it -- and the Bushes were no exception to that. I think it did hurt George W. a lot, that one moment his folks were grooming him to continue the dynasty as their eldest son -- and the next, they're concealing the truth from him. He didn't even know Robin was sick. I'm speculating here, but he might even have felt resentment against his little sister for suddenly demanding so much of his parents' time and attention. Perhaps he wished that she would "just go away".

People say that he's not one for feeling guilt much, these days -- maybe he used it all up, on that one thing.

[olddem43]

2. When it was his time to serve, he avoided the war.

And probably so did all of his friends. He never suffered a loss in war and doesn't personally know anyone that did. I'd bet he has never visited the Viet Nam Memorial.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. He may have visited the Memorial

And he may have bowed his head and put on a good show for the fundies; but he has no clue how deep the significance of this memorial is.

He has no idea because he might as well be playing with toy soldiers as sending real men and women into battle. They're all expendable as far as he's concerned.

[GreenPoet64]

6. I noticed his lack of feeling . . .

when he spoke a the debate about "loving as best he could" the woman who had lost a son in Iraq. There was a definite change in his expressions--as if he were acting. I thought it was odd that he had to muster emotion at that point in the debate. I think this article is right on the money!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. I picked up on that, too...

I felt nauseous when he said they "wept a bit". Here he was, using this woman's tragedy in an effort to retain the presidency.

What an asshole!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Strawman]

9. Yeah

I can imagine him before the debate saying to his preppers "uh what was that woman's name again?" I'd like to see a hidden camera or outtake of that. On second thought, no, I wouldn't. He was so phony. I don't need to be disgusted anymore. I'm motivated enough.

[Strawman]

8. Beautifully written article

Bush is so transparently fake when he talks about how "hard" it was for him to send troops into combat. This article eloquently calls him out on it.

[loyalsister]

11. His punchlines......

I remember reading that he told someone that his first thought after hearing about the planes was "That's one terrible pilot."
Not----"How many people were in there?" "How is the city reacting?" "What do I need to do?" "Do we know who is responsible?" etc......

Then there's the "trifecta" comment. How incredibly offensive is it that the president could even consider using people's suffering for laughs?

How is it possible for a person to remain practically serene and not begin to worry about lives lost and worried families in NY as soon as he hears about the WTC when he is responsible for running the damn country?

He has no empathy.

[Disturbed]

12. GW Bush is a Sociopath...

with narcistic personality disorder.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

13. A current Bush ad shows him embracing a girl

who lost a relative in the tragedy of 9-11.

I saw it and was sickened by the sight of him with his arms wrapped around this broken-hearted girl. I'm positive that while he was rocking her, all he was thinking about was the cameras capturing the moment.

This is an excellent essay, and beautifully written. I'm passing it on.