Assassinating Bush, Again

♠
LONDON, Sept. 1 — The time is October 2007, and America is in anguish, rent by the war in Iraq and by a combustive restiveness at home. Leaving a hotel in Chicago after making a speech while a huge antiwar protest rages nearby, President Bush is suddenly struck down, killed by a sniper’s bullet.

-- Sarah Lyall for The NY Times

Now, don't get too excited, in case you raced past that October 2007 fact. It's only a British movie. One recalls that there was also an American novel that created a little splash about the prospective assassination of President Bush. Our Dubya has probably spurred more assassination fantasies than any other president, with the possible exception of Lincoln.

We are assured, though, that this is not some wet dream advocating assassination. Peter Dale, head of the station broadcasting the film, tells us that it is a docudrama that examines the underlying issues involved:

The movie, Mr. Dale said, is “a very powerful examination of what changes are taking place in America” as a result of its foreign policy.

“I believe that the effects of the wars that are being conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said, “are being felt in many ways in the multiracial communities in America and Britain in the number of soldiers who don’t come home, and that people are beginning to ask: ‘When will these body bags stop coming back? Why are we there? When will it stop?’”

Perhaps. I only wonder if the audience will be cheering.

And there is the sobering thought of a President Cheney.

xXx

Assassinating Bush, Again

♠
LONDON, Sept. 1 — The time is October 2007, and America is in anguish, rent by the war in Iraq and by a combustive restiveness at home. Leaving a hotel in Chicago after making a speech while a huge antiwar protest rages nearby, President Bush is suddenly struck down, killed by a sniper’s bullet.

-- Sarah Lyall for The NY Times

Now, don't get too excited, in case you raced past that October 2007 fact. It's only a British movie. One recalls that there was also an American novel that created a little splash about the prospective assassination of President Bush. Our Dubya has probably spurred more assassination fantasies than any other president, with the possible exception of Lincoln.

We are assured, though, that this is not some wet dream advocating assassination. Peter Dale, head of the station broadcasting the film, tells us that it is a docudrama that examines the underlying issues involved:

The movie, Mr. Dale said, is “a very powerful examination of what changes are taking place in America” as a result of its foreign policy.

“I believe that the effects of the wars that are being conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said, “are being felt in many ways in the multiracial communities in America and Britain in the number of soldiers who don’t come home, and that people are beginning to ask: ‘When will these body bags stop coming back? Why are we there? When will it stop?’”

Perhaps. I only wonder if the audience will be cheering.

And there is the sobering thought of a President Cheney.

xXx

Theodore Rex

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“If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble but neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.”

-- President Theodore Roosevelt

So, that is where the statement, "speak softly, carry a big stick," came from. That is just one of the juicy tidbits in Michael McMenamin's article, “Teddy Roosevelt's Hidden Legacy: How an 'imperialist' president’s record makes the case for military restraint.” For all of Roosevelt's famed forcefulness, we see a master diplomatist pulling gently but effectively on the strings of personality.

In discussing the Roosevelt and Wilson legacies, Mr. McMenamin raises some fascinating and personal stories. I did not know that President Wilson may have given Clinton a good run for who was more driven for the ladies, for example. The article is a little lengthy but worth the read, especially for anyone with some interest in American history. Besides the sexual background, the account is spiced with a lot of fascinating speculations - the 'what might have beens.'

It is noted that President Bush has been looking to Theodore Roosevelt as a model, but perhaps for some mistaken reasons. Along with McMenamin, we are left only more wistful over the difference and how we could use another Teddy about now.

xXx

Theodore Rex

♠
“If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble but neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.”

-- President Theodore Roosevelt

So, that is where the statement, "speak softly, carry a big stick," came from. That is just one of the juicy tidbits in Michael McMenamin's article, “Teddy Roosevelt's Hidden Legacy: How an 'imperialist' president’s record makes the case for military restraint.” For all of Roosevelt's famed forcefulness, we see a master diplomatist pulling gently but effectively on the strings of personality.

In discussing the Roosevelt and Wilson legacies, Mr. McMenamin raises some fascinating and personal stories. I did not know that President Wilson may have given Clinton a good run for who was more driven for the ladies, for example. The article is a little lengthy but worth the read, especially for anyone with some interest in American history. Besides the sexual background, the account is spiced with a lot of fascinating speculations - the 'what might have beens.'

It is noted that President Bush has been looking to Theodore Roosevelt as a model, but perhaps for some mistaken reasons. Along with McMenamin, we are left only more wistful over the difference and how we could use another Teddy about now.

xXx