Hi all, I know it’s been a while, so Merry Christmas and a H&H New Year. I’ve been busy working on my boat and apartment: one a major refit that is a dream come true in the making that will (all going well) result in a non-profit foundation, focused on getting groups of wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans aboard for a week and sailing the New England maritime waters: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island; the other is my apartment in the 1898 building where I live, that has seen its share of old pipes giving way and plaster coming down…
In a catch-up call with Conniff, he said I was missed, and whether that’s true or not, I miss you guys.
Anyway, the “A Stricken Man” refers to the cut-away shots of GW during the CNN feed of the inauguration – the man looked, to me at least, stricken and sad, and not without a whiff of pathos about him.
It seems to me that most of life has “happened” to George, not the other more volitional way round. His singular willful act of self-creation (even if it was just follow ‘poppy’ and be a wildcatter) was punching a few dry holes in the parched and thoroughly plundered Texas geologic shelf. It hardly mattered whether he succeeded, there was the ambition and the image and some feel good lunch-bucket satisfaction that drove the Yalie underground forever. Throwing in some heavy ‘drinkin’ only added more color.
But after a few too many dry wells, and Saudi rescues later, the powers that be came a callin and whispered baseball stadium into his ear and he was on his way to a land grab and accompanying tax hike and eventual riches with the Texas Rangers and their marquee shortstop.
From here on in it’s GW at the other end of a well timed whisper, and all he has to do is play the part. So “Governor” gets added to his CV and he’s a millionaire with boots and a mahogany desk.
But this is now a man who has handlers with big ambitions and evangelical cetainty about politics and who should be in charge – men who’ve thought things through and, hey, why stop with Texas? “The Stricken Man” we see, fully 10 years on, is only just waking up to the fact that he had eight years as the man (and I mean ‘the man’) and that face on his replacement’s day told the story: “I had eight years to get this right and I went pretty-damn near hitless.
Did he ever really get the awesome responsibilities he was angling for? Was he ever (psychically and emotionally) prepared for what he was getting into? Did he think it was going to be Governor Bush writ just a tad larger?
He brought his pals with him, put his boots up on the desk, and like most (Reagan) republicans, prepared to do as little as possible, and even hobble the govenment where he could. This was never an act of self-creation, this was a sales job without any warrantee, hence the early and seemingly endless Crawford vacations, the disinterest in Al Queda, and the utter failure to protect the American people from immanent and probably avoidable attacks.
There were some hints of regret in his “legacy tour,” but as I discussed this with MC over the phone today, his push back was that there’s not enough introspection in the man for ‘strickenness.’ I beg to differ, not because I think GW is incapable of it, but because of the deeper realities of the heart – it will not be ruled; it knows what it knows, and there’s no way around it. It loves who it loves, likes who it likes, and knows the truth at all times. The face said it all: “I had enough innings to get this right and I got it wrong, and the crowed is my direct-response.
I will never forget the face I saw, and I am not easily persuaded that this singularly myopic man has much in him to suggest an active inquisitive, nuanced conscience, but I know what I saw, whether he admits it or not.
Yes Hugh, we have missed you. Thanks for taking some time out to give us your astute insights on the ex-prez. I always enjoy reading your thoughts and your way of putting things. Simple and right on target.
The man did look stricken, but I doubt he has the capacity to feel sheepish or ashamed of his actions…or inaction.
I think he’s always been so used to being the popular guy, someone people looked up to (even if that was just all in his head), that he’s devastated by the amount of hatred and anger directed at him, and maybe a bit jealous of the public’s adulation of the new guy.
He’s also probably pretty bummed about not being in the spotlight anymore. Maybe some TV exec should do the poor chap a favor and make him into a gameshow host or somethin’.
You’re probably right Sue regarding capacity for sheepishness or shame et al.
But there on that stand (with the rejection so unavoidably all up in his face), he was without his famous ‘bubble’ and his loyal cadre of lieutenants; he was out in the open and the crowd was not with him – it was with the new man, and how could he not compare his first inaugural, where cameras couldn’t or wouldn’t film the protesters lining the route.
His victory eight years before was the victory of of the handlers, the men who did his dirty work savaging John McCain and his Nancy Reagan model 101 wife.
This moment will never be repeated, so you are likely right about the man going into his heavily fortified retirement. He still have the full Chevy Escalade package, and the secret service and he’ll get his gov pension and his grade A health care, the very things he failed to deliver for the rest of us. He’ll have the echoes and memories of his time as POTUS , he’ll even retain the moniker; but he’ll never completely forget J20, though he’ll want to for the rest of his days.
I remember in the movie Gandhi, when the Mahatma was refusing food to stop the Muslim/Hindu violence, and a stricken Hindu man of low caste approaches him after waiting, perhaps days, for an audience on the rooftop where the great man was resting and near death. The man tells Ghandi he’s killed a Muslim boy, and his shame and grief are unbearable. He asks what can he ever do to repent such an act of barbarism.
After a pause, one which took in the enormity of an innocent child’s slaying, Ghandi said to the man, “Go an find a boy of the same age as the one you killed whose parents have been slain. Adopt him as your own, only your must raise him as a Muslim.”
I will pay some attention to what kind of post-president W decides to be, and I will look closely for the only things that can save a man in his position: sacrifice and service… for the rest of his days.
Don’t worry Sue, I won’t be holding my breath.
Glad you will not be suffocating on Bush’s behalf. He is certainly no Carter, and I wouldn’t expect anything of the same caliber of service from him.
But with Bush’s natural propensity toward comical expressions, ridiculous phrases and absurd insolence, he’s been the most entertaining president by far. On the level of sheer entertainment value, alot of us are going to miss the ol’ boy, especially faithful watchers of the Daily Show.
Maybe the best thing he could do for this country right now is to help us laugh our way through the depression and devastaion he helped create.
The punishment for your crimes Mr. President , is to host America’s Funniest Home Videos for the next four years.