News flash: George W. Bush is not the sole source of evil and conflict in the world — despite what a lot of people would like you to believe.
For example, the deteriorating status of our relationship with Russia. We have numerous people discussing how Bush is “bringing back the Cold War,” how he’s “turning Russia into our enemy,” and the like.
I just don’t see it.
I thought Bush was a bit loopy when he talked about seeing into Vladimir Putin’s “soul,” but that struck me as a bit of excessive optimism than signs that he had been completely and utterly taken in by the former KGB master. And I have a hard time imagining Putin gleefully rubbing his hands together and pronouncing “I have fooled the Amerikanski President! Now I can carry out my evil plans!”
The simple fact is that Putin is flirting with the idea of reviving the Soviet Union, reasserting Russia’s place as a military superpower and regaining the influence and power it held during the Cold War. He apparently sees that as the best way to rescue Russia from its economic, social, and political doldrums. I’m not sure what is the best way to deal with that, but of one thing I am certain: it is in no way purely a reaction to George W. Bush and his policies.
Another example is the civilian death count in Iraq. To listen to some of the commentators, one would think that a vast majority of those killed are dying at the hands of Americans — either through deliberate action or gross negligence. (“Oops, kinda missed the target on that last bomb run. Sorry about the school.”)
If one just went by the coverage of Bush’s detractors, one would have a hard time discovering that the vast majority of the civilians being killed are dying at the hands of the “insurgents,” who deliberately target the innocent, and act to maximize the carnage. And one would not know that the major preoccupation of US forces in Iraq is finding and stopping those killing civilians.
Instead, the body count is constantly recited and updated, with no attribution of who is doing the killing — “another 300 killed since the US invasion.”
It’s a variant of the “big lie” theory. If you commit enough lies of omission, sooner or later the part that is constantly omitted goes down the collective memory hole, and people will fill in the details themselves. In this case, that Vladimir Putin and the terrorists in Iraq aren’t really responsible for their actions, it’s all George W. Bush’s fault.
And that’s just plain wrong.
