Bush contradicts own ideals

As we proudly cross the bridge to the 21st century and survey the landscape before us, I feel queasy. The Chief Executive Officer, civilian head of the military, ultimately the negotiator of treaties with other states, was installed into office by a 5–4 vote by the Supreme Court.

Even counting the party line vote of the highest court in the land, George W. still trailed Al Gore by 500,000 votes. Relying on a slogan of “compassionate conservatism” and a plethoric supply of malapropisms and other verbal miscues, Bush managed to quip and sneer his way through what must be described as the most forced and unintelligent debates I’ve seen since junior high school.

George W. presided over the execution of nearly 150 prisoners while he served as governor of Texas, yet this is the man who claimed Jesus Christ was his most influential political philosopher. At least one of these executions violated international law.

ther executions were carried out on prisoners whose lawyers were asleep during trial or were carried out on mentally challenged prisoners.

Something tells me that Jesus was not a fan of capital punishment, and he would really frown upon a man who would mock a converted member of his flock after her death. If you believe in the sanctity of human life, then you must believe it for all human lives, regardless of the actions of those people.

It follows the same logic as free speech, you must support it all the time. While I’m not from an Ivy League school like Harvard or Yale, I do see a contradiction in his ideas, and I’m not talking subject-verb agreement either.

How can a man who excuses his own criminal actions as youthful indiscretions preside over executions where the condemned committed crimes at a younger age then Bush when he, at 27, went AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard?

Now I’ve heard the Vietnam police action got bloody, but really, deserting while fighting to maintain air superiority of Texas? A man with nerves like that has no business leading our country’s military.

Furthermore, he has completely denied any illegal drug use since 1974. This in effect begs the question: What about pre-1974? Bush was a bachelor jet pilot who rarely completed any assignment given to him in the National Guard, known for his prowling of the Houston upper-crust females. Given the limited criticism of marijuana use by presidents over the years, I don’t believe it a stretch that in the parlance of their times, Bush might have used coke during those crazy disco days.

Compassionate conservatism is an interesting philosophy for one such as Bush to espouse. Since I don’t see him forgiving any drug users for their sins, in fact stiffening the penalties for first time cocaine possession, I wonder if that phrase means what he thinks it does.

Given his propensity for misspeaking, I assert that the concept he meant is better expressed by the phrase “conservative compassion.” That would make more sense in view of his record while proudly serving his country in Vietnam via Texas and again as governor of Texas.

If the Republicans can push things like “personal responsibility” onto the poor and youthful of America, then that leaves more for their own youthful indiscretions, in some cases reaching into their 40s.

A-ha, the fog slowly recedes, and we see that our emperor wears no clothes (at least in pictures of him dancing on bars).

Chris Dobson is a senior history and political science major from Arlington.
He can be reached at (c.p.dobson@student.tcu.edu).

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