American History X

That said, though, as a student of American history it's hard not to be contemptuous of anyone who would dare compare what the framers tried to do in Philadelphia to the deal that just went down in the Baghdad bazaar.

-- scorching Billmon post, "The Philadelphia Experiment"

Well, I say that all the time, as well, because the person who writes it in the short-term is somebody who is not going to have the advantage of time to look at history, look at the true history of the presidency. You know, it's amazing that - there's kind of an interesting George Washington now - Ellis has written a book which I'm reading now, and David McCullough is writing a book on George Washington. I read one earlier on Washington - I can't remember the name of it - Washington Crosses The Delaware - something - it was a very interesting book about some of the many - how he organized the army. The Alexander Hamilton book by Chernow, which is obviously about Hamilton, but it was about the time of George Washington and Washington plays a prominent role. It's very interesting, there's a resurgence in analyzing Washington, the first President, during the time of the 43rd President, which makes my point - that there's - history is always evolving, and people's appreciation of a President changes over time, as well - one way or the other.

-- GWB, Cal Thomas Interview, 2 Feb 2005

Look, history -- shall I give you my talk on history and presidencies? OK, thank you. What's interesting is George Washington is now getting a second or third or fifth or tenth look in history. I read the Ellis book, which is a really interesting book, and “His Excellency, “ it's called. McCollough's writing a book on George Washington as well.

-- GWB, , Press Conference, 16 March 2005

"I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought," Bush said. "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes."

-- GWB, "Bush: Intelligent Design Should be Taught", Associated Press, 2 August 2005

Like our own nation's founders over two centuries ago, the Iraqis are grappling with difficult issues, such as the role of the federal government. What is important is that Iraqis are now addressing these issues through debate and discussion -- not at the barrel of a gun.

-- GWB, Radio Address, 27 August 2005

I want our folks to remember our own Constitution was not unanimously received. Some delegates at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 refused to sign it. And the draft was vigorously debated in every state and the outcome was not assured until all the votes were counted.

-- GWB, Presidential Address, 28 August 2005

Orwell #8

It is not easy to find a direct economic explanation of the behaviour of the people who now rule the world. The desire for pure power seems to be much more dominant than the desire for wealth. This has often been pointed out, but curiously enough the desire for power seems to be taken for granted as a natural instinct, equally prevalent in all ages likes the desire for food. Actually it is no more natural, in the sense of being biologically necessary, than drunkenness or gambling. And if it has reached new levels of lunacy in our own age, as I think it has, then the question becomes: what is the special quality in modern life that makes a major human motive out of the impulse to bully others?

"As I Please," Tribune, 29 November 1946

Constitutional

President Bush played down the delay and applauded the Iraqis, saying, "Their efforts are a tribute to democracy and an example that difficult problems can be solved peacefully through debate."

New York Times, 16 August 04, "Leaders in Iraq Extend Deadline on Constitution"


By the end of the day, the divergence was so great that there was not even a consensus on the main points of disagreement.

Ibid.

Whoa

"We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."

-- The Washington Post, U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq, quoting a "senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion"

Horse and Rider

In sum, it is irrelevant whether the Court is correct in its assumption that "opposition to abortion" does not necessarily evidence an intent to disfavor women. Many opponents of [506 U.S. 263, 344] abortion respect both the law and the rights of others to make their own decisions on this important matter. Petitioners, however, are not mere opponents of abortion; they are defiant lawbreakers who have engaged in massive concerted conduct that is designed to prevent all women from making up their own minds about not only the issue of abortion in general, but also whether they should (or will) exercise a right that all women - and only women - possess.
-- Justice Stevens, dissenting, Bray v Alexandria Clinic, 1993

Mr. Roberts argued that the demonstrators were not singling out women for discriminatory treatment but rather were trying to "prohibit the practice of abortion altogether." He told the court that even though only women could become pregnant or seek abortions, it was "wrong as a matter of law and logic" to regard opposition to abortion as the equivalent of discrimination against women.
-- The New York Times, 11 August 2005, "TV Ad Attacking Court Nominee Provokes Furor"

***

Whatever one thinks of Bray, Terry, or Operation Rescue, it is misleading to say that Roberts supported them. He was not their attorney; the protestors had their own attorney, Jay Alan Sekulow, for that. Roberts argued the government's position.
-- factcheck.org, "NARAL Falsely Accuses Supreme Court Nominee Roberts"

With the blessings of the Bush White House, a team of conservative leaders self-dubbed "the four horsemen" formed in 2002 and has taken over much of the planning for the nomination fight. These men are C. Boyden Gray . . . Jay Alan Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice; Leonard A. Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society; and Edwin A. Meese III, attorney general during part of the Reagan administration.
-- The Washington Post, 3 July 2005, "The Right's Moment, Years in the Making"

Core Curriculum

I would like to say a few words about one of the lecture classes from which my nomination for this award emerged. . . . In order to make sense of the deep pessimism -- a pessimism sometimes bordering on despair in Benjamin's last essays or Adorno and Horkheimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment -- I insisted on the need to read these works as closely tied up with their times: the times of the rise of national socialism and Stalinism. Only then would we discuss how aspects of this theoretical work might pertain to our postmodern present 50 and more years later. I have taught this class since I came to Columbia in 1986, and it has always attracted a diverse group of students from different disciplines and from several schools. I never imagined that a time would come in which this work would begin to resonate deeply with the political and cultural present in the United States. But this was my experience of teaching this material last fall semester, and the queries and concerns of the students reinforced a sense of worry and foreboding.

-- Andreas Huyssen, remarks in accepting the Mark Van Doren Award for Great Teaching, Columbia University (reprinted in Columbia College Today, July 2005)

Bush on Sheehan

"I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan," Bush said. "She feels strongly about her position, and she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has a right to her position, and I thought long and hard about her position. I've heard her position from others, which is: Get out of Iraq now. And it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long run if we were to do so."

I think we should pay attention to the phrase in bold, which we can only take in one of two ways. Either it is empty boiler-plate, an entirely meaningless statement, or Bush acknowledges that he has actually "thought long and hard" about withdrawing from Iraq.

The chief proponent of this war, its architect and demagogue, has, in fact "thought long and hard" about withdrawing. Some follow-up questions that I'm sure Sheehan would like to ask: has Bush also "thought long and hard" about why we are in Iraq? Or thought "long and hard" about his own proven misstatements and lies?

These questions are of some interest to Sheehan. As she writes: "We want our loved ones sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions."

To confess thinking (let along thinking "long and hard") is a very dangerous thing at this time, with this war. Any thought might lead in troubling directions . . .