Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The "decider" decides...to let others do the deciding
George Bush is the "decider." Iran, according to him, is the number one problem in the world today. He says that "it is my desire and my belief we can solve this [manufactured crisis with Iran] diplomatically." So when the President of Iran, a country against whom Bush is seriously contemplating taking military action but which he claims he wants to deal with "diplomatically," sent him an 18-page letter, the first time an Iranian President has communicated directly with an American President in 27 years (!), he read it, right?
No, of course not, he was "briefed" on it (a "briefing" that was so brief and unimportant that the New York Times doesn't even bother to mention it). Bush was on an important trip to Florida to make yet another political speech about the "fantastic opportunity" for seniors contained in the new prescription drug "benefit" for Medicare. You don't really think he had time during a 2 1/2 hour flight to read 18 whole pages, do you?
"There even are places where English completely disappears. Well in America, they haven't used it for years!" (from "Why Can't the English" from My Fair Lady). And when Americans use the word "diplomacy," they aren't actually speaking English, in which "diplomacy" has the same root as "diplomatic." No, in America, it comes out sounding more like "dictate" (or is that "diktat"?), as exemplified by this quote from Condoleezza Rice:
"Absence of communication isn't really the problem here. We and the international community have been very clear with the Iranians what they need to do."About which WIIIAI says, "That’s Condi’s idea of communication: her telling someone what they 'need to do.'" Of course he needn't single out Condi; that's the attitude of the entire U.S. ruling class.
Update: The text of the letter (no, I haven't read it yet. It wasn't addressed to me. :-) )
