bush bash

The British media have made their mind up about George Bush: he is a fundamentally stupid man who believes he is on a mission from God. Which means there is only one way to interpret this story - and such an interpretation was writ large yesterday in The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, and subsequent opinion pieces.

Nowhere could I find a more critical, objective reading of the evidence. Perhaps, just perhaps, Bush was consciously adjusting his language in order to persuade the Palestinians that he meant business. In other words, he was practising a form of diplomacy. This is a more credible possibility, albeit a less newsworthy one (this story did not trouble the pages of any of the mainstream American media, including ones that have been very critical of Bush) than the 'Bush admits he's channelling God' spin.

The idea that only when Bush is alone with a delegation of Palestinian politicians will he blurt out his innermost motivations becomes absurd the minute you take it seriously. But to credit the President with even a little diplomatic guile simply does not fit most British journalists'  worldview. Or perhaps they were aware of alternative explanations, but the temptation to write the headlines that they knew their readers would lap up most readily was too great. Either way, this is another example of the routine abandonment of critical objectivity when it comes to British reporting on US affairs.

Comments

[Alex Bensky]

I'm not a particular fan of President Bush and I didn't vote for him, although I may have been the most reluctant Kerry voter in the state.

But the idea of Bush being simply stupid--turns out his SAT scores and university grade point average were both a bit above Kerry's, although neither apparently worked terribly hard at their studies.

The right has its own problems but one of the left's more annoying assumptions is that people who disagree with it are not mistaken but just stupid. It's an arrogance that I find misplaced given the left's approach to some issues.

[pst314]

"...people who disagree with it are not mistaken but just stupid."

Yes, although there is also the left's assumption that we are evil. Rather eliminates the possibility of civil discussion, that.

[lgude]

My first thought was that if Bush said anything along those lines that he was tailoring his remarks to his audience. You make a very convincing case for this - particular the bit about his being unlikely to share his innermost thoughts in such a situation. Evidently the source is the same Palestinian source who grossly exaggerated the number of dead at Jenin. I also agree that there is an 'on a mission from God' meme but in its more common form it is the 'Bush is a fundametalist' meme. As an American living in Australia I have to answer that all the time from secular Australians who swallow it whole because they think anyone who mentions God is a fundamentalist. W is a mddle of the road Christian according to my middle of the road Christian friends in America.