President George W. Bush's low point...

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

By now, it is hard to escape that President George W. Bush's memoir, "Decision Points" is ready for release, and the former President has been making rounds promoting the book and discussing the work on various talk shows and high profile interviews.

It is equally hard to escape that in the book, he recounts being called a racist by Kanye West as the low point in his eight year Presidency.

Now to be fair, he apparently recounts other times as difficult and confesses to having made mistakes, and to be fair, it is never pleasant to be accused of a personal flaw that you do not believe you have.

But -- seriously? Being dissed by a notoriously loud mouthed musician? Not the actual discovery that New Orleans was drowning? Not the inescapable conclusion that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction? Not passing any number of milestones in Americans killed in action? Not the attacks of September 11 themselves? Not leaving office with the entire American economy spiralling into the crapper?

I haven't read the book, and I am sure that he must note those are hard times as well, but out of eight years in a highly contentious Presidency, the man stands firm in his interview with Matt Lauer that Kanye West's remarks were THE worse moment.

Is this understandable in a way that I am simply failing to understand or is this just a giant WTF moment for the entire country?

Comments

[spaz-own-joo.livejournal.com]

I sort of get it. He may have been politically oblivious to many of his fuckups when they were happening, but hearing someone well-liked on TV blame your callous racism for a tragedy which you're most assuredly losing sleep over(I don't for a moment think GWB was indifferent about Katrina, merely ineffective) that's gotta be a "holy fuck what kind of ogre have I been" moment, whether you agree that he was actually behaving like an ogre or not.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Well, having someone who you probably believe is respected in the entertainment world say "you don't care about black people" is not evidence of callous racism, just an accusation of such. And it's not easy to combat the "you're racist" charge.

[spaz-own-joo.livejournal.com]

I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to imply an endorsement of West's accusation; I should really have said "perceived callous racism."

I harp on this a lot, but I really do think the "you're racist" charge is an awful dead end, both when it's true and when it isn't. The "you're perpetuating a racist phenomenon" charge does a much better job of not devolving instantly, and to boot, it's a claim which lends itself much more readily to corroboration or refutation by actual evidence.

[nikoel.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you.

[spaz-own-joo.livejournal.com]

I love Jay Smooth. He is maybe my favourite pop commentator on race, period.

[nikoel.livejournal.com]

Absolutely!

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Same applies to someone who you probably believe is respected in the political-talk networks, say the president's goal is to destroy his own country because he's a socialist. I suppose.

[spaz-own-joo.livejournal.com]

There's an awful lot of presumption of bad faith going on from both sides right now.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

It's comparable insofar as the label is inaccurate. But some people, not many anymore I guess, are still proud to be socialists while being a racist is almost universally seen as a moral failing.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Well, not really. One can actively prove they're not a socialist. The racism-baiters have essentially made it impossible to show that someone isn't racist after the accusation has been levied.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

One can actively prove they're not a socialist

Isn't the one making a claim supposed to back up said claim? Not the respondent?

Like, "When will you stop beating your wife?" - "I've never beaten my wife!" - "Prove it!"

Also, Russell's Teapot.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Well, right - in a perfect world, they would back up that claim, but being a socialist is something a wee bit more objective than socialist. That was my point.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

That actually makes a lot of sense to me.

Of all the ass-chewings I recieved in the service the only one that ever really "shook me" emotionally, was being accused of "Just not giving a shit".

You can think and say what you will about him as president, but as a human being I'm inclined to think he's a lot better than people give him credit for.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

Good. Then he won't mind if I don't buy the book.

[nikoel.livejournal.com]

I really think he's an actual narcissist and if I'm right, it would mean he really doesn't care about people outside his immediate circle at all.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

ALL politicians are narcissists. Sure, there are those that get into politics purely for the public service but they tend to be further down the ladder.

Which makes sense if you think about it. At the local level your victory speech will be delivered to a room loosely filled with people cheering you on. Many of them will be friends and people you know. On the other hand, at the national level you'll be in a stadium full of people projecting their hopes, dreams, and aspirations onto you, all because you can read a mean speech.

It takes a special kind of hubris to be comfortable with that.

[nikoel.livejournal.com]

I don't buy that as an excuse for this man's presidency and from what little I know of him, entire life. He seems almost pathologically wrapped up in himself and it looks to be a life-long pattern for him.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

I may be reading too much into your response but I've never understood how someone can dislike with such vitriol someone they don't personally know.

[nikoel.livejournal.com]

I never said anything about liking or disliking him. That's completely irrelevant. I think he's a narcissist and a terrible leader in that he doesn't have the best interest, or really any interest in the needs of the American people.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I don't think he was/is a racist. As a human being, I think he probably had/has some failings - as all of us. As a President, I think his prime motivation was the welfare of his Party, and rewarding Party hacks like Mike Brown with appointments (FEMA) for which they had no qualifications.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Witch comes back to the old saw about don't mistake malice for stupidity.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Which

a lot better than people give him credit for

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Like when he mocked Karla Faye Tucker's pleas for mercy?