Friday, October 07, 2005
THE PRESIDENT’S LOWEST EBB & ALERTS IN “BUSH COUNTRY”
Like a tidal wave, the effects of hurricane “Katrina” have swept away George W. Bush’s popularity rating far beyond his lowest point after the Iraq invasion …
At a distance and with a panoramic perspective of American politics, it is probably easier for us, Europeans, to emit a more objective opinion about George Bush’s political style.
What is inevitable is to evaluate an American politician according to marketing standards all the time. This is made necessary due to the measured “market effects” of every public appearance. True to say that the best tricks of the trade in marketing have sometimes backfired even in the best planned schemes.
Consecutive public appearances after the devastation lived in Louisiana and the threat to Texas have made President’s Bush image a daily routine in most televisions not only nationwide but also abroad. It must be said that news analysts in Europe have been rather hard on the President’s apparent “show biz” type of public appearances. True to say, these professionals expect “less show and more action” from their politicians, thus judging American Presidents by the same measure.
This week’s ration of “show biz” included another public appearance at the NED convention. In his speech, President Bush had a lot to say about terrorism and thus justify anew American presence in Iraq. He said that from Spain to Indonesia, the Islamic terrorist pretend to set up a “new Islamic empire”, hence his persistence to fight for democracy and prevent such a new regime.
Curious to say that in the same day, we watched how New York City Mayor Bloomberg, accompanied by the FBI Director, made a public appearance to forewarn New Yorkers about an imminent risk of bomb attempts in the NYC subway.
Europeans have asked themselves whether the two appearances in fact had any relations between them. Different versions have been circulated where it is said that the White House has toned down the reliability of the FBI sources to warrant such a public warning. Others believe that the two acts were in fact part of a coordinated plan to bring back terrorism into the limelight and thus remove the flood devastation from front-pages of US newspapers.
Whatever was the truth behind the scenes is not really what is relevant for the European audience of TV news or newspapers readers. What still prevails in our minds is an extreme distrust of American news manipulation for vested interests.
In Spain, the local change of government over a year ago also changed the diplomatic relations between the USA & Spain. Spanish troop withdrawal in Iraq provoked the ire of the all-powerful Bush Government and led to the cooling-off towards the Spanish Government. It became irrelevant to the US Authorities that the newly-elected center-left Prime Minister of Spain had merely fulfilled an electoral promise demanded by the majority of Spanish citizens against the Iraq invasion.
As Europeans, we all share the US President’s rejection of international terrorism but we differ in his views of how to handle same. No matter how much marketing is done to “wrap up” as a dainty Christmas package all that is done in favor of other nations in their road towards democracy, underneath we know that the essence of American actions abroad are all impregnated with vested interests that go about petroleum, armament & juicy reconstruction contracts.
Whether the Americans realize or not how far these actions abroad are likewise reflected in the Government policies in state & local affairs that affect tragedies like those lived in New Orleans and other localities of the southern states, is something I ignore. Nevertheless, if I were a citizen of the United States of America, I would definitely demand the duly-elected President of my country to act with transparency and honesty in the solution of problems that affect me directly.
I wonder if the descent in the President’s popularity is a clear sign of the American public’s growing concern about Bush’s errors both at home and abroad.
In previous blogs, I have expressed my firm conviction that freedom cannot be imposed nor democracy attained with the mere power of force or money.
In my opinion, George Bush is either a puppet in the hands of the Republican Party & White House image-builders or he is personally convinced that God has chosen him for a mission – to eradicate all other creeds that go against his Christian beliefs. In either case, and in lieu of his immense power that affects all the nations of the world, his behavior is worth observing.
Like a tidal wave, the effects of hurricane “Katrina” have swept away George W. Bush’s popularity rating far beyond his lowest point after the Iraq invasion …
At a distance and with a panoramic perspective of American politics, it is probably easier for us, Europeans, to emit a more objective opinion about George Bush’s political style.
What is inevitable is to evaluate an American politician according to marketing standards all the time. This is made necessary due to the measured “market effects” of every public appearance. True to say that the best tricks of the trade in marketing have sometimes backfired even in the best planned schemes.
Consecutive public appearances after the devastation lived in Louisiana and the threat to Texas have made President’s Bush image a daily routine in most televisions not only nationwide but also abroad. It must be said that news analysts in Europe have been rather hard on the President’s apparent “show biz” type of public appearances. True to say, these professionals expect “less show and more action” from their politicians, thus judging American Presidents by the same measure.
This week’s ration of “show biz” included another public appearance at the NED convention. In his speech, President Bush had a lot to say about terrorism and thus justify anew American presence in Iraq. He said that from Spain to Indonesia, the Islamic terrorist pretend to set up a “new Islamic empire”, hence his persistence to fight for democracy and prevent such a new regime.
Curious to say that in the same day, we watched how New York City Mayor Bloomberg, accompanied by the FBI Director, made a public appearance to forewarn New Yorkers about an imminent risk of bomb attempts in the NYC subway.
Europeans have asked themselves whether the two appearances in fact had any relations between them. Different versions have been circulated where it is said that the White House has toned down the reliability of the FBI sources to warrant such a public warning. Others believe that the two acts were in fact part of a coordinated plan to bring back terrorism into the limelight and thus remove the flood devastation from front-pages of US newspapers.
Whatever was the truth behind the scenes is not really what is relevant for the European audience of TV news or newspapers readers. What still prevails in our minds is an extreme distrust of American news manipulation for vested interests.
In Spain, the local change of government over a year ago also changed the diplomatic relations between the USA & Spain. Spanish troop withdrawal in Iraq provoked the ire of the all-powerful Bush Government and led to the cooling-off towards the Spanish Government. It became irrelevant to the US Authorities that the newly-elected center-left Prime Minister of Spain had merely fulfilled an electoral promise demanded by the majority of Spanish citizens against the Iraq invasion.
As Europeans, we all share the US President’s rejection of international terrorism but we differ in his views of how to handle same. No matter how much marketing is done to “wrap up” as a dainty Christmas package all that is done in favor of other nations in their road towards democracy, underneath we know that the essence of American actions abroad are all impregnated with vested interests that go about petroleum, armament & juicy reconstruction contracts.
Whether the Americans realize or not how far these actions abroad are likewise reflected in the Government policies in state & local affairs that affect tragedies like those lived in New Orleans and other localities of the southern states, is something I ignore. Nevertheless, if I were a citizen of the United States of America, I would definitely demand the duly-elected President of my country to act with transparency and honesty in the solution of problems that affect me directly.
I wonder if the descent in the President’s popularity is a clear sign of the American public’s growing concern about Bush’s errors both at home and abroad.
In previous blogs, I have expressed my firm conviction that freedom cannot be imposed nor democracy attained with the mere power of force or money.
In my opinion, George Bush is either a puppet in the hands of the Republican Party & White House image-builders or he is personally convinced that God has chosen him for a mission – to eradicate all other creeds that go against his Christian beliefs. In either case, and in lieu of his immense power that affects all the nations of the world, his behavior is worth observing.
