Doug McIntyre is the host of a morning talk radio show in Los Angeles. The station is TalkRadio 790 KABC-FM, and is one of the stations where you can listen to the dulcet tones of people like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Mmmm. In other words, this is a recognizably right-wing station. On May 5th of this year, McIntyre issued a statement that began in such a way as to...well...startle his listeners. It goes something like this:
There's nothing harder in public life than admitting you're wrong[...]. I'm saying today, I was wrong to have voted for George W. Bush. In historic terms, I believe George W. Bush is the worst two-term President in the history of the country. Worse than Grant. I also believe a case can be made that he's the worst President, period.
McIntyre went on to list the many reasons he has lost his faith, if that's even the appropriate word, in this administration. He talks about the war in Iraq, yes, but he also talks about the out-of-control government spending, the increasing fear of terror attacks on Americans at home and abroad, the giant debacle of post-Katrina aid, the Dubai port deal, the Harriet Myers episode, and a number of other areas where George and his administration have dropped the ball (or, in some cases, failed spectacularly). But none of this was really that surprising to me - after all, it isn't a secret that I don't exactly agree with the President or his policies. The point that did speak to me was when he said:
The system is broken...so broken, it's almost inevitable it pukes up the Al Gores and George W. Bushes. Where are the Trumans and the Eisenhowers? Where are the men and women of vision and accomplishment? Why do we have to settle for recycled hacks and malleable ciphers? Greatness is always rare, but is basic competence and simple honesty too much to ask?
McIntyre suggests (and rightly so) that we have created a political system that is so utterly corrupt and bankrupt that NO ONE with integrity or intelligence will step up to the plate. The Republican majority has taken us down the wrong road, but the Democrats aren't offering any viable alternatives. Everyone's too busy taking pot-shots at each other, too busy engaging in slinging the crap that is bubbling up past their eyeballs. He says that the two-party system is
I've heard the saying that "Desperate times call for desperate measures." In that same vein, don't times like these, times when we can't turn on the television or read the newspaper or travel on a plane without fear or anxiety or almost unbearable sadness seeping into our minds, call for, at the very least, "basic competence and simple honesty"? And are we really setting the standard too high when we ask for leaders who can actually give straightforward answers to valid questions? Is this:...currently running on spin, anger, revenge, and pots and pots and pots of money.
We are being governed by paper-mache patriots; brightly painted red, white and blue, but hollow to the core. Both parties have mastered the cynical arts of media manipulation and fund raising. They have learned the lessons of Watergate and burn the tapes. They have learned to divide the nation for their own gain. They have demonstrated the willingness to exploit any tragedy for personal advantage. The contempt they have for the American people is without parallel.
REPORTER: Is the tide turning in Iraq?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to see a tide turn -- did I say those words?
an example of what we should expect from our leaders? (This quote is from a White House press conference on June 14, 2006.) The bar hasn't simply been lowered. The bar has plummeted to the ground. The bar is gone.
Back to the McIntyre stuff...it is an interesting look at the administration from a person who once supported them fully. Want the entire transcript? Read it here. Even better - listen to it here. (Click on the red link that says "Doug's Apology from May 5, 2006.")
Anyway, so those are my thoughts on our current leadership. Bush and his cronies are on the way out (slowly), but those who will replace them only offer more of the same. Is it still possible to hold out for something better? Is this as good as it gets?
7 comments:
true dat.
And it is this seemingly "unfixableness" that has most people of our generation (sadly, me included) fed up to the point of just ignoring it all -- all of the politics. So far, every time I have voted in a Presidential election in my life, I have had to choose the lesser of two evils. Somehow, when you are in elementary school and learning about the wonder that is our political system and how YOU get to participate and CHOOSE who leads this country, choosing the lesser of two evils is NOT what you're picturing. And it seems to be getting worse. It's very frightening and disheartening to me. I can only imagine how the kids 10 years younger than I am who are just getting the right to vote feel about it -- probably completely uninterested. I fear that as long as this trend continues, younger generations will become less and less likely to vote, therefore placing us in a Catch 22 where the trend worsens because no one feels they can do anything about it. :-( How sad for us all.
I'm not quite sure how this fits in but it seems to me that Bush tries to take complex issues and boil them down to simple equations. If Iraq is the threat, we'll invade and set up a democracy. So he does things based on simple choices and then reaps the consequencese along with us!! Just my thoughts...
This guy is right (So is the above Guy who commented.) We have gotten broken results in our search for leaders of this democracy. I believe he is also right in saying that the system has been coopted and produces these results consequentially (it's a word. i looked it up).
Other than saying that my hope ultimately lies in Jesus and the salvation and redemption of the world, I also see hope for this country. We have been through periods similar to this. Look deep at the early 1800's and late 1800's ("Theodore Rex" is a good reference).
The really scary thing is that immediately following these kind of times, we were involved in major wars (Civil War and World War I). Sadly, we may be at the beginning of a process of being purified through a war of great cost.
It's very sad, but the electorate seems to get the leadership they want. No one would run manipulative negative campaign ads if people didn't respond to them. Unfortunately, I don't think most people think very much . . . about anything. We have a very noisy culture, and we're terrible listeners. Bush boils things down into simplistic choices because that is what got him elected. People don't respond to nuance. They want a clear answer hammered into their minds, so they don't have to think very hard themselves. I've re-read "Fahrenheit 451" lately, and the vision of a future where people are plugged into technology so they do not do any of their own thinking is chillingly familiar.
As a Christian, it scares me to hear so many Christians take party positions, without stopping to think about whether it actually fits with a life in Christ or if it's just something a "Christian" politician told us we should think. A lot of things I have heard do not come from a place of love or mercy.
As Brian said, our hope is in Jesus Christ, who alone has the power to heal this mess and any other mess we can think of.
Here's one right-winger that agrees with you (but not that W is the worst President -- there's always Jimmy Carter). I also think that Laura has it right. There is no human solution, only more of His work to be done...
Brian - three points for the "Theodore Rex" mention. Excellent book.
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