Waking Nightmare
by Chris Floyd Bush Tells Group He Sees a "Third Awakening." From the Washington Post:
That's the undeniable implication of his remarks to those assembled "conservative journalists," – and that's exactly how those True Believers will interpret those words. And why not? It's been obvious from the beginning that Bush believes the wholesale slaughter of almost 3,000 Americans and other nationals on September 11 was an act of God – what's more, an act of God performed specifically for him, so that he could exploit the tragedy to re-make the world according to the long-held militarist plan of his handlers. Even while the Twin Towers were still smoldering with the toxic fumes that Bush's EPA deliberately downplayed (sending an untold number of rescuers and restoration workers to their deaths or to lifetimes of disease and suffering), Bush was barking out his cynical and callous view of the attack: "Through my tears, I see opportunity." Bush has repeated this line – almost certainly scripted for him by his speechwriters, probably the ever-sanctimonious Michael Gerson (now a new columnist for the Washington Post) – like a mantra for years. It was, from the earliest post-attack days, his central understanding of what had happened. Over and over, like a clanging bell – or the hypnotic ticking of a metronome – he made the connection: "9/11–Opportunity, 9/11–Opportunity, 9/11–Opportunity." An opportunity for what? This too was made clear: war. Endless war. Again, early on, Bush let drop a remark whose profound importance went almost unnoticed, although it clearly signaled everything that was to come afterward – and is still yet to come: "There's no telling how many wars it will take to secure freedom in the homeland." This statement was made at a fundraising speech on Aug. 5, 2002. And now we know why Bush and his cronies need an uncountable number of wars ("no telling how many"), because war is the basis of their "unitary executive theory," which holds that the President cannot be restricted by Congress, the courts or any law whatsoever in his function as Commander-in-Chief in wartime. This radical, perverted doctrine is the rotted heart of the entire Bushist enterprise. And, as we've noted here before (drawing on the indefatigable labors of Glenn Greenwald), the U.S. Senate is now poised to accept this doctrine as the new basis of the American state. This week, as Greenwald reports, they have moved even closer to this dread and draconian step. But all of this is God's will, Bush believes. Gerson, that cross-gartered Malvolio, tells the story of how he unctuously told Bush that God had wanted him in the White House at such a crucial moment in the life of the nation. Bush, Gerson tells us, nodded sagely and said: "He wants us all here, Gerson." The sycophantic speechwriter tells this story as an example of Bush's great generosity of spirit; he had even included his lowly scribe in the divine mission God had given him! Bush's divine appointment is a theme continually sounded by his underlings. Who can forget the stirring declaration of General Jerry Boykin, who after 9/11 toured churches around the country calling for "Christian warriors" to rise up against the Satanic god of Islam? Sidney Blumenthal recounted Boykin's tale last year in the Guardian:
And as Barry Lando noted on Salon.com:
Boykin is now Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, one of the leading players in the "War on Terror." Proclaim your belief in Bush's divine mission, and you too can be elevated to the inner circle of God's world-shaking warriors. The evidence for Bush's sense of divine appointment is extensive, but let's conclude with one last story, the infamous meeting with Sharon and Abbas in June 2003. As I noted in a Moscow Times column that month:
September 19, 2006 Chris Floyd [send him mail] is the author of Empire Burlesque: The Secret History of the Bush Regime. Copyright © 2006 Chris Floyd |
I
seriously doubt that Bush had ever heard of the first two "Great
Awakenings" until a briefer handed him his talking points before
the meeting, but still the implications of this story are disturbing.
Because it confirms, yet again, the bizarre and dangerous notion
that is clearly central to his understanding of 9/11. Bush believes
that it was God's will, God's way to bestir His people and wake
them up from the complacency that had let sin and secularism run
loose in the land.
So
the fact that the Oval Office dullard would not know what the "Great
Awakening" was if Jonathan Edwards came up and slapped him
across the face with a Bible does not diminish the alarming nature
of Bush's Messianic pretensions. Neither does the fact that he uses
these pretensions cynically and shamelessly to motivate a religious
"base" that has been deliberately cultivated by the corporate
elite to serve its own decidedly secular lusts for money and power.
It is entirely possible to be a knowing hypocrite and a fanatic
ideologue at the same time; indeed, it is often a prime requirement
for national leadership. (See, for example, the history of the Soviet
Union for innumerable instances of this trait.) And it is entirely
possible for a fatuous, overgrown frat boy to plunge the nation
and the world into a literal hell of death and ruin by viewing reality
through the lens of his self-inflated ignorance – and shaping
his reactions and policies accordingly.