Concentration

George Bush has made many speeches since taking office 3 years ago. Some have been taken with a lot of skepticism, especially by Democrats. Recently, more facts have been coming to light that prove the skepticism was warranted because this president has a real problem with telling the truth. One of the reasons this administration is so secretive may be that so many lies are told it's just too hard to remember them all. By operating in secrecy you don't have to discuss it and you won't be contradicting a previous lie. Memos, minutes and reports that may expose lies can easily be managed by taking out that trusty little stamp that marks them "Confidential". During the 2000 campaign, polls showed that honesty was the most important personal characteristic to the voters, and Bush campaigned on promoting himself as an honest candidate.

As time went on after the election, it became clear that there was a disparity between what Bush said and the actions he took. Most people excused these little lapses in the beginning and chalked them up to inexperience. He made so many hilarious gaffes when he spoke that more attention was paid to the malapropisms and dangling participles than the actual content of the speech. We were concentrating more on trying to catch the newest "Bushism". It's hard to be angry with someone when you're laughing. We were like indulgent parents trying to be encouraging to someone who, if ineffectual, at least seemed harmless. He came across as not bright enough to be intentionally diabolical.

Then came the morning of September 11, 2001. The nation was in a state of shock, grief and fear. We no longer felt like laughing and we began listening more intently, seeking comfort and a rational plan for our security. When Bush spoke to the nation 2 days later and said , "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It's our #1 priority and we will not rest until we find him" it gave us a focus. We were told Osama was responsible for the attacks on our soil and now we could avenge our countrymen and women who were lost on that fateful day. Most of us were ready to go into Afghanistan ourselves and drag him from there.

It wasn't long before we gradually began to realize that our fears were being encouraged by the administration. Every time our collective fog would start to lift and we would question some domestic issue, a new terror threat would be announced. Then, exactly six months to the day later, with Osama still at large, a reporter asked George Bush when he thought that fiend would be apprehended. His reply stunned those who heard it. In an off-handed tone from over his shoulder, he casually responded, "I don't know where Osama is. I really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

It's not our priority? Thoughts of how we would wreak our vengeance on him was what had been sustaining us as a nation in coping with our rage and frustration. He had inspired a new wave of patriotism centered around our anti-Osama sentiments. How could the president not care? How could it not be that important when it was all we could think about?

If we had been listening more closely earlier we would not have been so surprised. On March 31, 2001 George W. Bush made a statement in Washington D.C. that summed up everything he would say and do and what he thinks about those who support him. It is probably one of his most honest statements. "You can fool all of the people some of the time and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."

Is he concentrating on you?

11-10- 03