New at Reason

January 17, 2007

Jeff Taylor dissects President Bush's 60 Minutes performance.

Comments

|1.17.07 @ 12:40PM|#

No wonder Bush can tell his audience with such conviction, "I'm blessed to be the president."

IMHO, I would think that a rational person would say I'm cursed, burderned, humbled, or some adjective other than blessed to describe the presidency in difficult times.

But then, I am not a self deluding, egotistical idiot.

|1.17.07 @ 12:54PM|#

He may be blessed that he's president, but the rest of us sure aren't.

biologist|1.17.07 @ 2:07PM|#

J sub D:

well said.

every time Bush responded to the interviewer on 60 Minutes, the only thing I could think was "I can't believe his handlers let him go on the show and talk without Cheney or anyone else telling him exactly what to say from minute to minute." Although it did sound like he had been prepped with some stock answers that he couldn't quite remember how they were supposed to sound or weren't quite apposite to the question being asked.

|1.17.07 @ 2:19PM|#

Mr Taylor's comment about "taking on the role of a 19th century balance-of-power imperialist" struck a nerve. The US became a superpower by becoming the first 20th century imperialist: using a mix of high-minded rhetoric, economic aid, and military force to get the locals to follow or obey without actually administrating territory ourselves. This last is the key. The methods were the same as in the past, but the end result was less exhausting and left the US holding a largely hidden leash.

What would a 21st century empire look like? No one knows, but the first major country that figures it out will have a century named after them. America has regressed to the 19th century, where American "advisors" and "ambassadors" will rule the country from within fortresses while American troops march through the streets of the unfortunate client, guarding the assets of the politically connected camp followers.

Guess what? The British Empire collapsed on Churchill's watch, a bit of history the neocons never learned.

|1.17.07 @ 3:30PM|#

Maybe it's the migraine meds, maybe it's the MC Frontalot I was just listening to, but Jeff Taylor's article read like a heavily syncopated nerdcore rap. That might be a compliment. I'm not sure.